Funny guy, that Greg Rucka. When he rebirthed Wonder Woman last year for DC, he unspooled much of the work Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang had accomplished during the New 52 era. And much of that reinvention involved separating Diana from the annals of classicism, allowing her a place in the comic book universe pantheon without worrying about dual citizenship in a Pantheon of the Ages.
But the veteran writer has a clear fascination with mythic heroes, and has no problem exploring the relevance of these characters and their legacy in the modern era. In his new Image series with artist Leandro Fernández, The Old Guard, legends of antiquity are rolled into Rucka’s wheelhouse: twenty-first century military operations and agency intrigue. And the best thing about the book is that you don’t have to have played a single minute of Call of Duty or watched an episode of Burn Notice to know what’s going on.
The focal characters are a quartet of nigh-immortals, who have battled and died over and over again across eras, geographies, and cultures. In this “fairy tale of blood and bullets,” the first identifiable warrior is Andy, who once, as Andromache, shared a bed with the noble Hector, tending the wounds of her husband as the Trojan prince steeled himself to battle against the mighty Achilles. Now Andy is bedding anyone with breath in his or her body, and taking contracts that pay the bills and keep the identities of her team a secret.
The Institute of Idle Time 