I saw this on NetGalley for review and it looked like something I would really love. Its a graphic novel that is a blend of Dungeons and Dragons type of adventure with some really hilarious and quirky characters. The description of Lord of the Rings meets Tank Girl is very apt. I had a great time reading this graphic novel. In fact I am having trouble writing a review that will do this book justice...it just was an absolutely butt-kick graphic novel.
The Rat Queens are a merc group who are routinely hired by the city to protect it from monsters. They are one of four adventuring parties in the city and the problem is that now that the monsters have been taken care of the adventuring parties are kind of tearing up the town with their brawls and parties. The Rat Queens consist of Betty (the halfing flower child who loves booze and drugs), Dee (a priestess of sorts whose parents worship a strange squid god), Hannah (the rockabilly sorceress who parents are seriously scary necromancers), and Violet (dwarven fighter who has turned her back on dwarves and started shaving her beard off).
The Rat Queens along with the other adventuring parties are finally sent out on new jobs after brutally destroying a tavern during a particularly wild brawl. The other adventuring parties are The Peaches, The Four Daves, The Brother Ponies, and Obsidian Darkness. Yep, this is that kind of book. Just the names of the other adventuring parties had me laughing my butt off.
This book is hilarious, raunchy, violent, and just so hilarious (it is seriously so funny you have to call it hilarious more than once). I seriously was laughing until I was in tears a number of times. That being said this is also a very adult graphic novel . There is loads of swearing, oodles of dirty jokes, and tons of talk about sex (although really no nudity).
Hannah was my favorite character, she can seriously kick some butt, she has a lot of style, and shes not afraid to say exactly what shes thinking (which usually isnt something that can be repeated in polite company). But all of the characters are absolutely wonderful. They are quirky, creative, and you never know what is going to come out of their mouths next. Not to mention they are loyal, vindictive as hell, and just awesome to watch in action.
Even the side characters are excellent. I love how the adventuring bands compete against each other, but when the town is seriously in danger they band together to help do what needs to be done to save the town from rampaging trolls.
The action scenes are gory and bloody and exceedingly well done. The Rat Queens are not afraid to get dirty (in more than one way) they get the crap beat out of themselves a number of times, but they get the job done. The illustration is full color and incredibly well done. The characters are captured well as are their emotions, the action scenes are easy to follow. The illustration added a ton to the story and I never had trouble following the frames or seeing what was going on.
Overall I really really loved this graphic novel, it is my absolute favorite of the year so far. I highly recommend to all of the fantasy graphic novel fans out there, especially to those who enjoy a little grittiness and some twisted humor. If you are easily offended this is not the graphic novel for you. However if you like reading about kick-butt adventurers, who are quirky, hilarious, and dont mind getting a bit gorey definitely pick this up! It was so much fun to read.
The Rat Queens are a merc group who are routinely hired by the city to protect it from monsters. They are one of four adventuring parties in the city and the problem is that now that the monsters have been taken care of the adventuring parties are kind of tearing up the town with their brawls and parties. The Rat Queens consist of Betty (the halfing flower child who loves booze and drugs), Dee (a priestess of sorts whose parents worship a strange squid god), Hannah (the rockabilly sorceress who parents are seriously scary necromancers), and Violet (dwarven fighter who has turned her back on dwarves and started shaving her beard off).
The Rat Queens along with the other adventuring parties are finally sent out on new jobs after brutally destroying a tavern during a particularly wild brawl. The other adventuring parties are The Peaches, The Four Daves, The Brother Ponies, and Obsidian Darkness. Yep, this is that kind of book. Just the names of the other adventuring parties had me laughing my butt off.
This book is hilarious, raunchy, violent, and just so hilarious (it is seriously so funny you have to call it hilarious more than once). I seriously was laughing until I was in tears a number of times. That being said this is also a very adult graphic novel . There is loads of swearing, oodles of dirty jokes, and tons of talk about sex (although really no nudity).
Hannah was my favorite character, she can seriously kick some butt, she has a lot of style, and shes not afraid to say exactly what shes thinking (which usually isnt something that can be repeated in polite company). But all of the characters are absolutely wonderful. They are quirky, creative, and you never know what is going to come out of their mouths next. Not to mention they are loyal, vindictive as hell, and just awesome to watch in action.
Even the side characters are excellent. I love how the adventuring bands compete against each other, but when the town is seriously in danger they band together to help do what needs to be done to save the town from rampaging trolls.
The action scenes are gory and bloody and exceedingly well done. The Rat Queens are not afraid to get dirty (in more than one way) they get the crap beat out of themselves a number of times, but they get the job done. The illustration is full color and incredibly well done. The characters are captured well as are their emotions, the action scenes are easy to follow. The illustration added a ton to the story and I never had trouble following the frames or seeing what was going on.
Overall I really really loved this graphic novel, it is my absolute favorite of the year so far. I highly recommend to all of the fantasy graphic novel fans out there, especially to those who enjoy a little grittiness and some twisted humor. If you are easily offended this is not the graphic novel for you. However if you like reading about kick-butt adventurers, who are quirky, hilarious, and dont mind getting a bit gorey definitely pick this up! It was so much fun to read.
**I received a free copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery contains the first five volumes of the Rat Queens comics.
While reading this, I felt like I was seeing the love child of Xena and Lord of the Rings.
I love the art work. It's so detailed, you would know the story without the writing. One of the the main thing that stood out were the varying female forms. Often I come across titles were one body size is used for all the females (normally tall, thin, with a huge rack). It was nice to see model thin to full figure women in this title. Another nice thing was the number of diverse races. I'm not talking species (although the more species, the better IMO), but actual skin tones. The lettering in the stories themselves is clear and easy to read. I was a little disappointed in the lettering for the individual introductions of the Rat Queens, though. It's in a beautiful, fancy script, but it's almost impossible to read.
The story was engaging from beginning to end. These women are bad-ass. I have to give kudos to the author for making these woman so strong and confident, without making them completely unlikable bitches. I'm sure it's never then intention, but many male writers tend to make strong female characters hormonal, rage filled she demons. Usually this is explained by a flippant PMS comment. These woman are nothing like that. Yes, they do enjoy a good brawl or Troll killing, they also have compassion when it's called for. They build each other up instead are tearing each other down. And they are hysterical.
I will definitely seek out more of this series
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery contains the first five volumes of the Rat Queens comics.
While reading this, I felt like I was seeing the love child of Xena and Lord of the Rings.
I love the art work. It's so detailed, you would know the story without the writing. One of the the main thing that stood out were the varying female forms. Often I come across titles were one body size is used for all the females (normally tall, thin, with a huge rack). It was nice to see model thin to full figure women in this title. Another nice thing was the number of diverse races. I'm not talking species (although the more species, the better IMO), but actual skin tones. The lettering in the stories themselves is clear and easy to read. I was a little disappointed in the lettering for the individual introductions of the Rat Queens, though. It's in a beautiful, fancy script, but it's almost impossible to read.
The story was engaging from beginning to end. These women are bad-ass. I have to give kudos to the author for making these woman so strong and confident, without making them completely unlikable bitches. I'm sure it's never then intention, but many male writers tend to make strong female characters hormonal, rage filled she demons. Usually this is explained by a flippant PMS comment. These woman are nothing like that. Yes, they do enjoy a good brawl or Troll killing, they also have compassion when it's called for. They build each other up instead are tearing each other down. And they are hysterical.
I will definitely seek out more of this series
