Stumptown5Top
Detail from the cover to Stumptown #5. Art by Matthew Southworth.

The second volume of Stumptown has come to a close, and with it another eventful case in the life of P.I. Dex Parios. In Parios, Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth have a character that shares traits with all of the best – or at least most entertaining – private dicks. She’s clever, physically able to hold her own, and she has a knack for getting in over her head.

This series, subtitled “The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case,” has seen Dex tangle with skinheads and DEA agents in pursuit of a stolen guitar. Last issue’s high-speed chase left a police officer wounded, the guitar returned to its rock star owner, and Dex’s car totaled. With Dex, her client, and the skinheads who had been chasing them all in police custody, this issue has the task of wrapping up the hows and whys of the case.

Rucka wraps the volume up quite neatly, and it doesn’t feel forced. Where a less-skilled writer might feel the need to insert some sort of ‘info dump,’ Rucka lets his characters do the hard work. It helps that Parios is developed well enough by this point. It’s easy for the reader to follow her thought process as she pursues the final threads of the case and as she makes some really dangerous decisions along the way.

Matthew Southworth’s art is perfectly suited for a crime comic. Southworth uses varying degrees of detail in his linework, always exactly what’s needed to establish a facial expression or background piece. What really adds a lot of depth to the art is the way it’s shaded and colored. Southworth and Rico Renzi share the coloring duties, and it’s hard to tell where the inking ends and the coloring begins. The result is that everything feels aged. The faces have miles on them, and the environments are grungy and lived-in. When, in the final pages, Dex receives a brand-new car, the clean, bright colors look almost out-of-place. It’s a wonderful effect, especially since you know Dex is just going to muss it up.

For fans of solid crime comics, Stumptown is a can’t-miss. Rucka and Southworth’s work on this miniseries and its predecessor is some of the best around, and it’s clear they have plans for further stories starring Dex and her supporting cast. Here’s hoping the wait for the next miniseries is a short one.

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