Metro Pulse/Pulp/Greg Rucka

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Thriller writer Rucka doesn't just stick to prose

by Paul Lewis

One of the great things about this gig is that I get the occasional good fortune of convincing Metro Pulse to let me review work by a writer I really, really dig in hopes of turning people onto said writer en masse. One such writer is Greg Rucka, the Portland, Ore.-based scribe with a reputation for telling powerful, complex tales with human emotion and political subtext as entangling as his plots. Besides his series of novels starring bodyguard Atticus Kodiak (a welcome and novel departure from acres of P.I.s, cops, and detectives proper), he is also a prolific writer of comic books that are as compelling as any story he tells without the use of pictures. Unlike many writers who keep fans waiting at least a year for a new installment, Rucka is available month after month, and rarely disappoints.

Critical Space (Bantam, $23.95) is Rucka's fifth and most recent Kodiak novel. It is the culmination and, in many ways, the redirection of an uncannily magnetic series that began with Keeper in 1996. Kodiak's travails in earlier books have granted him and his agency something of a celebrity status, which they broker into cushy, headline-grabbing jobs babysitting celebrities and "consulting." This doesn't sit will with Atticus, who is getting soft without honest work. The reappearance of Drama, an international assassin foiled by Kodiak in Smoker, the third novel in the series, forces Kodiak into physical and moral quandaries and widens the scope of the serial immensely, giving Atticus and company a global playground outside of the their New York base of operations.

Readers of the series won't be disappointed, because Rucka continues to grow his fleshed-out and very cool supporting cast. Although the plot of Critical Space is "bigger" than any two previous Rucka novels, which are largely successful because of their intimate feel, he ups himself admirably and changes Atticus in ways that cannot be ignored in future volumes. For thriller readers who enjoy the novelty of not knowing what's going to happen next, Rucka is the guy they should try.

Rucka's obvious predilection for international intrigue gets its heartiest workout in the comic book series Queen and Country. The collection of the first four-issue story arc, Operation: Broken Ground (Oni Press, $11.95), follows British Special Operations Officer Tara Chace during and after her assassination of a former Russian general who runs guns for the Russian mob in Kosovo. When the Russians decide to strike back on British soil, Tara becomes unwilling bait in a game of political one-upsmanship and interagency sparring.

Tara is the newest in a long line of strong Rucka female characters. She's dedicated wholeheartedly to her job as a "Minder," and to her country, yet you see the hollowness such a task carves from inside her. Each story arc is illustrated by a different artist, and Steve Rolston's cartoony style on Broken Ground is not the obvious choice for this real-world espionage potboiler, but his attention to detail and his ability to convince a reader that these could be real, albeit stylized, people, sells Rucka's narrative handily. Tara's adventures will ultimately become a "real" novel, so those prejudiced against illustrated works will still be able to enjoy this excellent story and character.

Rucka is probably best known among comic book readers through Detective Comics starring Batman (ending a roughly three-year run), and The Dark Knight does make an appearance in Rucka's original hardcover graphic novel Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia (DC Comics, $24.95). Batman pursues a young woman who has murdered a few Gotham City residents. He finds the woman hiding out under the protection of the Amazon Princess Diana herself, who is supplicated under the titular ritual, a complex life-bond overseen by the mythical Furies themselves, a ritual that, if broken or ignored by Diana, would result in a grave judgment against her. Wonder Woman must protect her supplicant while fending off the dogged Batman, and learn the ultimate price of tradition, law, and responsibility.

Rucka and artists J.G. Jones (pencils) and Wade Von Grawbadger (inks) perfectly translate the statuesque and noble Greek goddess made flesh with their take on Wonder Woman, a comic and cultural icon who usually proves difficult for contemporary writers and artists to translate. Is she a cheesecake icon in that costume, or a modern myth, making her way with a mission of peace in a modern world, or a kick-ass woman, or all of the above? And if all of the above, how does one juggle those pieces so that the character has true dramatic weight? Rucka's first take on Wonder Woman here shows he's up to the task of keeping all the chainsaws in the air, and he's rumored to soon be the regular writer on the character's monthly comic book.

Whatever medium he chooses to work in, Rucka is an exciting talent who proves that complex, multi-layered characters placed in intelligent, gripping stories told with clean, alluring prose (and/or snappy illustrations) will reward a reader every time. Rucka should be on the short list for anyone who enjoys a good page-turner that won't make you feel guilty.