Greg Rucka (born November 29, 1969) is an American crime novelist who wrote six novels featuring bodyguard
Atticus Kodiak before crossing over into comic books with
Whiteout and going on to write a highly respected run on
Wonder Woman and several
Batman and
Superman titles. His creator-owned
Queen and Country series is unusual in that he has written comics
and novels in the storyline. He is currently writing the creator-owned
Feudal Future Crapsack World Image Comics series
Lazarus (with his
Gotham Central collaborator Michael Lark) and a creator-owned series called
Black Magick with artist Nicola Scott (
Birds of Prey,
Teen Titans).
Works
Novels
Comic Books
Film
Frequently uses:
- Downer Ending: 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 Killed Off for Real. His run on Elektra ended with Elektra suddenly backsliding and dropping all the moral progress she'd slowly and painfully made for no apparent reason. This was rumoured to be due to Status Quo Is God editorial fiat.
- Killed Off for Real: 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...
- Myth Arc: The evolution of his "pet character" Sasha Bordeaux from a supporting character in his Batman run, through 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 Gotham Central, was Rucka's primary focus in 52 and then became The Question.
- Shoot the Dog: Almost all of his protagonists are called on to do this.
- Shown Their Work: 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 Detective Comics where Batwoman Katherine "Kate" Kane is discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He personally has trained as a fight choreographer and worked as an EMT for a time.
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Spiritual Successor: Tara Chace, the lead agent in Queen and Country, evolved from Lily Sharpe, the British spy in Whiteout. While Rucka once jokingly said that Lily was Tara using a fake name, he finally disavowed this possibility in the notes of the Queen & Country Definitive Edition, explaining that Tara did begin as a version of Lily, but became her own character as he fleshed her out. Queen and Country itself is an homage/reworking of The Sandbaggers. Stumptown is supposed be a modern take on The Rockford Files. Rucka's run on The Punisher (that commenced mid-2011) has also been not-unfavourably compared to his work on Gotham Central, due to its focus on the police that have to deal with the aftermath of the Punisher's "work".
