Abstract & arbitrary comic book reviews – Ruse (Crossgen Entertainment)

For the companion post (recommended) on how our dedicated reviewer managed to get his hands on this series of comic books click here or visit http://anirban1980.spaces.live.com

Ruse features detective Simon Archard and his ‘assistant’ Emma Bishop as they combat crime in the city of Partington, on the planet Arcadia. Partington is a city facing (among other threats) a gargoyle infestation- they fly around like pigeons and have eaten all the bats. Otherwise, Partington is a lot like Victorian-era London, Arcadia is a lot like Earth …. and yes, Simon Archard is a lot like Sherlock Holmes. He has his ‘razor-sharp’ mind, a network of agents (who may or may not know each other), a know–it-all attitude that borders on arrogance and the open support of Partington’s finest. Unlike Holmes, he appears to be a man of means, has his headquarters in a Cathedral, has volumes of books and old newspapers filed in a library and has the face and social skills (or lack thereof) of Bruce Wayne. He doesn’t carry a revolver and relies instead on a cane that apart from being used to counter a sword is seen to support a grappling line, acid and flash powder. Like Holmes, he confides in his assistant/partner (Emma Bishop) more on a need to know basis and on occasion, disappears without sharing his whereabouts.

Emma Bishop (the narrator) is a sorceress (Archard doesn’t know it… in fact nobody does) but she isn’t allowed to use her powers and on one occasion (conversation with an unseen person) refers to Simon Archard as her ‘student’. Go figure. She refers to herself as his partner, is a ‘proper’ Lady and performs an acrobatic save early in the first issue. Smarter than Watson, older than Robin, not a love interest (so far) and isn’t in awe of Simon’s powers of observation. I won’t put in any spoilers, but Emma seems to be the reason behind the title.

Its Written by Mark Waid. And its pretty Damn Good!

I may have bought the series by fluke and on the cheap (read companion post here) but that doesn’t take away anything from the quality of work on display. Where Waid scores is in getting Ruse to be anything but a Sherlock Holmes story in comic book form. My initial reservations about Ruse being a Sherlock Holmes rip off were put to rest in the first three pages, where Simon solves the murder of the banker in 3 panels and Waid doesn’t feel the need to get into the motives and the science of deduction. He chooses instead, to focus on Simon’s handling of the resulting hostage situation, Emma’s background as a sorceress and skills as an acrobat. Simon’s armchair exploits on other ‘baffling’ cases are largely restricted to the narrative or references thrown in by minor characters and the series continues (Batman style) on a more ‘villain driven’ story arc with plenty of action, witty dialogue and moderate detective skills present in each issue. The first story arc has the duo pitted against the baroness Miranda Cross – stranger in town with intentions of taking over the city via mind control.

The artwork is excellent (though I must confess thats not my area of expertise ). The landscape reading format (ie. you’re supposed to read panels from left to right across both pages before you move to the next row) takes a little getting used to. Mark Waid’s storyline moves forward smoothly and hardly any sections in the story appear unnecessary. The banter between the two protagonists throughout Waid’s run is one of the wittiest that I have ever read in a comic book (and that includes Buffy season eight). Waid’s ability to keep both Sherlock Holmes and Batman in the back of your mind while coming up with an original piece of work at the same time is commendable - the series has the look of a Sherlock Holmes novel but the adventure is more likely to appear in Batman’s resume. I would put this on a shelf right next to Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and while I make no attempt to compare the two (LOEG was supposed to be a limited series while Ruse was to be a continuing one) Alan Moore’s decision to leave out Sherlock Holmes seems to work in Ruse’s favor. Moore believed that keeping Sherlock in the ranks would take away the attention from the other illustrious members of the league (point well taken) and that creates the perfect spot for Simon Archard & Ruse – Victorian Era detective fiction with plot elements involving sorcery, mind control, vampires and vengeance – with a detective who believes only in science aided by a time stopping (but non interfering) sorceress. What Emma interprets as sorcery, Simon views as a combination of chemistry, magnetism and hypnosis and while LOEG climaxed on a ‘cordite powered’ airship Ruse’s first story arc has rather modest surroundings which are put to optimum use. My favorite set of issues had a ghost town, vampires, gypsies and a scantily clad Emma thrown in for good measure, dialogue involving impeccable powers of observation too weak to notice a moving train and the first appearance of the Consortium of Aggrieved Manservants - all while they are on the trail of Simon’s former partner Lightbourne, earlier presumed dead now among the living.

If I were to pick flaws in the series it would be the inconsistencies in Emma’s physical prowess (saves a hostage while jumping down and grabbing a grappling line in one motion in the first issue and has much less flattering acrobatic feats in future issues) and the degree of mystery solving involved, which IMHO is not consistent with the image portrayed in the narrative. Yup, thats about it.

Now for the sad part. I had a ‘missing reel’ moment after Chapter 9 thanks to unfortunate gaps in my purchase of EDGE comics (refer companion post here). Chapter 11 saw the city in ruins, gargoyles gone feral, an underwater lair and Scott Beatty replacing Mark Waid as writer. Mark Waid left Crossgen after 10 issues citing creative differences with Crossgen and was replaced by Scott Beatty (Batman). The banter between the protagonists didn’t appear in the remaining issues that I have in my possession. The series ran for 26 issues till Crossgen filed for bankruptcy. Issues 1-6 (Enter the detective) and 7-12 were also published in TPB form (so you need not buy more than a dozen issues of EDGE comics to get most of the series). Keep an eye out for Ruse#10 or EDGE #7, 10 & 13 for me please. I will hold you in high esteem.

Ruse has a wikipedia article on it. I looked it up only after I read the first story arc and that’s where I got most of the info on the creative team (other than Mark Waid… I know most of his work).

Written by Mark Waid (Kingdom Come, 52, Superman:Birthright, JLA, Fantastic Four, Batman)

Penciled by Butch Guice (Bunch of Marvel & Stuff including Micronauts, X-Men, Superman)

Coloured by Laura DePuy (Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, JLA, Serenity – Those left behind)

Inked by Michael Perkins (Judge Dredd, 2000 AD, misc. Dark Horse/Marvel/DC)

Wikipedia tells me that Ruse was nominated for 5 Eisner awards and won for Best Coloring, but doesn’t mention that 2002 was a rather competitive year… which included among the other nominees mentioned here, Spider-Man’s Morlun saga (winner: Best Serialized story). Here are the other nominees - winners in bold and marked with *.

Best Continuing Series

Finder, by Carla Speed McNeil (Lightspeed)

100 Bullets, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso (DC/Vertigo) *

Planetary, by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (DC/Wildstorm)

Queen & Country, by Greg Rucka and Steve Rolston (Oni)

Ruse, by Mark Waid, Butch Guice, and Michael Perkins (CrossGen)

Best Writer

Brian Azzarello, 100 Bullets, Hellblazer (DC/Vertigo)

Brian Michael Bendis, Powers (Image); Alias, Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel) *

Grant Morrison, FF 1234, New X-Men (Marvel)

Greg Rucka, Queen & Country (Oni); Detective Comics (DC)

Mark Waid, Ruse (CrossGen)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

John Cassaday, Planetary (DC/Wildstorm)

Butch Guice, Ruse (CrossGen)

Gene Ha/Zander Cannon, Top 10 (ABC)

Humberto Ramos/Sandra Hope, Out There (DC/Wildstorm)

Eduardo Risso, 100 Bullets (DC/Vertigo) *

Francois Schuitten, Brusel (NBM); Nogegon (Humanoids)

Best Coloring

Edgar Delgado/Studio F, Out There (DC/Wildstorm)

Laura DePuy, Ruse (CrossGen), Ministry of Space (Image) *

Patricia Mulvihill, Wonder Woman (DC), 100 Bullets (DC/Vertigo)

Jose Villarrubia, Fantastic Four 1234 (Marvel)

Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #15 (Fantagraphics)

Best New Series

Private Beach, by David Hahn (Slave Labor)

Queen & Country, by Greg Rucka and Steve Rolston (Oni) *

Ruse by Mark Waid, Butch Guice, and Michael Perkins (CrossGen)

The Sandwalk Adventures, by Jay Hosler (Active Synapse)

True Story, Swear to God, by Tom Beland (Clib’s Boy Comics)

Pearls before Swine - 28/11/07

Midnight Watch: Air Force Two

‘Air Force Two’ doesn’t star Lesley Nelson… I must admit that is a bit of a let down…and it doesn’t fall under the comedy/spoof genre. Not intentionally anyway. Its (like you haven’t figured that out yet) a plane crash/hostage drama involving the Vice-President of the United States who happens to be Mr. Tough Guy when he’s not sitting in office doing nothing. So is it worth a watch? Absolutely!

Assuming of course that you like watching low budget direct to DVD movies filmed with one camera. This one’s a bonus - end credits state that the movie was filmed with TWO cameras (cameras A and B each with their own camera operators) and THREE assistant directors (I guess one for the stock footage, one for the office settings and one for the backyard shoots) and a lead actress who looks very familiar. The plot is fairly simple - US Vice -President stranded on island inhabited by mercenaries hired to overthrow government of Latin American banana republic only Mr. VP is a tough guy who served during Operation Desert Storm and has feisty female secret service agent for company (who served with him in the war) .

I missed the opening credits (along with the first half hour) and managed to catch the name of the movie just as it went into a commercial break…so it was fun trying to guess who the Vice President really was…though I still don’t have a clue how all of them managed to get into military gear following a plane crash on an island occupied by Latin American guerrillas being led by an American mercenary and I’m a little grey about whether they landed on the island by accident or if their plane was shot down. All in all, it was your perfect low budget cliche driven badly scripted backyard scenery dependent low IMDB rated handycam filmed movie. Ok…maybe they weren’t using a handycam…but it still had that amateurish effect… and I relished the director’s failed attempt to make the same spot look like three different film locations.

Saving Grace - well…for some reasons, one of the rebels seemed to be addressed as ‘Patel’ or maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention…and this piece of dialogue:

Villain to Vice President : “Come, lets have a drink”

VP: “I don’t usually drink with thieves and murderers”

Villain: ” What…you don’t have a drink with your friends in the American Congress?”

VP: ” I said usually.”

IMDB tells me that the original name of the flick is “In her line of fire” and has it tagged under “Lesbian Kiss” which was something the censorship at Star Movies got rid off. Guess the kiss was what jacked up the rating to 3.2 on IMDB in the first place. I’d tag it as “How to depict an fiery explosion on screen when all your budget allows you is a matchbox”

Maybe I should just sleep next time. Thats what I usually do at midnight. I said usually.

Bheja Fry

The movie is a hit. At least thats what Bharath told me in the mail that he sent across a while ago. As for me…I saw it last week (after we failed to get tickets the week before) and had a great time laughing and pointing out his name in the end credits. For those who came in late….

1. Bheja Fry - Offbeat Bollywood movie thats running to packed houses in Bombay.
2. Chief Assistant Directors (”CAD”)- Guys who do all the work that the directors eventually get all the credit for.
3. CAD of Bheja Fry - Bharath Murthy
4. Bharath Murthy - Old friend of mine who blogs as ‘the Actionist’ on this page (refer - cinema as commodity) and link to his blog on the right.

Way to go dude. Now try posting some of your documentaries on youtube.

Squirrels are Vermin, Too, I Swear

OK, so they’re not rats. Rats are worse. I’m not denying that. Yet. But when Anirban posted about the disturbing upward rat trend in Bombay, I got to thinking about the squirrel problem in my neighborhood.

Somebody on Google Answers estimates an over 1-billion squirrel population in the U.S., which makes for about 3 squirrels per person. But that includes places like Hawaii where there are no squirrels at all (caution: just made that up), and lots of undeveloped, woodland areas, where 1 or 2 squirrels may roam far and have all the territory they want, and there aren’t millions of Big Mac wrappers and bread crumbs on the streets to sustain a population boom like we have near my house.

The most recent squirrel-trauma I experienced was the unexpected explosion of a squirrel from my garbage can. I approached can, garbage in hand, and opened the lid only to have a squirrel—from inside the can, mind you—fly out at my face at high velocity. Luckily, I protected myself my flinging my garbage in a circle around the back-yard, but it was an all-around close call.

Both the apartments upstairs in our house have had multiple forced-entry squirrel invasions. I’m not joking around here. Teams of squirrels have gnawed through the window-screens and gone traipsing around the apartments, burglarizing whatever they want at all hours.

So I present to you:

1. Rodents
2. Who are dirty and go through the garbage
3. Who gnaw through things with sharp, hard teeth
4. Who steal food from your house
5. Whose numbers grow like that other great human plague, the bunnies

What’s the difference? Furry tail v. naked tail? Big effin’deal, I say. Add to the squirrel column their ability to live in the trees and to fly, and they might even be worse than the rats.

Breakfast of champions

Be seeing you Johnny

Click here for bio and here for wikipedia entry.

Wealth and Fame, he’s ignored…

…Ok…maybe only wealth…no wait…the movies are blockbusters …and with Sony backing him, I guess he’s even got an edge over Bruce Wayne. Guess at the end of the day, nothing’s ignored.

Anyway, if anyone had any doubts about who’s the coolest superhero on the planet, this just about ends it. Eat your heart out Hellboy!

Not every character can boast of something like this after a clone saga and a Straczynski retcon. Go Spidey!

Creature feature

For those of you who haven’t been in touch with the ‘real’ news lately…please be informed that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (“BMC”) estimates that there are approximately 5-6 rats for every human being living in Bombay. No…they have no plans of giving them away. Yet.

I know… scared the shit out of me too. I can deal with one rat if armed with a club (a large one with long handle…eg a cricket bat/ stump), two if I’m in good shape and really pissed and maybe three if I’ve just read the Conan the Barbarian omnibus…but six reminds me of the scene in The Bone Collector. I know what you’re thinking… why would the rats want to eat me? Well…its because there was another (scary) article a couple of days back about the rats in a hospital in Sion…or to be more specific - (as there are lot of people in a hospital and an average of six rats to go with each) - the rats that inhabit the morgue and post-mortem areas. These rats have been eating people. Dead, mutilated and cut open people right now…but as any horror movie will tell you…they’ll graduate to living people the moment a trainee doctor/surgeon accidentally cuts his hand and drops his scalpel in the least accessible corner of the room.

Tip for human beings living in Bombay: When the BMC decides to hand over your share of the rats…just make sure none of them are from Sion. I suggest you go for the ones from the granaries (we can safely assume they’re vegetarian) or the ones from the dockyard (you may end up with an exotic variety that you can sell on e-bay).

In all fairness, the BMC is doing something about this. A fumigation drive is on. I looked up fumigation on Wikipedia. This is what I got.

Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides to suffocate or poison the pests within. It is utilized for control of pests in buildings (structural fumigation), soil, grain, and produce, and is also used during processing of goods to be imported or exported to prevent transfer of exotic organisms. Structural fumigating techniques differ from building to building, but in houses a rubber tent is often placed over the entire house while the pesticides are being released into the residence. This concentrates the gases as well as keeps them from escaping and doing harm to people in the neighborhood. During this time the residents of the house must find an alternate residence for up to a week depending on the fumigmant used, which in turn depend on the severity of infestation and size of the house.

Most fumigants are highly toxic to people, and there are many deaths each year.

The rest of the article went on to describe the types of fumigant used and ozone depletion. As expected, there was no mention of the toxic effects of the fumigants on rats. The BMC on its part has not issued a statement on their plans for alternative housing to (90,000,000/ 6) human beings or any plans to set up a big rubber tent across the city (hmm…that may also handle the monsoon trouble and work as an alternative for the new storm water drains the city cannot afford). So if the rats you see on the street look a little doped up and appear to be squeaking an old Nirvana tune, you know the reason.

Recommended reading:

Graveyard Shift - Stephen King

Domain - James Herbert

Rats (1995) - Anirban Banerji (Where’s damn manuscript??)

Newspaper article on Bombay rats

Newspaper article on those hospital rats

Wikipedia article on fumigation