Queen & Country


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, 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, 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, Mission Control Officer and Main Communications Officer Alexis and former Head of Special Section Tom Wallace.

Storylines

  • Operation: Broken Ground
  • Operation: Morningstar
  • Operation: Crystal Ball
  • Operation: Blackwall
  • Operation: Stormfront
  • Operation: Dandelion
  • Untitled
  • Operation: Saddlebags
  • '''Operation: Red Panda'''

Collected editions

Queen & Country:
  • * Operation: Broken Ground
  • * Operation: Morningstar
  • * Operation: Crystal Ball
  • * Operation: Blackwall
  • * Operation: Storm Front
  • * Operation: Dandelion
  • * Operation: Saddlebags
  • * Operation: Red Panda Queen & Country: Declassified:
  • * Volume 1
  • * Volume 2
  • * Volume 3 Queen & Country The Definitive Edition:
  • * Volume 1
  • * Volume 2
  • * Volume 3
  • * ''Volume 4''

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.

Film

A film adaptation is in development, but has been stranded in development hell for some time. On September 9, 2013, Elliot Page was reported to be in negotiations to star in the film, and in March 2014 Craig Viveiros was set to direct the film. In March 2018, Ridley Scott is in talks to direct the film the project. On 19 June 2018, Sylvia Hoeks was rumored to be Tara Chace. The project is in limbo due to the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney.