Pyrate Queen comes from the overlooked writer of comics’ British Invasion, Peter Milligan. Along with the Victorian colors of Tamra Bonvillain and presentation of Adam Pollina, piracy never looked more romantic. Of course not everything in this Bad Idea is exactly the most aspirational.
Meet The Pyrate Queen
The titular character Monday Ryan goes beyond the lady pirate archetype. Piracy isn’t merely liberation for Monday, she was born into it. Instead this life outside of the status quo allows her insights to the life she’d have in it. As such she finds no enjoyment from traditional roles and chooses to share her freedom. It’s what allows Monday to marry a former Chinese prisoner out of love and protest against racist crew mates. Neither is she willing to let anyone else take what freedom she has… save for one person.
Monday’s biggest obstacle comes when she is with child. The blaze of glory life of a pirate runs counterintuitive with giving someone a life without a choice. Issue 3 in particular highlights how being pregnant threatens to get in the way of her pirating. At times the child feels like a parasite stripping away Monday’s autonomy. But then again, the fetus also saves Monday with a few lucky breaks.
Among the cutthroats who hold onto grudges, Monday acknowledges that she’s lucky to survive long. Sure she’s very persuasive and a crackshot, but Monday often has to rely on luck that’s running thin. After one final encounter with an enemy vessel that took all of her skill and luck to get out of, that feels like a sign to call it in. The ending of Pyrate Queen feels more than satisfying as Monday earns everything she needs.
Which Way Is Actually Forward?
Now let’s go over the parallels between pirates and royal navies. Pirates are crooks and killers by trade albeit democratic, while royal navies are hierarchal cults. The more abstract difference comes from how honest they are about their brutality. For Navy Captain Napier, his cruelty is a right he’s earned. With not even his own crew to keep him in check, it feels like a life outside of piracy isn’t that great.
These parallels also go into the arcs of Napier and Monday. These characters are haunted by their encounters with one another. Over the course of the series this antagonistic relationship changes dynamically in terms of power. While Napier feels secure through his wealth, he actually fears Monday’s influence. Hearing that Monday survived their first encounter, prowled the seas, and even gave birth in his home, Napier loses the elegance he built around himself. It feels symbolic with Napier’s power stripped away by his reactions to Monday, showing how ugly he really is.
Monday meanwhile bounced back after losing everything. That would’ve been enough had Napier’s influence not affect her, especially the death of her husband. But even after acquiring her own wealth and power after all of the struggles, all it took to shake this was Napier trying to return the favor. With the ending of Pyrate Queen on an open note, readers are left to ponder what happens.
Shanty Illustrations
The artwork of Pollina and Bonvillain evoke the canvas print illustrations of piracy’s golden age. The way Bonvillain uses painting-esque coloring makes this feel like a genuine pirate narrative. That’s not even including how smoothly Pollina uses panels to present a dynamically moving narrative. Plus the way ghostly and dream-like images appear are something that sticks in the minds of character and readers. From perspectives to close-ups, there’s a real cinematic flair in Pyrate Queen.
Come Aboard With Pyrate Queen
Pyrate Queen is looking like one series from Bad Idea that everybody should pay attention to. From a narrative that celebrates and defies the Lady Pirate archetype to feeling like this actually happened. It’s one series no one wants to forget, because it’s a legend that lives in people’s minds. Just try not to be like Napier hunting down every issue. I give the series a 9/10.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.