Comic Review: Queen and Country Vols. 3 & 4

Queen & Country Vol. 3: Hot on the heels of my earlier experience with Greg Rucka's Queen & Country books, I decided I'd dive in again for the rest of the story.

Again, I was treated to much of the same highs and lows that were associated with the earlier volumes of this material.  This third volume, which wraps up Tara Chace's story has all the hallmarks of the Queen & Country series. First and foremost among those hallmarks: Greg Rucka's writing is quality. His spy stories are not only incredibly engrossing, but they also pack a very realistic feel, and strike a fine balance between political agendas and personal loyalties.  Also, just like my earlier experiences, the art was hit or miss for me.

In the third volume, things were more hit than miss for me on the art front, as Steve Rolston, probably my favorite artist from the series, was back dealing out some high quality art, and Chris Samnee, who I enjoyed on the Rocketeer Cargo of Doom story, handled some of the art as well.  Both those guys delivered some fantastic art, and helped raise the quality of this volume.

However, I was surprised to find myself frustrated with Rucka's writing.  At the start of the second story arc, Operation: Red Panda the narrative drops the reader down into the middle of events, and it soon becomes very clear that there's been a very major plot development that has gone down.  However, that major plot development is never explored, nor fully explained. Not only did I find this extremely confusing and frustrating, but I was pretty upset with this development, as I felt like I'd been cheated out of a huge piece of the story.

This whole ordeal seemed very out of character for Rucka's writing; He's typically a writer that is very good at tying everything together and buttoning up loose ends.  So much out of character that I blamed myself for missing something.

Well it turns out I did miss something.  An entire prose novel.

Between Operation: Saddlebag and Operation: Red Panda, there was apparently an entire prose novel titled A Gentleman's Game.  I can only assume that the major plot events I missed out on occurred in the pages of that book.  As a comics reader, I'm not so sure how I feel about that.  It's frustrating that the whole story isn't told within the medium in which it was started, and it's also frustrating that even if I wanted to read A Gentleman's Game, by reading this comic, much of that book is already spoiled, thus taking away form that experience, so there's no really good way to get closure.

This also brings up a discussion; that of comics being the destination, not a vehicle to other more well respected mediums, that I don't want to get into.  Suffice it to say that the switching of mediums, and subsequent major plot gap did a lot to take away from my Queen & Country experience.

Queen & Country Vol. 4: This fourth and final volume of the Queen & Country series collects the Declassified story arcs.  Each story reveals the past of one of the characters from the Queen & Country series.

Hardcore fans of the series will likely find this material quite interesting, as it gives backgrounds for Paul Crocker and Tom Wallace, two of the key characters from the series. For me, after the empty feeling I was left with from the previous volume, found that I didn't care about this material as much as I could have.

The stories here are pretty good, the first two in particular were pretty solid, and it was nice to have Brian Hurtt, one of my favorite comic artists, back at work on some Queen & Country material.  That being said, I wasn't a fan of the final story, which also happened to the first Queen & Country story written by someone other than Greg Rucka.  For this one Anthony Johnston did the writing and Christopher Mitten was on art, and the shift in quality was noticeable.

Overall, I found that I didn't enjoy this final volume as much as I did the previous Queen & Country material.  That being said, I'd say this is a strong comic series, but would recommend that any perspective reader gets the novel, A Gentleman's Game, and reads it at the appropriate time so as to get the full story effect.  Regardless, Queen & Country is a very good spy story, and if that's your thing, then you can't go too far wrong here.  Be prepared for strong writing, great characters, and inconsistent art.

Overall Series Grade: B

2012 Comics of the Year

2012 was easily my best year of comics reading yet.  Not only did I read a ton of great comics, but I honed my tastes further and branched out in new directions. The result being that I was rewarded with some amazing gems.  Scarily, my comics reading pile continues to grow; I think I have enough comics to last me the next couple years...

As always, I read my fair share of both floppy single issues and collected editions, or as they're more commonly known: graphic novels.  My 2012 Comics of the Year list covers just the former, the single issue stuff, and there was so much good stuff it was pretty hard to choose just the top five.

TOP 5 COMICS OF 2012:

#5. Prophet: Prophet has been one of my favorite monthly titles this year and a big reason is the sheer variety of talent that Brandon Graham has brought together for this title.  Ever since issue one (or technically issue 21), there's been a smorgasbord of talented artists associated with this comic.  Though the main players have primarily been Graham, Simon Roy, and Giannis Milonogiannis, there have been plenty of other awesome folks getting credits for this title. The result is that I've had the wonderful pleasure of being exposed to some amazing talent along the way.  Farel Dalrymple stands out as an artist who has worked on this book and impressed me greatly with his talent.

On top of all the great artistic talent associated with this comic, the story has been incredibly entertaining and intriguing.  Any week where there's an issue of Prophet is a special week.  Graham and company have created an absolutely fascinating universe to set their story in, and I love the feeling of discovery and exploration that comes with each issue.

The icing on the cake for Prophet is that each issue comes with a back-up short comic, and all of these have been fantastic. The back-up Shock Post by Malachi Ward and Matt Sheean stands out as one of the best comics I read all year.  Awesome, awesome stuff.

#4. Fatale: The combo of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is one of my favorite comic creating duos.  When these guys are together they create fantastic comics.  They did a couple of super powered spy stories in Sleeper and Incognito, then some straight up crime with their Criminal stories.  Their latest work is Fatale  a sort of crime-Lovecraftian mash up.  

I'll admit I wasn't totally enamored with this comic from the get go. I liked what I was reading, but I wasn't totally feeling it. I had enough faith and past experience with Brubaker and Phillips to keep plugging away and sure enough, everything congealed in the fifth issue.  We're two story arcs in now, the second of which was fantastic, and Fatale was an easy pick for this top five list.  

There's an awesome blend of horror and crime going on in this comic, a mix we don't see too often, and I think fans of both genres will find plenty to like here.  

#3. Godzilla The Half Century War: Despite the fact that I love monsters, I can't say that I've ever really been a Godzilla fan.  Well, that all changed earlier this year when James Stokoe started working on Godzilla The Half Century War.  

This is one amazing comic.  

It's amazing for lots of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is that this is almost completely Stokoe's vision.  He does the writing, art, and lettering.  The only thing he doesn't completely himself is the coloring, and he gets "coloring assists" from someone, so he still has a hand in that aspect of the book as well.  That's an amazing amount of work to put into a comic, but the pay-off is great as there is no loss of vision along the way.  

This is one absolutely gorgeous comic too.  Stokoe is definitely one of my favorite artists, and his work here is some of his best.  His stuff is always hyper-detailed, and that skill is put to amazing use here as you really get a feel for the destruction and mayhem Godzilla can cause when he wrecks shop.  Add in some fucking phenomenal monster fights and Godzilla The Half Century War is probably the best treat for your eyes on the shelves. Oh, the story is pretty flippin' great too! A must read for any comics fan.

#2. Multiple Warheads: 2012 was the year of Brandon Graham in the comics world.  His King City stuff got recollected and republished, His amazing re-imagining of a Rob Liefeld comic, Prophet came out, and to top it all off, he started releasing his Multiple Warheads mini-series.  That's a pretty impressive output, but even more impressive is the incredibly high quality of it all...most impressive of all though is that fact that Multiple Warheads makes this list with a mere three issues worth of material on the shelves.    

Multiple Warheads, is completely a Brandon Graham entity as he handles all the comic creating duties: writing, art, colors and lettering.  To put it simply, Graham is a comic creating powerhouse of unique vision and artistic talent.  His comics simply aren't like anyone else's.  In fact, it almost seems like a deliberate effort is being made by Graham to not be like anyone else.  

And I love it.  

His stories meander, follow interesting paths until they are no longer interesting, then find another path to follow until something else comes up.  Along the way the reader is treated to some really beautiful art, and a boat-load of puns and jokes.  The misogynist parlor joke being my favorite so far.  Multiple Warheads is a shining example of how much fun comics can be, and I love and am grateful for every panel of every page.

 #1. Saga: It's not often that my most anticipated title becomes my most favorite, but that's exactly what happened here.  Saga stepped onto the scene back in March, and it has been absolutely top of the line ever since.  Frankly, I'm a bit surprised that a space opera about star-crossed lovers on the run could impress me so much, but it did. I love this story and I love these characters...with the exception of The Stalk, she scares the shit out of me!

What's impressive is that I can't point to either the writing or the art as the primary culprit of quality.  Both aspects are so wonderfully connected and work so well together that they seem to flow into one another. Granted, both the writing and the art are top of the line, and Fiona Staples has got to be the best discovery of the year for me, but it is impossible to talk about one without the other working the way into the conversation.  Simply said, Saga is a great example of how comics should work, how the art and the writing should be a combined effort.  

Month in and month out this has consistently been the best written and best looking comic on the shelves, and honestly, despite so many other really great comics, an easy pick for the number one spot.  

Most Honorable Mention: 

Sweet Tooth: Despite all the nice things I said about the comics above, Sweet Tooth is still my favorite monthly comic.  It hasn't had a dip in quality either, I simply didn't put it in the top five because I've covered it so extensively here at Battle Hymns.  I will be really fucking sad when the last issue comes out in January.  

The Sixth Gun: Another flat out fantastic comic which only gets better as the issues go by.  The fantasy-western combo has found it's home here.

Best Single Issue of 2012:

Stumptown Vol 2. #4: Holy fuck, this is an amazing comic!  This beauty gets top billing for one big reason: the best flippin' car chase scene in a comic ever. 

First, a little side story: Seattle has a bunch of drawbridges, which are really cute looking but it sucks to be stuck at one in your car while the wings raise up to let some rich prick in his yacht motor through on his way to a day of sailing. I've always thought about how cool it would be if someone just said "fuck it" and used the raising wings as a ramp to jump to the other side rather than waiting. 

It turns out Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth have had the exact same thoughts, because that very scene, among many others that were amazing, plays out in this comic.

Ahh, wish fulfillment, even vicarious wish fulfillment, can be a wonderful thing

This issue would not have been such a success without the talents of Matthew Southworth. He not only made me feel like I was watching cars scream by me at break-neck speeds, but he also played around with the format of the comic so that when the cars turned, you had to physically turn the comic in order to continue on with the story.  This was a really cool concept, and brought me closer to the action. 

I don't think I've ever had such an overwhelming sense of fun and excitement while reading a comic.  A singularly great issue and an easy pick for best single issue of the year.

So there you go, my best comics of the year. Image almost completely swept the category.  What stuff did you folks read that you thought were deserving of mention?  

Comic Review: Queen and Country Vol. 1 & 2

I've had a lot of success in the past when reading comics written by Greg Rucka.  Rucka is one of the few writers, both inside and outside of the comics medium, who can write fantastic female lead characters.  This quality makes Rucka stand out from the crowd given the fact that well-depicted female leads can be hard to find in the comics medium.  However, Rucka has proven his skills in this area in the past with Kate Kane in Batwoman, Carrie Stetko in Whiteout, and Dex Parios in Stumptown.

With Queen and Country, Rucka has penned another engaging comic series where a female character takes center stage.  Queen and Country is an international espionage story that focuses on a British Intelligence team called the S.I.S., and much of the story centers around Tara Chace, one of the field operatives.  In this opening volume of the series, which collects three story arcs, an awesome twelve issues worth of material, the reader is introduced to the world of international espionage, and all the crazy politics, games - and the players that play them, and all the ins and outs that go into making a mission successful.

As a field operative, Chace's life is one of alternating dull boredom and inactivity, mixed with intense bouts of incredibly vital and stressful missions in the field.  While Chace is doing her thing in the field, her director of operations, the perpetually chain smoking Paul Crocker, is often walking a fine line between watching out for the safety of his team and dealing with all the political complications that are part of the international spy game.

Queen and Country impressed me as it felt like a very realistic take on what the international espionage game is really like.  You won't get tons of action, shooting, explosions, or cheesy villains, but instead the story focuses on the people, modern spy politics, and how the S.I.S. folks respond to situations that pop up.  As much as I've enjoyed Bond and Bourne films,  I found the stories in Queen and Country much more engaging and in the end, equally rewarding.

The first Definitive Edition contains three story arcs, and in each arc a different artist provides the visuals.  Steve Rolston, who impressed me before with his work on Ghost Projekt is first up on the art front, and he set the bar incredibly high with some fantastically detailed art.  Rolston's lines are incredibly clean, and his art is a joy to look at.  From there, on the second arc, the series rolled out another of my favorite comic artists, Brian Hurtt, of The Sixth Gun fame.  Sadly, I didn't get the trifecta of great art I was hoping for, as I wasn't a fan of Leandro Fernandez, who handled the art for the third arc.

Fans of the first Queen and Country volume will find plenty to like in the second volume as it delivers much of the same good as the first.  Rucka's writing is great, the stories are entertaining and engaging, and the art is again a mixed bag of artists which were sometimes good, sometimes not so good.  To be honest, I wasn't such a fan of the artists in this one, but the story was definitely good enough to carry me through despite the fact that this volume wasn't as easy on the eyes as the previous one.

Rucka's writing in this series is top notch.  Not only is each story arc interesting and engaging.  In many ways each story arc could be read as a stand-alone, which is a big reason why the alternating artist trick works pretty well for this series.  However, the arcs all connect as part of a larger tapestry.

That being said, I've found that the individual character arcs are what makes Queen and Country stand out as a fantastic series.  I've enjoyed following Tara Chace on missions, through her interactions with her colleagues, and her incredibly dreary personal life. She's one of those characters that I found myself thinking about during the interludes when I wasn't reading the book, and still find myself reflecting on even after turning the final page.  Additionally, the character arcs for the other primary S.I.S. team members are equally interesting and amazing.

Queen and Country stands out as one of the better comics I've read this year. The only real drawback being that because of the shifting artists, the art is inconsistent. So far, I'm 50-50 on whether I enjoyed the art  or not, which isn't exactly the best track record. However, when the art is good, it is really good.  In the end, I was still treated to a fantastic story where the focus is on well written, interesting, memorable characters.  More comics gold courtesy of Greg Rucka.

Grade: B+

Comic Quickie: Return of Stumptown

Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case #1: One of my most very favorite comic reads from last year was a beautiful indie comic from Greg Rucka and Matt Southworth. After crafting a wonderful crime story that seemed to be more of a labor of love than a cash cow, I wasn't totally sure I would ever see more Stumptown, but the old gang is back together.

Mim Bracca, the guitarist from the Portland based rock band Tailhook has just returned home from a long tour.   When she arrives, and the dust settles, she discovers that her prized possession, her favorite guitar, is missing.  Without wasting any time, Mim enlists the aid of P.I. Dex Parios. There's no such thing as a routine case for Dex, because before she knows it, she's getting threatened with a box-cutter, and having guns pointed at her head.

If the first Stumptown story is any indication, The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case is likely to be filled with a healthy dose of backstabs, double crosses, and a sweet plot twist here and there for good measure...  Honestly, when I saw this comic get solicited a few months back, I instantly put it on my pull list.  Stumptown is a no-brainer.  This is money well spent.  You'll get great writing, engaging characters, and a kick ass plot from Rucka, as well as some absolutely fantastic looking art from Matt Southworth.

I've been lucky enough to have seen pages and pages of Southworth's original art from this series at various comic events here in Seattle. The man is a workhorse artist who creates page after beautiful page of painstakingly detailed art that is wonderfully textured and dense, and a sheer pleasure to look at.  The guy is criminally underrated.  Sadly, he's also fairly obscure, which is completely undeserved given the quality of his work.

Stumptown is a comic that achieves perfect harmony between writing and art, a feat that is rare and special. So treat yourself: Buy it. Read it. Thank me later.

Graphic Novel Review: Whiteout: Melt

After the success I had with Whiteout, I thought it would be nice to jump right back into Greg Rucka's frozen, crime riddled antarctic world.  Whiteout: Melt begins with a little history lesson on how Antarctica came to be divvied up by various countries, then dives right into the action as a unit of soldiers storms a Russian research station, kills everyone around, then blows the whole thing sky high, but not before making off with something valuable.


Enter our hero, Carrie Stetko, who is enjoying some sunshine and green grass on her vacation in New Zealand.  Her brief period of R&R is shattered when her boss calls her in for a briefing.  It turns out the Russian research base that got blow'd up was likely also an arms depot, and the US government wants Carrie to go in and assess the situation. Carrie is initially unwilling, the job is out of her jurisdiction, and none of her business, but the G-Men ply her with promises of reassignment to a warm, sunny climate, and Carrie accepts the task.  Before 48 hours have gone by Carrie finds herself back on the ice and once again in over her head.

Whiteout: Melt is more of a cat and mouse espionage thriller than a mystery this time around.  The reason I say that is this one had that familiar "Cold Warrior" espionage feel that you often see in spy novels.  Which wasn't a bad thing, but this definitely felt like a very different story from Whiteout except that it featured the same lead character.  The antarctic setting was almost a character  itself this time around as it played a big role in the story.

Once again, Rucka delivered a story that was face paced, tense, and even had a couple of nice twists, with some cliffhangers thrown in for good measure.  All in all, pretty thrilling stuff, but in my opinion, Whiteout: Melt lacked a bit of the magic of it's predecessor.  The reason being that in Whiteout the characters drove the story along whereas in Whiteout: Melt the story is what drives the characters.  A small difference, but one that delivers a very different feel to the story.

Lieber's art is very consistent with the first volume, but I will say that this time around his action sequences look better, and flow across the panels a lot better.  I said it before, but it is worth mentioning again, the black and white art here only makes the world of the antarctic feel all the more frigid and realistic.  There are some scenes that are sure to give even the most warm blooded reader the chills.

Once again, Rucka delivers a strong story, but for my money Whiteout: Melt was my weakest Rucka reading experience so far.  That said, it was still pretty damn good.  Whiteout: Melt might not be essential Greg Rucka reading, but it's still worth checking out, and proves to be another solid chapter in the adventures of Carrie Stetko.

Grade: B-

Graphic Novel Review: Whiteout

Whiteout by Greg Rucka is a story about hitting bottom.  When you are a US Marshall, and you're posted in Antarctica, it literally doesn't get any lower than that.  But when you're sent there because it'll keep you from screwing up again, you hit bottom in more than one way.  That's the life for Carrie Stetko, a US Marshall in one of the most desolate places on Earth.

In the vast desolation, Carrie has been trying to make peace with her past. However, when there's a murder committed on her turf, her chances at peaceful resolutions are past.

The dead body is that of a scientist who is part of a research team and had been doing some deep ice core drilling.  At the murder site, Carrie finds that several deep ice samples have been taken nearby, which points to some sort of notable discovery.  Before she can hardly begin her investigation, Lily Sharpe, a British Intelligence agent, turns up asking questions.  With her boss breathing down her back, storms setting in, and a thin trail of clues, Carrie and Lily must hustle to find the killer.

Hoping to build off the strength of my Batwoman and Stumptown reads I decided to give another Greg Rucka penned graphic novel a go.  As it turns out, my instincts are occasionally quite accurate.  Though written much earlier in his career, Whiteout has many of the hallmarks I've come to expect from the works of Greg Rucka.

For one, it features a wonderful female protagonist that is remarkably real, and someone who is incredibly interesting to read about.  I was pretty much immediately taken by Carrie, and wanted to know more about her.  She's smart, tough, resourceful, and clever which makes for an interesting protagonist on any given day,  but Rucka has an uncanny knack for instilling his women with these qualities and still making them remain feminine.  There's none of that "strong female characters" bullshit here, which is a wonderful thing to see.

The other thing Rucka does quite well here is write a hum-dinger of a crime-mystery-drama.  I will say that the mystery elements in Whiteout aren't as polished as they are in his more recent works, but this is still some very good crime writing, and I as I mentioned earlier, I was very intrigued by the events in that take place in the story.

The art by Steve Lieber is pretty solid here too.  Whiteout, appropriately, is done in black and white, which instills the antarctic setting with a strong sense of desolation and frostiness.  Lieber's art in Whiteout can deliver some chills.  My one gripe would be that his action sequences were at times a bit fuzzy and hard to interpret.  This led to some confusing moments for me with the narrative, which meant I had to go back and re-examine the artwork for clarification, something I'm not a fan of doing.

All told, this was another positive Rucka reading experience, and I'm happy to say I have more of his stuff sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.  I'll be diving in soon enough.

Grade: B+

Review: Batwoman: Elegy

I first came across Batwoman: Elegy about a year ago when I saw a photo roundup of Read Comics in Public Day.  Someone in one of photos was holding a copy of this very comic, and the cover totally caught my eye. Yes, I judge books by their cover.  That's why they put a fucking cover on the damn things, so it'll catch your eye.  Anyway...the cover to Batwoman got my attention; There was something about the stylized layout that screamed for a closer inspection.

During my next trip to the comic shop, I tracked down a copy and gave it the ol' flip-check.  And my mind was blown.  The art was, as they say, off the chain.  A couple people noticed my bulging eyes, and slack jaw and acknowledged my awe.  Yes, they assured me, Batwoman: Elegy was a sweet fuckin' comic. Not just the art, but the writing as well.

Unfortunately, at the time, the book was only available in hardcover, and out of my price range, so I filed it away in that part of my brain that can unfalteringly  remember band line-ups, 90's baseball team rosters, and titles of books I want to read, but mysteriously cant remember shit I try to memorize for a mid-term or final. When the book finally came out in softcover earlier this year, I picked up a copy and waited for the right moment to give my eyes a glorious treat.

That moment came a bit sooner than I expected with the big shuffle and relaunch at DC.  A Batwoman series had been planned and delayed for some time, I'd even picked up and read the #0 issue to whet my appetite.  When the relaunch was announced, I knew it was time to give Elegy read so I'd be all caught up when the new issues started hitting shelves.

My recent read of Stumptown gave me high hopes that writer Greg Rucka would be able to deliver the goods with an interesting and engaging Batwoman story.  Boy did he ever.

The story is equally about Kate Kane, the woman behind the mask as it is about Batwoman and her battle against a psycho named Alice who quotes Lewis Carrol and aspires to unleashing a toxic death-cloud over Gotham city.  While all the crime fighting business is taking place, Rucka intertwines the story with scenes that depict Kane's past in the military, her complex family situation and childhood, and her struggles relating to her sexual identity.  All these elements work together to create a character who is intensely real, highly engaging, and downright fun to read about.

I was incredibly impressed with the writing effort here.  I got the feeling that Rucka had really set out to make Batwoman/Kate Kane a believable and realistic character, and I feel like he pretty much nailed it.  There were a few plot elements related to the Alice versus Batwoman story line that felt like they were dropped into the story without any supporting information, but this was minor and didn't really take much away from the reading experience.

As great as Rucka's writing was, and it was quite good, the art of Batwoman: Elegy, handled by J.H. Williams III, was astounding.  Simply put, Williams is one of the very best artists in the business and Batwoman is (in my opinion) his crowning achievement thus far.

Not only does JHW3 display his talent in Batwoman: Elegy, he also displays his versatility. He uses different styles of art to depict various aspects of Kate Kane's life.  When she is Batwoman, he uses an almost photo-realistic art approach, a more vintage style for her military days, a cartoonish style for her childhood, and a clean, crisp art style for her current day, out of costume scenes.

While each style is well done, impressive, and displays Williams' talent, my favorite art sequences were the Batwoman ones.  I loved how Williams used non-standard panels to break up the page and used a much more stylized iconic approach to portray the action.  This made the fight scenes seem much more realistic, as they captured the chaos of the fight, yet displayed Batwoman's prowess and skill, and made it all look fancy to boot.  Williams' ability to create beautiful, dynamic art that makes the action leap off the page is an amazing skill and a quality that only makes me love this comic more.

If judged solely on art, Batwoman: Elegy would receive high marks, but Rucka's writing is equally great.  The character development work he put in makes Kate Kane one of the more interesting characters I've read in any form of writing lately, and she especially stands out as a female comic character that isn't just about gigantic breasts and skimpy clothing.  It's sad that she stands out for that reason, but you can either lament that fact, or enjoy the fact that Batwoman/Kate Kane is a shining beacon in the industry of how good comics can be.

For the relaunch, Batwoman will be co-written by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, and JHW3 will handle the art as well.  The #0 issue which hit shelves early in the year was handled by the same team, and I enjoyed it, so I feel like the title is in capable hands.  The writing will probably suffer a bit, but the seeds that Rucka planted should continue to bear fruit down the road.

I can easily recommend Batwoman: Elegy, and in fact, have already loaned my copy out and successfully recommended to other folks around the interwebs.  A great lead character, great writing and great art make this one a slam dunk/homerun/hole in one.  If you have even the slightest interest in reading an awesome comic, give this one a shot.

Grade: A+

Review: Stumptown

Stumptown is one of those graphic novels that seems to have been created for my sole enjoyment.

The story follows Dex Parios, a private investigator who has been spending more time racking up a massive debt at the Whispering Winds casino than cracking cases lately.  Her recent cold streak at the craps table has left her owing 18 large to the casino.  For Better or worse, her luck changes when she is called upon to meet with Sue-Lynne, head of the casino.  Sue-Lynne's granddaughter has gone missing, and if Dex can track her down, Sue-Lynne will erase Dex's debt.  But finding Sue-Lynne's wayward granddaughter might be more trouble than it's worth for Dex.


 So, a crime caper set in my backwoods, the pacific northwest, with a female lead who isn't just the main character so that copious amounts of T&A can be on display, but someone most any reader, male or female, can relate to.  Yeah, it was hard for me to put this one down.

Greg Rucka's name carries a lot of weight in the comics industry, but Stumptown was my first exposure to his work.  Overall, I found his writing, plotting and pacing to be quite good.  I was hooked from the opening pages, and totally engrossed throughout the entire graphic novel.  I think Rucka's strength lies in his ability to write characters like they are regular people not just caricatures of typical crime story denizens.  Even his thugs for hire seem to have more depth than your typical hired muscle.

The story of Stumptown unfolds nicely.  There are plenty of ins, outs and twists that will keep any crime lover happy.  It's one of those stories where you know no one is telling the truth and the path to said truth is a rocky road for Dex.

No comic or graphic novel is complete without a strong art component and Matthew Southworth seems to be the perfect artist for this tale.  His gritty and grainy art style sets the tone perfectly for this down and dirty crime story.  Southworth's art, and color palette definitely make the comic feel like it is set in the Pacific North West.  His ability to fully capture Portland, and its surrounds make this comic a little bit more special. In my opinion, the art was perfect for the story. 

Now, I'll admit, there's a pretty good chance I had a predilection towards Stumptown to begin with. Before I ever did more than read the first few pages, my copy sported a lovely sketch and personalization from the artist, Matt Southworth.  The fact that he took the time to add a sketch, and talk to me about his guitar influences (of all things) makes this comic all the more special to me. 

 

Despite the fact that my copy, and interactions I had with part of the creative team, make Stumptown a special piece on my shelves, it is for sure a great comic, and worth the read.  The current edition you'll find in stores has a nice hard cover, and thick, high quality pages.  It's also slightly oversized from your standard graphic novel, all which make it even more worth reading.  The larger format allows for better enjoyment of the art, the overall quality is fitting for the quality of the story.  Stumptown is one of those stories I know for sure I'll find myself reading again over the years.  I definitely recommend this one.

Grade: A