Trevor Hogg chats with Kurtis Wiebe about having a bloody good time creating the adventures for the Rat Queens…
Fantasy tales tend to be drawn towards medieval times. “That’s been the established status quo since its inception,” observes Kurtis Wiebe. “There are variations of course but it is a standard of the genre. Maybe it’s romanticised a bit? I’m not entirely sure.” Wiebe is making his own contribution to the fantasy genre with Rat Queens which follows the rollicking and bloody adventures of four females who happen to be a fighter, cleric, rogue and wizard; the opening Sass & Sorcery storyline lasted five issues which is standard practice for the comic book writer. “It’s a nice framework for a single story arc. Almost like a season of a TV show. You can wrap up a storyline neatly in five issues and weave some new threads to carry over to the next arc. Rat Queens is much more traditional in its ongoing format in that we’ll continue to do it as long as there are new and interesting stories to tell and character arcs we can work with. We don’t want to drag it on if we feel we’re treading old ground.”
Unlike Peter Panzerfaust which features the artistic talents of Tyler Jenkins, Kurtis Wiebe has teamed with Roc Upchurch to bring the characters and situations to life in Rat Queens. “It’s pretty similar. I have complete faith in both of them to take a script and get exactly what I’m trying to do with it. It’s reassuring to know that I don’t have to scrutinize every page and demand changes [not that I am normally like that] and it allows me to focus on my contribution once I’ve handed off the script to them.” Actions have ramifications for the various characters. “The story and choices made by characters have to hold weight or they won’t arc, and, in turn they will lose that sense of reality. I want people to see the Rat Queens as real women, even though it’s a fantasy setting. If you care about the characters, and you are invested in their story, you’ll stick around to watch them grow. If that doesn’t happen, it’s just a book with dick jokes and violence, which is fine but long term would lose its appeal.” Wiebe observes, “It’s very character driven. We started with making the world filled to the brim with characters as opposed to creating an elaborate world and making characters fit into it. Which, I don’t think is common in fantasy as a rule. It was always going to be about the four women and the story of their lives before and after forming the Rat Queens.”
When it comes to creating lovable rogues who can steal your wallet and heart at the same time, Kurtis Wiebe observes,“We all have a natural love for those characters in fiction and I think it’s because we like the idea of not playing by the rules but also having a heart. With Betty, I found her a joy to write immediately; she was the quickest voice I found and it all started with asking the question, ‘What would complete acceptance and unyielding love look like in a character?’” Rat Queens requires getting the right mix of swearing, killing and character moments. “Never allow one piece to dominate an issue. If a scene has been pretty heavy character-wise, I’ll hit it with a joke or do an action sequence. People have come to expect to laugh when reading Rat Queens, so I always plan to deliver that. But I think fans are going to see that we’re actually planning some moving character stories that will make the jokes even better even if there are fewer of them, overall.”
Instilling comedy into Rat Queens posed the biggest challenge for Kurtis Wiebe. “It’s such a subjective thing and I have no clue if a joke is funny until I see the response from Roc or even the fans. It’s been a huge learning curve in setting up the joke and then hitting the delivery at the exact right moment.” A lot of character moments appear in the fantasy series published by Image Comics. “Specifically in issue #5 when Dee hides away with a book; Roc really transported that idea from a small character moment into something that so many readers identified with.” The dominate theme being explored is that of friendship. “It’s a real look at how you can love and hate your friends at the same time and how such tight knit relationships are the most rewarding, if difficult, experiences.” Peter Panzerfaust and Rat Queens are being adapted into separate animated TV series. “Both of those projects are in very early development but I am going to be involved in the creative. With Rat Queens, in particular, Weta is committed to capturing the tone and, I guess for lack of a better word, rating of the series.”
Many thanks to Kurtis Wiebe for taking the time to be interviewed.
To learn more visit Facebook for Rat Queens, official websites for Image Comics and Kurtis Wiebe, and Twitter for Roc Upchurch.
Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.
Originally published August 6, 2014. Updated November 7, 2019.
