The Swansong Of Gary: Rat Queens #20 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Gary is killing Maddie, and it seems the rest of the Rat Queens have already been dissolved in a pool of acid. That is, all but one have been dissolved–that being Dee. She’s a god, so her spirit exists regardless of her body’s vitality. A voice speaks from the void and warns Dee that there are rules to divinity. However, Dee doesn’t care, and she resurrects herself and the rest of the Rat Queens. The four of them save Maddie and rejoin the fight against Gary and his soldiers. All seems to be going well until Gary goes down and seems to birth a different and far more powerful evil.
Rat Queens #20 finds the Queens at another low point after having been routed and killed by Gary. However, Dee’s status as a god saves the day, but it will definitely have dire consequences for the future of the realm.
Much of the comic involves waiting for that other shoe to drop, but it doesn’t–or at least not in the way you expect.
Something has been pulling the strings on Gary, but it’s not the same entity warning Dee about abusing her divinity. The one controlling Gary is actually a different long-running Rat Queens villain.
Regardless, this issue, for all its ominous foreboding, is a lot of fun. We get to see the Queens unleash on Gary and his followers. It’s a cathartic follow-up to the past few issues showing our heroes getting beaten down and kicked around.
As always, the dialogue is profane joy, with Hannah getting plenty of wonderful jabs in at Gary and the other villains.
It is ambiguous as to whether the citizens of Palisade hate the Rat Queens or if that was all the work of Gary. A theme of recent issues is that the Queens cause more damage than they repair, and that’s left somewhat up in the air at the end of this book.
Priscilla Petraites once again provides gorgeous and creative visuals for this comic. The fight scenes are gory and exciting, the magic looks epic and otherworldly, and the Queens themselves are well-detailed and expressive. Marco Lesko’s color work is vibrant and adds plenty of life to this book.
Rat Queens #20 closes this chapter on Gary’s feud with the Queens. It’s a fun and high-action issue, but it also sets up plenty of future conflicts that will most certainly come back to bite the Rat Queens on the ass. Mix that with some excellent art from Petraites and Lesko, and you have a book worth recommending. Check it out.
Rat Queens #20 comes to us from writer and letterer Ryan Ferrier, artist and cover artist Priscilla Petraites, and color artist Marco Lesko.
Final Score: 8/10
