Stumptown #1

I've only recently discovered Rucka throug Detective Comics. I can't wait to see what he does with a creator-owned series!

through*

Rucka is an excellent mystery/suspense writer and I think this will prove that even more.

Uh dude, you need to go pick up the Queen and Country Definitive Editions. They're thick, cheap, and really well produced. Also probably Rucka's greatest work.

Already read 'em all, and you are correct sir!!!!

I did not even realize this was in the works untill today! How awesome is that?

I am so very pumped.

@vadamowens

That was actually meant for J4K3. 

I see.  Sorry for the confusion.

I prefer to read Rucka in chunks but have no doubt that he won't disappoint.

The cover says Stumptown but in my head I keep calling it Slumptown. I don't know why.

@Vadamowens

Don't be sorry, you read it!

It's J4K3 who should be sorry. 

I'm really looking forward to this. 

Rucka sure loves the ladies...from Whiteout to Queen & Country to Wonder Woman to Gotham Central to Batwoman to this, it seems all of his definitive works have a female lead character. Its cool he can write a great series with a female lead, as im sure alot of comic fans know that they usually come few and far between.

 Rucka is also great at writing interesting down to earth and seedy crime stories, as this one seems to be an obvious home run for him.

Rucka also likes making a lot of his leading ladies lesbian, what does that say... hmmmm... ;)

@CGPO: What's your definition of "a lot"?

Does anyone remember the Rucka series he did with matthew clark from Topcow called Felon? It only lasted for like three issues and was never completed. It was fantastic. 

@CGPO are you saying that Rucka's a lesbian?

I'm saying he likes writing lesbians, and frankly, who doesn't?  And as for "a lot", I was being a smart-ass, he can write as many lesbians he wants, but dammit, I want more sex scenes! ;)

How disappointing.  I actually thought you were onto something with the Rucka/Lesbian thing. 

@vadamowens: Well he is married to a woman, so maybe he IS a lesbian!

Oh boy.

Lee Loughridge is colouring this? It may seem like a silly question but can someone comment on the colouring after they read it? I was dumb enough to move to a rural area where the nearest comic shop is 4 hours drive away...no more single issues for me :-(

My LCS didnt have this but i ordered it and should have it by next week, by latest two weeks from now. However this still might be my pick of the week because Ruckka never lets me down, and this just seems like something i would dig the hell out of.

This was great.  Definitly POW, though it didn't really have any competition.  Rucka's dialouge as always is great.

This WAS great.  Reminded me a lot of Criminal.  And, AND, there was lebsians!  Or lesbian rather. ;)

@CGPO

This doesn't really remind me of Criminal at all. It's much more laidback and television-like. 

Also kudos for giving so much content. I'd love to pay $4 for 35 pages of story and a page of extras with no ads for all of my books.

@miyamotofreak: visually you could hold Stumptown and Criminal side by side and they'd easily go together, both in art styles, colouring, heck even the lettering.  Actually, that's a great idea, Rucka and Brubaker should get together and create a giant crime comic/magazine that features full-length stories from each of them and back-up material.  I too was impressed by the page count, I hope the future issues keep that up (or offer back matter in their place).

jus got dun readin this book it was awesome so I had 2 make it my pick of week

Shop didn't get all the issues they ordered, so I have to wait until next week to read :-( 

Actually there was something strange about the lettering in this one. As for the book length, I think this is one of the longer ones but as long as it averages out at 30 pages, I'm happy.

My lcs was sold out last night. I'm hoping they get a re-order, cause it sounds like everyone is loving it.

I thought it was a very fun read. Definitely a long read (which is good) probably due to no ads!

This was great!  And I can't wait to see where it goes.  Good job Rucka.

My LCS was most likely sold out only 1 hour after opening, there was a gap in the S's right where Stumptown should have been. Guess I'll be waiting for the trade.

My LCS also sold out and is reordering.

My LCS didn't get this and my back-up LCS only had on copy come in, but I was able to snag it.

This was good, like watching The Rockford Files.

Damn, it's really sucky that a lot of LCS' didn't get any in or not enough.  I was worried mine wouldn't have enough (which would have meant a 5 minute walk to another LCS!), but they did and plenty of them.

I'm sooooo glad that this lived up to my expectations! It almost always takes a couple of issues for me to really like and care about a character. But, by the end of the story i really liked and cared about Dex. I could really see her becoming one of my favorite characters in comics today.  

Rucka has mentioned before how he wants this to be like The Rockford Files, etc. So it's really great that people are getting this vibe.

I absolutely loved this. Greg Rucka is a modern master, no doubt. 5/5.

This book was great. It definetly had the Scalped feel. I think people have compared the book to scalped in Oregon, which I think is a fair comparison based solely on the first issue.

Dex is a character I can learn to like. I thought Rucka did a great job of writing her dialogue for this issue.

 This may be my POTW just need to finish all my books.

This filled the Alias-sized hole in my heart very very well.  4/5 for me, really looking forward to seeing this series develop

Wow... this was an excellent surprise. What a great read. Pick of the week.

Not finished my books yet but amazing. If anything bad happens to her brother I'm going to be pissed!

This looks great but I think I'll wait for the trade.

@cutty
Damn, only 4/5? What does an issue have to do for a 5?

I approve.

Off the top of my head I can think of 5 leading women that Rucka has written...

Gotham Central +: Renee Montoya

Whiteout: Carrie Stetko

Detective Comics: Kate Kane

Stumptown:  Dexadrine

Queen & Country: Tara Chase

Now I'm sure he's written plenty more female characters than that, but that 3 of 5 of his largest profile female characters have been lesbian is an interesting thing to note.  So I'd call that  a lot.  There's a derth of interesting gay characters in comics, so I applaud his efforts to try to change that.  In particular I find it interesting that he chose to make Batwoman gay, since Kathy Kane was (according to Wikipedia) first introduced in the '50's as a love interest for Bruce Wayne to combat allegations that he was gay.  So let's not go overboard about getting touchy that people make note of the fact that a lot of Rucka's leading ladies are lesbian.  They are.  I recognize the historical gay-bashiness of fan sites, and the desire of the powers-that-be here to make sure this site doesn't fall prey to that, but let's not go to such an extent that we quash legitimate converstaion.

@JonSamuleson: You left out Wonder Woman, Elektra, Black Widow, Sasha Bordeaux, and Huntress.

Oh man, I wasn't even aware of this book. I looked at how many people gave it PotW, and now I'm going to have to hunt it down. I loved Queen and Country, and Rucka's not really done a duff book in a long while.

Loved this first issue and think Rucka has another hit on his hands.

And yet that leaves 3 out of 10 which is well beyond the 10% of the population estimates that I've heard.  Deny it all you want, but he does have a tendency to write homosexual females.  There's nothing wrong with that, but to argue otherwise is just disingenuous.  I don't want to turn it into a big thing, but I despise the degree to which sexuality is a taboo topic here.  It's NOT a big deal that Rucka writes lesbian characters, but he does do it.  To hell with it, it IS a big deal, and it's a good thing.  But to behave as though we should ignore it is just sad.  It's a legitimate avenue of conversation, and coming out and saying things, the way you have a tendency to do, that color people who make note of gay characters, is as bad if not worse, than mocking it.  Why shouldn't we discuss the sexuality of characters?  Kate Kane is gay.  That's interesting.  What does that choice mean in a literary sense?  It's no more or less interesting than that Superman isn't from Earth.  He's alienated, and all the more "human" because of it.