4 out of 5

Queen & Country is all about being in the thick of things.  Greg would spiral out in different directions, in spandex books, in indie books, from here on out, but Q & C was him at his most dug in; Lazarus, many years later, would escalate both the politics and action of this book to a higher art, but it’s a different beast, and for all of its world building, rather more subtle.    Q & C tosses you in the middle of things, and then you’re in the middle for the remainder of the series, yanked back and forth across company lines by department head Paul Crocker and ‘minder’ (agent) Tara Chase.

We’re with an MI6 unit that’s tasked with various special ops, and issue one opens with Tara in play on a mission that’s a favor to the CIA: take down a Russian mobster.  She does, and a breathless escape ensues, but: we’re in the middle, remember?  And this act doesn’t go forgotten, as right away, Russian agents are targeting Tara back in jolly olde London.

There’s plenty of action here, including one of my most memorable “goddamn this is cool” comic reading moments ever, with Tara purposefully running towards a gunman, having been taught that as a way of throwing off a shooter’s aim, but Rucka makes it very clear that there is going to be an equal (if not more of a) battle in inter-office relations: Crocker navigating his boss, his boss’s boss, the Americans, MI5, and all of the various semi-aligned purposes they not-so-openly share.  It’s glorious stuff, and, yes, I called it cool, but it’s also clear – Tara’s a drunk; all the minders are a bit shell-shocked; Crocker is a stew of stress – that Rucka doesn’t seek to Bond-glamorize this work; it’s gloriously messy.

The letters show mixed reactions to Steve Rolston’s clean, cartoon-realistic art style, but I found it to be a perfect intro to the world, and I do think the clear acting he delineated for the leads bled into all of the artists thereafter: the mannerisms and postures we see dominate how we come to know these characters.  Rolston also ably captured the high-action sequences, which are, of course, always tricky.  (Thankfully, Rucka’s big on choreography, so I do think he gives his artists the tools they need if they’re so inclined.)

In retrospect: this is early Rucka.  His first few books and other comics (like Whiteout) were obsessively consumed by me after Q & C kicked off my fandom, but he was much better at the drama stuff at that point, with the action sort of too clipped.  The first arc of Q & C is rather simple in that sense, and perhaps too simple: the espionage plays out; the Russians attack; the Russians are thwarted.  It’s exciting, but straightforward, and you’re much more grabbed by Crocker’s networking and grousing.  The discrepancy isn’t massive, and Greg would only get better at balancing these two modes, but it is something that’s a bit clearer now.