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Comic Book Wednesday: ‘Rat Queens’

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ratqueensIt’s a woman’s world for Dee, Hannah, Violet and Betty, a rowdy foursome of fearless fighters. However, in the girls’ first introduction in the beginnning of “Rat Queens,” it seems like they broke their last straw with the locals. They are given the menial duty of clearing out the goblins in Hindman Cave as punishment, in order to keep them out of trouble for a few days.

Things aren’t as simple as it seems, though, and along their path they encounter an assassin set to kill the girls. “When the shadow of the order descends, no place will be safe. We are the voice of death. We will never be silen …” the murder says, before he gets crushed by the hammer of a giant goblin, who has woken from the melee taking place outside his cave.

Part “Lord of the Rings” and part “World of Warcraft” with an all-female lead cast, “Rat Queens” tries to hone in on the female perspective of geekery, and I think writer Kurtis J. Wiebe and artist Roc Upchurch did a decent job.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought actress Felicia Day wrote this comic, because she knows how to execute a female lead in the geek world with her show “The Guild.” “Rat Queens” reminded me a lot of “The Guild,” with the tongue-in-cheek jokes, sometimes at the expense of geeks, though they weren’t too harsh, and the overall set-up.

There were some areas of contention, though. Some of the jokes and sexual statements seem forced. We learn early on that Betty has a highly sexual and reckless nature due to her being a hobbit or smidgen (thought this is not how hobbits are in “Lord of the Rings.”) I don’t think the readers need to know more details of her sex life that seem to go on and on during their trek across the woods, or her constant quips that make her seem like an immature child that borders on annoying. Parents: Your kids should not be reading this comic.

Upchurch really gives this story the push it needs with the little details for each character. Because each female lead is a different species — human, elf, hobbit, dwarf — that are pretty similar on the basics, these four women could have looked like copies. Upchurch adds just enough different personality and traits to set each apart. It feels like “Sex and the City” meets “Lord of the Rings”: You feel like you can relate to each character because it is a dramatization of everyone’s main personalities.  Not to mention, the characters and action practically pop off the page, bringing this story truly to life.

Wiebe has found success in a few other past comics, including “Peter Panzerfaust,” and I can’t think of a good reason why this one wouldn’t be a great title for him and Upchurch as well.


Comic Book Wednesday is a new feature that will showcase a variety of visually based books that fit into this wide category, to give a taste of this other form of reading.


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