Ruse, Vol. 2: The Silent Partner TPB
Review by Doc Ezra
Story:
Art:

Written by Mark Waid and Scott Beatty
Pencils by Butch Guice
Inks by Mike Perkins
Colors by Laura DePuy
Letters by Dave Lanphear

Published by CrossGen
Contents: collects issues #7-12
Price: $15.95

My advice: Own it.

Simon Archard's cases just keep getting weirder. Off into the countryside of Arcadia to search out a band of gypsies, Simon unwittingly foils several assassination attempts on the train, only to discover that he and Emma must take a daring leap to reach the town they want, as the train won't stop. A mysteriously empty town greets their eyes after a quick jump and tumble down a mountainside, and the weirdness is off at a gallop. Invisible thugs, kidnapped gypsies, the saving graces of a well-stocked cosmetics bag, and a brawl under a waterfall with unseen foes all come rushing in quick succession, and that only gets you through the first couple chapters.

Ruse continues to shine in the early stages of this second volume. But as the plot moves toward a showdown between Partington's favorite son and his disgruntled mentor turned nemesis, the story fades off a bit. The feud between Archard and Lightbourne made for great tension and great stories when Lightbourne was manipulating things behind the scenes, but the climactic showdown seems, well, a bit anticlimactic. The character of Lightbourne is infinitely more interesting when he's arranging subtle tricks and traps to draw Simon into dangerous cases, but in person the character is just a little too much of an "evil overmind" caricature. Fortunately, the final chapter moves back towards the witty banter that made the book such a joy to read in its early issues.

Guice's artwork continues to be absolutely stunning, though as discussed in a couple of reviews regarding the individual issues, his talents are a bit wasted in the final issue collected here, and the penultimate chapter, drawn by a guest art team, has some issues. Still, on the whole, excellent artwork and solid writing for the majority of the issues collected in this volume.

If you haven't read the title, this actually isn't a bad spot to get involved, as the storytelling is mostly episodic enough to jump in anywhere. You'll want to go back and read the first installment at some point, to be sure, but better coming in late than missing out entirely. For those already familiar with Archard and his lovely assistant/partner, you don't need to be told that you want this. Given that some of the issues immediately following the close of this second volume flag a little in the writing and story department, it looks like Volume 3 might not be as certain a purchase, so grab this one and savor it for a while.