Rat Queens #5 – Review

by Kurtis J. Wiebe (Writer), Roc Upchurch (Artist)

The Story: The battle for Palisade concludes as the mercenaries then party hard.

The Review: There are a quite a lot of changes in the industry going on these days. With many established and well-liked creators going on to create their own series at companies like Image, Dark Horse, Boom and other such places, we live in an age where creativity in the American market is booming. It is something, however, that require some sacrifices, like titles that are released in waves like Saga and Lazarus, who need time after a bunch of issues to catch up and plan ahead.

Another title that can claim to do so is Rat Queens, with this issue concluding its first arc with the next issue coming up in May. One of the very thing which makes the adventures of the Rat Queens a bit similar to the two aforementioned titles is the quality, which is actually quite high. With but a few honest-to-God pure and atypical fantasy comics out there, it’s a refreshing thing to see a title dedicated to the genre, yet not so stuck in its ways as to forget to bring innovation and quality into the mix. Still, does this conclusion brings a painful realisation that the title won’t be out for a few months, or is it a dull affair that makes the wait a bearable thing?

Unfortunately, it’s the former as this conclusion not only brings many of the title’s strength to the forefront, but also present many of the unique and decidedly charming qualities of the title in a penultimate fashion.

Rat Queens #4 – Review

by Kurtis J. Wiebe (Writer), Roc Upchruch (Artist)

The Story: With the mystery of who is trying to kill the mercenary groups solved, I suppose it is about time for a horde or orcs to attack the town.

The Review: Diversity is awesome. While comics are generally associated, in a rather general manner, with super heroes, most aficionados do know that in this day and age, we are lucky to have comics covering close to every genre. Horror, western, supernatural, mystery and a plethora of others are all represented, perhaps not in an equal manner, but are available on the market nonetheless.

Having a certain fondness of fantasy, with all the tropes connected with the genre (elves, dwarves, orcs, dragons, magic and what-have-you), it’s always nice to see a title delve in what readers know unapologetically. Still, any title needs its own identity, which is why it’s just so refreshing to see a title like Rat Queens on the stand. Full of humor, flawed leads and a willingness to play with the tropes without any restraints, it is a title that is unabashedly fun to read.

Part of this, of course, is due to the characters themselves, with each of them possessing a distinct voice without resorting too much into stereotypes. While Betty may seem like an airhead, she is much more capable than she seems to be, like every others. While Wiebe may seems to purposefully use archetypes of characters and humorous types, there is always a bit more than what is on the surface, with a lot of characters getting rather easy to like, even some of the secondary characters like Braga or Sawyer gets infinitely more interesting in this issue, which bodes well for the future of this series.

The humor is certainly another factor at work here, with a certain dedication to it that is rather amusing to see. The general display of hyper-violence and the normalization of its effects by the characters, the profanity, the general silliness and multiple other factors are at work here to render this book immensely entertaining. Put in some rather memorable one-liners in there and it results in a fun book indeed.