Rat Queens #10 Review

The epic final battle is finally here! Except it’s pretty quick. And not too epic. But that’s okay. Really.

The official description from Image:

Palisade is shattered and recovering from the grand battle against the Spawn of N’Rygoth while the Rat Queens try to pick up the pieces of their fractured bond. Hey, we never promised it would all be candy and drugs.

Recap: Palisade is under attack, Sawyer is held hostage, and the Rat Queens latest enemy has unleashed a squid-like monster that defeats its foes by placing them in a state of suspended animation where they can daydream anything they want. Yes, it took several issues (and several detours) for this battle to ultimately come to a head but hats off to Kurtis J. Wiebe for constructing an arc that allowed backstory and front-story to play so elegantly together. Ultimately, with all this build up, the climax feels like a let down with issue #10 — the action is wrapped up mid-book and the final half of the issue is spent with the Queens walking around, mending relationships, and reminding us what just happened. If you like chatter, and tidy bows on stories, you’ll like issue 10 for sure. That said, one of the things that this protracted ending allows readers to see is that Wiebe is in this for the long haul. While this series may have started off as a cocktail of violence, sex, and camp, it’s clear now that Wiebe is trying to deepen the Queens into real complex characters — they have fears, loves, and acres of history to back up that sass. And that might  be the best thing that the final meanderings of issue 10 provides.

As everybody knows by now Stjepan Sejic took the reins after the departure of Roc Upchurch. And while Upchuch has been missed (and will hopefully always have a home with Rat Queens), Sejic continues to do an amazing job capturing the Queens in all their dangerous and beautiful glory. The coloring of issue 10 (which Sejic also handles) is especially beautiful here — take a gander to see how he captures the wash of sunlight and rain. It’s awesome.

Rat Queens is trying to evolve to new places with issue #10. And I’m happy to join them.