Of all the comic books I was reading in the 2010s, “Stumptown” would not have been high on my list of the most likely to get a TV adaptation. But the charming private-investigator series by writer Greg Rucka and artists Matthew Southworth and Justin Greenwood turned out to be the perfect source material for an equally charming ABC crime procedural.
Starring Cobie Smulders as Portland-based private detective Dex Parios, “Stumptown” aired for just a single season starting in 2019, with a planned second season ultimately canceled because of COVID-related delays. It’s now a hidden gem in one of the most durable TV genres, and with the recent success of shows like “Tracker” and “High Potential,” it’s primed for rediscovery by fans of quirky detective series.
