4 out of 5

I was on the fence.

Kurtis Wiebe quickly overtook a unique corner of my reading world after I’d started with ‘Debris’, and then branched out to his various projects from the last few years.  Each of his books managed to be truly original, and confident in its presentation, without over-reaching the general intent.  Which is often just to entertain.  He’s had deeper books – Green Wake, for example, and the emotions churning beneath Peter Panzerfaust – but otherwise his stuff is just a good read, for some yuks, for some dorkiness, for some action.  The relationships he seemed to form with each title’s artist has always seemed rock-solid – perfect matches for the material – and the writing just has a sense of patience to it, yet with an eye on consistent rewards for the reader, that’s uncommon to be able to pull off so consistently successfully.

I’m not sure what put me on guard with Rat Queens.  I’ve suspected Wiebe to be a dork (I mean that in all kindness, as I’m a dork m’self in many ways), and so the dorky genre of which Rat Queens takes part (RPGs) wasn’t so much a surprise.  But there was a lot of buildup to it… constant promo bits on his website… and… big-hipped women with tattoos who swear and drink a lot.  Was this going to be the dork fantasy book?  Well, yes, but I mean quite a different fantasy – focusing on the ‘ideal’ version of women that the particular genre conjures.  I was afraid I’d be reading an obnoxious wish-fulfillment series that stands under the banner of empowerment but is actually wank material and we’re all crying inside.

Whew.  Have some faith.  Rat Queens is more true to its D&D roots than to any veiled anything.  Yes, the Queens do fight, fuck and drink, but the whole book has a lovely tawdry tone to it (including the letters pages) and Wiebe has made sure to already include a strong supporting cast of other guilds plus the sheriff of the town in which the Queens reside, so the love is spread all around.  The plot has a couple hitches – the Queens are dispatch on a task only to be confronted by an assassin, leading to a couple issues of detective work to track down the sender of said assassin – but only in the sense that Wiebe is quick to jump from A to C, and I suppose I’d rather that than spend five issues going nowhere.  And the progressions are never illogical, just excised of some transitions that could’ve punched up some jokes or action.

Roc Upchurch’s art is, yet again, a perfect match.  The Queens are all believable as rough-and-tumblers but each ooze personality, fulfilling (along with Wiebe’s characterizations) much more than the stereotypes – the bitchy leader, the quiet one, the slutty one, the warrior – that they could slot into.  The various fantasy fodder – orcs, dwarves, etc. – are drawn with just enough flourish to stand out but the whole world is heightened to the proper level so that its clear that this is normal.  When the action sequences get especially bloody, the movement can stall a bit, but that might just be because of how much red is obscuring the panel.  Otherwise, Roc’s paneling is aces and his color effortlessly hems and haws from earthly tones to pop colors during a dusk-y fight, to an ‘indoor’ palette during a final celebratory party…  The book is constantly good to look at.

It’s crass, and I can’t say that there’s exactly a focus to the book yet – these issues events don’t carry much weight, almost like an afterthought to just introducing us to the way things are – but that only proves moreso how talented Wiebe and Upchurch are as a team, because you just want to devour issue after issue.  That being said, there’s plenty of seeds planted here to build to something larger, which would be ideal.  Here’s to stronger arcs in the future.