Rucka's Lucky Streak

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Monday, July 23, 2001

Greg Rucka is one of the hardest working men in comics, having penned the two hugely successful Oni Press WHITEOUT mini-series as well as the new espionage title, ,QUEEN AND COUNTRY, also from Oni. Now Rucka a novelist who found himself writing comics that encompass everything from iconic superheroes like Batman to his own creations like secret agent Tara Chace is taking his talents to Hollywood with development deals that may bring both QUEEN star Chace and US Marshal Carrie Stetko of WHITEOUT to life.

In addition to those titles, Rucka also writes Batman in DETECTIVE COMICS and will tackle other superheroes like Elektra and Wonder Woman in the near future. Some might think there's a difference in the way he would approach writing these larger than life icons, but Rucka disagrees.

"Once you get a grip on the person, the story is about the person," said Rucka in an exclusive interview at the San Diego Comic-Con. "It doesn't matter if that person can fly or not. There are certain universal things. They all know what it's like to be lonely, to be scared, to be in love with someone who doesn't love them back. Those are emotional truths, and everybody can relate to that."

Rucka admits that there is a potential exception or two. DC's overgrown boy scout, Superman, is difficult to write given his seeming invulnerability. According to Rucka, you just have to dig deeper to find the humanity within him.

"Superman is exceptionally difficult to write, but he's a pussycat. You can't hurt him physically, but you can devastate him emotionally. That's the heart of a good Superman story, and that's why somebody like Jeph Loeb is so good at writing Superman, he understands that."

Rucka also understands how to write for comics, and he certainly has plenty of them on his plate. He doesn't draw the line at writing for the DC Universe superheroes either.

"I'm working on a BLACK WIDOW mini-series with the new Black Widow and [artist] Greg Horn. It's for the Marvel MAX line. She has to investigate the murder of someone who trained her and discovers he was heavily into the Moscow bondage scene."

If readers think this means a series loaded with sexually titillating material, Rucka says to think again.

"You're not going to see her running around naked. If you want to see Black Widow tied up, read the old Marvel Comics. She was caught a whole lot! That's not what this about. We're dealing with mature material and mature themes."

Rucka also assumes the writing chores for ELEKTRA following Brian Michael Bendis' six issue run that launches the title. Does he feel the weight of living up to Frank Miller's version of the character as Bendis has suggested?

"No, I ignore it," Rucka replies. "You can't hold yourself up to Frank, it's going to paralyze you. It's like holding yourself up to Alan Moore. Frank Miller does what he does better than anybody else can. I can't write like him and I'm not going to try. I can't write like Brian, you know?"

Wonder Woman/Batman and Elektra/Wolverine graphic novels the latter featuring artwork by famed Japanese artist Yoshitaka (G-FORCE) Amano are also on Rucka's ever-growing list of things to do. He also has a DC project planned with Ed Brubaker that is currently hush-hush.

"It'll be very very cool but I can't talk about it now. It looks like it'll be an ongoing monthly."

"The two babies I'm real protective of right now are QUEEN AND COUNTRY, which I love, and FELON with Matthew Clark for the Minotaur imprint of Top Cow. She's a felon. She is not nice. She steals things for a living and she doesn't like you! The ad copy says 'Forget the girl, she's just bad.'"

As if all that isn't enough, Rucka will also be continuing his stint on Batman with DETECTIVE COMICS, and he is predictably guarded about revealing too much about plans for that title.

"We have the "Fugitive" storyline and I'm loathe to give anything away about it, because it'll diminish it. It's really good and we're really proud of it. It starts with the ten cent adventure and will carry through the majority of 2002. It has some crackerjack writers on it. It's got Devon Grayson and Ed Brubaker and Chuck Dixon and Kelly Pucket."

Rucka assures fans that if they like what's going on in the Batman books so far, they'll like this too. He also suggests reigning in any exaggerated reactions to the storyline.

"People get nervous. They see the cover for "Officer Down" and they go 'Oh, they're going to kill Gordon!' Guys, shut up, sit down and wait until the story's done!"

There's the distinct sense that Rucka is keenly aware of any negative reaction to his work on a classic character like Batman, and he's not shy about explaining his feelings on the matter.

"It's been said there are no comic book fans, there are only people who want your job. And there are times when it feels like that. But you know what? I'm a professional writer. I do this for a living. I do it well enough that I don't have to do anything else. This is not my second job. I am considered by many people to be pretty good at what I do. Whether or not I am that good remains to be seen. I may be out of work in a year."

"Right now, DC is paying me and Ed and Devon and Chuck and Kelly to take care of a very important character. So trust us, we love these characters as much as the fans do. We would take a bullet for them, and they don't exist! There's no faster way to get one of us riled up than if we hear somebody dissing the character. You can dis the writing all you like, but don't go after the character! We care about them!"

Although he has his talents set on a wide variety of comic book projects, Rucka still plans to continue writing novels. His series of critically-acclaimed books about bodyguard Atticus Kodiak will continue with a fifth installment, and he may even pen a book based on Tara Chace from QUEEN AND COUNTRY before returning once more to the Kodiak series. With comics, books and films on the horizon, Rucka is building a multimedia empire based on solid storytelling and dynamic characterization. For Rucka himself, the scope of his work has thrown his career into much sharper focus.

"I used to think I was primarily a novelist, but I'm not. I'm primarily a writer. I write for a living."