Queen and Country, Vol. 1: Broken Ground

Queen and Country #1

by Greg Rucka, Steve Rolston (Illustrator), Warren Ellis

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.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Thriller, Espionage, Graphic Novels Comics, Action

120 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2002

About the author

Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote]

Wow, this is one of the most tedious comics I’ve read in some time! It’s basically super-shite Bond. Female Bond-esque agent goes on a generic hit job somewhere out east – the Russians are the villains once again, unsurprisingly given how uncreative this book is – before heading back to Vauxhall Cross for a debrief. Cue endless interminable scenes of interdepartmental squabbling between bureaucrats from MI5 and MI6!

This stuffed suit doesn’t like this stuffed suit. They’re not sharing info! They’re going over my head to talk to my boss! Oh my god, who fucking cares?! This is why in Bond movies the focus is on Bond while he goes on his globetrotting, exciting adventures and not the dudes in the office back home filling out the paperwork!

Steve Rolston’s black and white interior art is nothing like Tim Sale’s covers (not a bad thing if you aren’t a fan of Sale’s art like me!) but Rolston’s art is too clean, bright and cartoony for such a dark and gritty story. It’s the kind of art I’d expect in a Paul Hornschemeier comic about some sad sack worker’s ordinary life, not some pseudo-action spy thriller!

I couldn’t have been more bored reading Queen and Country, Volume 1: Broken Ground. You know what new ground this comic broke? New levels of monotony!

[Nicolo]

This is an early Greg Rucka story and already it is very good. All of the Rucka's signature stylings are already present: the strong female character, the determined violence and a fully developed cast to support British intelligence operative Tara Chace.

If this book has one weakness it is the art. The faces are oft-putting almost too cartoony for the serious subject matter.

This collection has a neat bonus, an interlude story with art by Stan Sakai. Anytime Sakai draws characters other than his signature rabbit samurai Usagi Yojimbo; it is a treat.

[Eric]

This graphic novel had a good spy intelligence agency theme to it -- no superheroes here -- and a protagonist in Tara Chace that was strong, mysterious, and made me curious to know more about her. That being said, I found the black and white artwork to be two-dimensional, cartoonish, and dull. It really didn't fit the storytelling style and made the comic fall flat for me. Here is an example of the artwork, my apologies if you fall asleep looking at it.

[Quentin Wallace]

Very good stuff here. This is "real world" black ops material that was rarely, if ever, seen in comics before his series was released. The main character is Tara Chace, a member of British S.I.S. (think CIA, but not exactly.)

In this volume, Tara does a "favor" for the CIA by assassinating a rogue Russian General. However, the Generals men find out about her, and she ends up with a million dollar bounty on her head. And it gets more complicated from there...

The art is a little cartoony, but much like the old 'Nam comic series from Marvel, the cartoony art actually fits the dark stories. Maybe it helps keep things "entertaining" rather than "depressing", but there's some synergy going on.

If you enjoy espionage and adventure type stories that aren't overly tedious, you should give this series a shot. (No pun intended.)

[Jennifer]

This was well-written spy book, with good dialog, although very much setup arc for a series that I'm hoping fulfills its promise. I'm not a huge fan of the art, not because I mind black and white (I actually really enjoy B&W art), but because of the thick-line art style, and the fact that it didn't add much to the storytelling for me. It could just be that I prefer a "grittier" art style, especially with stories about the shades of gray involved in spy work. I will say, though, that the visual storytelling is good, and subtle changes in facials expressions through the panels conveys character feelings quite well.

[Stephanie]

Good spy story with interesting characters and relationships. This volume was very much a set up for more and I'm inspired to keep reading the series. (Plus, I easily went through it in one night's reading.) I liked the cartoony, black and white artwork--it makes the action and blood easier for me to consume. And it is so different from other stuff I've seen as far as presenting a sexy heroine and guys in suits.

[Jay]

Most spy comics use Fleming (espionage as lifestyle) as their keynote, but these guys are playing in the key of LeCarre (espionage as job). It's well written, and the Miller-esque covers are fantastic, but the inner art is dull and the book never gets out of second gear. It's pretty good, but there are much better choices out there

[Cait]

This reads a lot like SPOOKS THE COMIC BOOK. So, clearly, I loved it. Also: episodic comics are perfect study-break reading.

[Lisa]

Good stuff. Mature, fast paced storyline. I wonder why Rucka likes to make his strong women characters such heavy drinkers? Just asking.

[Ali]

3.5/5. Loved the artstyle, characters are meh, plot is recycled but suits the action/intrigue well. I won't continue beyond this volume but I enjoyed reading it, and the covers are amazing; I'd frame them and keep them as prints if I owned a physical copy. Also, I know nearly all comics are guilty of this, but I just find it so distracting when the letterer puts bold italics on every other word .

[Taschima]

Pretty stereotypical characters, the comic book is in black and white (I loved the colors on the cover but those don’t make it to the comic as a whole), the dialogue bubbles can be confusing sometimes (I had to double back at least twice), and the art work is okay.

[Paul Spence]

Queen & Country delves into the world of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or M16 as it is commonly known, the world of international security and espionage.

Many people will know of the SIS because of James Bond or le Carre novels. Despite both franchises dating back to more than 40 years, the SIS has only been officially acknowledged publicly for 17.

It is a world still shrouded in mystery.

As for Queen & Country, it represents American writer Greg Rucka's idea of some of the inner workings of the SIS. This is the first collection in the series, containing the first four issues of the ongoing Oni series and a special short by Stan Sakai.

The story is centralized on the special operative Tara Chace. She is a minder, one of three deadly operatives put into play when there is a mess to clear up or when someone needs to be taken out of the picture.

This volume starts with the assassination of General Markovsky, a member of the Russian Mafia in war torn Kosovo. Following the assassination a price is put on Tara's head and the M16 headquarters in London is targeted by a rocket attack.

Can the service protect Tara? And can they find who is responsible for the attack?

Greg Rucka delivers quality writing. From start to finish you are drawn in, wanting to know the answers to all the unknowns.

It feels like it captures the political nature of international security in a realistic manner. The characters are written perfectly, their internal quibbles helping to increase the feeling of the overwhelming bureaucracy in the service.

Espionage is a hard subject to write about due to secrecy of the inner workings of the service and Rucka does very well. An American writing believable British dialogue is also impressive.

The art is drawn by Steve Rolston (The Escapists), except for the small introductory story drawn by Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo).

Rolston's artwork is entirely done without the use of colours and features clean lines with little shading, vaguely similar to some of Brian Bolland's work.

The artwork was heavily criticized when first released for being too cartoony. I would argue that Rolston's work is very well done and is realistic enough.

However the work by Sakai is very cartoony and feels out of place alongside the rest of the artwork.

My main criticism of the book is that it has an ending.

This may sound bizarre to hear at first but I can explain my reasoning.

Being a huge fan of John le Carre’s works, I just never expect a satisfactory ending to any story involving a secret service; it's in the nature of the genre to be inconclusive and I almost felt cheated when the story tied up.

On the whole, Queen & Country is one of the best comics produced by the smaller companies in a long time. Oni Press has done an admirable job publishing the individual issues and putting out these collections.

I would like to wrap this up with the blurb the SIS uses on its website:

“SIS works secretly overseas to make the UK safer and more prosperous. We obtain secret foreign intelligence to inform Government decisions. We disrupt terrorism and nuclear proliferation and our intelligence helps to prevent and resolve conflict.

“We work with our overseas agents, contacts and partner Services to shape developments and project the UK's influence… The secrecy of our operations, and the identity of those who work with us, is our foremost principles.

“SIS is a modern organization with sophisticated technology and a diverse workforce – all dedicated to protecting the UK and contributing to a more prosperous and peaceful world.â€

In Tara Chace we trust.

On the whole this OGN is very well written. The main artwork is of a good standard too. A comfortable 4 out of 5.

[Alex E]

Rucka's take on the "secret agents" of the United Kingdom, and the inner workings of the department.

Tara Chace is the main agent that we follow for this book, and we see her opening the series with a messy, yet successful, hit on a Russian General. From there, it is a game of cat and mouse as the Russians come after Chace, who then has to bait them out into the open in order for the department to take them down. I really like the way Rucka shows us not only the action heavy parts of Chace's adventures, but the back office politics of what it takes to get operations and plans set in motion. There's a lot that isn't seen behind the scenes, and the red tape can get grueling for the people who have boots on the ground. Rucka's comfort with procedural type comics is in full effect here, and the writing works perfectly with the setting and themes of the book.

Ill be honest, the first thing that struck me about the book is the art. I didn't like it. It's grown on me slightly, but not by much. To be frank, I think the book suffers a bit from the cartoony style of Steve Rolston. I'm not saying the art is terrible, but the tone is so wildly different than the story, that I felt it detracted from the atmosphere at times. Just not a good fit in my opinion.

Overall, this got really interesting towards the end of the volume. And while the art at first was a distraction, the story has enough momentum to overcome what is ultimately, a stylistic art choice. Recommended for fans of thriller comics.

[Tom Ewing]

After 3 years working in a comic shop in the mid 90s I took a lengthy holiday from them - by the time I picked up again, a new generation of writers had landed at Marvel and DC after making their name at indie publishers doing work in non-superhero genres. Greg Rucka was one of them - his special patch was espionage and thriller comics, and he brought some of those interests with him to mid-00s DC. But I'd missed out on the work that built his rep - in particular this espionage series about MI6 special agent Tara Chace.

It's great, a pastiche of classic British spy movies, TV series and books which lands in roughly the sweet spot the great BBC adaptations of Le Carre did - a ton of office politics and departmental turf wars between damaged bastards who all hate each other, but leavened with tense in-the-field action. This first volume digs into the consequences of one such action, a hit on a Russian general turned mafioso which invites retaliation.

None of the ingredients are new but the recipe is perfectly realised - it's probably the most British feeling comic by an American I've head, partly because it's such a close study of UK entries in this specific genre. The art by Steve Rolston is steady and unflashy, expressive when it comes to faces and body language, which suits a comic that feels more "TV" than "cinema" in its approach to action. But when he's called upon to draw sudden violence or bursts of activity, he nails it. A real pleasure, and easy to see why it cemented Rucka's high reputation.

[Aric]

I really do like Rucka's work. His stories seem both realistic and plausible. I suppose those two go hand in hand.
After a nearly botched assignment done as a favor for the C.I.A., British agent Tara Chase and her branch of service is targeted by the Russian mafia resulting in a rocket attack on their headquarters and a million dollar bounty placed on Chase's head.
Like their American counterparts in the C.I.A., the Ministry of Intelligence is not supposed engage in domestic activities but with their own killed or targeted in England they don't choose to sit idly by despite their domestic branch (MI-5) having jurisdiction.
Chase becomes bait while leaders in the Ministry do what they can to protect their own and retaliate for the rocket attack. Meanwhile, MI-5 seems to have to qualms about waiting to arrest the Russians after they make their move on Chase.

[Evette]

You have some pretty fun and realistic spy games in this comic. You can easily sense the animosity between certain characters and the camaraderie between others. The dialogue is mature with little profanity. The thing that stands out is just how well this story can be transferred directly to a movie.

Secret services from Britain and the US are involved when an assassination gets complicated after the target's people find who the shooter is. The secret services in Britain aren't playing nice with each other, so this causes even more complications. Then the US put one over on the Brits. It's a dog eat dog world and it's all quiet and covered up right up until guns are fired or a missle is launched

[wbforeman]

Do you like the works of John le Carre or Tinker tailor soldier spy you’ll probably enjoy this spy book as it’s primarily dealing with by minutia, dealing with other agencies and the personalities attached to them. As a British spy agency has to deal with the repercussions of doing a favor for the CIA. The cast is pretty large, but I was able to follow it pretty well. This is not an action oriented book. This is more of a political book. Also, this is an indie book so the art is fine but it’s not going to blow you away my only real critique is the lettering, which I had a hard time reading otherwise good time, but going knowing what type of book this is and what it’s not

[Wes]

My only complaint is the lettering. It just doesn't feel right. Other than that, pretty good intro into the Queen and Country world. Rucka is pretty good at writing tough gals, and getting that James Bond vibe. This is my first round with Queen and Country, and I liked it enough to pick up another volume, so we'll see if the second one really grabs me. Otherwise, if you're a Rucka fan or a Bond fan, this is the comic series for you.

[David]

I like Greg Rucka. This is from way back, and he's improved a lot since, but he was still pretty good in 2002.

You can't talk about MI6 without bringing up a bond comparison. I don't think he is trying to make his female lead a lady-Bond. He seems to be building a slightly grittier, less fantastic MI6. The main problem is that it comes off as a more than a little petty and too amateurish to be conducting assassinations around the world.

It looks like this series went at least 8 volumes. I will probably get volume 2 since its a Kindle unlimited/comixology freebie.

[Al Tarancón]

Historia de espias a la vieja usanza, casi más centrada en las intrigas internas de los servicios de espionaje que en grandes tramas, al menos en este primer tomo. Los personajes estan bien definidos, y los calas bastante rapido. La verdad es que se hace un poco corto, pues te quedas con ganas de más...

[Björn]

Ég hef verið að lesa þessa seríu aftur og hún eldist bara helvíti vel.

Ég held ég hafi keypt megnið af henni á útsölu í Nexus einhverntíma, eða mögulega á Amazon rétt fyrir hrun. Ég er búinn að hakka þetta í mig síðan ég kippti fyrstu bókinni úr hillu um daginn, hvernig má vera að þetta sé ekki orðið að sjónvarpsþætti?

[Luana]

My boy Rucka? He do it again, delivering a fast-paced, no-nonsense tale of inter-agency black ops betrayal with a cool gun lady as the lead. My biggest surprise from this book was how the art felt essentially like a British newspaper comic strip. Imagine Dennis & Gnasher: 'Ard Lads!

[Christopher]

Good start to the story, though I kept expecting it to be like a Bourne movie for some reason. Can't wait for Vol. 2.

[Ryan La Fleur]

Really good story and interesting graphics.

[Simon Portegies Zwart]

Outstanding graphics. Bit of a traditional story, but that is okay.interesting to see how several assists drew the same characters.

[Eugene]

I normally really like Rucka, but this was kind of bland. I don't know if I'll pick up Vol 2.

[Derek Weisman]

A Perfection of realism and fiction mixed into one.

If you want a realistic spy story mixed with enough fiction to be believable, then you found the right book.

[Adrian Bloxham]

Pretty good spy comic

[Seamus]

Depth in the characters and plot with a good mix of action and narrative.

[Ian Deeley]

Different and interesting.