Dashiell Bad Horse – Off the Reservation - MK Stangeland Jr.

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: Dark Panel, from the inside of the trunk of a car. Little, if anything, can be seen.

SFX: bang bang bang

RED CROW: Let me OUT!

Panel 2: A blinding light as the trunk is open, though the outline of BAD HORSE blocks out a section of the light.

RED CROW: Ah!

Panel 3: Exterior shot as BAD HORSE pulls RED CROW out of the trunk of the car. For the most part, RED CROW looks physically fine outside of what might be expected for having been stuck in a car trunk for several hours, and he’s understandably ticked off.

BAD HORSE: Out.

RED CROW: Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!

BAD HORSE: Yeah. I’ve brought you along for a little road trip far outside the safety of your normal jurisdiction.

Panel 4: RED CROW kneels on the ground as he tries to recover. He’s not doing such a good job of it at the moment, which is to be expected. BAD HORSE stands tall, allowing him to tower over RED CROW.

RED HORSE: Where…where are we?

Panel 5: Wide panel. A “Welcome to Kansas” greeting sign is in the foreground and off to the side of the panel, showing that BAD HORSE and RED CROW are just on the other side of the state boarder. The two of them can be seen in the background on the other side of the panel.

BAD HORSE: I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough on your own.

(END PAGE)

Dashiell Bad Horse - Family Matters - Grant McLaughlin

I will admit to having a hell of a time coming up with an appropriate script for Dashiell Bad Horse. Going through Scalped to get a better idea of who he was, I had the darndest time coming up with a worthwhile situation for Dash that Jason Aaron hadn't already examined in the course of the series. Based on the offerings from my fellow thoughtballooners, clearly they have not had the same difficulty, but I hope you'll enjoy this look into Dash's past nonetheless.

The scene takes place back in 1989, the day after Dashiell led the Red Raiders of Oglala Middle School to the state football championships, a game which Gina missed to be in Puget Sound to fight for the fishing rights of the Skokomish and Nisqually (see issue 5 for that brief mention). Dash and Gina are eating dinner.

6 panels spread evenly among 3 rows. All panels are the same size and set from the same angle.

1 – Dash and Gina sit across from each other at the dinner table. Gina looks towards her son hopefully. Dash sits with his hand supporting his head, scowling at the plate in front of him. He has been prodding the food with his fork, but the meal is untouched. There is a doorway centred in the background of the panel leading to other parts of the house. Above it, there is a clock visible. No dialogue.

2 – Same angle. Dash continues to scowl. Gina ventures some conversation.

GINA: Johnny's Mom said you played really well yesterday.

3 – Same angle. Dash's scowling continues, though he has stopped playing with his food. Gina waits, a pained look on her face, unsure if there will be a response. No dialogue.

4 – Same angle. Gina tries again, a bit less hopeful this time. Dash interrupts, slamming his fist onto the table in frustration.

GINA: I'm sorry I missed your big game, Dashiell--

DASHIELL (interrupting): That's bullshit! If you gave a damn, you woulda' been there! Instead you were off making sure a bunch of strangers could go fishing!

5 – Same angle. Dash gets up from the table and marches towards the doorway in the panel's background. Gina reaches towards him, but he already mostly out of the room.

GINA: Dashiell, that's not fair--

6 – A loud “SLAM!” emanates from Dash's room. Gina sits alone at the table, crying softly. No dialogue.

SFX: SLAM!

Dashiell Bad Horse - Dreamcatcher - Matt Duarte

Dashiell Bad Horse in “Dreamcatcher” by Matt Duarte

Panel 1

Description

A close up of a three piece glass dreamcatcher. On the top one, there's a wolf running among a group of deer. On the second one there is a hunter bringing down an eagle. On the third, there's a hut with a bonfire right in front of it.

CAPTION: I'll be the first to admit, I was never one for all the spiritual shit.

CAPTION: Keeping the bad dreams out? Yeah fucking right.

Panel 2

Description: Dash is laying down on his bed completely naked. He looks comfortable and at peace, with his eyes closed. Hanging out right above it is the same dreamcatcher, on a nail against the wall. The room looks like an absolute mess.

CAPTION: But since I hung this dreamcatcher on the wall, I've slept like a baby.

CAPTION: I can't even remember the last time I rested so peacefully.

Panel 3

Description: A flashback panel, showing Dash in his work clothes. There's a big semi truck, with it's back doors open, and lots of boxes scattered around. Dash is opening one of the boxes and looking inside.

CAPTION: Funny how people get attached to the most random objects. Finding it was pure luck.

CAPTION: Like it was calling out to me.

Panel 4

Description: Flashback panel. Dash is stepping away from the truck, carrying the dreamcatcher. In the background we can see Chief Red Crow shouting at a man (the driver of the truck).

RED CROW: Trying to smuggle stolen material and selling it in our reservation? I can not let that slide.

RED CROW: And you think we want this New Age bullshit in our tribe to begin with?

Panel 5

Description: The same driver from the previous panel, talking with an important looking man (he's the chief of another tribe). He looks displeased, while the driver looks nervous as hell.

DRIVER: Red Crow confiscated everything...

CHIEF: Does he know? Did he find it?

DRIVER: No, I don't think so, Chief.

Next: What a wonderful web we weave.

Dashiell Bad Horse – Who Cares What The Question Is? – Rol Hirst

Panel One.

FBI agent Baylis Earl Nitz sits at a bar, a cigarette in his mouth, a whiskey in his hand. The bar around him has been wrecked – broken chairs, over-turned tables, smashed glasses and bottles, blood on the floor. There’s obviously been a huge brawl here, and now almost everyone else has cleared out. In the background we can see a doorway leading through to the pool room and we can just make out that a man has been tied, spread-eagled, to the pool table though we can only make out his feet from this angle. Dashiell Bad Horse stands over this man, holding a broken pool cue – about to go to work.

Panel Two.

Close on Nitz. He takes a drink from his whiskey. His cigarette sits on the corner of an ash tray on the bar. Behind him (off-panel), the man on the pool table starts screaming.

Man (O/P): No – no, please… please… I’ll tell you anything… please…

Panel Three.

Still close on Nitz, listening. He sets the glass down on the bar. A slight smile flickers across his lips.

Man (O/P): Pleeeeaaaaaarrrghhhhhhhhhh!

Panel Four.

Same again. The cigarette is in Nitz’s mouth again. He’s rubbing his eye with a hand, looking a little bored now.

Man (O/P): No – no – no – noooaaaauuuurrrrggghh!

Panel Five.

Same again. Nitz is picking his teeth with a toothpick now. His cigarette is ground out on the bar.

Behind him, Dash Bad Horse walks back into the main bar, wiping bloody hands on his jeans.

Nitz: So?

Panel Six.

Dash doesn’t reply. Nitz turns to face him.

Nitz: Did you get the information I need?

Panel Seven.

Looking pissed off, Dash turns and walks back into the pool room.

Dash: Fuck. I knew there was something...

Dashiell Bad Horse - Earlier - Ben Rosenthal

1. A 22 year old Dashiell Bad Horse sits in an interrogation room. Both of his hands are handcuffed to the table in front of him. His clothes are ripped in places, with cuts and a black eye on his face.

VOICE (Off Panel)

You could be something, you know that?

Top of the class in Jeet Kune Do. Tours in the Kosovo War. You’ve got the skills, and you’ve clearly got the passion. But you focus it all in the wrong places.

2. Same as Panel 1, however Dashiell is being hit over the head with a telephone book.

VOICE (Off Panel)

Focused now?!

3. We are looking into the interrogation room from the other side of the two way mirror. Two men, who have their backs to us are talking to each other. They are watching what is happening within the interrogation room, with the cop whom just hit Dashiell questioning him. Dash is slouched over the table somewhat, partly due to the force of the blow with the telephone book. His hands are covering a majority of the handcuffs and chain which keep him locked to the table. He is looking up at the agent (3) whom just hit him, angry.

AGENT 2

You read this kid’s file. You’re still going to let Burns prompt him like this?

AGENT 1

I have to be sure.

AGENT 3

What is it that you want to do? Rob old ladies for the rest of your life? Become a homeless drunk and die alone in a gutter? Your mother would love that, eh?

What do you want to be?

4. Back inside the interrogation room, a closer shot of Dash looking up at the cop from the previous panel. However, he is holding his arms up, free of the handcuffs that had bounded him to the table.

DASHIELL

I want...

...to be like water.

5. We are back in the interrogation room. The two agents continue to talk while Dash is performing a Jeet Kune Do technique on the officer in the room with him. Agent 2 is now facing Agent 1, panicked. Agent 1 remains calm

AGENT 1

You should get someone in there to help Burns.

AGENT 2

He’s a psychopath!

AGENT 1

Indeed...

6. A close up of Agent 1. It is Special Agent Nitz.

AGENT NITZ

As I hoped.

Dashiell Bad Horse – Somewhere Between The End and The Beginning – Ryan K Lindsay

  

1. An older Dash stands in the kitchen. He’s making a sandwich, or something equally pedestrian. He looks like any other content middle-aged father.

NO COPY

 

2. Dash turns as his daughter runs up to him, she’s all pig tails and cuteness. She’s running a mile a minute. Her name is Reggie.

Reggie: Daddy, tell me about Mummy.
Dash: Again.
Reggie: Yes, again.

3. Dash smiles down at his daughter.

Dash: I’m only going to say one thing.
Reggie: Say it.
Dash: You want to hear the same thing. Again.
Reggie: Again!
Dash: Alright…

4. Dash kisses her on the head.

Dash: She was the best.
Reggie: The best!?
Dash: The very best.

5. Reggie kisses Dash on the cheek.

Reggie: You’re the best, Daddy.

6. Reggie runs out of the kitchen into the backyard.

NO COPY

7. Dash looks out the window at his daughter running through the backyard. In the reflection of the window we see almost ghostly appearance of Carol. She is smiling.

Dash: Hardly.

Why Dashiell Bad Horse?

Have you read Scalped?

If you have, you already know the answer to that question. Dashiell Bad Horse is the lead character in Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera’s Vertigo title ‘Scalped’. He’s an angry young Indian who made it off the reservation but then found himself back as an undercover FBI agent. He’s a volatile and dangerous man who is handy with a forceful way and is one of the most flawed characters you’ll find in the four colour medium.

Dash isn’t a standard hero, he’s not going to ride into view on the horizon and save the day. I guess he is an Indian because he certainly isn’t a cowboy. Is it wrong to say that? If you’ve read the title you’ll know it’s not. Scalped throws out more racist invective and unpleasant wordplay than most people are used to in their day to day lives. Yet it never actually comes across as racist, it’s honest. There’s so much truth in this title and it’s usually in the form of gritty, brutal, or downright harsh.

The important thing to remember about Dash is that he’s deeply flawed. He’s got more cracks than a sun-damaged face and he tells more history. It’s not that he can’t do the right thing, he sometimes does, but it’s more that he’s human. There are occasions where things don’t work out for Dash and yet he moves on. He survives. He doesn’t posture, he doesn’t lecture, he does. He is the constant motion of living in action.

The strength of Scalped, and its lead character, is that it’s extremely well written. This week gives us all a lot to live up to, but, like a goldfish, you only grow to the size of your bowl. This character offers a bowl extremely massive and so we’ll all have to puff up and deliver the goods, but if we don’t maybe we’re just as flawed as Dash. And hopefully we’ll all find some forgiveness.

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