Wednesday 22 January 2014

So I Read Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case

A 250 word (or less) review of Stumptown Volume 2
By Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth, and Rico Renzi; Oni Press



This comic, you guys. This comic. Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case continues the tradition of being outrageously good comics. This installment of the series follows perpetually down-on-her-luck private investigator Dex Parios as she hunts for Baby, the prized guitar of Mim Bracca, the lead guitarist of rock sensation Tailhook. When the investigation runs afoul of skinhead drug dealers and the DEA it becomes apparent that more than the guitar is missing and that Dex might just be in over her head. And it's all kind of perfect. The story is exciting, the mystery is satisfying, and this volume of Stumptown swaggers with all of its trademark charm, smarm, and humour. It's an endlessly engaging, infectious read. It's also a really ballsy comic: there is a sequence in this comic that is both technically brilliant and just gonads to the wind, rock and roll, brave. It's a sequence that absolutely HAS to be seen. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of Mim and Tailhook, the stars of Rucka's novel A Fistful of Rain (probably my favourite Rucka novel). While The Case of The Baby in the Velvet Case contains all the narrative information you need, it was fun to see Mim and to view her through the lens of her prose depiction. Stumptown Vol. 2 is a fantastic comic and I still have absolutely no idea how this series isn't a much, much bigger deal than it is.

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