And then there's "Frank Ironwine," by Warren Ellis and Carla Speed McNeil. Warren certainly does seem to like writing about gritty, flawed characters who have nothing left to lose and are willing to place everything on the line, which is exactly what the titular hero of the series does. A raging drunk and a brilliant forensic detective, Frank Ironwine spends half of his time employing his incredible deductive powers to solve crime, and the other half drinking himself literally into a dumpster. Wheeeee. He's accompanied by a naive, by-the-books rookie who's got a lot to learn, but who stands her ground and dishes out the guff just as unflinchingly as the hero. It is mandatory that these two characters be placed together, due to the terms established at the Stockholm Convention for the Use of Stock Characters.