With only a few weeks until the UK general election, we thought we’d get into the political spirit. Well, with that in mind, what better way than by reading Queen #1, a political crime drama about corruption and hacktivism within the British Government, currently running a Kickstarter for issues 1 and 2. But is this a comic which can really pick up the votes?

Publisher: Jamie Me Comics
Writer: Jamie Me, Archie Dait (Editor)
Artist: Bernardinus Gita (Artist), Sean Callahan (Colourist), Jamie Me (Letterer)
Price: Currently running at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jamieme/queen-a-political-thriller-about-corruption-and-ha

Queen #1 follows Emily Green; wife, mother and Deputy Prime Minister of the Conservatism-controlled British Government. However, when a hacktivist leak of sensitive information informs the country of the sitting PM’s controversial plans, Emily receives a phone call from a mysterious voice with a bold offer; one which could see her be Prime Minister. Now, with the country’s political system in turmoil, Emily must decide whether she can trust this new, nameless ally and make her play for the top seat, and all the power which comes with it.

Queen is a very entertaining, deeply immersive comic book, Made only better by Me’s use of current political goings on as a backdrop to make this not only a socially relevant comic but also a deeply thought provoking one. The plot feels tight, with little in the way of superflous content bogging it down, which allows the pacing to maintain a nice steady, albeit slow, pace. The characters are all interesting, particularly in regards to the Deputy PM who, while initially coming across as a rather wholesome individual, progresses through the story to show personality traits very similar to those who follow House of Cards (which provides a great deal of influence here), most evident during the mysterious phone call. Me doesn’t provide a great deal of detail in this issue, instead keeping his cards close to his chest and leaving many questions by the end. However, this doesn’t cause a problem for Queen, instead making the whole story more compelling, drawing readers in and certainly convincing them to return. In fact, there is very little wrong with this issue, save for the odd occasion where the dialogue feels off, but this is only fleeting.

Thankfully, where the writing succeeds, the artwork manages to match it to help form a top quality book. Bernardinus Gita’s artwork is fantastically detailed, with the facial features of the various characters looking incredibly realistic, weathered and lived. No better example is evident than during the Houses of Commons session, where every character looks unique and Gita shows a good skill at filling the panel with quality in both the back and foreground. Of course, the art isn’t a one person show and Sean Callahan’s colours work really well with Gita’s pencils as he uses a nice colourful palette containing a mixture of toned down earthy colours as well some brighter, more eye-popping colours, all of which applied to great effect. Finally, there is Jamie Me’s letters which are used terrifically during the phone conversation, allowing a nice differentiation between the character, their inner thoughts and the voice on the phone in a way not seen before (at least to this reviewer’s knowledge)

To say Queen #1 is a good comic is to make a serious understatement. Me, Gita and the team have produced a really enjoyable, visually lovely and politically relevant comic here which will take a hold of you and drag you further into its plans. Queen is a comic which deserves the love of the masses so check it out, because your vote won’t be wasted here.