Queen & Country

Queen & Country Series

Queen & Country is a comic book/novel series written by Greg Rucka. The comics are published by Oni Press and the Novels are published by Bantam.

Queen & Country focuses on Tara Chace as a Minder. The Minders are a three person team within MI-6 and are sent into situations Her Majesty's Government can't be openly involved in (like assassinations) and have a very high casualty rate. Queen & Country is definitely more in the vein of LeCarre than James Bond.

Unfortunately I discovered this series late. I discovered Greg Rucka's writing during a period of Batman I didn't enjoy. So, I didn't go out looking for other works by him. I did however discover discover the first Queen & Country novel in a Wal-Mart in the summer of 2005. I bought it for $4.97 and took it home. After reading the first 50 pages, I realized I could enjoy it without reading the graphic novels/comics, but I'd probably enjoy it much more if I had the backstory. I checked the comic book stores in Gainesville and they didn't carry any of the trades, so I went on Amazon.com and they had them. I bought the first three and was hooked immediately. By the time I was halfway through the second trade, I was back on Amazon ordering the rest of the trades and Whiteout plus the first three Atticus Kodiak novels the following week.

This led to me buying the Sandbaggers DVDs. Sandbaggers was a British tv show written by Ian Mackintosh, who may or may not have been an actual spy. While the DVDs are expensive, they're worth every penny. I watched them all over the period of a week. I've watched them three time since.

There is another novel due out next summer, and then Volume 2 of Queen & Country is scheduled to start again late 2010. In the meantime, Stumptown, Greg Rucka's love letter to The Rockford Files, should begin soon. I can't find the planned start date online anywhere at the time of this posting. The first three Definitive Edition collections are out and the fourth is scheduled for February 2009. You can grab the Definitive Editions of the first two Whiteout series and a third series should be out in time for the film, starring Kate Beckinsale. Finally, the next Atticus Kodiak novel should be out summer 2009. Plenty of good stuff coming out from Greg Rucka.

Where to Start:
Queen & Country: The Definitive Edition, Vol. 1
Queen & Country: The Definitive Edition, Vol. 2
Queen & Country: The Definitive Edition, Vol. 3
Queen & Country The Definitive Edition, Vol. 4

Queen & Country: A Gentleman's Game Novel
Queen & Country: Private Wars Novel


Whiteout Volume 1: The Definitive Edition
Whiteout Volume 2: Melt - The Definitive Edition


The Sandbaggers Collection Set 1
The Sandbaggers Collection Set 2
The Sandbaggers Collection Set 3

Definitely a Hot Buy.

Update 10/14 1:34 pm:
I just received my copy of Q&C Definitive Edition 3 and it includes the Q&C Scriptbook. That said, I'm still not sure what order I'd read these in. Probably the first two Definitive Editions, the first novel, Gentleman's Game, the third Definitive Edition, then the second novel, Private Wars. The fourth Definitive Edition can be read at any time as they are flashbacks of characters before they joined this series. I think my favorite of the stories that will be in volume 4 is the Nicky Poole story.