Rat Queens #6: Review

After a wild party where the Rat Queens celebrated the ending of their last adventure, the girls awake to find themselves immersed in a whole lot of house drama. And a little bit of adventure.

Here’s the official word from Image:

“THE FAR REACHING TENTACLES OF N’RYGOTH,” Part One A brand new booze-soaked arc of Rat Queens reveals a growing menace within the very walls of Palisade. And while Dee may have run from her past, the bloated, blood-feasting sky god N’rygoth never really lets his children stray too far. FIRST ISSUE OF A NEW STORY ARC! PERFECT JUMP-ON POINT!

Transitions are hard, and one of the things writers of on-going series sweat the most is how to close one arc and start another. Well, kudos to writer Kurtis J. Wiebe because his way to wiggle around the problem is by focusing on that element of his series that keeps readers coming back in the first place: the Rat Queens themselves. While other writers might get mired in set-up most of issue #6 is dedicated to developing the interpersonal friendship (and drama) between the girls (and their beaus). This is all to say the opening to this arc is lovely — it reads like a good reality TV meets that old sitcom The Facts of Life. And I mean that as a compliment. That’s not to say there isn’t launch here — also revealed is the return of an old foe who, the girls realize, was maybe just a puppet for a bigger threat. While there’s certainly a little swashbuckling here, most of issue #6 is good old-fashioned character development. And it’s a joy to read.

Again, Roc Upchurch’s style fits perfectly here. UpChurch is especially gifted at facial expressions, and is able to easily capture the balance of sass and humor that these girls need to come to life. Particularly fun to watch is how comfortable Upchurch is getting with the girls — six issues in and his style already feels looser than issue #1; this means there’s a ton more subtly and visual beats for readers to enjoy.

Rat Queens keeps hitting it out of the park. If you want guts, magic, and a lovely overdose of femme fatale, go grab this thing today.