Sunday, June 5, 2016

Review: Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery by Wiebe and Upchurch (Volume One), Rat Queens: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'Rygoth by Wiebe, Upchurch, and Sejic (Volume Two), & Rat Queens: Demons by Wiebe, Fowler, Bonvillain, and Brisson (Volume Three)

Synopsis: 
Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery by Wiebe and Upchurch (Volume One):
Who are the Rat Queens? A pack of booze-guzzling, death-dealing battle maidens-for-hire, and they're in the business of killing all god's creatures for profit. It's also a darkly comedic sass-and-sorcery series starring Hannah the Rockabilly Elven Mage, Violet the Hipster Dwarven Fighter, Dee the Atheist Human Cleric and Betty the Hippy Smidgen Thief. This modern spin on an old school genre is a violent monster-killing epic that is like Buffy meets Tank Girl in a Lord of the Rings world on crack!

Rat Queens: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'Rygoth by Wiebe, Upchurch, and Sejic (Volume Two):
A brand-new, booze-soaked tale of the Rat Queens reveals a growing menace within the very walls of Palisade. And while Dee may have run from her past, the bloated, blood-feasting sky god N’rygoth never really lets his children stray too far.

Rat Queens: Demons by Wiebe, Fowler, Bonvillain, and Brisson (Volume Three): 
Having survived the end of the world, the Queens follow Hannah back to where it all began: Mage University. A long perilous journey awaits the Rat Queens as they attempt to find out what happened to Hannah's father while battling their own demons.

Review: I was certain I would adore this series the first time I read the title of Volume One - anything with "sass" in the title had to be good. I was right! The writers created a story imbued with both humor and depth.  I adored the relationship between the four main characters – it had an authenticity to it that made it amazing. Even the secondary characters had depth and complexity. The plot complimented the character development nicely – and provided ample spots for sarcasm, snark, and sass. I must have laughed out loud about a dozen times. There was a lovely mixed of tribute and parody of D&D, which as a player, I enjoyed immensely.
My only qualm was the art changed in volume three, not for the better. I preferred the style of the first two. But this is a personal thing and doesn’t detract from the story.
Volume one and two are one story, with volume three starting another story arc. I’m eager for volume four – which won’t be out for at least a year, although two of the individual issues are out.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys snarky stories with complex characters. And it’s a must read for any D&D player.

Prude Note: There is F/M and F/F sex and nudity. It’s not graphic but it’s there. 

Bookmarks: 8 / 8 / 7

Awards: Nominated for the 2014 Eisner Award for Best New Series. Won the 2015 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book for its Portrayals of LGBT characters. Nominated  for the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story (Volume One)

 ISBN: 978-1-63215-040-0 / 978-1-60706-945-4 / 978-1-63215-735-5
Year Published: 2013 - 2016
Date Finished: May 28, 2016
Pages: N/A

  

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