Stumptown (comics)

Stumptown
Publication information
Publisher	Oni Press
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Crime, detective fiction
Publication date	November 2009
No. of issues	19
Main character(s)	Dex Parios
Creative team
Created by	Greg Rucka Matthew Southworth
Written by	Greg Rucka
Artist(s)	Matthew Southworth (vol 1-2) Justin Greenwood (vol 3-4)
Letterer(s)	Matthew Southworth (vol 1-2) Crank! (vol 3-4)
Colorist(s)	Lee Loughridge (vol 1) Rico Renzi (vol 2) Ryan Hill (vol 3-4)
Editor(s)	Jill Beaton Randal Jarrell James Lucas Jones

Stumptown is an American comic book limited series and later ongoing, written by Greg Rucka with art by Matthew Southworth. The first series launched by Oni Press on November 4, 2009, and ran for four issues. A second miniseries began in September 2012 and ran for five issues and a third volume, this time ongoing, began in September 2014.

The comic book is a modern-day detective fiction series based in Portland, Oregon, featuring Dex Parios, a bisexual female private investigator with a gambling problem.

Plot

The first series begins in medias res with Dex's attempted murder and then showing the events leading up to this as she attempts to track down the granddaughter of a casino owner, who has promised to forgive Dex's heavy debt to the casino from her gambling losses in exchange for the girl's safe return.^[1]

Influences

In an iFanboy podcast, Rucka says he was going to write his college thesis on the American Detective genre.^[2] He cites authors such as Dennis Lehane, Robert B. Parker, and Raymond Chandler as influences in the creation of his character, Dex Parios. He also credits television shows of his youth such as Magnum, P.I., Simon and Simon, and The Rockford Files.^[3]

Reception

In less than one week, the first issue sold out at the distributor level.^[4] The first volume was nominated for the 2011 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series.^[5]

Collected editions

Hard Covers
Title	Material collected	Publication date	ISBN
Stumptown - Volume One	Stumptown Vol. 1 #1–4	April 5, 2011	978-1934964378
Stumptown - Volume Two	Stumptown Vol. 2 #1-5	October 1, 2013	978-1934964897
Stumptown - Volume Three	Stumptown Vol. 3 #1-5	April 28, 2015	978-1620102015
Stumptown - Volume Four	Stumptown Vol. 3 #6-10	January, 2017	978-1-62010-301-2

Adaptation

Main article: Stumptown (TV series)

On January 29, 2019, it was announced that ABC had ordered a pilot based on the graphic novels.^[6] A month later on February 25, Cobie Smulders was cast in the lead role as Dex Parios.^[7] The series premiered on September 25, 2019. It was originally renewed by ABC for a second season, but after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the network reversed their decision and cancelled the series.^[8]

Notes

1. Hudson, Laura (August 19, 2009). "Greg Rucka Brings the Private Eye to Portland in 'Stumptown'". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on October 5, 2009.
2. Richards, Ron (November 2, 2009). "Stumptown #1 with Greg Rucka". iFanboy.
3. Furey, Emmett (July 28, 2007). "CCI: The Mean Streets of Rucka's Stumptown". Comic Book Resources.
4. Kaye, Edward (November 9, 2009). "Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth's Stumptown #1 Sells Out!". Hypergeek.
5. "2011 Eisner Award Nominees Announced". Newsarama. April 7, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
6. Andreeva, Nellie (January 29, 2019). "ABC Orders Drama Pilots 'Stumptown' Inspired By Graphic Novels & 'Triangle'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
7. Otterson, Joe (February 25, 2019). "Cobie Smulders to Star in ABC Drama Pilot 'Stumptown'". Variety. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
8. "'Stumptown' Canceled at ABC Despite Season 2 Renewal Due to COVID-19 Pandemic". 17 September 2020.

References

• Stumptown at the Grand Comics Database
• Stumptown at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

External links

• Official series website