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Rat Queens: High Fantasies (Image Comics, 2017; #1-5)

  • The Rat Queens are back to questing but have to contend with some new rivals: the Cat Kings, led by Violet’s brother.
  • Much of this arc revolves around the Queens getting back into the swing of things, figuring out what has changed in Palisade, and decompressing from the stresses they had each been under.
  • Some time has passed in the story since the last arc; this is a product of Wiebe wanting to get back to the book’s original tone and away from the grimness that had set in.
  • “High Fantasies” succeeds at that tonal shift, and it still manages to connect some threads to the events of the first volume of Rat Queens.
  • Owen Gieni takes on the role of regular series artist for Rat Queens; his style is a good fit for the series’s goofy, fantasy storytelling.

I’m happy with how the Rat Queens relaunch turned out, but despite its individual issues’ re-numbering, I wouldn’t start here—go back to Volume One and catch up first.

Collected in

  • Rat Queens, Vol. 4: High Fantasies (#1-5)

Credits

Writer: Kurtis J. Wiebe | Artist: Owen Gieni | Letterer: Ryan Ferrier | Editor: Laura Tavishati

Daredevil: Vol. 5 (Marvel Comics, 2011; #22-27)

Sandman: A Game of You (Vertigo, 1989; #32-37)