Rat Queens, Vol. 1 » Graphic Novel Review

I have owned the first volume of Rat Queens for over a year now. I can't believe it took me this long to pick it up!

I ADORED it. It is dark, gory, and laugh-out-loud hilarious. The artwork is stunning, and I loved the diverse group of women that made up the squad of Rat Queens.

Our Rat Queens

Betty



Betty, our Hippy Smidgen Thief, was dueling it out with Dee for my favorite character. She had some of the funniest lines, and she never failed to make me laugh.

Dee



Dee, our Atheist Human Cleric, is my official favorite. She has badass healing powers, and her social skills speak to my soul. This panel is my absolute favorite. That is straight up me at a party. Also I have to admit, I do have a teensy girl crush on Dee. BUT WHO WOULDN'T, amirite?

Hannah



Hannah is our Rockabilly Elven Mage. And she is SO COOL. I mean, look at them tats.

Violet



Violet, our hipster dwarven fighter, is a kickass fighter. And according to this installment, she and Dee have the most interesting backstory by far.

These women are unapologetically themselves. They are bawdy, vulgar, arrogant and badass. They aren't wearing skintight spandex, their bodies look like the bodies of women. I shouldn't be this excited by something this simple, but you don't often see women represented in graphic novels/comics in a realistic manner.

The volume was quick-paced, it threw you into the action right away. While I usually enjoy that, it did take me a while to recognize the individual characters. I also didn't necessarily feel like all of the characters were developed equally. I had a harder time getting to know and remember both Hannah and Violet. Hopefully that will be rectified in the next installment!

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Saga: Volume Five » Review

In Saga: Volume Five, writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples present us with five new chapters in their sprawling space-epic.  If you've been following the series, you know that Volume Four ended on a bit of a low note. Shit continues to blow around in Volume Five, but I'm pleased to say that I'm either getting tougher or the storyline has stabilized a tad.  Many readers love the no-holds-barred aspect of Saga, but my heart can only take so much.

Don't get me wrong... Volume Five sees several character deaths, as well as plenty of gore, violence, and obscenity.  The Saga we know and love is still kicking.

In these five chapters, we switch around amongst three different locales and casts.  Hazel, Alana, and Klara have been taken away by Dengo, a rogue robot, who's stolen IV's baby son.  IV and Marko have teamed up and are in hot pursuit, taking baby seal look-alike Ghüs and Alana's old drug dealer, Yuma, along for the ride.  Our third principal plotline involves Gwen, Sophie, The Brand, and Lying Cat, in their quest to acquire dragon jizz to save the comatose bounty hunter The Will.

While Brian K. Vaughan should get tons of credit for his concept and script, Fiona Staples continues to take the series to the next level with her artwork.  As every critic and their mother have noted, Staples conveys the subtlest emotions with minimal, sparing lines.  It's flat-out incredible. Her panel arrangement is cinematic.  Her pacing is spot-on, utilizing that reaction shot before the revelation.  Remember the monster with the huge, warty balls earlier in the series?  We have something similar in Volume Five. This is our warning before we turn the page...

[caption id="attachment_837" align="aligncenter" width="518"] It's that bad.[/caption]

As for the writing, it's sparse and efficient, comprised of that mixture of English, bastardized Esperanto, and profanity we're now familiar with.  The characterization does not suffer for the brevity of language, however.  Saga is populated with a distinct and varied cast.  In regards to the major characters,  Volume Five sees Vaughan shift his developmental efforts away from Alana, who was a big focus of Volume Four, and towards Marko.  Remember how Volume Two delved into Marko's violent impulses and the reasons behind his pacifist turn? Volume Five takes Marko on a u-turn to some... interesting... places.

The pacing is not unlike that of a roller coaster. Because each chapter is released separately in comic book stores, many weeks apart, each short segment has its own plot triangle — up, up, up, up, do000000wn, up, down.  In this collection of five chapter segments, that makes for a lot of up and down.  Consuming Saga causes reading whiplash.  It's a wild ride, but a highly thrilling one.