Ruse (comics)
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Ruse was a CrossGen comic book title. It ran for twenty-six issues from November 2001 to January 2004 before it was forced to end by the bankruptcy of CrossGen. The first half was written by Mark Waid and the last half by Scott Beatty; nearly the entire series featured pencils by Butch Guice. The series also had three spin-off issues, each called Ruse: Archard's Agents and all written by Chuck Dixon. The critically-acclaimed series was known for complex plots, the witty repartee between the two protagonists, and being of an unusual genre in comic books (Victorian-era detective fiction).
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[edit] Setting
The series takes place on the planet Arcadia, primarily in the fictional town of Partington, in a Victorian-era setting tinged with elements of magic and fantasy. The most visible difference from real London is that it has gargoyles which are regarded by the populace as creatures as commonplace as pigeons.
[edit] Characters
The series focused on two primary protagonists: Simon Archard and Emma Bishop. The relationship between the two attractive leads remains purely professional throughout the series and never becomes romantic, although the two share great chemistry and other characters make numerous innuendos about their relationship.
Simon Archard is a detective. He is a master sleuth and extremely competent. He has eidetic memory. He is feared by the criminals of Partington, and his presence apparently keeps the crime rate low. He is close to emotionless, remaining utterly calm in situations of crisis. He is also emotionally distant from other people. His character is based on Sherlock Holmes.
Emma Bishop is Simon Archard's assistant. She has mysterious magical powers which she is not supposed to use. Careful to maintain her identity, she conceals her powers (though it was revealed in the last issue of the series, #26, that Archard had secretly deduced her powers almost from the very beginning). The source of her abilities was never revealed in the series, though a reader familiar with the rest of the CrossGen Universe could deduce from her powers and her orange eyes that she was one of the guides that accompanied Sigil-bearers.
Miranda Cross is the antagonist of the series. She initially appears to be a beautiful baroness; however, it is revealed that she is evil, many centuries old, and from a different world. She also possesses magical powers which are at least the equal of and probably stronger than those of Emma Bishop. She is possibly a demon of some sort, though the exact nature of her identity is not resolved by the end of the series. Some readers consider her dialogue in Ruse #18 (April 2003) to possibly hint that she is a Negation Lawbringer.
[edit] Plot
While some issues were standalone issues in which Simon Archard and Emma Bishop solved some small mystery in Partington, most issues were concerned with the larger storyline running throughout the entire series.
This storyline focused on a mysterious artifact called the Enigmatic Prism, which incited evil desires, such as hate, lust, and a need to do violence, within people. Miranda Cross wanted the Enigmatic Prism to do evil with, and to use it to return to her homeworld. Simon Archard and Emma Bishop sought to destroy the prism, to prevent the artifact from causing further evil.
[edit] Collections
There have been a number of trade paperbacks collecting some of the issues:
- Enter the Detective (by Mark Waid, Butch Guice and Mike Perkins, collects Ruse #1-6, CrossGen, 160 pages, July 2002, ISBN 1-931484-19-8)
- The Silent Partner (by Mark Waid, Scott Beatty, Butch Guice, CrossGen, 160 pages, February 2003, ISBN 1-931484-48-1)
- Criminal Intent (by Scott Beatty, Butch Guice, Mike Perkins and Laura Depuy, CrossGen, 160 pages, July 2004, ISBN 1-931484-74-0)
[edit] Awards
The series has been nominated for five Eisners and has won a number of awards, including:
- 2002 Eisner Award for best coloring
[edit] Film
It was mentioned, in passing, that Siavash Farahani has written a Ruse film script for Disney. [1]
