Fence #1 and #2 by C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad

From the BLURB:

Sixteen-year-old Nicholas Cox is an outsider to the competitive fencing world. Filled with raw talent but lacking proper training, he signs up for a competition that puts him head-to-head with fencing prodigy Seiji Katayama...and on the road to the elite all-boys school Kings Row. A chance at a real team and a place to belong awaits him—if he can make the cut!

‘Fence’ is a new young adult comic series from Boom! Box, written by C.S. Pacat and illustrated by Johanna the Mad. It launched in November and only two issues have been released so far – but it is going to be a once-a-month schedule, with the first Volume of issues 1-5 due for July 2018 release.

First of all – Boom! Box (or, Boom Studios) is hella smart. They are the publisher behind what feels like a new wave of comic books – ones that are more diverse, inclusive and directly aimed at a young generation who weren’t previously swayed by the offerings of Marvel and DC. Boom is responsible for such groundbreaking and popular series as Giant Days, Goldie Vance, Misfit City and perhaps most popular of all among certain fandom’s  - Lumberjanes.

Boom are also part of a new era in comic books fusing with fiction writers like never before, and especially those who have appeal to younger (teen, mostly) readers – such as Rainbow Rowell partnering with First Second Books for a graphic novel called Pumpkinheads, to be illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks and releasing in 2019.

Boom inviting C.S. Pacat to create her own YA comic book was a bold, and smart move. Given that Pacat didn’t launch her career (into the stratosphere!) with a YA series, rather her debut ‘Captive Prince’ trilogy was LGBT fantasy romance (some would say erotica, at times) that found a huge teen fanbase because it started life as an online serial of original fiction that went viral, before being acquired by traditional publisher Penguin Random House. In any case – Pacat’s series became huge, particularly in the ways it highlighted and proved young people’s craving for more LGBT stories across all genres.

Giving her the reigns to develop her own comic series at the height of this popularity is pure genius – and it pays off (tenfold) in ‘Fence’. Set at the prestigious Kings Row boarding school and following a group of boys trying to come together as an elite fencing team to take out the top-ranked competitors. The series is focused on rivals, teammates and roommates Nicholas Cox and Seiji Katayama.

Two issues in and this world already feels so full and vibrant (a testament to this is how it’s already impressively sparked Tumblr imaginations). There’s a huge focus on rivalries and love affairs, skeletons in the closet and backstabbing afoot. The series has echoes of 2001 film ‘Lost and Delirious’ for me, maybe with a little ‘One Tree Hill’ and a feel of something like ‘Kids on the Slope’ or ‘From Up on Poppy Hill‘ thrown in. But honestly, ‘Fence’ is so wholly original it’s hard to quite put your finger on all that it evokes. Except to say it’s building a wonderfully full cast of characters, based in a small student community and with so much room for drama and emotional action – I’m already salivating at the possibilities!

Illustrations by Johanna the Mad make me crave this being turned into an animated-series, even though it would work equally well as live-action drama there’s just something about the art that sumptuously fits the whole unique story.

If you haven’t already, do start collecting all the ‘Fence’ issues and jump on this series bandwagon – I guarantee that even these two issues will fuel your imagination for what’s to come, and if that’s the case you can easily tap into an already very full and vibrant fandom that’s emerged in the wake of its decadent genius.

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5/5

The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act

From the BLURB:

Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. The team behind critical tongue-attractors like Young Avengers and PHONOGRAM reunite to create a world where gods are the ultimate pop stars and pop stars are the ultimate gods. But remember: just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.

‘The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act’ is the first volume (issues 1-5) of the popular Image Comics series, written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Jamie McKelvie.

I am so late to this series – I’ve heard people raving about it from the moment Issue #1 came out in June 2014, but it was only the recent announcement of a television series adaptation that finally jolted me to read. So now that I’ve read this first volume, I’ve become one of those frustrating people who want to talk about how great a series is … oh, twelve months after everyone else has already had the conversation. Apologies!

But, seriously, this series is amazing.

At first it was hard to wrap my head around the storyline, which is based on pop-culture mythologising. The series is told from the perspective of teenage Laura, a young woman obsessed with The Pantheon – a group of twelve people who discover that they are reincarnated deities and consequently live like supernatural rock-stars and powerful celebrity wild-childs for the two years of life they are granted.

Laura – like so many – is a real groupie of The Pantheon, who choose to wield their powers in various ways. Sun Goddess Amaterasu, for instance, plays up a hippie/boho Stevie Nicks-esque pop queen persona. Sakhmet is a spitting image of Rihanna (and if she’s not invited to play her in the TV series, I think fans will revolt) and has fun with her literal sex-kitten celebrity. Baal is a playboy with a mega-ego to rival Kanye’s, and a few others of the Pantheon like Baphomet and The Morrigan are cashing in on the mystery of their Gods and deities by spreading not-so-far-fetched rumours about their power and ire.

But Laura befriends one in particular called Luci – and does so just as shit hits the fan, and a murderer seems hell-bent on framing this Morning Star with the power of her own mind.

See why I struggled initially with the basics of this story? There’s so much going on and quite an eccentric cast of characters – and actually having the story told by Laura (who is a long time groupie of The Pantheon) is great, because she knows everything there is to know about them, and offers internal asides to the audience to keep us at once informed, and guessing.

You know what this series actually reminds me of? Those classic 90s (soooooooo 90s) TV shows – ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’ and ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’. Oh my gosh – I was obsessed with those shows as a kid, and ‘The Wicked + The Divine’ has a little touch of their mythology fun, bringing famous Gods and Goddesses to hilarious life. Of course ‘The Wicked + The Divine’ does a lot more of mixing darkness with that flamboyance of god-like celebrity. I’m talking detailed illustrations of exploded-heads and deity smack-downs.

This series is also refreshingly diverse – with a multiracial cast, LGBTQ+ relationships teased and hinted at, and even a transgender character.  Yet another reason to be excited about this series coming to our TV landscape! There’s one potential coupling in particular that I found myself really rooting for (because their chemistry is a little electric) … but now that I’ve read Volume Two I can only warn you that ‘The Wicked + The Divine’ is like ‘The Walking Dead’ for stomping on fan’s hearts with who they take away. It certainly keeps things feeling thriller, when you never know who’s going to stick around from page-to-page, panel-to-panel.

This series is at once a delicious slice of jaded celebrity observation, with snarking Gods and witty back-and-forth banter, but it’s also got a lot of heart … when you think that these twelve young temporary deities only have two years of this immortal life – it’s no wonder they burn so brightly (even burning those around them) when they’re destined burn out so suddenly.

5/5 

'Nimona' by Noelle Stevenson

From the BLURB:

In this debut graphic novel from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her web comic that won the Slate Cartoonist Studio Prize and that had over 100,000 online followers before Noelle graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art, a spunky young shapeshifter joins forces with a medieval supervillain to wreak havoc on a kingdom where the good guys are hardly as good as they seem. For teens and a crossover audience.

The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic."

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

‘Nimona’ is the debut graphic novel, written and illustrated by Noelle Stevenson … it was actually a free online web comic that Stevenson started in 2012, and doubled as her senior thesis at the Maryland Institute College of Art. But Stevenson has risen to fame in the comic-book world, for illustrating the insanely popular (and fantastic) series ‘Lumberjanes’, and her affiliation with Rainbow Rowell’s ‘Fangirl’ cover-art and subsequent fan-art.

I came to my Noelle Stevenson appreciation very late in the game, as I had to eagerly await the much buzzed-about Volume 1 of ‘Lumberjanes’ earlier this year. But as soon as I knew I had to make my way to ‘Lumberjanes’, I started following Stevenson on Twitter and was instantly in love with her sense of humour and subversive, feminist commentary – particularly in relation to the wonderful world of comics. Case in point, was this hilarious post about a drawing of Spiderman’s MJ with gravity-defying boobs that Stevenson fixed.

So when it was announced that a web comic which helped garner Noelle Stevenson her now considerable fan-base was going to be published as a graphic novel, you better believe I jumped for joy! And it’s not hard to see how ‘Nimona’ helped launch Stevenson’s career – as a funny “deadpan epic” that feels a little bit like ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ with more heart, symbolism and gadgetry.

The book opens with “villain” Lord Ballister Blackheart meeting his new self-imposed sidekick, a young shapeshifter girl named Nimona. In the beginning the comic has a lot of fun with turning old tropes on their head – wherein the “villain” has ethics, the female sidekick is more blood-thirsty and conniving than her mastermind boss and though it’s set in a medieval-looking era, there’s a great blend of science and technology alongside jousting bouts and knights in shining armour.

But then Stevenson starts to really expand the world-building, and challenge readers with her subversive storytelling. We learn that Lord Ballister Blackheart has a more complicated back-story with shades of grey, while the local hero – Ambrosius Goldenloin (best name, ever!) – has more darkness to him than first meets the eye and a far more complex and tender relationship to Ballister.

Nimona, meanwhile, is more than the tough, smart-aleck sidekick … she leaves breadcrumbs to her true story, and it’s far more heartbreaking than anyone – especially Ballister – ever presumes.

‘Nimona’ is brilliant and unique – there’s really nothing else quite like it, and now that I’ve had the pleasure of reading it I can see what a gift Noelle Stevenson is to the wonderful world of comics … particularly for this female-friendly, smart graphic novel that has a lot of appeal for younger audiences.

The universe of ‘Nimona’ is particularly clever, as a contemporary-medieval setting where fantasy and science-fiction sit side-by-side and can each be seen as magical in certain circumstances. This medieval mash-up also means that Stevenson explores political tyranny playing out on the serfdom populace, which opens the story up for a lot of big concept ideas – particularly in the battle of good and evil.

You need only be following Stevenson for a few days on Twitter to know that she’s big on feminism, equality and diversity – and all three are in abundance in this book. In particular, Ballister and Goldenloin have hints of a romantic back-story, which is teased out beautifully (these two have so many fans – check out Tumblr to get an idea of how beloved they are!). Ballister and Goldenloin also feel like a nod to realised slash-fiction … like Stevenson took two story archetypes (the villain and the hero) and actually gave them the complicated attraction that fans often clamour for and explore in fanfiction (hello, Draco & Harry!).

‘Nimona’ is such a treat, and I encourage anyone who was once like me – totally in the dark about Stevenson’s sheer awesomeness – to make this book a ‘must-buy’! It’s funny, smart, subversive and challenges just about every adventure trope you can think of – a truly great book for monster girls and boys alike.

5/5

 

'Batgirl Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection' by Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf, and Vincente Cifuentes

From the BLURB:

As a part of the acclaimed DC Comics—The New 52 event of September 2011, Barbara Gordon is finally back as Batgirl!

The nightmare-inducing brute known as Mirror is destroying the lives of Gotham City citizens seemingly at random. Will Barbara be able to survive her explosive confrontation with this new villain, as well as facing dark secrets from her past? A new chapter in the riveting adventures of Batgirl continue in stunning fashion, with script by fan-favourite Gail Simone and stellar art by superstar Ardian Syaf! This volume collets issues 1-6 of Batgirl, part of the DC Comics—The New 52 event.

‘Batgirl Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection’ was released in 2012 – written by Gail Simone, with art and illustrations by Ardian Syaf, and Vincente Cifuentes.

May 2^nd was Free Comic Book Day – a glorious event, the purpose of which is in the title! And regardless of that word “free”, I always end up spending a fair amount of cold, hard cash whenever I get a lazy day to just browse at my favourite Melbourne comic book store – All Star Comics. It was while browsing that I came across the rebooted ‘Batgirl’ Volume 1, and was intrigued – particularly by a written proclamation from the New York Times calling it a must-buy series.

Anyone who reads my blog regularly will know that I’m still feeling my way into the wonderful world of comics. I live for ‘Saga’, love ‘Rat Queens’ and have become most recently obsessed with ‘Lumberjanes’. But I’ve been with these series pretty much from their inception, and as such I know the genesis of these series’ and universes. The only “traditional” series I read regularly is Ms Marvel, but only since Kamala Khan has taken over the mantel – so even in that series, I felt like I was starting from day dot a bit, with this revolutionary new superhero.

‘Batgirl’ I am far less familiar with the entire canon, and as such was wary to start reading. The Batgirl I know is Alicia Silverstone’s Barbara Wilson/Batgirl from the 1997 film ‘Batman & Robin’ which I understand is kind of widely despised by the fandom … but I would have been 10-years-old when that film came out, and I remember really enjoying it, particularly for the younger characters of Silverstone’s Batgirl and Chris O'Donnell’s Robin.

But taking a quick look at this Volume 1, I really liked how fierce Batgirl looked – that she wasn’t wearing a skimpy suit, and that the series had a female writer. I also remembered reading some recent articles about the rebooted ‘Batgirl’ when it was first announced, that DC were actually working to make her appealing to young, female fans … of course there’s been more recent controversy over one of the ‘Batgirl’ variant covers, depicting ‘The Killing Joke’. I’m not even going to pretend to be knowledgeable about the seriousness of the controversy, or how the variant cover depicts a particularly troubling moment in the Batgirl canon. All I know is that DC and the cover artist – Rafael Albuquerque – were receptive to the criticism, and pulled the variant. This response to what sounds like a legitimate complaint from female fans, impressed me enough to give Batgirl a try.

Going into Gail Simone’s ‘The Darkest Reflection’, I did some quick research and found that this was the beginning of a rebooted ‘Batgirl’ Barbara Gordon (that’s Police Chief Gordon’s daughter, yes).  I turned to Bitch Media for a brief history of Batgirl (I swear, another reason why I avoid the DC/Marvel comic book series – the canon does my head in) this Gail Simone series was rebooted in 2011 and then seems to have been poorly neglected, until recently when it was announced that DC were rebooting it yet again to appeal to an even younger female audience.

Anyway. ‘The Darkest Reflection’ reboot of this Barbara as Batgirl has a beginning in ‘The Killing Joke’ (the same 1988 storyline that the controversial variant cover was based on, yes) in which Ms Gordon is shot by The Joker, and consequently paralysed when the bullet hits her spine. In ‘The Darkest Reflection’ Barbara is not wheelchair-bound, seemingly thanks to a mysterious miracle, and that’s where this new series kicks off – with Barbara back in the bat-suit and feeling her way back as a crime-fighter for Gotham City.

In Volume 1 she faces-off against two villains – Mirror and Gretel – both of whom force Barbara to confront the new sense of fear instilled in her by The Joker’s bullet. I found this series to be quite dark and gritty, and no wonder when this version of Barbara is borne out of home invasion and partial paralysis. Ardian Syaf and Vincente Cifuentes’s artwork is full of flying blood and terrified screams, shattered glass and brutal fists – it’s visually visceral, and Batgirl’s fight scenes are particularly balletic (since that’s her hinted background) and while they sometimes stray too close to sexualisation, there’s unmistakable power there nonetheless.

In Volume 1, you really get the sense that Barbara has something to prove – to herself, and her vigilante alter-ego. She’s also trying to forge a new normal with her father, Chief Gordon who is still walking on eggshells and fears for his little girl, especially since he’s had a taste of the worst that can befall her. But really it’s Barbara’s struggles as Batgirl in the aftermath of The Joker’s attack that makes this new series so fascinating – we see Barbara questioning her strength, and having to accept that in some fights she just can’t win with brute strength and quick fists, instead having to rely on her wits.

Barbara’s relationships also bring an interesting dimension to this series. There’s Alysia – her bubbly new roommate (who, I’m sorry, is destined to die or be attacked at some point, I can just feel it – my hope though is that it won’t be a sexualised in any way, since Gail Simone is the one who coined the term "Women in Refrigerators" to describe those repeated attacks). 

Dick Grayson (Nightwing) and Bruce Wayne (Batman) also have appearances in this rebooted Batgirl. Barbara alludes to her complicated history with these two men – one as her first crush, the other as her mentor – and how complicated it has become since the attack and her recovery. I really hope that Nightwing becomes a prominent character in the story, not so Batgirl can play side-kick to him (because she doesn’t need to, she’s got the bad-guys under control) but the hints about their past and her romantic feelings for him are intriguing.

All in all I really enjoyed Volume 1 of ‘The Darkest Reflection’. I can’t say that I’m bursting to go out and pick up every volume I can get my hands on (not like with ‘Lumberjanes’, which I dropped $60 on – picking up issues #6 to #13 because I couldn’t wait for Volume 2 to come out!) but I’ll pick up Volume 2 ‘Knightfall Descends’ if I happen to see it on shelves and am in the mood.

I must say, now having read Gail Simone’s Batgirl and done some research into the canon … I think Barbara Gordon as The Oracle, when she’s wheel-chair bound, appeals to me more – particularly because there’s emphasis on her relationship with Dick Grayson/Nightwing.

All in all, I think what I most took away from reading ‘The Darkest Reflection’ is that I want to find more of Gail Simone’s stuff to read, and maybe I’ll pick up the new-rebooted Batgirl if I see it.

3.5/5

'Lumberjanes' Vol. 1 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Brooke Allen

From the BLURB:

Five best friends spending the summer at Lumberjane scout camp... defeating yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons... what’s not to love?! Friendship to the max! Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together...and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! Not only is it the second title launching in our new BOOM! Box imprint but LUMBERJANES is one of those punk rock, love-everything-about-it stories that appeals to fans of basically all excellent things. It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Gravity Falls and features five butt-kicking, rad teenage girls wailing on monsters and solving a mystery with the whole world at stake. And with the talent of acclaimed cartoonist Noelle Stevenson, talented newcomer Grace Ellis writing, and Brooke Allen on art, this is going to be a spectacular series that you won’t want to miss.

This is ‘Lumberjanes’ Volume One, collecting issues #1-#4 of this popular and amazing comic book series released by Boom! Studios and created by Ross Richie and Shannon Watters. The idea for ‘Lumberjanes’ came from Boom! Studios editor Shannon Watters approaching writer Grace Ellis with an idea to create a girl-centric comic series, from there Brooke A. Allen was bought in for initial character designs and Noelle Stevenson as a co-writer (the eagle-eyed amongst you will recognise Stevenson's artwork from Rainbow Rowell's 'Fangirl'). 

A single eight-issue story arc was originally planned, but the series received such critical acclaim and fan-response was so huge that it’s now an ongoing series (hallelujah!).

Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five besties enjoying their summer at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniguigul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types – Miss Quinzella girls are known as ‘Lumberjanes’. But as the summer starts unfolding, the Lumberjanes of Roanoke cabin (love this reference, btw!) get the sense that something fishy is afoot – there’s a weird Bearwoman, talking foxes that warn them of “the kitten holy”, sea monsters in the lake and yetis in the woods. The Lumberjanes intend to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding their summer camp – and all while upholding the Lumberjanes Field Manual!

This series is the best. THE. BEST! I can’t even put into words the awesomeness that is ‘Lumberjanes’ – it’s like ‘Goonies’ with an extra dose of fantasy in the adventure, there’s a Buffy’s Scooby-gang sensibility, and doses of magical realism that at times reminded me of Karen Russell’s short stories (like ‘Haunting Olivia’ – because I could totally see these Lumberjanes going crab sledding!).

Let me see if I can breakdown the awesomeness of this series, shall we? There’s Jo, the cool-headed one of the group who uses math, science and logic to help get the gang out of sticky situations (she rocks the Fibonacci sequence in one ‘Goonies’-esque escape scene that totally rocks!).

April loves taking notes, making lists and puzzle-solving. She has a flair for the dramatic, adores a good pun and while she’s physically the smallest of the group, she dominates at arm-wrestling.

Molly is a skilled archer, but sometimes worries that she doesn’t contribute enough to the group – she wears the hell out of a Davy Crockett hat, and is a great cheerleader for her friends.

Mal looks like a punk-rocker, but she’s a Discovery Channel-aholic and is the very cautious member of the group, who will do anything to save her friends if they’re in trouble.

Ripley is the most energetic of the group – she’s got a mean karate-chop and does a great ‘fastball special’. She’s like a can of fizzy drink that someone’s just shook up and is completely hilarious.

These protagonists are so darn brilliant and diverse, I adored each and every one of them. And then there are the secondary characters who also kick-butt: Rosie the camp director whose like a tattooed rockabilly mama-bear, and Jen the Roanoke cabin's scout-leader who takes her job and protection of the girls very seriously.

I also loved that two of the main characters have a budding romance that’s beginning to unfold in Volume One – Molly and Mal have some completely adorable scenes of timid attraction, and I can’t wait to see where they lead because I’m already shipping them so hard!

This comic series is funny as all get out – there’s a testosterone-fuelled male camp director who’s like a caricature of misogyny, proclaiming he’s going to “catch a fish by wrestling it away from a bear!”. And the way these girls take every challenge (be it lake-monster, wrestling statues or crazed scouting lads) in stride is both admirable and brilliant.

‘Lumberjanes’ has set a new benchmark for comic books with me – I can see myself becoming an annoying spruiker of the series to anyone and everyone who’ll take reading my reading advice! I’m so in love with this series, and totally kicking myself that I wasn’t aware of its existence sooner so I could have bought each issue as it came out. As it stands I’ve now got to wait until October, when Boom! Studios will be releasing Volume. 2 …

5/5

‘Pride of Baghdad’ written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Niko Henrichon

From the BLURB:

In the spring of 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad zoo during an American bombing raid. Lost and confused, hungry but finally free, the four lions roamed the decimated streets of Baghdad in a desperate struggle for their lives. In documenting the plight of the lions, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD raises questions about the true meaning of liberation – can it be given or is it earned only through self-determination and sacrifice? And in the end, is it truly better to die free than to live life in captivity?

‘Pride of Baghdad’ was the 2006 stand-alone graphic novel written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Niko Henrichon.

Fair warning: this is not The Lion King of your childhood. You could probably guess that if you’re at all familiar with Brian K. Vaughan’s work – Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina or Saga, take your pick – this guy likes tough stories. ‘Pride of Baghdad’ is actually based on a true event from 2003, about lions that escaped from Baghdad zoo, amidst the bombing of the city by US troops. So it’s already grounded in pretty gritty reality, by Vaughan manages to add layers upon layers of intrigue and disturbia to an already pretty upsetting story.

We follow two lions – a cub called Ali and older lion called Zill – along with two lionesses, Ali’s mother Noor and oldest among them Safa. When we meet them, Noor – the leader of their ramshackle pride – is concocting yet another doomed-to-fail plan to escape from the zoo and get back to the wild she remembers from her cub-days. Safa is always sceptical, and doesn’t want to leave the safety of the zoo and daily meals provided for by keepers – Safa has her own memories of the wilderness, and they’re not all happy ones. Ali, meanwhile, doesn’t know what a horizon is and Zill is getting old, fat and grumpy.

One day the sky starts falling – fighter jets fly over head and the keepers throw a zebra carcass into the lion pen, a meal that’s meant to last them days, possibly weeks … and then the zoo is blown up and all the animals escape – Noor, Ali, Safa and Zill included.

We follow them as they roam the fallen city of Baghdad, encountering the outside world for the first time since they were each (except Ali) plucked from the wild and caged. The outside world as beautifully drawn by Niko Henrichon is burning: stark oranges, reds and yellows fill the page along with plumes of smoke as they walk through the debris of a bombed city. When the lions find their way into Saddam Hussein’s palace, it’s a stark contrast to the burning world outside but still eerie –like a mausoleum.

Brian K. Vaughan hauntingly imagines these lions roaming “free” for the first time. But he takes this anthropomorphism to another level – there’s sexual tension between Zill, Safa and Noor and a truly sickening flashback to Safa’s life in the wild provides some clues as to her craving for the confines of a cage. Ali’s encountering of a tortoise brings some not-so-subtle political leanings to the story, with talk of the “black water” that humans fight over. And there’s real heartbreak to this story too – as there’s bound to be from the outset, when Noor prophetically says that freedom should be earned, not given freely.

It’s quite impressive really, how Vaughan manages to tie this rather odd true-story of a bombed zoo (giving me hints of Sonya Hartnett’s ‘The Midnight Zoo’) to the wider political arch of why those bombs were falling in the first place … But he does so, and it’s a compelling – if depressing – tale.

5/5

'Rat Queens', Vol. 1: Sass and Sorcery. Written By: Kurtis J Wiebe, Art By: Roc Upchurch

From the BLURB:

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!

It was only in November 2012 that I discovered the series that awakened me to the wonderful world of comics: ‘Saga’ by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Since first meeting Marko, Alana and bub Hazel I’ve become obsessed and now buy single-issues because I simply can’t wait for the Volumes.

But there is a downside to having been spoilt rotten with my introdiction to comics – and that is finding other, equally enthralling, series’ to get hooked on. I’ve had some luck with ‘Ms Marvel’ and enjoy the ‘Peter Panzerfaust’ series – but nothing comes close to my ‘Saga’ obsession … until now.

Comic fantasy series ‘Rat Queens’ is created by the man behind ‘Peter Panzerfaust’, Kurtis J Wiebe and published by my favourite, Image Comics. Roc Upchurch does the art, and ‘Saga’ favourite Fiona Staples the incentive covers.

‘Rat Queens’ Volume 1 is the collection of issues #1 to #5, and follows a group of female monster-hunters for hire – Hannah, Violet, Dee and Betty – who work hard and play hard (to the point of destroying the very town they’re often hired to save). 

When we meet them in issue #1, the Rat Queens are being given various monster clean-up assignments, along with groups of other mercenaries who have angered Mayor Kane with their violent revelries. But while on assignment cleaning up goblins, the Rat Queens are ambushed by an assassin and nearly murdered – they later discover the other mercenaries were similarly set-upon, and from there the arc becomes a ‘whodunit’ of who would want these lovable fucks-ups eliminated.

I fucking love this series. And my love is getting up there with my ‘Saga’ obsession, if my impatience for issue #8 (due out on September 3) is any indication.

I love this series because it’s so funny – and mostly of the rude and crude variety. The awesome foursome who make up the Rat Queens are delightfully detestable – Hannah is an Elven Mage with an attitude problem; she’s most likely to throw the first punch and when she gets mad, she gets scary. Violet is a blood-thirsty dwarf with family issues. Dee is a healer with some serious skeletons in her closet, and miniature Betty is a lesbian smidgen who loves mushrooms and brawling. These women feel a little like anti-heroes, insofar as they really do cause a lot of unnecessary violence and havoc in their town and it’s entirely believable that someone would be so fed-up with them they’d want them dead … but it’s because they’re this amazing mix of vulgar and sassy that I love them. They booze, brawl and bang their bed-heads – but they also have each other’s backs in the thick of battle, and are each dealing with personal problems that are slowly being teased out.

Hannah has an inconvenient dalliance going with Mayor Kane’s head of police, the luscious Sawyer (against his better judgement and good sense). Betty is crushing hard on a girl who can’t see past her violent friends. Violet’s family are a mystery and painfully shy Dee has some secrets up her sleeve. I love that it takes a few issues for readers to start chipping away at the armour each woman wears, but the glimpses we see of vulnerable underbelly hint that this series and these protagonists have a long life in them …

And this series is funny – often juxtaposing gore-splattering, blood-soaked violence alongside awesome one-liners and the types of running jokes that Joss Whedon was known for.

I’m obsessed with ‘Rat Queens’, and I can see why this comic series has taken off in such a big way (it was voted for best new series in the 2014 Eisner Awards). It’s rowdy and rude, heartfelt and gory with four lovably riotous female protagonists who I both want to be best friends with, and would recommend crossing the street to avoid.

5/5