Written by
Kurtis J. Wiebe
Art by Roc
Upchurch
Comics
are great for putting two genres together that you may not think of, and then
do great together. Kurtis J. Wiebe has
even done it before, with Peter Panzerfaust combining Peter Pan and World War
II action. Rat Queens combines Dungeons
& Dragons-style fantasy and Bridesmaids-style comedy…and what do you know,
it’s a perfect fit.
Sass
and Sorcery opens with the titular Rat Queens, an all-female group of
adventurers, having destroyed a good part of the town of Palisade in a bar
brawl. It turns out that the town is in
a time of peace…which leaves all the adventuring parties with nothing to do but
drink and wreak havoc. When they go on a
quest to clear out some goblins, they instead find an assassin trying to kill
them, and uncover a plot to kill them and the other adventuring parties off.
When
you think fantasy, you probably don’t think of characters that curse, drink,
get high and make dick jokes. And then
along come the Rat Queens. The story
here is certainly interesting, if not exceptionally unique, but it’s the humor
that brings everything together. It’s
laugh-out-loud funny and works well by being ridiculous and playing well with
the fantasy setting. Betty, the Halfling
rogue, packs a lunch full of candy and drugs.
Dee Dee is a former cult member who still ends up praying to the cult. And there’s some nice over-the-top violence,
if that’s your thing. It only parodies some
of the fantasy tropes, and takes much more time to make its characters unique
and funny on their own.
And
as with all good R-rated comedies, it’s the characters that elevate this from “funny”
to “a must-read”. The Rat Queens are all
eminently likeable. Issue 3 gives them
some downtime from being funny and killing things to get some character
development, and it’s perfect. Betty in
particular is already my favorite character.
She’s clearly caring and has a big heart, and then she’ll turn around
and make a drink of candy and liquor.
Dee Dee’s story also starts to develop near the end, and I’m intrigued. If the book being great already didn’t have
me hooked, there’s a nice lead-in to the next arc here. And finally, I must say, a fantasy story with
people of color and non-heterosexual characters? Yes please.
If
you like gory fantasies and R-rated comedies, Rat Queens hits every note
perfectly. A must-read from issue 1.
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