Ruse v. 1: Enter the Detective [Paperback]

Mark Waid (Author), Butch Guice (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ruse | Publication Date: July 3, 2002

The world no longer holds any mysteries for Simon Archard, the greatest detective of his age. The stupidity of the common criminal, the ease with which he’s caught, the paltry stakes of the game – all of it has pushed Archard to the verge of retirement. Then a mysterious new menace takes the stage, a hideous evil playing for very high stakes indeed. Aided by his beautiful and charming assistant, Emma Bishop, Archard embarks on the case of his career. Ruse is an ongoing duel of warring masterminds held under the cold glow of gaslights. Panoramic artwork recalls Victorian England in painstaking detail, right down to the rain-pooled cobblestone streets. This steampunk mystery series pits logic against magic with wit and brio. A sure hit for mystery fans.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nominated for five Eisner Awards, this addition to CrossGen's burgeoning line is a typically slick and high-concept package Sherlock Holmes meets the X-Files but great fun, too. The Holmes character is Simon Archard, more studly than Conan Doyle's original, but equally brilliant and arrogant. In place of Dr. Watson, we have Emma Bishop, a pert, sarcastic blonde. Since Emma narrates their adventures, she has ample opportunities for wry commentary on Simon and the off-kilter Victorian England they inhabit (e.g., instead of riding in pursuit of foxes, rich people go on gargoyle hunts). Simon is several steps ahead of everyone else as he solves ever more bizarre crimes; Emma, meanwhile, humanizes him by deflating his misanthropy. This volume collects the first five issues of the magazine, most of which is taken up by Simon and Emma's struggle against the enigmatic Miranda Cross, who is out to seize control of the city by dosing public officials with a mind-control drug. Though Simon and Emma solve mysteries in a series of self-contained episodes, most major plot threads are left dangling, to be woven into future installments. Emma, for instance, has superhuman powers that she carefully conceals, as does Miranda, although the latter behaves much more flamboyantly. The full-color art pencils by Butch Guice, inking by Mike Perkins, color by Laura DePuy is high-end representational illustration that's both technically polished and lovingly researched. But the real star here is Waid's droll but exciting scripts; he's certainly earned his Eisner nomination as Best Writer.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-12. Part Sherlock Holmes, part X-Files, and part occult magic, Waid's graphic novel zeroes in on master detective Simon Archard and his assistant, Emma Bishop, who secretly has the power to stop time. The action is set in an alternate universe remarkably similar to Earth in the 1800s, where scientists and engineers are revered for their intelligence and resourcefulness. In the first volume, comprising six issues of the original comic, a bored Archard takes on a new case when a beautiful, mysterious stranger proves to be a magical menace. The developing partnership between Simon and Emma is as charming as any of the classic matchups in the comic world: Simon is the highly effective, emotionless sleuth; Emma is Simon's sorceress-Watson. The noir-inspired artwork is terrific, even though it's a bit hard to follow at times. Despite the occasional confusion, this is a thoroughly enjoyable visual take on the detective genre, with action that pays homage to Hong Kong cinema. Carlos Orellana
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Cross Generation Comics; illustrated edition edition (July 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931484198
• ISBN-13: 978-1931484190
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #830,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, November 30, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ruse v. 1: Enter the Detective (Paperback)

Simon Archard is a master detective living in the city of Partington. The bane of the underworld, and the exasperation of his partner Emma Bishop, his razor-sharp mind collects information, allowing him to make lightning-fast deductions. This graphic novel covers two Archard adventures, and the start of a third. In the first adventure, the mysterious Miranda Cross comes to Partington, and immediately Archard finds himself faced with strange crimes on one hand and the strange hostility of the city elite on the other. In the second adventure, Emma Bishop, holding the fort for the missing Archard, must track down a murderer (there's more than one mystery here). The third adventure pits Emma and Archard against a bold murderer, who is also a master of disguise with a surprising background.

I picked up this book on a whim, and must admit that I was rather dubious at first. I though, "Here we go again with another Sherlock Holmes rip-off." Well, such is not the case. In the fictional city of Partington, with its flying gargoyles, and strange happenings, Simon Archard is something of a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger (another A.C. Doyle hero). The adventures are quite gripping, as Archard maneuvers himself through the fantastic, his keen mind taking everything in.

The illustrations in this book are surprisingly excellent, and quite pleasant to look at. So, let me just say that I liked the characters, the story, and the illustrations. In other words, I loved this book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Game's Afoot!, September 17, 2002

By 

Mel Odom (Moore, OK USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ruse v. 1: Enter the Detective (Paperback)

In the graphic novel, RUSE: ENTER THE DETECTIVE, Simon Archard is the world's most brilliant detective. The world of Arcadia, that is. The World's Greatest Detective, as he as known by, lives in Partington, one of the largest and most successful cities on the planet. Archard is an inventor, a trained thinker; his detective work is a passion, possibly the only one he has ever developed, according to Emma Bishop, his aide and chief confidant. In ENTER THE DETECTIVE, Archard is asked to investigate the murder of a blind and near-deaf ex-ship's captain down in the city's docktown area. In no time at all, Archard and the beautiful Emma are off in hot pursuit. The twisting and treacherous trail leads the investigators to their near-deaths in a burning ship filled with rats, to the murder of a good friend and trusted ally, and the exhumation of that friend's body later. In the meantime, Archard himself suddenly becomes an enemy of the Partington Police Force after he is framed for murder. The fifth chapter in the graphic novel deals with Emma's search for a serial killer of young prostitutes while Archard remains conspicuously absent. In chapter six, Archard and Emma confront Lightbourne, the detective's last partner before Emma's arrival. The murder of a man while in a trick Harry Houdini made famous is the bait that draws Archard into the trap set by his archrival.

Mark Waid has written hundreds of comics for DC and for Marvel, and he's been nominated for several awards. Several Eisners were nominated for his work on the on-going monthly series, RUSE, from which this graphic novel was taken. He had a long run on DC's Flash comics series, creating several concepts and character takes that the series still uses, and created IMPULSE, a very successful book while Waid brought his trademark humor and sense of adventure to. With Ron Garney, he re-created the Captain America franchise for Marvel Comics for a while. And he wrote JUSTICE LEAGUE YEAR ONE, a fan favorite, and several issues of the JLA monthly series before signing exclusively with CrossGen Comics. Butch Guice got his start doing pages for Marvel Comics' IRON MAN, but quickly moved on to fan favorite of the 1980s, MICRONAUTS. He worked on THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN, but really hit his stride with BIRDS OF PREY, which has since gone on to become a TV series.

RUSE: ENTER THE DETECTIVE is a slam-bang ride for Sherlock Holmes fans, Victorian England period lovers, and many mystery buffs. Waid always succeeds in creating original yet familiar characters, then imbuing them with real personalities, and the problems and successes that stem from those personalities all on their own or when combined with others. Waid's dialogue, simply one of the best of his many talents, fires on all cylinders, pushing the plot along, establishing character and history panel after panel. The action is quick and dynamic, the plotting deft and razor-sharp. He has paired his hero and heroine well, giving them both strengths and weaknesses and secrets that readers will eagerly await to see in action. Butch Guice's pencils are absolutely jaw-dropping beautiful. The research he's done on the time period shows, and the RUSE issues could actually be used for reference material for anyone. The work he does on the streets and docks of Partington are breathtaking. His panel breakdowns for the action that Waid calls out in the script are filled with blistering action, and the reader can feel the wind in his or her face. The colorist and inker, Laura DePuy and Mike Perkins, excel at their crafts and make Guice look like a natural wonder.

Fans of Johnny Depp's FROM HELL movie or Alan Moore's graphic novel of the same name will enjoy RUSE: ENTER THE DETECTIVE. Waid and Guice fans will definitely want to pick up this graphic novel for their collections as well because the book showcases some of their best work.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holmes never had to investigate Waston..., November 26, 2002

By 

Blake Petit "Novelist, columnist & reviewer" (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ruse v. 1: Enter the Detective (Paperback)

One of the wonderful things about the CrossGen line is that there really are books for fans of any genre -- "Negation" for hard sci-fi fans, "Sojourn" for the Tolkienites, "Route 666" for horror buffs, "Way of the Rat" for Kung-Fu lovers... "Ruse" is the book for fans of a good old-fashion Sherlock Holmes-style mystery... but with some big twists. Holmes and Watson were never the mysteries themselves, after all.

Our heroes are Simon Archard, the brilliant detective of the city of Partington, and his assistant (or partner, depending on whom you ask), the beautiful Emma Bishop. This initial case introduces our heroes, Archard's cadre of "agents" he employs from time to time and also is a very good murder mystery.

But our heroes are mysteries themselves, ones without easy answers. Emma has strange powers that she hides from Simon, and while this book does not appear to feature a "sigil-bearer" (the superpowered protagonists of many CrossGen titles), Simon himself discretely wears the sigil on his clothing. Why?

The whole CrossGen universe is a mystery. "Ruse" gives it a detective. The best question left is, will the audience solve the puzzle before Simon and Emma?