Earlier this week, Image Comics revealed in their April 2019 solicitations that “Rat Queens” will receive a new creative team with June’s issue #16. Letterer Ryan Ferrier will take over from writer/series creator Kurtis Wiebe, while artist Priscilla Petraites and colorist Marco Lesko (“Brilliant Trash”) will succeed current illustrator Owen Gieni. The duo will begin their run beforehand with an April one-shot, “Rat Queens Special: Swamp Romp.”
Dragons. Monsters. Tricksters. The Rat Queens have seen — and slayed! — it all. But when a dying man of great wealth hires our heroes to exact revenge for the murder of his prized unicorn, Betty, Hannah, Braga, Violet, and Dee are suddenly thrust into a quest that may bring them face-to-face with a mythological creature thought only to exist in bedtime stories. This is Palisade’s urban legend, and it will end with either death or a mass fortune. Featuring the all-new RAT QUEENS creative team, RYAN FERRIER (Death Orb, Criminy) and PRISCILLA PETRAITES (Brilliant Trash) — who will be taking the reins of the ongoing title starting with issue #16!
Begun in 2013, “Rat Queens” is a Medieval fantasy comic starring five female adventurers. On his blog, Wiebe bid goodbye to his characters, praised the new creative team, and thanked fans for their support. He also announced he and Owen Gieni are starting a new creative company, Beast and Bone Studios: “We’re going to be creating a pile of new art, comics and otherwise. We’re finally going to get a start on a series we’ve been talking about since summer of 2017. Plus a few others we’ve been hashing out in the last few months. I cannot wait.”
“Swamp Romp” will be published April 10: you can read a preview of the comic at Wiebe’s blog post. The last issue of Wiebe and Gieni’s run will be released March 13.
