“Rat Queens” #6 came out this week, and with it came a flurry of excitement from fans excited to see the return of their favorite legendary heroines. The first volume brought with it such fun, swears, blood, guts and hilarity (fucking Gary!) that “Rat Queens” wound up becoming something of a mini-phenomenon — with a party hosted at Emerald City, a line of merch and more.
So in celebration of the return of the Queens and as part of our continued fifth anniversary celebrations, we sat down with writer Kurtis Wiebe to have a pretty frank conversation about the series, its influence, and its future.
So, Rat Queens is back with issue #6 and a new arc! The first arc received a TREMENDOUS response; people are really digging this book and that’s great. How are you feeling about the response to this book so far?
Kuris Wiebe: Overwhelming is an understatement. This was a series that I felt had a distinct voice, but I had worried a lot leading up to the release that it might be too niche. I was super pleased with the critical response, because, again, I thought it might be the sort of series that would gain a cult following but not be a hit with reviewers.
At the beginning we landed quietly. We had a bit of buzz but it actually took time for the fan base to grow to the point where I started to notice there was some real dedicated readers who were talking about the book nonstop. The early fans are a major reason why the series is as popular as it is now.
Why do you think it is that Rat Queens has created the response that it has, that it’s found the audience that adores it so?
KW: There are a few reasons. It’s all been an organic growth stemming from me and Roc’s vision to do a fantasy series about four women that look and talk like women we know. We wanted all four Queens to be characters that someone could look at and immediately be reminded of a friend, family or lover. And, also tied into the actual comic, we’re not pandering. Not to any audience. I think fans respect that we have this distinct idea of Rat Queens is and we’re pretty unapologetic about it. It’s violent, at times vile, but we’re also keeping it grounded by making Hannah, Betty, Dee and Violet characters that feel, learn, change and grow from their experiences.
There’s also been the direct engagement of fans which honestly came about naturally. We were seeing all these fans on Tumblr posting their favourite panels and we simply dropped ourselves into the conversation and became part of it. It’s just grown from there, to the Rat Queens Social Club, our Rat Queens ECCC after party and our upcoming Rat Queens themed burlesque show in NYC. We’re making this effort to meet the men and women who’ve carried this series through their support and passing the word along to new readers.
And it’s a genuine thing we want to do. Meeting the people we banter with online in person is a true awesome experience.
You’ve taken a different approach to this book, offering merchandising lines and being more direct with fans; outside of Morning Glories, I can’t think of any other book that hosts a monthly Social Club for the audience, you know? How important do you think this sort of outward branding is to an indie book’s survival in 2014?
KW: As I touched on earlier, I don’t know if it’s paramount for a book to survive, but it’s part of what I want for Rat Queens. You buy Rat Queens, you’re buying a comic but you’re also landing yourself in a community that includes the creators. I think there’s something special about that and I feel like readers value it. People get to see the people behind the series, chat with them and get to know them.
I know if I had that kind of interaction with some writers or artists I enjoyed before I got into the industry, it would’ve made me a fan for life.
Continued belowThat said, I think it’s a good idea for newer creators like myself to engage the audience. They will do marketing for you that you simply can’t match. It’s important to remember that without those readers, we wouldn’t be making comics. Their support allows me to spend my days in sweatpants at a computer for a job.
And that’s fucking awesome.
The book has taken the popular approach these days of a quick break between arcs in order to recharge and I assume get ahead on schedule. Given this relatively new-ish trend in ongoing creator-owned comics, how do you feel this has been conducive to the book, both in terms of you and Johnny’s work and its relationship to the audience? (I remember the break thing being controversial on other books; that may not carry over here.)
KW: I’ve thought about this a lot, actually. I’ve had long conversations with people in the industry and friends who are readers and I’m starting to see a shift in readership. I’ve very much noticed it with the Rat Queens readership. A lot of our fans are younger, particularly women between 18-25, and it seems like many of them are new to comics so I wonder if they are even aware of the standard issue a month system.
European comics have had it right for a long time. It takes months, sometimes years, for popular artists and writers to create a new book and it’s an accepted practice. It’s understood that it takes a lot of time to put together a quality product.
The reality is that a monthly schedule can be brutal to maintain. Until this year, I’ve had to work day jobs to support my comic writing. In the summer of 2012, I was writing three different comic series and working 40 hours a week as a bus driver.
With Rat Queens in particular, a four week turnaround (well, three week, one week for lettering) is a difficult thing for Roc to pull off as he handles all the art responsibilities. The fact is we need more time to deliver a final product we’re happy with.
When we notified the fans of a change, a new Rat Queens every six weeks instead of every month, there was literally no negative feedback. Everyone understood and respected our decision. I feel like this new readership is less concerned about ship dates and they are happy when a new issue comes out.
I think for readers who are used to Marvel and DC’s insane shipping schedule, there is a similar expectation of indie comics. Thing is, we don’t have a six man team working on Rat Queens. It’s me, Roc and Ed. That’s it.
My favorite aspect of the book is definitely the individual voices of the characters, and obviously it’s something that’s become refined within the scope of the book. I have to say, though, that when male writers have female characters with strong voices, it’s often due to positive influences in their life. Is that a fair assumption to make here? Are there people in your life that particularly inspire you, and in turn the characters in this series?
KW: It’s a real amalgamation of the women in my life and aspects of myself that I see as strengths and weaknesses. I think that’s something that is often overlooked or skipped over when men write a gender outside their own, that assumption that women don’t struggle with similar issues as men. Body image, anxiety, awkwardness. So many things that define us are not exclusive to any one gender. Not even close.
A big inspiration for this series, though, was to bring to life the women I know that I feel just aren’t represented in comics. Often when someone tries to make a woman ‘badass’ (I hate that term, by the way) they make her cold and emotionless and willing to step over anyone in their way. It’s such nonsense. What is strong about that? Strength isn’t invulnerability to feelings, empathy isn’t a weakness.
And the women in my life are impossibly strong. They’ve weathered some brutal storms and continue to grow and change and learn from their lives. They’re the variety of people you see in Rat Queens; foul mouthed, compassionate, driven, emotional, kind, shocking. Every single one different.
Continued below
I also really like that the book has a subtle but strong supporting cast of minor characters with big personalities (fucking Gary). The book has a good amount of building blocks in it already, but are you looking to expand more on those formerly minor aspects as the book goes forward?
KW: Each minor player is probably a lot more major than people realize. Tizzie, Braga, and Sawyer Silver just to name a few. They all have very detailed histories that are going to tie into events surrounding the Queens in one way or another. Some are more personal to the Queens than others, as hinted at with Sawyer and Tizzie, but we have lots planned for everyone you’ve met so far.
On that same thread, “Rat Queens” v1 was a bit centrally located. What do you have in store in terms of world building and the like? (Which is probably just as fair a time to tease what’s to come in v2, if you’re so inclined!)
KW: This current arc will be focused on Palisade and the surrounding area. From there we’re going to open the world up a bit and let the setting start to play a larger role. We wanted to focus on the characters that define the series to start and allow the world building to happen as a natural evolution of their journey. So, we have 2 or 3 plots that will take them beyond the land of Palisade and into the world at large.
So, lets talk a bit about how you approach the storytelling. Has it changed with the second arc? I’ve seen a lot from you on social media about gaming; is that factoring into the ideas for the series?
KW: I’m a gamer, but that aspect doesn’t influence the actual storytelling. I make a few jokes here and there but I tell them in such a way that even a non-gamer will still get a laugh out of them. My goal is to give that part of my own life a nod every so often but not to be bogged down in it. Right now, Rat Queens has broad appeal and I think that’s because I’m taking a more open approach to the series.
It will always be a character driven series; in the comedy, the drama and the action. It will always be defined by the people that are involved, rather than pushing for a scene simply to get a laugh or a wince.
A nice, solid arc in, what’s the working relationship like with Roc? I assume you guys are more comfortable working with one another, but what’s the give and take like at this point?
KW: I know exactly what to expect. When I start setting up the comedy or the more emotional scenes, I already have the visual in my head of what Roc will deliver. It comes from a place of us both knowing the characters inside and out. We make all those decisions together, about their past and future and how it will affect everyone else. We’re both invested in the characters so it’s a breeze to collaborate on Rat Queens.
Last but certainly not least: have you yet publicly admitted what the book was originally going to be called, and how happy are you that you changed the name of this book?
KW: Haha, yeah we actually dropped that bomb at ECCC this year during the Rat Queens panel. There was a noted gasp and then silence.
So, yes, I’m very glad we changed the title from Pussy Rats to Rat Queens.
