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Queen & Country

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Queen & Country
Queen & Country #1 (March 2001). Art by Tim Sale.
Publication information
PublisherOni Press
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing series
Genre
Publication dateMarch 2001 – August 2007
No. of issues32
Creative team
Created byGreg Rucka
Written byGreg Rucka
Collected editions
Broken GroundISBN 978-1-929998-21-0

Queen & Country is an American comic book published by Oni Press and written by Greg Rucka with various artists illustrating.

It was inspired by the British ITV television series The Sandbaggers (1978–1980), which was created and primarily written by Ian Mackintosh. Mackintosh is heavily praised in an essay by Rucka in Issue #1 of Queen & Country.

Publication history

The first series began in March 2001 and ran for 32 issues, finishing in August 2007.

Three Queen & Country: Declassified spin-off mini-series have also been published, the first two written by Rucka and the third by Antony Johnston under Rucka's supervision. They deal specifically with the past missions of various characters. Events of the first Declassified miniseries in particular influence what happens in later issues of the main series; it is best read before "Operation Stormfront".

Translated editions of the collected volumes are available in Polish, French and German, and several volumes are available in Spanish.

Plot

The series is centered on Tara Chace, an operative of the Special Operations Section of SIS, colloquially known as the Minders. It attempts to portray the bureaucracy and politics which the agents deal with realistically, as well as including the dangerous missions typical of the spy genre.

Other recurring characters in the series alongside Tara Chace include Director of Operations Paul Crocker, Deputy Chief of Service Donald Weldon, Chief of Service Frances Barclay (known colloquially as "C"), Mission Control Officer and Main Communications Officer Alexis and former Head of Special Section Tom Wallace.

Storylines

  • Operation: Broken Ground
(Queen & Country #1–4)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Steve Rolston.
  • Operation: Morningstar
(Queen & Country #5–7)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Brian Hurtt, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and Christine Norrie.
  • Operation: Crystal Ball
(Queen & Country #8–12)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Leandro Fernández.
  • Operation: Blackwall
Queen & Country #13–15)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Jason Shawn Alexander.
  • Operation: Stormfront
(Queen & Country #16–20)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Carla Speed McNeil.
  • Operation: Dandelion
(Queen & Country #21–24)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Mike Hawthorne.
  • Untitled
(Queen & Country #25)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Steve Rolston and Mike Norton.
  • Operation: Saddlebags
(Queen & Country #26–28)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Mike Norton and Steve Rolston.
  • Operation: Red Panda
(Queen & Country #29–32)
Written by Greg Rucka. Art by Chris Samnee.

Collected editions

  • Queen & Country:
    • Operation: Broken Ground (collects Queen & Country #1–4 and Oni Press Color Special 2001 #1, 120 pages, April 2002, ISBN 1-929998-21-X)
    • Operation: Morning Star (collects Queen & Country #5–7, 88 pages, October 2002, ISBN 1-929998-35-X)
    • Operation: Crystal Ball (collects Queen & Country #8–12, 152 pages, January 2003, ISBN 1-929998-49-X)
    • Operation: Blackwall (collects Queen & Country #13–15, 88 pages, November 2003, ISBN 1-929998-68-6)
    • Operation: Stormfront (collects Queen & Country #16–20, 168 pages, April 2004, ISBN 1-929998-84-8)
    • Operation: Dandelion (collects Queen & Country #21–24, 128 pages, August 2004, ISBN 1-929998-97-X)
    • Operation: Saddlebag (collects Queen & Country #25–28, 144 pages, May 2005, ISBN 1-932664-14-9)
    • Operation: Red Panda (collects Queen & Country #29–32, 144 pages, June 2007, ISBN 1-932664-65-3)
  • Queen & Country The Definitive Edition:
    • Volume 1 (collects Queen & Country #1–12 and Oni Press Color Special 2001 #1, 376 pages, November 2007, ISBN 1-932664-87-4)
    • Volume 2 (collects Queen & Country #13–24, 344 pages, April 2008, ISBN 1-932664-89-0)
    • Volume 3 (collects Queen & Country #25–32, Scriptbook #1, 408 pages, July 2008, ISBN 1-932664-96-3)
    • Volume 4 (collects Queen & Country: Declassified Volumes 1–3, 296 pages, April 2009, ISBN 1-934964-13-1)
  • Queen & Country: Declassified:
    • Volume 1 (88 pages August 2003, ISBN 1-929998-58-9)
    • Volume 2 (96 pages May 2006, ISBN 1-932664-28-9)
    • Volume 3 (96 pages May 2006, ISBN 1-932664-35-1)

Awards

  • 2002:
    • Won "Best New Series" Eisner Award
    • Nominated for "Best Continuing Series" Eisner Award
    • Nominated for "Best Serialized Story" Eisner Award, for Queen & Country #1–4: "Operation: Broken Ground"
  • 2003: Nominated for "Best Serialized Story" Eisner Award, for Queen & Country #8–12: "Operation: Crystal Ball"
  • 2004:
    • Nominated for "Best Continuing Series" Eisner Award
    • Nominated for "Best Serialized Story" Eisner Award, for Queen & Country #13–15: "Operation: Blackwall"

Other media

Novels

A Queen & Country prose novel written by Rucka, A Gentleman's Game, was published in 2004, also featuring Tara Chace and making reference to the events of the comic book series. A second Tara Chace novel, Private Wars, was published in 2005. The novels tie in to the comic series; issue 29 to 32 depicts events immediately after A Gentleman's Game. Private Wars takes place a few months after the end of the comic series and ends the first volume of the series. A third Queen & Country novel, The Last Run, was released in October 2010.

Scriptbook

A scriptbook, titled "Queen & Country Scriptbook vol. 1", is also available (ISBN 1929998929).

Film

A film adaptation is under development, but has been stranded in development hell for some time.[1] On September 9, 2013, actress Ellen Page is in negotiations to star in the film,[2] and later in March 2014 Craig Viveiros was set to direct the film.[3]

Trivia

It has been theorized by fans that Lily Sharpe, the British agent in Rucka's Whiteout, is actually Tara Chace. The characters share similar features and Chace refers to a mission in Antarctica in the first volume of the series. However, Rucka stated in the script excerpts included in Volume 3 of the Definitive Edition that he originally toyed with the idea that the characters might be the same person, but now views them as being entirely different.

In the fourth Hopeless Savages miniseries two SIS agents that resemble Tara Chace and Tom Wallace play a minor part in the storyline as they are sent under Operation: Fairy Tale to retrieve an artifact. The series is also published by Oni Comics and has used some of the same artists as Queen & Country. The writer of Hopeless Savages, Jen Van Meter, is also Greg Rucka's wife.

Notes

  1. ^ "Atticus and Q&C: DOA?", IGN, May 1, 2007
  2. ^ "Ellen Page to Star in 'Queen & Country'"
  3. ^ "Craig Viveiros To Helm Ellen Page-Starrer 'Queen & Country'". deadline.com. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to Queen & Country.
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