Sass & Sorcery

StoryGruesome and crass, and I loved every minute of it.I'm not really big into comics anymore. I think they are overly expensive and generally uninteresting. But things seem to be changing lately. Or at least there is some really great stuff out there. First [b:Locke & Key 3217221 Locke & Key, Vol. 1 Welcome to Lovecraft (Locke & Key, #1) Joe Hill https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1377304780s/3217221.jpg 3251160], then [b:Saga 15704307 Saga, Volume 1 Brian K. Vaughan https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351259514s/15704307.jpg 19113524] and now Rat Queens. These aren't comic books for kids.I could spend time talking about how the story is lead by four women who break all the usual tropes of fantasy stories, but other people have done that already, and it's not precisely the reason why this volume got the rare 5 stars for me.The characters are just great in general. Every one of them. But especially Betty. She's my favorite. I crave new and different stories. Stories where the tropes are either thrown out or turned on their head. This seems to have that in spades.Unlike [b:The Mirror Empire 20646731 The Mirror Empire (Worldbreaker Saga, #1) Kameron Hurley https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399920947s/20646731.jpg 39939919] where the women felt like gender roles simply reversed, the Queens feel like women, even if they are unlike any women than I'm used to seeing, especially in genre fiction.They are not the type of women I'd want to party with. I'm too much of a lightweight to keep up with them. But I sure do seem to love reading about them.As a long time D&D player this story just seemed to press all the right buttons for me. On the surface it's your pretty standard party. You've your halfling thief/assassin, a human (I think?) cleric, an elven mage, and a dwarven warrior. But their battle plans and tactics are just ludicrous, and totally awesome all at the same time.And if that wasn't enough, the humor is just excellent. Mr. Wiebe seems to poke fun not only at role playing tropes, but story tropes as well.“I find it very strange that we've never talked about this before.”“This moment seemed convenient.”This hasn't quite convinced me to start picking up the monthly issues, but it's awfully close. I definitely can't wait to get my hands on the next trade.Highly recommend.ArtworkMr. Upchurch's artwork is excellent. I've seen comments about realistic body images, and I can't really speak too much to that, but I have watched plenty of anime and read many comics with unrealistic body images, so I can say the characters seem more realistic to me. And of course they are wearing proper armor for their class and not the standard +10 bra of super defense.But more importantly (to me anyways) the artwork is really excellent in general. I'm especially impressed at the facial expressions. There are more than a few scenes that are extra awesome due to the art.