Rat Queens

Rat Queens 1-15

Rat Queens: Braga 1

Rat Queens vol 2 1-2

Amazingly (or not), today’s reading of my Rat Queens collection completely mirrored my memory of my original experience.  After the first two trades, I thought, “Why in the world did I stop buying this? It’s so fun!” One glance at the art in the third trade gave me a good hint, and although a new new penciller gave volume 2 a bit of a boost, I’d lost my initial enthusiasm for the title as a whole.  It ran out of steam. I was ready to quit at about the same time past-me did.

Back to the beginning.  Kurtis Wiebe gives us a wonderfully off-color collection of D&D tropes - The halfling (‘smidgen’ in this universe) thief, dwarven warrior, human cleric, and elven/demon mage.  His deviations from business-as-usual expectations warm my heart. All the party members are female. They cover the gamut of sexual preferences and gender identity. They don’t shy away from extreme violence or the extreme debauchery that ensues in celebration of their victories.  

And they’re hilarious.  They’re irreverent, give each other plenty of shit, and love what they do.  It makes for a thoroughly entertaining read.

So what went wrong?  Real life drama.  While I certainly don’t pretend to know all the details, the following seems clear: Roc Upchurch, co-creator and original artist, was arrested for domestic abuse and removed from the book.  Stjepan Sejic stepped in, but left for health reasons soon after. Tess Fowler took over before leaving due to differences with Wiebe. The book went on hiatus, and then returned with Owen Gieni as the new artist.    

I don’t know if the drama was the reason for the drop in quality, but I do know that I do not like it nearly as much as Upchurch or Stejic.  

Upchurch

Sejic

Fowler

At the same time, Wiebe’s story about Hannah and her father feels unfocused and incomplete. (Wiebe must have agreed. He didn’t even finish the story after issue 15 of the first volume - while issue 16 was published, he went so far as to shift it out of canon and refuses to ever reprint it in trade.  Volume 2 starts with a leap forward in time, leaving the reader to imagine how it all worked out.)

The volume 2 reboot lacks the spark that I loved so much from the beginning of volume 1.  Past-me quit after two issues, and present-me completely agrees. I’m keeping the first two trades (Issues 1-10) and dumping the rest.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes for Vol 1 1-10, No for the rest

Would read again: Yes for Vol 1 1-10, No for the rest

Rating: Pretty good for Vol 1 1-10, Didn’t suck for 11-15 (the Fowler issues), Fine for the rest.

Some more Sejic, because I love his art. Can't wait to write about Sunstone.