Greg Rucka - 10/27/2010

Portland resident Greg Rucka is well known for his Atticus Kodiak and Tara Chace series. However, his newest fame is for his storylines in some famous comics series (Batman and Superman!) and his original stories in comics form. This was reflected in who came to hear Greg speak; there were some die-hard fans of his graphic novels.

Greg's latest book, The Last Run, is part of his "Queen and Country" series starring Tara Chace, and that's why he joined us at MBTB. However ... he took the opportunity to announce the start of another kick-ass series, beginning with Alpha for Mulholland Books, to be released sometime in the near future. They'll give him a chance to change his writing point of view and they will be set in the present tense. We think the emphasis will be on "tense."

Greg's adventure books are not just readable because of the action sequences but also because of the emotional depth of his characters. Greg explained that despite the heavy-duty action, his books are character-driven. His stories must carry his readers emotionally, they must ring true to people's sensibilities.

As for setting Tara Chace's latest adventure in Iran, a still volatile hot spot, Greg says that the news media views war stories with a political bias, whereas he can explore the moral possibilities inherent in a difficult situation.

Getting back to his comics work, the compilation volume of Stumptown, Greg's series set in Portland, is set to debut at the end of March, 2011. There were four issues put out by Oni Press, and this volume puts them all in one place. MBTB will be getting its collective hands on some copies, so let us know if you'd like one. Stumptown is about a private eye in Portland, aka "Stumptown."

P.S. His book, Walking Dead ... not so much about zombies. FYI.