Unofficially led by Hannah the Elf, Dee, Betty, and Violet’s gang (the Rat Queens) are part guns-for-hire and part outcasts. Since their exploits have caused their fair share of damage, the Rat Queens and other gangs are asked to do some “cleaning up” on the outskirts of town, but when only some of these gang members make it back alive, it’s anyone’s guess whether the whole thing was just a plan to get rid of them in the first place. And that’s about as much as you’re going to get from Volume 1.
Bolstered by Roc Upchurch’s fantastic art which manages to be dynamic, complex, and elegant at the same time (and reminiscent of Fiona Staples which most definitely is a plus), writer Kurtis Wiebe tries to keep things interesting by making his characters foul-mouthed, heavy drinking, and tough as nails, but he just barely misses the mark on these accounts. Although there’s an interesting seed here in Violet’s relationship with her “clan,” the rest of the characters are relatively one-dimensional and their traits and drives are worn on their sleeves instead of being nuanced.
But when Rat Queens takes a stab at a being a female-driven fantasy brawler, it most certainly accomplishes that and looks good doing it. It just doesn’t do much else.
Artist:
www.kurtiswiebe.com/
www.facebook.com/kurtisjwiebe
www.twitter.com/kurtisjwiebe
Book:
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .