Rat Queens (2017-) #1

Gosh this comic misses Tess Fowler so much.

So essentially Rat Queens has ‘soft rebooted', so after almost a year long hiatus we have the same characters, the same writer, the same world and shenanigans, but a different artist.
So the feel shouldn't be that different right?

Except it is.

I'm not sure if I just got used to not reading Rat Queens over it's hiatus or if the change in artwork is too jarring for me or if the execution of the premise just feels a bit off to me, but I do not enjoy it as much any more.

I like that Braga came back, but it almost felt like they were trying to stuff too many fan favourites in this issue in order to make it land, that it just kind of felt off.

This first issue follows the Rat Queens getting back to the status quo, with the help of Braga, and on their travels they encounter the Cat Kings, who are a gender swapped version of them down to roles and looks/styles. Not sure what a supposed feminist comic needs is male copycat counterparts but maybe that's just me being overly bitter. There wasn't enough action in this to draw me in and it just felt a little weak compared to issues in the first iteration of Rat Queens.

The colouring is still a treat though, and I really do enjoy the joy it brings to the page.

I'd suggest if you enjoy the concept of Rat Queens, then just stick to reading the first two volumes of the first series.