Ruse: The Victorian Guide to Murder

Ruse

by Mark Waid (\\), Jackson Guice, Mirco Pierfederici (Illustrator)

Renowned as the Victorian world's greatest detective, Simon Archard is the most intelligent of men. But when he crosses paths with the mysterious and enchanting Emma Bishop, has the smartest man in the world met his equal? Brought to readers by superstar writer Mark Waid (Amazing Spider-Man) and red-hot artist Mirco Pierfederici (Tron: Original Movie Adaptation), this is the new comic series that'll leave you breathless.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Mystery, Fantasy, Crime, Comic Book, Historical Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

Mark Waid is an American comic book writer widely known for shaping modern superhero storytelling through influential runs on major characters at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Raised in Alabama, he developed an early fascination with comic books, particularly classic stories featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, whose imaginative scope and sense of legacy would later inform his own writing. He first entered the comics industry during the mid 1980s as an editor and writer for the fan magazine Amazing Heroes, before publishing his first professional comic story in Action Comics. Soon afterward he joined DC Comics as an editor, contributing to numerous titles and helping shape projects across the company. After leaving editorial work to focus on writing, Waid gained widespread recognition with his long run on The Flash, where he expanded the mythology of the character and co-created the youthful speedster Impulse. His reputation grew further with the celebrated graphic novel Kingdom Come, created with artist Alex Ross, which imagined a future DC Universe shaped by generational conflict among superheroes. Over the years he has written many prominent series, including Captain America, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Superman: Birthright, bringing a balance of optimism, character depth, and respect for comic book history to each project. Waid has also collaborated with notable artists and writers on major ensemble titles such as Justice League and Avengers, while contributing ideas that helped clarify complex continuity within shared superhero universes. Beyond mainstream superhero work, he has supported creator owned projects and experimental publishing models, including the acclaimed series Irredeemable and Incorruptible, which explored moral ambiguity within the superhero genre. He later took on editorial leadership roles at Boom Studios, guiding creative direction while continuing to write extensively. In subsequent years he expanded his involvement in publishing and digital storytelling, helping launch online comics initiatives and advocating for new distribution methods for creators. His work has earned numerous industry awards, including Eisner and Harvey honors, reflecting both critical acclaim and enduring popularity among readers. Throughout his career Waid has remained a passionate student of comic book history, drawing on decades of storytelling tradition while continually encouraging innovation within the medium. His influence extends across generations of readers and creators, and his stories continue to shape the evolving language of superhero comics around the world today through enduring characters imaginative narratives and thoughtful reinventions of familiar myths within popular culture and modern graphic storytelling traditions.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at a library book sale and inhaled it in one go. Really enjoyed it and need to find more in the series!

4, a tad violent but not to much for me, stars.

[Nicolo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Marvel revival to the Crossgen classic, this miniseries reunited writer mark Waid with his Victorian detective. It was not a direct revival, but really a begarly reflection to the rich mythology Waid created with Butch Guice. The miniseries may have crippled a well intentioned revival.

Still, it had its charms and the revelation of Simon Archard ultimate agent was really clever.

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read some of the CrossGen comics when they were new, so I was interested to see what Marvel did with the CrossGen titles they acquired. (I know I read Scion and Ruse, plus others, but can't remember all of the titles I read.)

I enjoyed this re-boot of the Ruse comics. My biggest complaint with the originals was that they didn't have enough volumes in the series, and that there was no satisfying conclusion to them. This fixes that. While I would still be happy to read more in this series, at least the four volumes that Marvel released have a satisfying ending.

The art is enjoyable, though—since it deals with murder mysteries—it can get bloody at times. In general, the story and the art were both what I was hoping for based on my memory of the original Ruse series. These are a lot of fun, and I'm glad I found them.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the original Ruse from Crossgen. I loved most the Crossgen books. This however seems like a half-hearted one-off for Mark Waid. Simon and Emma deal with a seriously predictable mystery. Their relationship was fun before. Here, its tedious. These characters have no heart and are so interesting. Its too bad. That was not the case in the original. The ending was mostly lame. The art was okay but the book, previously so intelligent, is completely missing that. Overall, a complete misfire that darkens the great past of the book.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think my familiarity with and affection for Victoriana is disproportionate to the abilities of this book. Also, I’m a creative writing major and married to a sequential artist. All fancy ways to say that this book would have to have been MUCH better to please me. And I don’t think it’s the books fault. I just think it was written and drawn by people who are not quite as intensely niche and I am. Alas.

Note: I haven’t read the original yet. I will soon, and expect to like it more

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good detective story

This is a good reboot of the Ruse series from CrossGen. I wish it had lasted more than four issues, but I'll take what I can get. Well-written by Mark Waid. The art was good, but a little inconsistent, and not as good as the art on the original CrossGen book. The story here is complete, and well-constructed. Lots of fun.

[Kris Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. A tale of mystery and intrigue with a man of no social graces and a woman of many social graces. They have an even willingness to go beyond what the policemen of the time would and a thirst for the truth/justice.

[Holliferous · Rating 1 out of 5]

The art was okay but the story was so boring, I had to push myself to finish it.

[Jordyn Frederick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly similar to Sherlock Holmes, which is why I read it. A decent read.

[Joanna Nieves Bosque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful art and Victorian flare. I wish the library had the others in the series.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Waid was assigned to reboot the series “Ruse”, which is a Victorian mystery/comedy series set in the town of Partington, England (previous incarnations of the series were set on the planet Arcadia). The world’s greatest detective, Simon Archard, and his partner, the lovely and intelligent Emma Bishop, use their combined talents to solve mysteries. The banter between them is witty, wry, and hilarious. Archard lives in an abandoned cathedral and occasionally dips into a sensory deprivation tank to ponder his cases. He also has the social skills of a potato, which is why Emma often asks the questions of the person(s) involved in their cases.

In the current story arc, Archard and Emma’s investigation of a gambling epidemic is somehow linked to a conspiracy that extends to England’s government. A genius has been methodically murdering Archard’s associates one by one, and his next target is Emma. Is this Archard’s former mentor Malcolm Lightbourne? Or someone else? And who is Agent V?

I have not read any previous incarnations of this series, but I will definitely look for them. Highly recommended.

[Matthew J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just did a sort of speed-read through the latter volumes of Crossgen's Edge & Forge. I hadn't read them since they were new, but I remember Crossgen being pretty big for me as I got (back) into comics in my late 20s. Ruse was one of my favorites.
When I found out Marvel had gotten the rights to Crossgen's various comics, I was curious. It didn't seem like a very good match, but maybe with some money behind it? I don't know. This didn't really do it for me. Largely divorced from the meta, multiverse that was the core of Crossgen's various lines, it feels a bit empty, and becomes a fairly blah Sherlock Holmes homage. I saw an ad for Marvel's take on Mystic in the back, and it looked like they went full-Buffy on it. Did they even get around to doing Meridian? I think I heard something about a re-launch of Sigil coming up.
Anyway. I can't really recommend this.
Maybe the whole Crossgen experiment was doomed to fail. Maybe it was ahead of its time. I don't know. I don't really think Marvel is a good fit for it, though, whatever the case.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been surprised to find that Marvel had bought the CrossGen comics titles. Surprised and pleased. I had followed Simon and Emma's adventures back then and I had high hopes for their continuation. Marvel made a great decision in not trying to revise the characters or the world they lived in too much. It was like this portion of the CrossGen universe continued within the pages without ever stopping. I think that Mark Waid did a great job with the story so that new readers just picking up the book would not be lost and old fans would be pleased with the new mystery.

The only gripe I had was that after buying the first three issues, issue #4 was no where to be found. I had to buy the trade paperback to finish the story. My guess as to the reason for this, was that the comic was not selling well and they decided just to forgo the last issue in favor of the trade.

[Andrew Uys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Waid has another home run with this CrossGen revival that came out in 2011. Simon Archard reads like a thinly vieled Sherlock Holmes, but this really doesn't bother me, as the plot and dialogue is superb. Mr. Archard's partner (not that he'd ever admit that), Emma Bishop, provides the key social counter-point and humour to Archard's dry wit and snark. Mirco Pierfederici's artwork is perfect for the dirty streets and criminal establishments that form the bulk of Archard's world. A great stand-alone graphic novel read for those who want something more than the usual cowls and capes.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting on many levels. I especially enjoyed learning about Victorian England and the customs of that era. The detective story is also very entertaining, and Mark Waid manages to get a few truly funny moments from the lead characters. It is a nice break from the super-hero/spandex books. Mirco Pierfederici’s art was, for me, a nice discovery. It makes me want to see more of his stuff. I recommend this book history enthusiasts and fans of detective stories. 4 stars.

[Edna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel lovers will enjoy the branding style of illustrations where the men are severely chiseled and scarred and the women are gorgeous and curvy despite being heavily clothed in Victoria apparel. Readers can learn a bit of history because of the limited investigational procedures and base situations.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I don't read piles of graphic novels but I love the Victorian time period and Sherlock Holmes so I thought I'd give this a try. I liked it, it was basically a novelized version of the RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies, bare knuckle boxing and all. A little more bloody than I was expecting but overall a good story.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice surprise reveal of "Agent V". I wish that they had Butch Juice for all the art as it was it had a bit of an uneven feel. That said, more Ruse is always appreciated, now if only Marvel would give us another ongoing series.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a downgrade from the original series. Moving the setting to Earth and removing Emma's powers were disastrous decisions; the story turned into a piece of imperialist turd. The characters were very recognizable as themselves, but even Simon and Emma's relationship didn't escape the meddling.

[Steph O'Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ruse reboot has a great title (The Victorian Guide To Murder!) and a great tag line (He's the world's greatest detective. She's even better.) and while the story line is much clearer than in the original two volumes, Simon is impossible to like and the art is disappointing.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn't heard that Marvel had done anything with the CrossGen comics that Disney owns, but I stumbled across this one at my library, and was really pleased, because I'd loved Ruse, and had been crushed when it ended so abruptly.

This one felt a bit rusty.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the old Crossgen books, this made the most sense to bring back, and without the added nonsense of the Crossgen universe, the series is even better. It's a shame that Jackson Guice doesn't come back for the art though, as the new art team simply isn't as good.

[Christopher Mclean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Holmes style books so I was very keen for this one. Unfortunately after a great first issue I felt like this lost its way a bit, feeling very rushed and jumping around too much. It didn't help that the marvel unlimited version seemed to have some issues with missing dialogue bubbles.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reboot to the series has improved it greatly, based on what little I had previously read. My only complaint is that the artwork was way better in the older series.

[Eddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Butch Guice is missed in this return to the world of Ruse. The story was okay, nothing great.

[Mathew Carruthers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, if fairly blatant, ripoff of Sherlock Holmes. Well written and illustrated.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the mix of action, humour and beautiful art. Why was there no subsequent volume?

[Trey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a poor man's Sherlock Holmes with a lady Watson amd a two-bit Moriarty.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In every respect it felt like a lazy Sherlock Holmes pastiche. 2 stars only because I chuckled in a few places at how predictable the whole thing was.

[Dichotomy Girl · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh