Rat Queens, vol. 3

- Demons. Kurtis J. Wiebe, Tess Fowler, et. al. The third volume finds our adventure posse heading to Hanna’s alma mater (Mage U!!) to find out what happened to her father. But in the way, quite a few long-hidden secrets come to the light. Some impacting, some humorous… but some, so dangerous they risk tearing the Rat Queens' bonds apart…

Having gone through several memorable battle sequences, this volume goes for a more intimate approach, focusing not just on what makes these characters tick, but on what drives them and, ultimately, what might actually break them. Fowler’s gorgeous art helps make the relatively quiet moments resonate —as well as to keep the action as vivid as ever. 

Also included is a special issue detailing the origins of Braga, a fierce orc warrior who also happens to be trans. Itself a remarkable yarn, boosted along by the sympathetic protagonist. 

Thus concludes my reading of Rat Queens, as no further volumes are available to me at present. I went into this series knowing nothing except that it was a fantasy story featuring an all-female cast and that it had attracted some controversy. 

The controversy in question has to do with one of the co-creators and main artist for the first two volumes being kicked off the book due to legal issues (he was arrested for spousal assault). Since then, the book has been plagued by regular problems with assorted artists and changing formats (from regular comic to webcomic, to a partial reboot). 

And yet, the story and especially the cast all have an undeniable charm that makes it quite worth a read and then some. 

It’s also made me interested in the entire “Shadowline” section of Image Comics —so many interesting offerings! 

In general, this was quite an interesting surprise, and I definitely hope I can eventually continue reading more of it. 

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Rat Queens, vol. 2

- The far-reaching tentacles of N’Rygoth. Kurtis J. Wiebe, et. al. Hours after the end of the first volume, the survivors of the assorted adventure groups find themselves under a whole new threat —cosmic horrors unleashed by a man with a  personal vendetta! 

Another quick-paced action yarn that builds on the previous volume, this time gradually showing us how each of the Rat Queens came to be, as well as elaborating on what makes them unique even among their peers. 

This volume sees a change in artists due a rather messy real-life issue. Regardless, quality is kept throughout. 

Another recommended installment. 

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Rat Queens, vol. 1

- Sass & Sorcery. Kurtis J. Wiebe, et. al. In a fantasy world not too different from… Dungeons & Dragons… there is a party composed of four booze-guzzling, death-dealing battle maidens for hire. The Rat Queens! Hannah the rockabilly elf mage, Violet the hipster dwarven fighter, Dee the atheist human cleric (yeah) and Betty the hippy smidgen thief. Together they are in the business of killing all the god’s creatures for profit! Too bad a hired assassin’s targeting every adventure party for death after far too many property damages. Oh, yeah, and there’s an army of orcs on the warpath. All in all, a pretty standard week for the Rat Queens! 

An action-paced, often hilarious fantasy romp that is… well, not that different from most ‘swords and sandals’ yarns, except for: A. the often sarcastic humor and, more importantly, B, the fact that the cast is primarily women. 

Highly entertaining, overall recommended. 

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Archie Comics (IV of IV)

- Betty and Veronica: Vixens, vol. 1. Jamie Lee Rotante, Eva Cabrera, et. al. Betty and Veronica accompany their respective dates, Archie and Reggie, on a motorcycle cruise. But when Archie gets in hot water with the motorcycle gang known as the Southside Serpents —he flees in fear. It becomes obvious to the girls that neither of their guys is going to be much help against an actual gang. But… what if they formed their own girl gang? Together with several seemingly unlikely choices, they form the Vixens, a squad brought together to defend Riverdale and to stand for battered women everywhere. Will they be ready when the ante is upped and things get deadly?

Of the modern updates on classical Archie comics (the Horror line, Riverdale, the entire ‘The married life’ saga), this is quite possibly the most surprising. At fist glance the premise would sound not just over the top but puzzling. Besides Betty and Veronica, one could wonder about their choices for the gang: Toni Lopez, Midge Klump, Ethel Muggs, Evelyn Evernever (with the latter addition of Cheryl Blossom) and with Bubbles McBounce as mentor. But as it turns out this selection is done very much on purpose. 

As Lee Rotante explains in her introduction to this collected volume: “This story is not just about motorcycles. It’s not just about a subversion of classic characters. Hell, it’s not even about Betty and Veronica —there’s a larger story that spins out of it, one that extends past the comic page itself. It’s about women who have waited their turn for decades finally getting the chance to take charge”. 

Indeed! The story takes characters who for years and years have been presented purely as arm candy (Midge, Cheryl, arguably Betty and Veronica themselves) or as a punchline (Ethel, Evelyn, Bubbles, Toni to a lesser degree) and gives them not just a chance to shine, but to become tough characters on their own. 

In fine comic book tradition, the story takes several pop-culture concepts as an exoskeleton (the comic invites comparison to classic pulp movies like “Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!” —and indeed one of the variant covers directly invokes the film’s poster) while hiding a more complex meditation inside. 

Rotante’s smart scrip, coupled with gorgeous art makes this comic an essential recommendation. 

***

And this concludes my Archie reading / re-reading project for now. This was quite a surprise all in all, both the classical and the modern. There is a reason these characters are an essential part of Americana (somewhat like, say, Donald Duck comics, certain specific superheroes, book series like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, and so on and on) —always recognizable yet subtly mutating over the eras. I do hope one day I can get my hands on other entries that interest me so. 

For my next reading project: Rat Queens, by Kurtis Wiebe and others! I don’t know anything about this series, except that it’s a fantasy comic book starring an all-female cast and that it’s apparently controversial, for reasons both in and out of the comic itself. 

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Archie Comics (III of IV)

- Archie Crossover Collection. A 2017 collection featuring five crossovers… well, rather, five comics of that long-standing tradition of having popular comic / cartoon characters meeting famous real-life artists and other celebrities. In this case The Ramones, Lady Gaga, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Strathan and George Takei. Let’s see one by one: 

1. Rock ’n’ Roll Riverdale. Alex Segura, Matthew Rosenberg, & Giséle Lagacé. After a disastrous public presentation, The Archies (Archie, Veronica, Betty, Reggie and Jughead) feel so discouraged they disband right on stage. Taking a cue from Fred, Archie’s father, Sabrina uses her magic to send the band back in time to 1976, where they must win a battle of the bands judged by The Ramones —or risk being stuck in the past forever! 

A surprisingly fun yarn with a slightly meaner edge than you would except of classic Archie comics (well, not taking into account the entire Horror imprint and / or the Riverdale spin-offs), and tongue-in-cheek references to classic Ramones songs (Blitzkrieg Pop, Pet Sematary, Commando, 53rd & 3rd, and many more) —and even to “Jingle Jangle” from the real-life The Archies. 

But even more outstanding than Segura and Rosengerg’s scrip is Lagacé gorgeous art, which perfectly homages the classic Archie look while giving it a distinct modern redesign. 

2. Gaga for Baba. Dan Parent & Jeff Schultz. After a less-than-enthusiastic Betty is dragged to a Lady Gaga concert by Veronica, she takes an inspiration from her kitsch style, crafting her own ‘Lady Baba’ persona to perform incognito at underground clubs (!), seeking to ditch her goody-two-shoes tambourine persona from The Archies. 

One strange thing about this comic is that while Gaga herself is an actual character in the story, all of her songs are presented in what tv tropes likes to call “Bland Name Products” —easily recognizable parodies such as ‘Poker Head’, ‘Peperonni’ and ‘Romama’ (for Poker Face, Paparazzi and Bad Romance). Too high a fee for the lyrics rights, perhaps? 

By itself it’s an entertaining yarn that one feels could have gone much further regarding not just Bety’s arc, but Veronica figuring out the mystery —and encouraging her friend to continue the double life! 

3. Geek Face-off. Ian Flynn & Dan Parent. Dilton enters a coding race with none other than the creator of Facebook itself, while Archie, feeling left-out of the Geek trend, hires Reggie and Jughead to improve his smarts. Neither quite gets what he wanted. 

The most formulaic of the five tales collected here, with a sub-plot that goes nowhere and a main plot that, while entertaining, feels somewhat haphazardly thrown together. Although, Moose’s quip “Can’t say I understand why you’d make a whole book about faces, but everyone’s gotta have a hobby, right?” is kind of amusing. 

Basic Archie comics fodder —not bad, perfectly serviceable, but forgettable. 

4. The Sack-rifice. Angelo DeCesare & Dan Parent. Moose quits the football team when he comes close to breaking the local sacks record (…), fearing that it would anger his hero. Said hero, Football legend Strahan comes to Riverdale (according to this comic, his Alma Mater) to woo Moose back to the team. 

Similar to the previous entry, this one is saved from tepidness by including a slight comedic edge regarding sports celebrities —such as the talk show ‘The know-it-alls’, whose host describes it as: “The show where we prove that we know everything about sports and you know nothing!”. That, and the fact that until the very last panel, Moose remains convinced that Strahan is just his imaginary friend. 

An okay humorous yarn, basically. 

5. By George! Dan Parent. Kevin Keller presents a touching essay on George Takei, an inspiration to him for being both an Asian-American actor who overcame impossible odds and for being an out and married gay celebrity. So touching is the essay that Takei himself is convinced by his (real-life) husband Brad to visit Keller himself. Meanwhile Kevin hooks up with his old flame Brian at a comic-con. 

Perhaps the most representative story of 21st. century Archie comics in this collection, essentially a mix of the classical art style and general feel-good atmosphere with topics previously ignored — homosexuality, prejudice and historical changes. While the ending can feel a bit too rah-rah, it is still a nice celebration of social progress. Kevin’s final monologue sums up the sentiment perfectly: “We’re living in better times. We can be who we are. And even though there’s always more work to be done, let’s be thankful for the ground-breakers who pave the way!”

In summary, a collection that is better than you  might expect from the subject matter. 

Next and last: ‘Betty and Veronica: Vixens’, quite possibly the most underrated of modern Archie comics. 

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Archie Comics (II of IV)

- Archie´s favorite high school comics. A recompilation *of* compilations, gathering assorted Archie stories set in high school, from the 50’s to the 2010’s (the 40’s are absent in this one for some reason). Most are the kind of perfectly serviceable but easily forgotten fluff pieces you’d expect from classic Archie, though now and then you’ll get an interesting glimpse of how certain ideologies will subtly shift over time. 

The highlights include: 

- The specialist. George Gladir, Dan DeCarlo Jr., et. al. (Year unknown). A rare anti-fat-shaming story in which the victim who gets back at his tormentors is a middle-aged man —in this case, long-standing character Coach Kleats, showing how a fat person may still be athletically gifted. 

- The uninvited. Frank Doyle, Stan Goldberg, et. al. (1982). A mystery yarn with a curious twist in which Archie and Chuck play detectives to figure out who has been breaking into school at night and living in the facilities. 

- Magic Mayhem. Tom DeFalco, Bill Galvan, et. al. (2013). Jughead spins his day at school into a bedtime fantasy yarn for his sister Jellybean —what makes this story stand out is that it successfully gains ambiguousness by ending. It becomes clear that besides the fantasy elements (magic), Jughead is inventing a skewered version of the story, to the point of subtly mocking his classmates and presenting himself as the hero of a story that apparently went badly in ‘real life’ (the entire school is at his throat by the ending). In other words, an all-ages story that is designed to make the readers consider the events from several possible points of view. 

- Sound Off. Frank Doyle, Dan DeCarlo, et. al. (1967). An example of a classic comic book tradition: Telling a story with no dialogue (in this case with only the occasional sound effect). The result is both clever and humorous. 

On the whole it’s a fairly entertaining mix. 

Next: Archie Crossover Collection (which I will admit I included mostly for being the only compilation including Kevin Keller I could find). 

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Reading Project: Archie comics (I of IV)

A random sampling of three Archie comics anthologies and one of the modern series. 

First: 

Archie 75th Anniversary Celebration, #4. 

A collection reprinting classic Betty and Veronica stories from assorted decades, from the 1940’s to the 2010’s (!)

The collection itself is as you might expect: A mix of forgettable stories paired with some actually pretty interesting ones. You can see not just elements that would later be used in the most recent versions (the semi-serious Teen Soap heralded by Mark Waid and the Horror imprint —but also even more interesting experiments from assorted decades), but also how these comics became time capsules for quite a few trends in US fashion and in comics in general. 

All stories come with commentaries from assorted writers, editors, artists and whatnot —the most interesting ones noting subtle details in the art and the evolution (sometimes de-evolution) of themes. 

Some stories that stand out: 

- Where the action is. By Dan Parent, Rich Koslowski, et. al. 2008. One of many stories re-creating the characters as X genre —in this case, as glamorous spies. What is notorios about this story is that it’s one of the fist to use obscure character Evelyn Evernever (from the Little Archie comics) as a villain. 

- Dare to be bare. By Frank Doyle and Dan DeCarlo. 1982. One of the earliest stories starring the Blossom twins, Cheryl and Jason. I’d always wondered why Cheryl was for a time deemed too sexual a character for an all-ages comics. Then in this story we see her arrested for trying to go topless in a public beach and —yeah, now I get it. 

- Vamp it up. By Dan Parent, Rich Koslowski, et. al. 2012. Imagine my surprise at discovering that Vampironica was not a character created for the current Horror storyline, but made her debut in this story —complete with the origin of Betty the Vampire slayer. Respectively, open homages to Vampirella and Buffy. 

- Taking care of business. By Paul Kupperberg, Jeff Schultz, et. al. 2012. The single best story in this collection. Betty and Veronica get stranded in the woods at winter and must use their wits to survive. The twist is that Betty, by this point usually the reliable, level-headed one, get a concussion early on and spends most of the story unconscious, so it falls on Veronica (normally the spoiled rich princess) to keep both of them alive —a very clever scrip that managed to hit just the right amount of drama without going overboard. 

- Of men and mermaids. By Bill Vigoda and Al McLean. 1945. One of the earliest Archie stories, which shows how the character Betty in particular has changed over the years —this one was quite capable of knocking out men with a good sock to the jaw. Described as “feisty” in and out of the comic, I’d say she was that very early kind of female character in comic books that had to be tough just to survive. 

- For one brief moment. By C. J. Henderson, Doug Crane, et. al. 1996. A romance between Betty and Reggie —what is interesting here isn’t the up-ending of the usual romantic triangle of these comics, but the rare emotionally sincere handling of teen romance. How often do you see this kind of characters breaking off simply because they both realize that it’s becoming a serious thing and neither of them is ready for something that intense just yet? 

There is an overwhelming amount of male writers, artists and editors in display here (the sole story written by a woman is “Pick me up”, by Kathleen Webb, 2000. Fittingly, it’s a tale about the girls dealing with constant harassment from entitled men) —which says more about the problem with the general comic book industry than with this particular publishing line, really. 

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