The Terror Of Gary And Fudgebottom: Rat Queens #19 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
King Gary organizes his forces to kill the Rat Queens, but the Queens are confident about their odds in this fight, especially with Hannah’s new arm. However, Betty’s sobriety is not going so well, and Maddie’s confidence isn’t fully built up yet. Things worsen when Gary unleashes Professor Cornelius Fudgebottom III on the Queens. Hannah tasks Maddie with killing the adorable terror, but she can’t bring herself to do it. After this, Gary’s forces easily capture the Rat Queens, and he puts them on trial in before all of Palisade.
Rat Queens #19 finds the crew still struggling to pull themselves together, even in the face of a total schmuck like Gary. Hannah, Braga, and Dee are still having trouble getting along, Maddie is a newbie, and Betty is drunk beyond reason. Plus, Violet is still retired.
There is still plenty of action and laughs to be enjoyed, especially with Hannah’s complete lack of respect for Gary and the Fudgebottom situation.
That said, this comic is far from feel-good and isn’t all that fun. The Rat Queens are not only having trouble getting along with one another, but everyone else seems to hate them too. The trial is full of Palisade townsfolk talking about how awful the Queens are, and the Queens themselves begin to question how much good they’ve actually done.
Priscilla Petraites’ artwork remains fantastic of course. The action scenes have a nice flow and creativity to them that keeps the reader attached to every panel. The character designs of the Queens has always been brilliant, and Petraites keeps that alive and well in this book. Marko Lesko provides popping and vibrant color art that boosts the visual profile even further.
Rat Queens #19 is an entertaining if somewhat cold issue that attempts to balance wanton violence and biting one-liners with a growing fear that our lead characters are and always have been terrible people. It’s entertaining, but not really fun. I can still recommend it, but not as strongly as I have issues of the series in the past.
Rat Queens #19 comes to us from writer and letterer Ryan Ferrier, artist and cover artist Priscilla Petraites, and color artist Marco Lesko.
Final Score: 6.5/10
