Greg Rucka’s been keeping pretty busy over at Image with Lazarus and Black Magick, never mind popping over to DC for a Wonder Woman relaunch. What got Rucka started in comics doing espionage, not science fiction and fantasy.
First came Whiteout, a murder mystery in Antarctica drawn by Steve Lieber. You can get both volumes (there was a sequel to the original) for $3.99 a pop right now and it’s money very well spent.
Spinning out of Whiteout is the long-running espionage series Queen & Country, about an agent of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service as she gets her hands dirty “for Queen & Country.” There’s a strong influence from the 70s spy TV show, The Sandbaggers, which manifests itself in the form of backroom politics behind the missions. It’s a different flavor than you frequently see in espionage comics and Q&C was an early mover with that. Rucka also did a couple novels after the comic ended. Artists rotated in and out with the storylines, but the list includes Steve Rolston, Chris Samnee, Mike Norton and Carla Speed McNeil. At $1.99/volume, you can get two digital tpbs for the price of a floppy and that’s a helluva good deal for a classic comic that’s been out of the spotlight for awhile. Highly recommended for anyone who likes spies and thrillers.
Still one of my favourite comic series ever. A shame Rucka hasn’t taken the prose novels or restarted the comics (still lovely B&W please, with Steve Rolston, then Speed McNeil, then Chris Samnee… or Leandro Fernandez – can’t leave out anyone in this list!) with Tara as Head of Section. Always hope/pray. The best (although I like GR’s Atticus Kodiak just as much
The way things go these days, I have a feeling that if they ever wanted to “relaunch” Q&C, it would begin with a recoloring of the existing material, à la “Bone” or “Scott Pilgrim.”
I wouldn’t mind, so long as we were getting new material. Q&C is very good stuff, and I’m afraid it’s forgotten these days. I bet there’s a whole new audience for the book today that wasn’t reading comics back then. Hopefully, this sale helps bring the book to some of them.
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