‘Scalped,’ an American Indian crime thriller by KC comics writer Jason Aaron, gets a TV pilot order from WGN

Variety reports WGN America has ordered pilot episodes of DC’s “Scalped,” created by Kansas City writer Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera, and “Roadside Picnic,” based on a Russian sci-fi novel.

“Scalped” revolves around a power struggle among Oglala Lakota leaders of the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Variety says it is envisioned as having a largely Native American cast. If so, it would be a first in recent TV history.

Aaron currently writes the “Star Wars,” “Thor” and “Doctor Strange” comic book series at Marvel Comics.

The first issue of “Scalped” was published in 2007 and ran for 60 issues. The plot, which finds the characters struggling with poverty, organized crime, corrupt politics and drug addiction, was inspired in part by the story of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist arrested for the murder of two FBI agents in 1975 during a conflict on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Deadline reports the “Scalped” screenplay was written by “Banshee” writer Doug Jung, who executive produces alongside Geoff Johns, DC Comics’ chief creative officer and co-creator of “The Flash” TV show.

“Roadside Picnic” is a famous novel of Soviet/Russian science-fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It explores a near-future world where aliens have visited Earth and moved on.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 11:58 AM with the headline "‘Scalped,’ an American Indian crime thriller by KC comics writer Jason Aaron, gets a TV pilot order from WGN."