God Save the Queen (2007)

God Save the Queen (2007)

Author: Mike Carey | Illustrator: John Bolton | Page Count: 96

"Okay, these are the rules. We run fast, we dance like animals — and we say yes to everything."

An adult tale filled with visceral imagery and harsh realities that merge the aesthetic of British Punk with the magical but equally fearful nature of the cautionary tale / fairy story. Those two things on the surface would seem to have nothing in common, but author Mike Carey somehow makes the pairing work.

You'll meet characters from other well-known DC Vertigo titles, namely The Sandman, The Dreaming, and The Books of Magic, but the book exists on the fringes of all three titles, so you don't need to have read any of them prior to settling down with God Save the Queen.

The story revolves around Linda, a bored, alienated, self-absorbed and self-destructive young adult. If trouble doesn't find her, then she'll actively seek out and embrace it. The rebellion of the individual against society and family is concurrent with the catastrophic repercussions that follow when Titania, the Queen of Faerie, receives an unwelcome visitor to her realm.

I think I've mentioned previously (likely in a post about The Unwritten series) that I enjoy seeing Carey write strong female protagonists, because I feel that he's so very good at it. But on the flip side the depth of many of the lesser characters is sacrificed due to the short page count.

Things even feel a little directionless for a time, but it's worth paying attention to the small details because the strands weave beautifully as the story gets nearer the ending.

John Bolton's art is a good fit for the dark themes on display. His panelling is traditional but he'll occasionally break out with a full page piece that teems with life; it's clear that he enjoys the freedom that splash pages offer. His history of horror illustration brings an elegant darkness to the visuals, which highlight the grimy and terrible nature of the environments and the people.

NOTE: I blacked out the speech bubbles in both panels; they aren't like that in the book.