Let’s say you’re living in a fantasy world. (Yes, I know it’s a stretch, especially if you’re a comic reviewer.) Let’s say you have a problem that needs dealing with. You’ve got all kind of companies to choose from; groups of hardened warriors that go by names like “Four Daves”, “Obsidian Darkness”, “Peaches”, and “Brother Ponies”. But first in the line-up are the Rat Queens, a motley group of ladies that definitely look like they could hammer in a few skulls, all the while charging a reasonable hammer-per-skull rate. Well, reasonable if you factor in the risk of smashing those heads yourselves. You want to hire the Rat Queens, is what I’m saying, and they accept most payment methods — so long as they’re gold, upfront.
Coming at you straight from the brains of Kurtis Wiebe (who writes “Peter Panzerfaust”, and won a Shuster for his work on “Green Wake”) and Roc Upchurch (of “Vescell” fame), “Rat Queens” is published by Shadowline at Image Comics, and will be hitting shelves September 25th. That means you’ve got a week and bit to sort out your finances, and in the mean time, I’ve got Kurtis Wiebe on the line to help you make an educated decision.
You may be wondering, are the “Rat Queens” for me? What will I get out of this contract that a moodier, more realistic mercenary squad wouldn’t provide? Mr. Wiebe has your back. “Rat Queens is written for people who really love fantasy and, more specifically, gaming,” Wiebe said in an interview with us. “Even more specifically, roleplaying, either at the table with friends or over the internet with something like World of Warcraft. There are a lot of obvious reasons I believe the gaming community will absolutely love this series because I’m very much of that community. I host a weekly D&D game here in Vancouver, I’m an avid group storyteller with games like Fiasco or board games that have a huge story component to them. A lot of the tone and feel of Rat Queens is rooted in my own experiences of running RPG’s and wanting to bring that level of hilarity to comic form.”
“Whenever I’ve run games, I’ve been really lucky to play with friends who are both incredibly smart and fiendishly funny. That has allowed for some ridiculously hilarious stories that we still joke about even years later. I think that’s what people really latch onto about gaming. The laughter. I find a lot of books and comics set in actual gaming worlds are far too serious. And while my experience with roleplaying games has run the gamut of serious, long form narrative style dramatic campaigns to comedic, high action laugh-fests, I often find that how I remember my gaming sessions is rarely represented in fiction.”
Wait a second. What about this Wiebe’s credentials? Aren’t his previous efforts very much in a darker mode? Never fear. “The biggest challenge for Rat Queens isn’t the genre, but maintaining the tone and ensuring the characters retain their voice and unique personality. Especially when it comes to comedy,” said Wiebe. “There’s such a pressure on the timing, building up to the comedic moments that I find myself retracing steps to ensure the payoff will be at the moment I set it up to be. I find writing this series takes about twice as long as my more serious work.”
“Comparatively, the writing process is mostly the same, but it’s actually a lot easier to get ‘in the mood’, so to speak, with Rat Queens. Because there’s a lot of levity and fun in the series, it’s something I can sit down to and just get down to writing. With the more serious projects, it often takes a bit of preparation emotionally to get in the right headspace. Listen to some bleak music, surround yourself with silence. That sort of thing.”
Fair enough, you may say. I’ll get to share a laugh or two with these Rat Queens. But who am I dealing with on an individual basis? Who are the Rat Queens? “I’m writing four characters that are unique and interesting, they’re complicated people, and even though this is a comedy series, it’s also a very character driven one as well,” said Wiebe. “They will change and grow with their experiences, and I feel that the readers will become pretty attached to these really wacky, wonderful women.”
Continued below“I tried to make it as relatable as possible. How would twenty something, college aged people act in a fantasy setting? Probably much the same as we do; we party, we flirt, we date, we take shitty jobs, and we experiment with everything to find out who we are. So… yes, they’re elves and dwarves and smidgens, but at the heart of it, they’re also young women who live a pretty exciting life.”
“They don’t always get along. In fact, they do bicker a fair bit. I want that to feel real as well, that even though they’re friends and workmates, they’re still people and we all know how even the best of our friends drive us crazy.”
“It’s interesting,” Wiebe continues. “Their personalities really solidified when Roc sent the conceptual illustrations. I’d made a few notes about who they were, where they came from and had a bit of each of their voices in my head, but it all clicked the second I saw those drawings.”
“Honestly, I’ve never had such a clear narrative vision than I have with these four ladies. I know their world view, I know how they react to things and what’s important to them. I can’t wait to tell hundreds of stories with them.”
This Roc Upchurch will be your guide, in terms of visual and sequential communication with the Rat Queens. You’ll find his credentials hold up to scrutiny. “Roc and I have been in touch since NYCC 2011. I created this series for him after we did a pitch last year called Goblinettes. Rat Queens sort of grew out of that original pitch, took a lot of the basic ideas, made them stronger and more focused. I’ve been wanting to work with him since I saw his work in Vescell at NYCC.”
“[The collaborative process was] pretty much 50/50. I had some detailed write ups and Roc completely 100% nailed their look and attitude. He just got where I was going with this series from the very first second he started illustrating it. I think that shows a real strength in our collaborative relationship.”
Hold on a sec, you may interrupt. An educated and experienced customer, you’ve dealt with fantasy-genre heroines before, and often found their armour… somewhat lacking, and not at all suited to doing battle with the kind of problems you’re used to. Will this be a concern with the Rat Queens? “Yes, Dee hikes in heels, but we’re doing something with this comic that, as far as I know, hasn’t really been done with fantasy comics before. Especially with women in fantasy comics,” Wiebe explains. “Violet wears a full suit of armour. You know… so that her whole body is protected. Hannah and Betty are fully clothed as well. Dee’s getup is admittedly on the sexier side, but a lot of that is tied into her origins and the place in the world she comes from. I’m pretty proud of that with Rat Queens, there’s context to everything about them, from their attitudes to the way they dress. It’s tied into a history that’s led them to Palisade.”
Nor should the world that the Rat Queens are to negotiate on your behalf cause you any inquietude. This is a landscape that is familiar to them; one in which they fulfill their roles with gusto and verve. “It’s a pretty standard fantasy world, so you can expect to find most tropes like you would in any other fantasy setting. Of course, we’re putting quite a few twists on what you’d expect, and that’ll be a big part of the fun in Rat Queens.”
“As far as their role in the system of governance, they are essentially mercenaries,” Wiebe said. “When the local town watch, or authorities, are unable to attend to lurking dangers, they hire the Rat Queens, or groups like them, to take care of the problem. This isn’t just monster killing, there’s dozens of different types of jobs and we’ll be playing in all those sandboxes.”
“The other adventuring parties will always be floating around Palisade, and as we have begun to hint in Issue #1, there’s a weird history between the leader of the Peaches and Hannah. Some of the groups are more background characters, others have a much more important story to tell in relation to the Rat Queens and the town of Palisade as well.”
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No summary of the Rat Queens as an effective and efficient problem disposal unit would be complete without a discussion of the unique methods they implement in order to achieve their goals. Far from being limited to the usual tools of their setting in place and time, you’ll find that their equipment is state-of-the-art. Hannah even carries a cell phone. “It’s tied into what I said earlier about putting a modern mindset into these young women and asking questions about how their day would look in a fantasy setting,” Wiebe clarifies. “There’s also a bit of commentary on what we lovingly refer to on the Canadian prairies as Rig Pigs. Young people who work on the oil rigs, make massive amounts of money in a very short amount of time, and, because they have very little life experience, spend it all on drugs, booze and trucks.”
“I see the Rat Queens in a very similar light. They do very dangerous work and because not many people are skilled enough to kill monsters as a routine, they get paid extremely well and have a lot of free time because of it. It made sense to do this fantasy series with a much more modern feel to it.”
But what about that cell phone? “As far as cell phones, I’ve always thought that technology succeeds best where they factor in the laziness of human beings. I see magic working in the same way. I think people will find our fantasy homages to modern tech a lot of fun.”
Finally, if you have any concerns about the availability of the Rat Queens, rest assured that their schedule is flexible. “I’m actually building this series in three different ways and this comes from a lot of experienced I’ve gained from my previous comic series. Rat Queens will have stories that satisfy a single issue, and each single issue will tie into a five issue arc, much like I’m doing with Peter Panzerfaust. Each five issue arc is also tying into a much greater mythology and story plan that could take several years to tell.”
“At the moment, I’ve got about 3 years planned of overarching narrative where a fairly massive plot will slowly unveil itself. Essentially, Rat Queens is both episodic and long form storytelling with a lot of content planned out.”
And there you have it. The Rat Queens are brave; the Rat Queens are complex; the Rat Queens are well-equipped. The decision is yours, but when you arrive at your local comic book store next week, faced down by hordes of wild floppies, grinning at you glossily, we hope you will make the right one. Choose artfully harnessed mayhem. Choose “Rat Queens.”
