Queen and Country: The Greg Rucka thread. . .

I've read a couple of his novels, but his next novel is about Tara Chace, the protagonist of his comic QUEEN AND COUNTRY. Early word on the book, called A GENTLEMAN'S GAME is great: "It's so friggin' action-packed that I'm getting bruised just reading the damned thing. This is one seriously kick-ass book. Man, that boy Rucka can write! Anyway, put this one on your list." So it's on my list. But I'm considering reading the comics before I read the book. And I want to know if they're good enough to warrant my time and money. There's a paucity of reviews online, and while they're overall extremely positive, I thought I'd check in with you guys. So: any advice?

 

Oh, man, I love Rucka's work. It's always great to have a published novelist work in comics - really gives the industry some credibility.

I read his excellent novelization of the "Batman: No Man's Land" arc, and was a fan ever since. I've been reading his runs on Wolverine, Gotham Central and Wonder Woman. I'd like to go back and read some of his Detective Comics stuff...

Never got around to reading any of his indie work, though. Queen & Country sounds pretty good, from what I hear!

 

Whoa, a thread about Greg Rucka, my idol!

I haven't really read any of his novels, aside from the novelization of the "No Man's Land" arc from Batman comics. Great novel, one of the best novels I've ever read. I try to find his other novels, but alas, the crappy book stores in my country are rather unreliable.

How works in comics, though, is one I'm very familiar with. His contributions in Batman comics...man I haven't seen anyone like this since Dennis O'Neil (whom Rucka respectfully calls "The Master"). He's not perfect certainly (I hated the "Bruce Wayne Murderer/Fugitive" arcs, Rucka and a lot of my other favourite comic writers dissapointed me), but he's better than the rest. The only Batman comic (aside from a certain spin-off) that I'm reading these days is Rucka's "Death and the maidens".

However, his best contribution is to create (along with co-writer Ed Brubaker and artist Michael Lark) the spin-off comic "Gotham Central", showing Gotham from the perspective of normal cops. This is Gotham in the post Jim Gordon era, where the police once again are resentful of Batman's influence yet at the same time have to painfully acknowledge that they are ill equipped to handle the "freaks". Rucka's five part arc about Detective Renee Montoya ("Half a Life" is the title of the arc) is a must-read! Absolutely amazing, I cried (yes, I actually shed tears!) at the ending. Brubaker's stories are great too, the two writers work great together.

His other major work for DC is Wonder Woman (though I heard somewhere he might even tackle Superman!). I haven't seen his work in the regular WW comics, but I have the graphic novel "Wonder Woman: Hiketeia". Well, the Wonder Woman parts are nice, but I hate crossovers (this one is a crossover with Batman) so I didn't enjoy it all that much. Still, Rucka's Wonder Woman seems infinitely better than msot of the rest who have never really gave this comic an authentic Greek feel to it (Rucka seems to really like the Meditrenean girls. Aside from Wonder Woman and Elektra, both Greek women, he was also involved in giving Huntress/Helena Bertinelli, an Italian, a new origin story in the 'Batman/Huntress' mini-series, still one of my fave Rucka comics).

His work with Marvel is enjoyable too, though less consistent. The "Elektra: Introspection" arc was great, but the follow-up was kinda dissapointing. Similarly, his works for the Wolverine comic also has its ups and downs.

I have only one "Queen and Country" issue so far, it's great! Alas, I can't find more (as I mention, the bookstores here are unreliable ).

Did I mention I consider this guy my idol, my God of Comic Writers?

 

..Rucka's work in No Man's Land is what got me back into Batman for a brief period..

One issue in particular was the hooking point:

Though, darnit, at this point in time, i can't remember the exact issue number, it was an issue of "Batman" that focused near-exclusively on the Huntress, and saw her facing off against the Joker alone...

Probably my favourite issue of any comicbook ever..

MAN could Rucka write The Huntress (a character i could give two darns about, before he wrote her)


His "Huntress" miniseries is, of course, worth a look, as is the majority of his run on "Detective" (where he actually did some interesting things in the way of bringing in some interesting new supporting cast members, such as Sasha Boudreaux)


"Queen and Country" is decent enough, though i must say it didn't hold my attention as deftly as the Batman stuff did...

 

Rucka's work in No Man's Land is what got me back into Batman for a brief period

There are a lot of people who felt this way. Me, I didn't touch a comic for a loooong time until I found Rucka's NML novelization. Then, I searched for the NML comics and have returned to comics ever since.

Though, darnit, at this point in time, i can't remember the exact issue number, it was an issue of "Batman" that focused near-exclusively on the Huntress, and saw her facing off against the Joker alone...

Ah, that one was during the NML finale, no? If I remembered correctly, Joker wanted to get some babies for his little "joke" but Huntress faced-off against him and was shot repeatedly. I always read that part while listening to the music used while Boromir was shot by the orc in the FOTR movie

MAN could Rucka write The Huntress

I always thought Rucka was somehow comfortable writing women. There's Huntress, there's villain Nyssa in "Death and the maidens" (and also Al Ghul's daughter Talia), he also writes Elektra, Wonder Woman, Oracle/Barbara Gordon (in the NML novel), even Renee Montoya and Captain Sawyer in 'Gotham Central'. And of course, Tara in 'Queen and Country'. However, I've always felt that Sasha was one of Rucka's rare failures in writing women characters (though then again, I pretty much criticize every aspect of 'Murderer/Fugitive').

Not to say that he can't write men (his characterizations of Batman, Jim Gordon, even Wolverine are very enjoyable) but he's much much better with women.

 

Greg Rucka will be writing 'the Adventures of Superman' starting with issue # 627 (I think) which comes out in about 2 weeks.

 

Rucka is better at writing women. In his Atticus Kodiak novels, which I've been reading, his women are a lot more real and interesting than his men, for the most part.

 

I wonder how much luck he'll have writing Superman. The last time I touched a Superman comic was an issue of the 'Birthright' arc, which was basically a rip-off of Loeb's "Superman of all seasons" and the TV series 'Smallville' (also inspired by SOAF). Heh, maybe he can do something about Lois.

I still don't have much luck finding his novels, though

 

I've read now just about every comic Rucka's had collected in TPB . . . except the Batmans. I'll pick up Evolution and Death and the Maidens one of these days.

I hear his Superman is now the official Superman origin story? Is that true? And is it any good?

Anyway, he's done the first Q&C novel for sure; it's coming out in September. Now he's getting working on the second one. And the next Queen and Country TPB comes out this month, Operation Dandelion. Can't wait.

 

I've read now just about every comic Rucka's had collected in TPB . . . except the Batmans. I'll pick up Evolution and Death and the Maidens one of these days.

If you want Rucka's best work for Batman, look out for the 'No Man's Land' (NML) TPBs. There are five volumes, Rucka writes from volume 2 onwards (the last volume is mostly Rucka, with contributions from Devin Grayson and Jordan Gorfinkel). 'Evolution' is great too, but since it's directly after NML I think it's better to read the NML TPBs or Rucka's novelization of the arc. Otherwise there'd be some confusion.

'Death and the Maidens'...I'm conflicted on this one. On the one hand, the flashbacks and the villain Nyssa are bloody awesome. But then Rucka sort of screws up towards the end with a needless crossover that spoiled the focus of the story. Then again, I hate crossovers with other characters outside the 'Bat-world', so maybe it's just my bias.

As for me, the latest Rucka work I've bought is the 'Gotham Central' TPB, a collaboration with fellow Bat-writer Ed Brubaker and artist Michael Lark. Even though I already have the individual issues, I still felt compelled to buy the TPB, and there are some bonusses which make it worth my money (such as some extra sketches by Lark and an intro by writer Lawrence Block who wrote a wonderful post-9/11 New York novel called "Small Town"). I hope they have another Gotham Central TPB for Rucka's "Half a Life" arc.

 

I read the NML novelization; haven't done that, I can't really afford to buy five TPBs of essentially the same material.

And I'm definitely going to be picking up Gotham Central.

 

I read the NML novelization; haven't done that, I can't really afford to buy five TPBs of essentially the same material.

Essentially the same material....well, yes and no. Some of it is the same in both TPBs and novel. However there are some that Rucka couldn't fit into the novelization, but I suppose the important ones are in there. And honestly I liked the novelization more than the comics (I'd rather have my own images from my imagination rather than the inconsistent artwork in the TPBs ) Still, if you can get them for free or a discount or something, by all means check them out.

And speaking of NML, I still wish they allowed Rucka and Grayson to make Jim Gordon killing Joker. If there's anyone who deserves to kill him, it'd be Jim Gordon. Oh well, can't really complain since Rucka and Brubaker used Joker to good effect in 'Gotham Central'

 

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Rucka is better at writing women. In his Atticus Kodiak novels, which I've been reading, his women are a lot more real and interesting than his men, for the most part.[/b][hr][/blockquote]Undoubtedly some of that moxie rubs off from his wife, Jen Van Meter. His command of dialogue (both in his prose and four-color) is comparable to that of, say, Bendis's or Ellis's, but his pacing rhythms are far, far apart; [i]Queen and Country[/i] seems heavily influenced by the British TV series [i]The Sandbaggers[/i].

Incidentally, his [i]Whiteout[/i] and [i]Felon[/i] books are also both well worth one's reading-lifespan.

 

I've read the Whiteout books. Any idea when or if Felon will be collected into a Trade?

 

You know, I haven't heard yet on that, one way or the other. Since the series was essentially truncated after its conceptual phase, and due to a few other factors (the TeeVee rights being tied up, for one), it might not make it for a while.

 

Ah, I found this thread once more. Just wanted to say that Rucka's work for Gotham Central #25 was awesome, his best work since the 'Half-a-life' arc (though issue #25 sadly is the last time Michael Lark will be the main artist for GC, he's moving on to work exclusively for Marvel. Sigh...stupid DC!). And now that Brubaker's arc for #26 and 27 is finished (it featured Catwoman), Rucka will start the new arc for GC. After that the two writers will write together for the next arc, probably.

Anyway, I'm still waiting for the TPB for the 'Half-a-life' arc (last time I heard, it's coming out in the summer). Yeah, I brought the regular issues, but I'm still buying the TPB, maybe I'm just crazy I'm actually hoping Rucka might write an intro or an epilogue explaining his feelings about making this rather controversial storyline, I remember there was massive condemnation and arguments in the official Gotham Central forum when this arc came out (while both Brubaker and Lark came out to defend the arc, Rucka was surprisingly absent, therefore I would very much love to hear his thoughts on the matter). Anyhow, despite (or perhaps because) of the controversy, Rucka and Lark won an award for the arc.

 

I got the No-Man's Land novel as a gift a couple of years ago,have yet to read it though.

 

If anyone's interested, the next Queen & Country novel comes out in October.

 

Well, if there's anyone out there reading 'Gotham Central' (aside from me ), Rucka is now the sole writer for GC. Ed Brubaker followed Michael Lark and got an exclusive deal with Marvel.

Damn, I knew GC would die eventually, but not this soon. Rucka doing it alone won't be the same, the collaboration with Brubaker is an essential part of this comic (even if I like Rucka more than Brubaker, they're still a team!). Oh well, perhaps Rucka can wrap things up, I certainly don't want it cancelled in the middle of an arc. Though that's the likely scenario.

Sigh...well, looks like in a few months, I'll stop reading comics altogether.

 

Ah, found this thread once more. I read somewhere that Rucka's "Gotham Central: Half a life" TPB is out, but I can't find it anywhere here! Grrrrr!

[image=http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1401204384.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg]

 

So, has anyone else been reading OMAC?

 

...i got Part I, and quite enjoyed it.. Haven't been to the comicshop in two weeks. Did Part II finally come out?

 

FINALLY!!!!

Damn, this has been a good week! Not only is 'Batman Begins' coming out, but at last, I finally got Gotham Central: Half a Life TPB. Still a wodnerful story, I still cry at the end.

But what really made this worth the price for a Rucka fan like me was an introduction by Rucka, talking about how he came to writing Batman comics and explaining how he came about writing the controversial 'Half a Life' arc and commenting about how he and artist Michael Lark were condemned by some fans. To be fair, I think Rucka and Lark were rather naive to think there wouldn't be some sort of fuss about the whole thing. Overall though, thank you Mr Rucka, this intro was exactly what I wanted for this TPB!

Also included are some bonus stories that ties into the plot of 'Half a Life' a story about GCPD Detective Renee Montoya and...ah well, don't want to spoil anyone! Just go get it, dammit!

Again, thank you Mr Rucka!

 

The other day, I read 'A Gentleman's Game', the Tara Chance novel. Very nice, though it's still a far cry from Rucka's NML novelization. My fave part was Tara's assignment killing the terrorist and she killed the terrorist (and a Saudi prince) in a mosque!

 

Just so you know, the second Tara Chase novel, Private Wars, is already out.