RAT QUEENS: VOL. 1

By Kurtis J. Wiebe (Author), Roc Upchurch (Illustrator)

Marvel comics’ head Axel Alonso says that female readers are “starved for content and looking for content they can relate to.” Realistic and positive images of females in comics have long been one of the more virulent debates about the form. As a result, there has been an appreciable increase in the form’s inclusion of female characters. Despite being written and illustrated by men, I’m pleased to say that Rat Queens does a bang-up job creating believable female characters. The Rat Queens are an assemblage of magical, sarcastic and powerful women who hilariously cause just as much trouble as they fix in the medieval-style town of Palisade. In the first volume, readers find the Rat Queens dealing with a recent attempt on their lives. Each woman is fully realized; they’re whip-smart but just a little raunchy, they possess (relatively) realistic body types, and not a single one exists solely to function as a love interest. Nothing feels contrived. Everything is fresh and fun and illustrated with so much color and pop that the drawings themselves become as addictive as the candy and mushrooms combo that Betty the halfling favors for breakfast. Trust me: male or female, you need to be reading Rat Queens.