After five years at the helm, Rat Queens writer Kurtis Wiebe announced he will be officially stepping down from the series. Also departing is artist Owen Gieni.
The April 2019 Image solicitation for Rat Queens Special: Swamp Romp announced the new creative team with writer Ryan Ferrier and artist Priscilla Petraites. The solicitation revealed that the pair will be taking over the ongoing series as of issue #16.
Any question of why Wiebe is leaving the series he had been on since its beginning was quickly addressed in his blog post:
I had to step back and ask myself some familiar questions: What did I love about fantasy? What was ridiculous? What was annoying and outdated?
Kurtis Wiebe, Jan 24, 2019
This past summer of 2018, I found that I didn’t have the answers I used to. Or maybe I’d already answered them and somehow lost myself along the way.
In thatreflection I realized that I’d been burned out on the one thing that once gave me joy and provided for my family.
I was terrified.
And then I knew: it was time to move on.
In his blog post, Wiebe also talked about his future. He and Rat Queens artist Owen Gieni will be founding a new creative company; Beast and Bone Studios. Together they will create “a pile of new art, comics and otherwise” with one series they have been talking about since summer 2017 and a few others they “have been hashing out” .
Ryan Ferrier is taking over as
Wiebe also spoke fondly of new series artist Priscilla Petraites. “I’ve always had an interest in working with her, but could never find the right concept for the collaboration. When I decided to move on from Rat Queens, Priscilla was an obvious choice. And the heavens aligned, schedules collided and Rat Queens is now her baby, ” he said. Petraites will be bringing her Brilliant Trash colourist Marco Lesko with her.
Wiebe included preview pages of Rat Queens by the new creative team.
Rat Queens Special: Swamp Romp one-shot comes out in April and Rat Queens #16 is slated for June.