It's a Hardback Life

I don’t think anyone would disagree that the first volume of Rat Queens certainly earns a solid R rating. Violence, sex, drugs, creative swearing, nudity, and more drugs make for a pretty NSFW comic book. But even with the violence and blood, the first volume was lighthearted, full of banter and camaraderie. The second volume is indeed a continuation of glorious badassery, and still has the boozy bite of the earlier issues, but with a darker edge. Here we start to get a glimpse into the backstories of the Queens, and these gals have a lot of issues.

The previous adventure ended on a high note for most involved (except Bernadette, of course), closing with the Queens and friends celebrating their successful defense of Palisade from the forces of a pissed-off orc girlfriend, with copious amounts of booze, drugs, and sex. Volume two opens on the morning after the revels, as everyone recovers from varying degrees of bad decision making. Pretty much immediately, the girls are recruited for a mission involving giant mushroom people, which, as you can imagine, is a dream job for our little ‘shroom popping Betty. Thanks to a pretty heavy mushroom-induced freakout, Betty isn’t a tremendous presence in this volume, but she still has some great moments:

The mission itself is really just a set up, and the real action happens back in Palisade, as the town is under a much greater threat than roaming bands of fungi. Sawyer Silver and Dee both get a visit from their pasts, while we also get a glimpse into the backstories of Hannah and Violet. When inter-dimensional Cthulu-like gods start laying waste to the city, shit starts to get real.

This volume connects the dots between separate character arcs, bringing Dee’s past into the present and revealing sins and secrets from other characters that were hinted at in the first few issues. The action is fierce, but the Queens are fiercer, as they face down an entire mercenary army to protect a town that generally gives them nothing but grief for being the rowdy, DGAF ladies that they are.

I was hoping this installment would shed more light on the relationship between Sawyer and Hannah, and it didn’t disappoint. We also get to see Dee take a stronger role in the action, which is perfect, as one of my only complaints with the first volume was a lack of presence for Dee, which this volume makes up for in a lot of ways. She and the Queens prove that you don’t have to be defined by your past, but you can’t avoid being influenced by it. The overall resolution was well done, with some closure but also some important threads still left to follow.

Also worth noting:

Hannah went through a goth phase in college, and looked way cooler than I could have ever hoped to when I went through my goth phase in high school.

Betty will eat any mushroom she can get her hands on. Even if it was once part of a sentient being.

Violet looks just as cute with a beard.

Orcs can actually make good boyfriends.

Sawyer Silver manages to look good naked and covered in blood. Not that that is really surprising.

Books are awesome, but do not belong on a battlefield. Memorize your spells.

Rat Queens is quickly becoming one of my favorite comic series of all time. I’m counting down until volume 3.