Stumptown Vol. 2 #3

Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Matthew Southworth

If a PI solves a case, even if its under the most suspicious of circumstances, should she walk away?  That is the question that Greg Rucka is posing in this new Stumptown series, as Dex Pairios finds 'baby', the guitar belonging to a local rock goddess.

At the end of the last issue, the guitar turns up at Dex's house, and her brother, who has Down's Syndrome, cannot reliably describe how it got there.  Dex, being Dex, sees this as a reason to step up her investigation.

This leads to her having an altercation with the DEA, and later, seeing the skinheads from the first issue.  Greg Rucka has landed her in the middle of a strange situation, and it's entertaining to watch how she is figuring things out.

What makes Stumptown work so well is the strength of the character-driven writing.  Dex is a great character, but so are the others who populate this book.  Personally, I like to imagine that DEA Agent Chase is in fact Cameron Chase, the DC comics character, being handled properly.

This issue, Matthew Southworth tries something new with the inking or shading of characters' faces.  Southworth shares the colouring credit with Rico Renzi, so I'm going to assume it's him that is trying something new, to give some depth to the characters' expressions.  I'm not sure how well it works, but I always encourage people trying something new.