DC Comics
Greg Rucka (mostly), writer
Matthew Clark, Renato Guedes, Paul Pelletier, Karl Kerschl, Carlos D'Anda and Rags Morales, artists
Greg Rucka is a phenomenal writer, and he "gets" Superman and his supporting cast. The bulk of these issues, representing almost two years' worth of stories, detail a single, massive epic that stands up to repeated readings. Unfortunately, Rucka's narrative is also riddled with crossover interruptions that drag his work down.
Crossovers are a staple of the comics business built out of fan wish-fulfillment. What reader hasn't dreamed of favorite characters meeting and teaming up? And, when done right, they can be a true joy to read. But other times, they just seem to run off the rails leaving poor stories in their wake.
Rucka is a novelist and comics writer who had done a number of projects before 2000, but that was about the time he came to the attention of DC Comics and started leaving his mark on their Big Three and laying the groundwork for some of the major points in the DC Universe crossover Infinite Crisis. Rucka wrote a handful of issues of Batman and the majority of the issues of Detective Comics (Nos. 739-753 and 755-775) between 1999 and 2002. Following that work, Rucka was the writer of Wonder Woman (Volume 2, Nos. 195-226) from 2003-2006. One of the hallmarks of Rucka's runs on both Detective Comics and Wonder Woman was his focus on and additions to each character's supporting cast. No mere superhero-supervillain mashups, Rucka's stories focused on characterization, depth and involved long-term storytelling. His arcs built on each other allowing an overall narrative to emerge from his runs on a title.
The same goes for his time writing Superman in The Adventures of Superman from 2004-2006. One of the best things Rucka did with his run on this Superman title was to not forget Clark Kent. That might seem pretty basic, but a lot of writers who can turn out a very nice Superman story have no idea what to do with Kent. Rucka made Kent a very important part of his run on the title, and it made for better stories.
Rucka also added, once again, to Superman's -- or rather Kent's -- supporting cast. Kent is newly assigned to cover the police beat in Metropolis, and we meet two other reporters from rival publications also covering the Metropolis cops -- Bernie Carver with the Daily Star and Geraldine "Gerry" Frank with the Weekly. It is clear from the comfortable way they talk to each other that Carver and Kent are familiar with each other. Gerry is much younger, just out of journalism school, and has a bit of a chip on her shoulder when she and Kent first meet, but that eases with time and familiarity.
Another new character Rucka introduced is Lt. Lupe Leocadio, the new head of the Metropolis Major Crimes Unit. Lt. Leocadio makes it clear from her first encounter with Kent that she does not much like him. By contrast, she seems quite interested in Superman and is not at all shy about letting him know that. On the job, she is no-nonsense and also makes it very clear that even though she is attracted to Superman, she expects him to follow her lead at all times out in the field.
Rucka's first issue, No. 627, introduces these characters along with establishing Kent's current status quo. The action centers around the return of a villain Superman has fought previously, Replikon, who can imitate the powers of the entire Justice League. But it becomes clear from this first issue that something about Replikon's attack is not quite right. Leocadio is quick to dismiss his concerns, but Superman suspects someone else is directing Replikon's actions.
In the very next issue, Superman's suspicions are confirmed, when the name Ruin comes to Superman's attention. This is the mastermind behind Replikon's attack, but who is Ruin, how does he (or she) know so much about Superman and what is the final goal? Along the way, Rucka creates a few other new villains, including two new Parasites. And there is also an ongoing subplot involving Mr. Mxyzptlk. Believe it or not, Rucka treats the character seriously, and weaves Mxy's visits into the overall Ruin story to wonderful effect.
Rucka doesn't forget Superman's better half, either. Remember, back in the 2000s, Clark Kent and Lois Lane are married. Lois gets an interesting subplot involving war brewing in a fictitious Middle Eastern country named Umec. She convinces Perry White to send her there to dig up what she can, and Lois winds up embedded with a group of soldiers in the thick of the shooting!
All in all, this run adds up to brilliant writing through several interesting story arcs which can all be viewed as one massive epic. And the art! I wish Matthew Clark, who started out penciling the issues, could have stayed on for Rucka's entire run. His art at the beginning gives us a dynamic Superman, a sexy Leocadio and a truly horrifying Ruin, but he also does a masterful job on making all of the characters look distinct and real. There are a variety of body types and faces in his characters -- something comics, especially superhero comics, are not always known for. I'm not sure why Clark didn't stay with the book, and the art was still good when the others filled in and eventually took over, but its always nice to have a consistent look throughout an arc, especially when the artist is so good at his craft.
Alas, several other storylines involving crossovers big and small intrude on this excellent run, occassionally derailing Rucka's narrative. Rucka has almost the first entire year to himself, but then a Superman-centric crossover causes the first hiccup in Adventures No. 639. This is the second part of a three-part story called "Lightning Strikes Twice" featuring the evil Eclipso pitting Superman against Captain Marvel. The issue is written by Judd Winick, with Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund on art chores. The entire issue has nothing whatsoever to do with Rucka's ongoing story; I don't think it even mentions a single subplot. Yet there it is, smack in the middle of Rucka's run.
By Adventures No. 641, stirrings of both OMAC Project -- another Rucka book -- and Infinite Crisis -- a DC linewide crossover -- begin to make their presence known. Rucka is still writing Adventures for No. 641, but the inclusion of the OMACs is so heavy in this issue, and it comes just two issue's after Winick's interruption, that the OMACs still feel out of place in the Ruin story. Then, Nos. 642 and 643 are part of the "Sacrifice" storyline that ran through all of the Superman titles that month and serves as a prologue to Infinite Crisis. Rucka wrote all of the "Sacrifice" issues, they do include subplot developments from the Ruin story, and "Sacrifice" is a good story on its own, but it still serves to once again interrupt and sideline the Ruin story progress.
And then finally, Adventures No. 648, Rucka's last, is a full-on Infinite Crisis tie-in which has little to do with the Ruin story that precedes it.
Despite the flaws and interruptions, I still highly recommend the full Ruin epic by Rucka and Co.; it is a truly inspiring Superman story. But it could have been so much better without the distractions created by the crossovers and interruptions from the main story.
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