The Old Guard (2020): the film versus the comics

The same author, two adaptations, two opposite results: Greg Rucka offers this series of articles his clearest demonstration of what the presence of the creator changes. Source-by-source decryption.

As in each article in this series, only verified information (creators, distribution, dates, publishers) is stated; the comparative analysis is ours, without reproducing dialogue or protected images.

The Old Guard (2017): tired immortals

The Old Guard adapts the five-issue miniseries that Greg Rucka and Argentinian artist Leandro Fernández published by Image Comics in 2017. The premise: a small group of mercenaries cannot die. Wounded, riddled, killed — they get up, their wounds heal, and they start again. Andromache of Scythia, called Andy, the oldest, lived for millennia; Booker, Joe and Nicky have been with him for centuries, the latter two forming a couple born on medieval battlefields. They rent their services to whoever pays them, choosing their causes, and live in absolute secrecy.

What Rucka gets from it is not a superhero story but a reflection on fatigue. Its immortals are not triumphant: they are worn out, disillusioned, haunted by what they have seen humanity repeat century after century, and uncertain of still serving any purpose. Immortality is a burden, not a power - and the arrival of Nile, a young marine killed then relieved in Afghanistan, forces the group to re-explain their condition to someone who discovers it, and therefore to re-examine it. Fernández's drawing, angular and dirty, refuses any heroism: the violence is ugly, the bodies damaged, and nothing is spectacular.

Rucka adapts Rucka: the decisive variable

The most instructive point of this article is an internal comparison. Eleven years earlier, another work by Greg Rucka had been brought to the screen:Whiteout, his Antarctic thriller drawn by Steve Lieber. The film, produced without him, had transformed the British agent Lily Sharpe into a male character, dissolving the female duo which was the heart of the work, and had collapsed under criticism. Rucka had never hidden his disappointment.

For The Old Guard, the configuration is the opposite: he is the one who writes the screenplay. The result speaks for itself. The couple Joe and Nicky are preserved without ambiguity or euphemism, and are even offered one of the most commented scenes in the film. Andy remains a woman of several millennia who cannot be softened by anything. Nile maintains his role as a fresh perspective. No character is converted, no relationship is erased. Where Whiteout demonstrated what we lose when the author is absent, The Old Guard demonstrates what we keep when he is in charge. For the reader, this is perhaps the most enlightening pair of articles in this series: same author, same type of work, two opposing treatments, two opposing receptions.

What the film adjusts anyway

Writing your own adaptation does not mean transposing identically, and Rucka makes choices as a screenwriter. The action scenes, brief and brutal in the comic, are considerably developed on screen - Gina Prince-Bythewood, the first African-American woman to direct an action film of this scale, deploys precise choreography which becomes one of the strengths of the film. The past of Quynh, the lost immortal whose fate haunts Andy, is rearranged in the story's timeline to set up an on-screen revelation. The antagonist, director of a pharmaceutical laboratory wanting to capture immortals to exploit their biology, is rejuvenated and endowed with a very contemporary arrogance.

The most visible difference is aesthetic. Leandro Fernández's features are deliberately rough: nervous features, dirty shadows, unattractive faces. The film, for its part, adopts careful photography and trained bodies – the logic of a feature film with a comfortable budget carried by a star. This difference is not anecdotal: it moves the story away from the gritty realism of the comic and brings it closer to a quality action film. Finally, the feature film closes with an explicit opening towards a sequel, consistent with the fact that Rucka had already published Force Multiplied, second cycle of the comic, in 2019-2020. The film met with great audience success on its platform, which allowed this sequel to also exist on screen.

The characters, from paper to screen

• Andy— Andromache of Scythia, the oldest, faithful to the comic.
• Nile— The immortal news, a fresh look at the group.
• Joe and Nicky— The couple born from the Crusades, preserved without euphemism.
• Booker— The most recent of the elders, and his bitterness.
• Quynh— The lost immortelle, whose fate is rearranged.

Image Comics: ownership as a condition

If Rucka was able to write the adaptation himself, it is because he owned the work. The Old Guard is published by Image Comics, a company founded in 1992 by a group of artists who left Marvel precisely to keep their creations. Three decades later, Image has become the natural refuge for established authors who want to control their rights: there we find series by authors from Marvel and DC, including several of the biggest sales of audiovisual rights of the decade.

This model explains a growing part of contemporary adaptations, and it changes the balance of power. At Image, the author negotiates from a position of owner, which allows him to demand a role in the adaptation — like Rucka here, or like other authors of the house on their own series. For the collector, this configuration has a direct consequence: the first issues of the successful Image series have become popular modern keys, with numerous cover variations.The Old Guard #1(2017) is one of them — first appearance of Andy, Nile, Joe and Nicky, in a short series that has become a franchise. The print runs being recent and abundant, the prices remain measured, which makes it an accessible entry into modern keys.

Leandro Fernández, or necessary ugliness

A word about the designer, whose contribution explains part of what the film could not reproduce. Leandro Fernández, an Argentinian artist who has worked on several thriller series at Marvel and elsewhere, uses a deliberately ungrateful trait: angular faces, strong shadows, anatomy that refuses idealization. Applied to immortal characters, this bias produces a specific effect — these people do not heal properly. Their bodies carry the visual memory of everything they suffered, even when the wounds heal.

This is exactly what a well-budgeted, star-driven film cannot show: careful photography and trained bodies produce the opposite effect, that of elegant immortality. The loss is real, and it joins a constant in this series of articles - the aesthetics of a comic strip are rarely transposable, because they are based on conventions which have no photographic equivalent. For the reader, this means that the five issues of 2017 offer something that the film does not replace: an immortality that feels like a curse, not a privilege.

Where to start reading

To discover the source, the first cycle of The Old Guard(2017, five issues, available in collection and in French) can be read in one go and corresponds to the film – drier and uglier, in the best sense of the word. The sequel,Force Multiplied(2019-2020), extends the story of Andy and the group, and sheds light on what the film announced in its last scene.

Timeline to know

• 1998— Greg Rucka publishes Whiteout, his first comic book work.
• 2009— The film Whiteout, made without him, fails.
• 2017— The Old Guard #1 is published by Image Comics.
• 2019-2020— Force Multiplied, the second cycle.
• 2020— The film, written by Rucka himself, met with great success.

Collection side: what numbers to aim for after the film

The Old Guard points to accessible modern keys.The Old Guard #1(2017, Image Comics) is the main key: first appearance of Andy, Nile, Joe and Nicky, in the series that the film directly adapts. The five issues of the first cycle are easily collected as a complete series, and those of Force Multiplied complete the whole. Cover variants, numerous at Image, structure part of the market. Recent and abundant print runs keep prices measured, making it a good entry point into modern keys. As always, condition and gradation determine value; relying on real recent sales is strongly recommended.

Its place in the saga and for the collector

The Old Guard will remain as the best demonstration of this series of articles on what the presence of the author changes. Greg Rucka saw one of his works disfigured by an adaptation made without him, then wrote another one himself: the contrast between Whiteout and The Old Guard is striking, and it is not due to the budget or the subject, but to who held the pen. For the collector, the film highlighted a modern key that is still affordable and an author whose value is steadily rising. For the reader, it is an invitation to read Rucka's two works side by side - and to measure how much the same signature can be betrayed or honored depending on the place we give it.

The verdict: an adaptation by its author

• Loyalty: Andromache of Scythia, the team of tired immortals, Nile and his apprenticeship, the couple Joe and Nicky preserved without euphemism, and the pharmaceutical antagonist come from the comic.
• Freedoms: the action scenes considerably developed, Quynh's past rearranged, the antagonist rejuvenated, and Fernández's rough line replaced by a polished image.
• Collectible numbers: The Old Guard #1 (2017, Image), the Force Multiplied cycle.

The Old Guard is adapted by the comic's author himself — the exact opposite of what happened to his Whiteout eleven years earlier. Nothing is converted or erased: the couple Joe and Nicky, Andy, Nile remain what they were on paper. For both the reader and the collector, it is an invitation to read the five issues of 2017.

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