Backlist Burndown Review: Rat Queens

Who are the Rat Queens?
A pack of booze-guzzling, death-dealing battle maidens-for-hire, and they're in the business of killing all god's creatures for profit.
It's also a darkly comedic sass-and-sorcery series starring Hannah the Rockabilly Elven Mage, Violet the Hipster Dwarven Fighter, Dee the Atheist Human Cleric and Betty the Hippy Smidgen Thief. This modern spin on an old school genre is a violent monster-killing epic that is like Buffy meets Tank Girl in a Lord of the Rings world on crack!
Collecting Rat Queens #1-5!

I’ve not read all that many graphic novels, and Rat Queens is quite a departure from the ones I have read. The title of this volume is “Sass and Sorcery” and quite frankly, that’s very fitting, particularly the sass.

Rat Queens is a group of mercenaries, made up of irreverent, sarcastic women who enjoy indulging in their share of drink, drugs, sex, fighting and whatever else makes them happy. These girls kick ass, take no shit and have fun however they damn well please. How could you not love them? At least a little?

In their latest job, the Rat Queens find they’ve been sent into a trap. Turns out there is a killer that is specifically targeting mercenaries. Not cool, but that’s OK, the Rat Queens will come to save the day.

I found this to be a fun read, but for me it falls short of the amazing status I’ve seen others give it. I suspect much of this has to do with the humor. I mean, it is funny, I will give it that (assuming you love inappropriate humor, and really, who doesn’t?) But, sometimes the amount of jokes was just a bit much for me. Also, I’m not a huge fan of puns, and this has plenty of those.

Overall, I think the strength of this is the characters. They are all strong women with a completely different personalities, strengths and interests. They each kick ass in their own unique way, showing how there are many different ways a female character can take charge of her own destiny and path. They can all be completely unique, and strong in their own right. Put them all together, and you have the Rat Queens, a fierce group of mercenaries out for blood and fun.

I have challenged and committed myself to reading at least one book from my backlist every month and posting the review on the last Friday of the month. I invite anyone interested to join me and link up their own Backlist Burndown reviews. I will offer the link at the bottom of my monthly Backlist Burndown reviews, and also will keep a running record of the reviews on my Dracarys! Backlist Burndown page available from my top menu.