God Save the Queen

God Save the Queen 

By Mike Carey & John Bolton (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-416-1

Now that DC’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the only one, here’s another visitation with the Faerie Kingdom, courtesy of Mike Carey and John Bolton.

The plot concerns the overthrow of Queen Titania by the malevolent Queen Mab, and is told through the actions of useless modern waster Linda, whose rebellious descent into thrill-seeking and drug addiction leads her into that conflict via a pack of Faerie exiles living on the fringes of contemporary London society.

As her sordid soap-opera unfolds we find that she has a deeper, hidden connection to the Other Realms and that her own salvation is inextricably linked to the defeat of Mab.

It is a pretty tale but so much less than you would expect from such talented creators. The plot is trite and well-worn, and Bolton’s modern palette often seems to be devoid of the power and passion of so much of his early work – although I will admit that some pages here tick every box an art-lover could ever want – but ultimately there just doesn’t seem to be the fire and wonder we’ve come to expect from them both individually or working together.

These are just my opinions however, and it’s always great to see original graphic novel rather than collected reprints, so perhaps you should get the thing anyway and simply judge for yourself.

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