This week on View from the Gutters our topic work is Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass and Sorcery, by Kurtis Wiebe and Roc Upchurch. Rat Queens is a fantasy comic in the tradition of Dungeons and Dragons. It follows the adventures of the eponymous Rat Queens, an adventuring party composed of four women of various races and classes, set in the town of Palisade.

The Rat Queens, like all of the town’s adventuring parties (of which there are several), are barely tolerated by the townsfolk, many of whom see them as a menace. Indeed, they seem to spend most of their time (when not on an adventure) partying, fighting, or both. The story opens with the end of one of their regular drunken brawls, and the fallout there off.

Rat Queens as a comic is crude, witty, violent, and hilarious in equal turns. It has great, colorful artwork; numerous excellent character designs; and a core cast of characters who are both complex and interesting. Wiebe’s dialog is snappy and fun, and Upchruch fills the pages with a dynamic sense of action.

In our recommendation section our hosts nominated Saga of the Swamp Thing, Atomic Robo, Daredevil, and Zot! for discussion on the next episode, and our selected title is Daredevil #1-10, by Mark Waid (available in hardcover as Daredevil Vol. 1 or in paperback as Vol. 1 & 2 [thanks for making that clear, Marvel]).

That book will be discussed next week on episode 72. But before that stay tuned for Episode 71.NOW, in which Andrew Chard and Eric Manix will be talking more about Rat Queens along with some special guest hosts!

We invite you to discuss both this episode and Rat Queens itself on our subreddit.

Our hosts for this episode are Tobiah Panshin, Kayleigh Fleeman, Brant Eddy, and the Kirbotron 2000â„¢.