Career

Early Work

Greg Rucka began his writing career as a crime novelist with the Atticus Kodiak series of books and became very highly regarded as a writer of crime and suspense fiction. After writing several novels, Rucka went to Oni Press to expand his career into the comics industry. He began in 1998 with Whiteout, a crime story set at an Antarctic base, and this was quickly followed by a sequel, Whiteout: Melt, in 1999. Rucka had now established himself as a rising star in the industry and was getting noticed by the big two publishers.

Rucka's next creator-owned work was also with Oni Press. In 2001, he began the Queen & Country series, a spy thriller revolving around British espionage agent Tara Chace, and this became the most well known of his creator-owned work. He would continue to produce issues of the series sporadically over the next decade.

Mainstream Work

DC Comics was quick to hire Rucka after his success with Whiteout, and he became the new regular writer of Detective Comics in the final months of the No Man's Land story event. He and Ed Brubaker, who became the new writer on Batman, collaborated to bring a heavy focus on crime suspense to the franchise and tone down the colorful superheroics of Batman's world. They also put the spotlight much more on the members of the Gotham City Police Department as supporting characters. Together, they orchestrated a few crossovers during their runs, namely Officer Down, Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive. Rucka also wrote Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood, a limited series that became regarded as one of the definitive portrayals of Huntress. Later in 2003, he wrote Batman: Death and the Maidens, which attempted to replace Ra's al Ghul with his newly revealed daughter, Nyssa Raatko.

Not exclusive to DC at this time, Rucka also did work for Marvel Comics. He wrote the Black Widow limited series for the Marvel Knights imprint and followed it with Black Widow: Pale Little Spider under the new MAX imprint. He became the regular writer for Elektra, writing the series for over a year, and later wrote Ultimate Daredevil/Elektra, which established Elektra's origin in the Ultimate Universe. However, his biggest work for Marvel at the time was as the writer of the relaunched Wolverine series.

Back at DC, Rucka and Brubaker furthered their collaboration by launching Gotham Central together. This series focused entirely on the G.C.P.D. and was met with a great deal of critical acclaim. Brubaker signing exclusive to Marvel Comics left Rucka to complete the series on his own, and he became exclusive to DC Comics.

Rucka became the regular writer of Wonder Woman and was on the receiving end of a lot of praise for his portrayal of Wonder Woman and her world. Rucka by now was known and respected for his portrayals of strong and well rounded female characters. He also wrote Adventures of Superman for nearly two years and wrote the OMAC Project as part of the major Infinite Crisis event. He wrote the controversial story in which Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord, firmly establishing the character's willingness to use lethal force. Rucka's run on Wonder Woman was cut short by Infinite Crisis as the series was ended to be relaunched a year later. This left Rucka unable to finish the stories he had running through his run.

Rucka worked for Marvel in 2003 when he relaunched Wolverine's solo series under the Marvel Knights banner. Rucka wrote the first nineteen issues of the series in a critically acclaimed run. He also wrote Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra during this time.

Rucka was then named as one of the writers of 52, DC's ambitious weekly series following Infinite Crisis. He was believed to be the writer driving the Renee Montoya story thread that saw her become the new Question. Rucka also launched Checkmate, a series featuring the DC Universe's foremost espionage agency.

Renee Montoya had become a pet character of Rucka's, who had been writing her almost regularly since his days on Detective Comics. After 52, he continued her story in two limited series, Crime Bible: the Five Lessons of Blood and Final Crisis: Revelations.

When Rucka's exclusive contract with DC Comics expired, he chose not to renew it. This led to speculation that he would soon jump ship over to Marvel Comics. Speculation increased when Rucka teamed up with his former collaborator Brubaker for an arc on Daredevil. However, Rucka stayed with DC Comics.

In 2009, Rucka was drafted late into the New Krypton direction of the Superman franchise, which revolved around the city of Kandor being restored and 100,000 Kryptonians now settling a planet in Earth's solar system. He was given the task of writing Action Comics starring the new Nightwing and Flamebird and went deep into developing Kryptonian mythology in that series. He also co-wrote Superman: World of New Krypton with James Robinson. This series focused on Superman's life on New Krypton and explored Kryptonian civilization. Midway through, plans for the New Krypton status quo apparently changed behind the scenes at DC and all the stories seemed to start rushing toward completion. Rucka left Action Comics once the Nightwing and Flamebird story was finished.

Rucka returned to Detective Comics in 2009, but this time the series starred the new Batwoman with Renee Montoya starring in a Question co-feature. Batwoman had been relatively untouched since she debuted years early in 52, and Rucka's name had been attached to her for the past couple years. That made this a long-awaited story, and it very well received for his writing and for the art of J.H. Williams III. Rucka brought some much needed definition to the character, fleshing her out greatly from the glimpses of her character that had been seen in 52. Soon, Rucka announced that the rest of his Batwoman story would be released in a new Batwoman ongoing series rather than Detective Comics. Strangely, this announcement was shortly followed by one from Rucka saying that he was leaving DC Comics and that his Batwoman story would go unfinished.

Independent Again

The reasons for Rucka's abrupt departure from DC went unsaid, but Rucka said he would be taking a break to focus on his creator-owned material again. He released Stumptown, a private investigator thriller, through Oni Press. It was also announced that Whiteout: Thaw, a third installment to Rucka's Whiteout series, would later be released.

Return to Marvel

As part of Marvel Comics' Big Shots initiative in 2011, Rucka was announced as the writer of the new Punisher series.

Bibliography

D.C. Comics

Pre - New 52 Ongoing Series

• 1998-1999: The Batman Chronicles #14-16
• 1999-2010: Detective Comics Vol. 1 #732, 735, 739-753, 755-775, 783, 854-864
• 1999-2001: Batman Vol. 1 #565, 568, 572-574, 587
• 1999-2003: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #118-120, 125, 126, 161
• 1999-2000: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #87, 88, 93, 94
• 2000: Flinch #8
• 2001: Batman: Gotham Knights #13
• 2001: Batman: Gotham Knights #13
• 2003-2006: Gotham Central #1, 2, 6-10, 12-15, 17, 18, 23-25, 28-40
• 2003-2006: Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #195-226
• 2004-2006: Adventures of Superman #627-638, 640-648
• 2006-2009: Supergirl Vol. 5 #6, 7, 45, 46
• 2006-2008: Checkmate Vol. 2 #1-25
• 2007: Outsiders Vol. 3 #47-49
• 2009-2010: Action Comics Vol. 1 #875-889
• 2009-2010: Superman: World of New Krypton #1-12
• 2010: The Questions #37

Pre - New 52 Mini Series

• 2000: Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood# 1-6
• 2003-2004: Batman: Death and the Maidens #1-9
• 2001: Weird Western Tales #1
• 2005: The Omac Project #1-6
• 2007-2008: Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood #1-5
• 2008-2009: Final Crisis: Revelations #1-5
• 2010: Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1-3

Pre - New 52 Event Series

• 2006-2007: 52 #1-52

Pre - New 52 Annuals

• 2009: Action Comics Annual#12

Pre - New 52 One Shots

• 2000: Weird War Tales #1
• 2001: Superman: Lex 2000
• 2001: President Luthor Secret Files #1
• 2004: Superman Secret Files & Origins #2004
• 2005: Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1
• 2006:The OMAC Project: Infinite Crisis Special #1
• 2007: DCU Infinite Holiday Special
• 2008: Final Crisis: Resist #1
• 2009: Final Crisis: Secret Files #1
• 2009: Superman: Secret Files 2009
• 2010: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Special #1

Pre - New 52 OGN

• 20002: Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia

New 52 Mini Series

• 2015: Convergence The Question #1-2

New 52 One Shot

• 2013: American Vampire: The Long Road to Hell #1
• 2013: American Vampire Anthology #1

Rebirth Ongoing Series

• 2016-2020: Wonder Woman Vol. 5 #1-25, 750
• 2020: Detective Comics Vol. 3 #1027

Rebirth Maxi Series

• 2019-2020: Lois Lane #1-12

Rebirth One Shots

• 2016: Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special #1
• 2018: DC Holiday Special 2017 #1
• 2019: Superman: Leviathan Rising Special #1
• 2020: Superman: Heroes #1

Marvel Comics

Marvel Ongoing Series

• 2001: Spider-Man's Tangled Web #4 2002-2003: Elektra Vol. 2 #7-22
• 2002: X-Men Unlimited Vol. 1 #38
• 2003-2004: Wolverine Vol. 2 #1-19
• 2008: Daredevil Vol. 2 #107-110
• 2011-2012: The Punisher Vol. 6 #1-16
• 2012: Avenging Spider-Man #6
• 2014: Cyclops #1-6
• 2016: Captain America: Sam Wilson #7

Marvel Mini Series

• 2001: Black Widow #1-3
• 2002: Elektra and Wolverine: The Redeemer #1-3
• 2002: Black Widow: Pale Little Spider #1-3
• 2002: Spider-Man: Quality of Life #1-4
• 2002: Marvel Knights double Shot #3
• 2003: Ultimate Daredevil/Elektra #1-4
• 2003: Marvel Double Shot #4
• 2010: I am An Avenger #2
• 2012-2013: Punisher: War Zone #1-5
• 2015: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Shattered Empire #1-4

Marvel One Shot

• 2011: Spider-Island: I Love New York City #1

Image Comics

Image Mini Series

• 2013-2018: Lazarus #1-28
• 2015-2020: Black Magick# 1-16
• 2019-2020: Lazarus: Risen #1-Ongoing

Image Mini Series

• 2017: The Old Guard #1-5
• 2017-2018: Lazarus: X +66 #1-6
• 2019-2020: The Old Guard: Force Multiplied #1-5

IDW Publishing

IDW Mini Series

• 2020-2021: Star Wars Adventures: Smuggler's Run #1-2

Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics Mini Series

• 2014: Veil #1-5
• 2015-2016: Dragon Age: Magekiller #1-5

Oni Press

Oni Press Ongoing Series

• 2001-2007: Queen & Country#1-32

Oni Press Mini Series

• 1998: Whiteout #1-4
• 1999-2000: Whiteout: Melt #1-4
• 2003: Queen & Country: Declassified Vol. 1 #1-3
• 2005-2006: Queen & Country: Declassified Vol. 2 #1-3
• 2009-2010: Stumptown Vol. 1 #1-4
• 2012-2013: Stumptown Vol. 2 #1-5

Oni Press One Shot

• 2000: Oni Press Summer Vacation Supercolor Fun Special #1
• 2001: Oni Press Color Special 2001 #1

Northwest Press

Northwest Press One Shot

• 2013: The Power Within #1

Self Published

• 2019: The Good Fight: Taking a Stand Against Racism and Bigotry #1

Some Created Characters

DC

• Alice - Detective Comics
• Asha Del-Nar - Superman: World of New Krypton
• Batwoman- 52, Detective Comics
• Charlie Fields - Gotham Central
• Crispus Allen - Detective Comics, Gotham Central
• Dagmar Procjnow - Gotham Central
• Dal Kir-Ta - Superman: World of New Krypton
• Eric Cohen - Gotham Central
• Ferdinand - Wonder Woman
• Io - Wonder Woman
• Isis- 52
• Jake Kane - Detective Comics
• Jackson Davies - Gotham Central
• Jeq-Vay - Superman: World of New Krypton
• Jessica Midnight - Detective Comics, Checkmate
• Jim Corrigan - Gotham Central
• Jonah McCarthy - Wonder Woman, Checkmate
• Josh Azeveda - Gotham Central
• Kyle Abbot - Detective Comics, 52
• Lupe Leocadio - Adventures of Superman
• Lady Styx- 52
• Mademoiselle Marie - Checkmate
• Marcus Driver - Gotham Central
• Nyssa Raatko - Death and the Maidens
• Osiris- 52
• The Radiant- Final Crisis: Revelations
• Romy Chandler - Gotham Central
• Ron Probson - Gotham Central
• Sasha Bordeaux - Detective Comics, the OMAC Project, Checkmate
• Sem-Re - Superman: World of New Krypton
• Shen Li Po - Checkmate
• Famine- 52
• Taleb Beni Khalid - Checkmate
• Tommy Jagger - Checkmate
• Tyr-Van - Superman: World of New Krypton
• Veronica Cale - Wonder Woman
• Vincent Del Arrazio - Gotham Central
• Whisper A'Daire - Detective Comics, 52

Independent

• Carrie Stetko - Whiteout, Whiteout: Melt
• Dex Parios - Stumptown
• Tara Chace - Queen & Country

Marvel

• Cassie Lathrop - Wolverine
• Native - Wolverine
• Oscar Clemons - Punisher
• Rachel Alves - Punisher
• Walter Bolt - Punisher