SCOUT is out

Dynamite Entertainment, publishers of the new LONE RANGER comic, has released Tim Truman's SCOUT in trade paperback. For those who don't know it, SCOUT features "a Native American protagonist fighting an oppressive U.S. government in a post-Apocalyptic world." Here's an interview on the subject:

Tim Truman: Remembering SCOUTNRAMA: You received accolades from Native Americans and educators alike for Scout's portrayal of Native Americans. Did the portrayal come naturally to you, or did you have to take on an immense amount of research to achieve it?

TT: Well, a little of both, I guess. Mainly from research, though. My main approach was not to take a patronizing view of Native American culture or history. My great grandmother, Belle Truman, was a full-blooded Cherokee, but except for some things that I remember my grandfather doing with my sisters, cousins, and me when we were kids we had no real upbringing in Cherokee culture. As strange as it might sound, I think the approach that I took with Scout stems from 1.) I'm a hillbilly kid from the Appalachians; and 2.) my family were southern Baptists.

Growing up, I got real sensitive to the way that movies and television would portray both Appalachian people and their culture and religions. It was never right. It was always some New Yorker or Californian's view uninformed, generalized, stereotyped view of my culture. So when I decided to write about Apache culture I remembered how offended I'd been by most portrayals of the culture that I'd come from and took the task quite seriously.Comment:  I reviewed SCOUT back in Indian Comics Irregular #42. The short version is that it started well with genuine bits of Apache lore, but quickly degernated into a Rambo-style shoot-'em-up.

Perhaps the most interesting touch was Scout's sexual relationship with Israeli soldier Rosa Winter. As noted recently, Indian characters rarely if ever get love scenes.