Crime novelist who wrote several novels featuring bodyguard AtticusKodiak before crossing over into comic books with ''{{Whiteout}}'' and going on to write a highly respected run on ''WonderWoman'' and several {{Batman}} and {{Superman}} titles. His ''ComicBook/QueenAndCountry'' series is unusual in that he has written comics ''and'' novels in the storyline.
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!!Frequently uses:
* ActionGirl: Notable in the comic-book industry for usually using female protagonists.
* AuthorAppeal: Strong girls. [[LesYay Lesbianity optional]].
* BittersweetEnding
* DarkAndTroubledPast
* DoingItForTheArt: Particularly ''ComicBook/QueenAndCountry'', which doesn't sell as well as his mainstream comics work but is clearly a labor of love.
* DownerEnding: Every one of the Atticus Kodiak, except Smoker, ends with a downer ending, and all of those except for the second and final novels end with a major supporting character being KilledOffForReal.
* KilledOffForReal: It is really not healthy to be a supporting character in one of Rucka's personal works, but especially in an Atticus Kodiak novel; by the final book of the series only three or four of the once sizable supporting cast are left alive (and Bridget Logan arguably doesn't count, since she was the protag of her own novel). And then there's Queen & Country...
* MythArc: The evolution of his "pet character" Sasha Bordeaux from a supporting character in his {{Batman}} run, through ''[[InfiniteCrisis The OMAC Project]]'', to starring in ''{{Checkmate}}''.
** Also, Renee Montoya who first was used during the No Man's Land arc in ''Batman'' as a supporting character, became a major character in ''GothamCentral'', was Rucka's primary focus in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' and then became TheQuestion.
* ShootTheDog: Almost all of his protagonists are called on to do this.
* ShownTheirWork: Rucka is noted for extensive research and background work, particularly in police procedure, international politics and mythology. He also consulted with Dan Choi for the issue of ''DetectiveComics'' where {{Batwoman}} Katherine "Kate" Kane is discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Tara Chace, the lead agent in ''ComicBook/QueenAndCountry'', evolved from Lily Sharpe, the British spy in ''{{Whiteout}}''. ''ComicBook/QueenAndCountry'' itself is an homage/reworking of ''TheSandbaggers''. ''{{Stumptown}}'' is supposed be a modern take on ''TheRockfordFiles''.
** Rucka's run on ThePunisher (that commenced mid-2011) has also been not-unfavourably compared to his work on GothamCentral, due to its focus on the police that have to deal with the aftermath of the Punisher's "work".
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