Ruthven: Citizen Investigator #1 Review

Ruthven: Citizen Investigator is a new graphic novel with stunning visuals. But can it deliver beyond its appealing artwork?

Ruthven: Citizen Investigator #1

Writer: C. & Q. Bowman

Artist: C. & Q. Bowman

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Upon first glance, Ruthven: Citizen Investigator looks like an extremely promising new graphic novel that isn’t like anything else out there. The visuals look more like something you’d find in a video game or movie.

I mean just look at this scene. If this doesn’t remind you of a J.J. Abrams movie scene, then I don’t know what does.

So when I started reading this graphic novel, my hopes were high. Something this visually stunning surely will deliver on all fronts, right? I’ll be greeted with a story just as appealing as the artwork, right?

Unfortunately, that’s where Ruthven leaves the reader wanting.

Don’t get me wrong. The story isn’t bad by any means. It’s just not very compelling and takes some very odd twists and turns.

Where It Goes Wrong

Let me begin by telling you what Ruthven:  Citizen Investigator is about. The description on the graphic novel’s website describes the synopsis of the first book of the four-part series like this:

"In the back alleys of a futuristic City-State, a young waitress finds herself thrust into the hands of an insidious gang. James Ruthven, a citizen investigator, thwarts her murder and inadvertently stumbles upon a plot to overthrow the City-State. But with the clock ticking, can Ruthven prevent the putsch from succeeding? Or is it already too late?"

And that’s just where the story starts. There’s very little to no world building, and we’re just thrust into the story. In fact, if not for the website description pegging the main girl as a waitress, the reader wouldn’t have even figured that out until much later in the story.

This is all the world building you get. And it’s just in the opening frame of the graphic novel.

Despite that, the story begins interestingly enough. The waitress, Maria, is thrown out of the diner she works for, complains about how the city is corrupt at every level (even the soup kitchens), and she is then kidnapped and forced to train as a fighting force for a sinister gang that threatens “immediate death” to anyone who attempts to escape or shows any disobedience whatsoever.

Then Maria attempts to escape after she gains the trust of her superiors and is about to be put out on a mission to kill someone.

As you can imagine, this doesn’t go over well. Maria is brought to the Chief of Staff. And this is one creepy-looking dude with glowing red eyes:

Enter Sandman …

Then in jumps Ruthven, the Citizen Investigator who is the namesake of the graphic novel.

Ruthven and his partner, Officer Marshall, save Maria and take her back to his lair. And this is where the plot starts to take it’s weird turns and jump all over the place.

So Ruthven tells Maria he had a “disturbing dream” that looked a little something like this:

Again, none of his “powers” or rumors were alluded to before now. Ruthven was never mentioned until he busted in and saved Maria. But she knows about him, and moments later Ruthven asks her to “look into my eyes” and asks her if she can trust him.

Without hardly any hesitation, Maria says yes, she can trust this man whom she’s “heard rumors” about and has just now met. Granted, he did just save her life, but this felt more like a convenient plot device than actual character development.

Maria then goes on to tell Ruthven her life story (well, her story about working at the diner and her boss’s mysterious behavior, anyhow). And then for some inexplicable reason, religions is brought into the scenario in the most awkwardly placed way possible.

We go from exposition about Maria’s life at the diner and how her boss’s behavior began to suddenly change to this:

That’s literally how it happens. The scene proceeding that one ends with Maria saying, “Things are so unstable. So uncertain. I feel hopeless!” Then Ruthven suddenly becomes an apostle and converts Maria to Christianity without any warning.

Honestly, this whole scene felt so out of place that I had to stop and look up the people who made the graphic novel to see if there was any religious background behind their formation or behind the creation of the graphic novel. Surprisingly, I found nothing of the sort, which makes this scene even stranger.

Everything that happens after this just feels contrived. Plot holes are filled with heavy handed plot devices and strange dialogue permeates the entire story. I mean this is how the book ends:

Good Start, But …

All in all, Ruthven: Citizen Investigator had a ton of potential. It looked better than most graphic novels out there, and the story idea was certainly compelling. But you can tell this is the team’s first attempt at producing a graphic novel. There are obvious plot holes, the dialogue feels too corny at times, and too many things just aren’t explained.

If they can tighten these things up in the later parts, this graphic novel could end up living up to its potential. But as it is, Ruthven: Citizen Investigator is just a pretty package with disappointing substance.