Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery, Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch
I might have to revise this review after some thought, because I’m not sure what to make of Rat Queens. It’s cheerfully NSFW, LGBTQ+, full of unapologetically kickass female characters of various types who are living it up and having a great time. The problem for me is with the drugs, sex and wholesale violence aspect; I’m not that interested by those as motivators for characters, and the total lack of background for the Rat Queens leaves me pretty cold. All we see for most of the book is the drugs, sex and violence. I want to know why they’re friends, how they know each other, where they’ve come from and where they’re going. There’s not much of that here, beyond a few hints.
On the upside, the art is gorgeous, and I do enjoy some of the banter, the camaraderie between the Queens, and the unapologetic nature of all of it. I just want more meat in terms of characterisation. I’m going to try the second volume and see if that helps.
Rating: 3/5
I had many of the same problems when I read Rat Queens, as did my sister. It’s a cool idea with potential that just seemed too much about catering to the male gaze and creating a bunch of 2D Strong Female Characters. Not to plug myself too much, but I posted about it twice if you want to give them a listen/read. https://pissedoffmillennial.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/bitch-planet-the-comic-my-cynical-feminist-heart-has-always-wanted/
https://pissedoffmillennial.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/three-girls-one-comic-episode-1-rat-queens-volume-1/
I’m not sure it was so much catering to the male gaze, but it definitely didn’t seem to be orientated toward a reader like me! Especially not at first. I’ll check out your post, thanks.
I got the preview and the first issue for free and I’m still not sure about picking any more of this up. I mean, it was fun for the first few pages and I was interested, but then we dropped the interesting storyline for … being hungover? :/
And your review doesn’t make it sound like the next few issues are any different. *shrugs* I guess they’re just not for me.
I’m… still not sure? Like, I thought parts of it were fun, and I quite like the art, but… I don’t know.