As part of the Special Section of Britain's Ministry of Intelligence, Tara Chace is one of a handful of operatives they call when they need to clean up a mess, or to make a new one. It's a world of questionable morals. For instance, is it better to assassinate a general in the Russian mafia rather than allow him to peddle more guns and drugs in underprivileged countries? Tara's bosses seem to think so. But the Russian mafia ask their own question - once someone has taken the life of one of their officers, can they continue to let that person live? Greg Rucka peels back the lid on the traditional espionage story to see the nastiness inside, and Steve Rolston brings it to life with stunning clarity.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The more screwed-up the protagonist, the better a spy story tends to be, and Rucka (who's also written a series of prose mystery novels) has come up with a memorably dysfunctional antiheroine in Tara Chace, a burned-out, amoral "minder" (i.e., agent) for Britain's Ministry of Intelligence. This volume, which collects the first few issues of the Q&C comic book, opens as Chace carries out an unauthorized assassination in Kosovo to the consternation of higher-ups, her boss orders her to off a former Russian general running arms to Chechen rebels then makes a complicated getaway after being wounded. Chace soon learns she's become a pawn, now with a bounty on her head, in a seemingly endless game of international reprisals and counterreprisals. Newcomer artist Rolston combines bold outlines, expressive body language and clean, cartoonish lines for his characters, with detailed, realistic backgrounds; it's a trick often used in European comics, and he makes it work here. In fact, nearly everyone in this taut and violent drama seems to sag, physically and emotionally, under the psychological and moral weight of their grim profession. Together with Rucka's clipped, spare dialogue, the work offers the sense that espionage is just another job, exactly as grinding and tedious as any other except that interoffice politics can get people killed. The action sequences are fast-paced and exciting, but the truly engaging part of the book is how sharply Rucka and Rolston are able to define even minor characters.Award as best serial.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From the Publisher
From Publishers Weekly:
"The more screwed-up the protagonist, the better a spy story tends to be, and Rucka (who's also written a series of prose mystery novels) has come up with a memorably dysfunctional antiheroine in Tara Chace, a burned-out, amoral "minder" (i.e., agent) for Britain's Ministry of Intelligence. This volume, which collects the first few issues of the Q&C comic book, opens as Chace carries out an unauthorized assassination in Kosovo to the consternation of higher-ups, her boss orders her to off a former Russian general running arms to Chechen rebels then makes a complicated getaway after being wounded. Chace soon learns she's become a pawn, now with a bounty on her head, in a seemingly endless game of international reprisals and counterreprisals. Newcomer artist Rolston combines bold outlines, expressive body language and clean, cartoonish lines for his characters, with detailed, realistic backgrounds; it's a trick often used in European comics, and he makes it work here. In fact, nearly everyone in this taut and violent drama seems to sag, physically and emotionally, under the psychological and moral weight of their grim profession. Together with Rucka's clipped, spare dialogue, the work offers the sense that espionage is just another job, exactly as grinding and tedious as any other except that interoffice politics can get people killed. The action sequences are fast-paced and exciting, but the truly engaging part of the book is how sharply Rucka and Rolston are able to define even minor characters.Award as best serial." Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Fourth Rail:
"One of the fascinating things about Queen & Country is that Tara Chace is not James Bond. She doesn't get the guy, drink the martinis and go home to a fabulous hot tub and swanky lifestyle. Her job wears on her, and in fact her home life is the kind that would make most of us consider putting a bullet in our own brain."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure gold.,
This review is from: Queen & Country, Vol. 1: Operation Broken Ground (Paperback)
Greg Rucka's acclaimed spy series starts here. From the word go, Rucka doesn't let up, doesn't slow the pace down, nor does he bore the reader or make the series seem too OTT. The spy genre has had a misconception that it's all glam and gadgets, no thanks to the recent SFX obsessed Bond films, but Rucka crushes all that, he brings the genre right back to it's origins and makes it a dark and violent and very realistic, good vs. bad scenario. The main charm about the book though is the amount of characterisation in the book, from Paul Crocker the moody, arrogant, commander in chief type character to Tara Chace's professionalism with a hint of "f**k you" attitude. Rolston's crisp, clean, sharp artwork adds a deeper depth, concentrating on facial expressions and pushing his sequential talents to the max. Using panels of different size and space he never bores the reader or repeats himself. A true talent.Queen and Country is an original, down to earth spy story. But it's more than that, it grips the reader from the first page to the very last one. It gives American comics a different edge and the reason it stands out so much is because there's literally nothing else like it on the market. Check it out, it'll be worth the money and the time.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The British "Alias" (without the soap-opera drama),
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This review is from: Queen & Country, Vol. 1: Operation Broken Ground (Paperback)
I was a little skeptical at first about this book. Rucka is not a Brit, but he tries writing for English characters. Surprisingly, Rucka deftly handles the dialogue without sounding like he's just sticking in a "bloody" or a "sod off" here and there. He successfully immerses the reader in the world of British black ops.
This book reminds me of the American TV show "Alias," but without the romance and convoluted relationships. This is a straight-forward spy book, with believable action and well-crafted character development. Many people have complained about Steve Rolston's simplistic artwork style. It doesn't bother me. I wouldn't say he's my favorite artist, but it doesn't get in the way of Rucka's brilliant story.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
VERY high quality work,
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This review is from: Queen & Country, Vol. 1: Operation Broken Ground (Paperback)
This is an "adult" graphic novel, not in the sexual-content sense but because the plot does not involve superheroes, fantasy, or magic. In fact, it's much more gritty and topical than even most adult thrillers I've read. The Secret Intelligence Service, based in London, is (apparently) an MI-6 kind of operation, chartered to carry out assassinations and other operations abroad but whose agents are not even allowed to be armed at home. Tara Chace -- "Minder Two" -- is their best shooter and the story opens with her involved in an unauthorized Special Operation in Kosovo to take out a rogue Russian officer now running with the Russian mafia. Her success, followed by an iffy escape from the scene, leads the Russians to put a bounty on her head -- and to fire a shoulder-launched rocket at the SIS headquarters, just to show they can. Paul Crocker, Director of Ops, wants not just to catch the perpetrators of the attack, he wants them dead. The Kosovo operation was a favor owed to the CIA, who now decline to help in his vendetta. And so on, in a nicely complicated plot that revolves on personalities and the rules of the game in a changed world as much as on action sequences. The art is straight black-and-white line drawing that emphasizes facial expression and body language -- which fits well with the rather talky style of the narration. My only complaint is that the story doesn't so much end as simply stop -- obviously only the first episode in a continuing series (which I haven't seen any sign of).
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