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The Ribbon Queen
A troubled NYPD detective stumbles into a supernatural mystery involving an immortal spirit of vengeance while battling dirty cops protecting their leader, in this horror thriller from Garth Ennis, creator of MARJORIE FINNEGAN, TEMPORAL CRIMINAL, The Boys and Preacher !
Detective Amy Sun faces an impossible Go public with her allegations against a tactical team leader who allegedly killed a victim he was stalking, or face the wrath of an angry Blue Wall in her department. Complicating matters is the arrival of an immortal entity known as The Ribbon Queen, who delivers justice to those wronged by peeling the skin off her victims in ribbons. But The Ribbon Queen isn’t the only supernatural shedding blood in the streets of New York…and Detective Amy Sun isn’t so sure she should stop them at all!
SHE SWIMS THROUGH A SEA OF FIRE AND RAGE AND BLOOD!
There is something ancient and terrible loose in the world of men. Something that hates them with burning passion, that bears a grudge born of ten thousand years. Something that wants its revenge.
Detective Amy Sun has a problem—a problem called the NYPD. Three years ago, a young woman was rescued from a serial killer by a police tactical unit. Now she’s dead—and Amy has a bad feeling one of her fellow officers is responsible. Is there a conspiracy deep inside the department, intent on covering up the foulest of crimes? And if there is, what does one officer do about it?
But Amy is looking in the wrong direction. A far more dangerous, far more terrible threat than anything in the affairs of mortal men is suddenly at hand. A force of vengeance older than the human race itself has awoken, invoked by the tormented murder victim in the weeks before she died, and out for the blood of the guilty—who soon find themselves suffering a fate more gruesome than anything they could have dreamed of. The Ribbon Queen has come to New York City…and when she learns the truth, Amy is not at all certain that it should be stopped.
Detective Amy Sun faces an impossible Go public with her allegations against a tactical team leader who allegedly killed a victim he was stalking, or face the wrath of an angry Blue Wall in her department. Complicating matters is the arrival of an immortal entity known as The Ribbon Queen, who delivers justice to those wronged by peeling the skin off her victims in ribbons. But The Ribbon Queen isn’t the only supernatural shedding blood in the streets of New York…and Detective Amy Sun isn’t so sure she should stop them at all!
SHE SWIMS THROUGH A SEA OF FIRE AND RAGE AND BLOOD!
There is something ancient and terrible loose in the world of men. Something that hates them with burning passion, that bears a grudge born of ten thousand years. Something that wants its revenge.
Detective Amy Sun has a problem—a problem called the NYPD. Three years ago, a young woman was rescued from a serial killer by a police tactical unit. Now she’s dead—and Amy has a bad feeling one of her fellow officers is responsible. Is there a conspiracy deep inside the department, intent on covering up the foulest of crimes? And if there is, what does one officer do about it?
But Amy is looking in the wrong direction. A far more dangerous, far more terrible threat than anything in the affairs of mortal men is suddenly at hand. A force of vengeance older than the human race itself has awoken, invoked by the tormented murder victim in the weeks before she died, and out for the blood of the guilty—who soon find themselves suffering a fate more gruesome than anything they could have dreamed of. The Ribbon Queen has come to New York City…and when she learns the truth, Amy is not at all certain that it should be stopped.
192 pages, Paperback
Published July 16, 2024
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,501 books3,033 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 4, 2024
AWA (Artists, Writers & Artisans) seems to be the new spot for Vertigo style genre comics.
Ennis here wreaves a police procedural story that ties in with some horror mythology of the Ribbon Queen who comes to revenge female abuse.
Drawn by Jacen Burrows. He's changed his style quite a bit. This feels way more natural than I'm used to by him. It's quite good. Especially when he's drawing bodies torn up into ribbons. Wild stuff.
Ennis does a great job with detective character. Amy Sun was a good protagonist who balances trying to stop the Ribbon Queen with bringing justice to the police officers responsible for abusing women.
For fans of Ennis, there's lots to like here. Definitely worth checking out.
Ennis here wreaves a police procedural story that ties in with some horror mythology of the Ribbon Queen who comes to revenge female abuse.
Drawn by Jacen Burrows. He's changed his style quite a bit. This feels way more natural than I'm used to by him. It's quite good. Especially when he's drawing bodies torn up into ribbons. Wild stuff.
Ennis does a great job with detective character. Amy Sun was a good protagonist who balances trying to stop the Ribbon Queen with bringing justice to the police officers responsible for abusing women.
For fans of Ennis, there's lots to like here. Definitely worth checking out.
Read
July 23, 2024Art - 5/5. Beautiful work by Jacen Burrows.
Story 1.5/5. Weak script by Ennis, one of his worst. Basically a by-the-numbers police procedural horror story bogged down with tedious identity politics. Yawn.
Story 1.5/5. Weak script by Ennis, one of his worst. Basically a by-the-numbers police procedural horror story bogged down with tedious identity politics. Yawn.
April 30, 2024
This must have the best art I have even seen from the hands of Jacen Burrows. Really gorey and hoffifying. But Jacen makes it work and look beautiful.
Sadly, the story does not make my smile as so many Garth Ennis stories do. Too much pointing out to things that are wrong in the world these days. It made this one heavy to read. Would've work better with less social consciousness.
Sadly, the story does not make my smile as so many Garth Ennis stories do. Too much pointing out to things that are wrong in the world these days. It made this one heavy to read. Would've work better with less social consciousness.
Read
March 18, 2024Cops probably run second only to military men in a list of Ennis protagonists, which is potentially a problem these days. So in terms of working through that, you could consider Ribbon Queen* Garth's equivalent of Brooklyn Nine Nine's final season. Except, you know, with lots more gruesome deaths. The first being the woman previously rescued from a serial killer in "The N.Y.P.D.'s one and only P.R. win in all of twenty-twenty", seemingly offed by the commander of the tactical unit who saved her, who subsequently became obsessed with her. Detective Amy Sun is investigating, and on the face of it she's one of the good apples, trying to help people while operating within a fucked system... except that we soon get hints about an unfortunate incident in her own career. And besides, it also becomes apparent that there's something else after entitled, dangerous men, something that was around long before MeToo. In terms of the strange and terrible options that women might nevertheless find preferable to existing within society as it stands there are echoes of Tiptree's The Women Men Don't See, and in general there's a powerful sense of life - and unlife - lived in the cracks. Set against which, the awareness of how tempting it can be for life just to get back to normal, even once you've had it brought home how fucked that normal was. It's this understanding of human frailty and our misguided urges, not least the wish to simply not think about things, that saves the project from being cheap ACAB sloganeering with a dash of supernatural vengeance; Ennis is fully aware that, say, yoga instructors can be just as hypocritical, self-deceiving and defensive as cops, but also that this does less damage to the world around them, but also that less damage still isn't zero. For saying how slick Burrows' art can sometimes be, here he mostly proves effective at getting across that sense of people who all know they're guilty, except for the real cocky arseholes who are guiltiest of all. His body horror also has the necessary solidity, though occasionally on big action scenes there's a static, posed impression which I don't think can be intentional. If Ribbon Queen doesn't quite hit the heights of which we know Ennis to be capable (even of his recent horror work, A Walk Through Hell was in another league), well, I suppose that's one more thing it has in common with the end of B99.
*I read eight issues and only noticed it was titled The Ribbon Queen when I was about to 'correct' that on Goodreads, so AWA may want a word with their logo designer.
*I read eight issues and only noticed it was titled The Ribbon Queen when I was about to 'correct' that on Goodreads, so AWA may want a word with their logo designer.
May 14, 2024
I'm a fan of Garth Ennis' gritty comics work and had high expectations for this one. It started out very strong in both premise and visuals (definitely not for the squeamish) and then began to disappoint me in little ways. I thought some of the ideas would have benefited from further clarification, and their vagueness diminishes the full effect.
Ennis has written about crooked cops before, and problems with law enforcement, and this follows the same pattern - although Detective Amy Sun is a very strong character and very conflicted - - her issues are well defined throughout the dialogue and long, sometimes philosophical conversations with other characters. Ennis makes some strong points about injustices but really doesn't do anything beyond bringing them up. No real solutions are offered, except for the supernatural spirit of vengeance that deals out punishment in the form of skin shedding like ribbons, until the victims are skinless, and totally eviscerated. Artist Jacen Burrows does not disappoint when it comes to depicting gore (my second warning to the squeamish).
While I wouldn't go so far as to say the story is padded out, it didn't truly require eight issues to make its' points. If you really want to read how good Ennis can craft a crime/supernatural story, seek out A WALK THROUGH HELL. That one stays with you.
Ennis has written about crooked cops before, and problems with law enforcement, and this follows the same pattern - although Detective Amy Sun is a very strong character and very conflicted - - her issues are well defined throughout the dialogue and long, sometimes philosophical conversations with other characters. Ennis makes some strong points about injustices but really doesn't do anything beyond bringing them up. No real solutions are offered, except for the supernatural spirit of vengeance that deals out punishment in the form of skin shedding like ribbons, until the victims are skinless, and totally eviscerated. Artist Jacen Burrows does not disappoint when it comes to depicting gore (my second warning to the squeamish).
While I wouldn't go so far as to say the story is padded out, it didn't truly require eight issues to make its' points. If you really want to read how good Ennis can craft a crime/supernatural story, seek out A WALK THROUGH HELL. That one stays with you.
September 3, 2024
I don’t typically read graphic novels anymore, as the constant bait-and-switch got super old. I typically don’t like knowing that I have to re-up in order to get the full story. I’ve gotten burned on series like The Black Monday Murders and most famously Saga which went on a huge hiatus and by the time it came back I was uninterested in heading back in. Sometimes momentum is the best friend a series can have and no amount of clever writing or quality storytelling overrides the pause of weeks or months *for me*.
That being said, I got this as a gift from a friend who I’ve known forever. He has phenomenal taste and knows what I am into PLUS he’s a massive comic head so every once in a while he’ll send something cool my way that cannot be missed.
I thought this was so rad, so bloody, so graphic. I’m not sure if this plans to be on ongoing story but it ends at a perfect spot in this volume. It empowers women to dismantle the terror that men have inflicted on them for centuries and in a way that demands they never come back and try to lay hands on them again. It punishes, disassembles and erases the wicked in gory fashion. So sick.
Love where this went and how handily it took care of business.
That being said, I got this as a gift from a friend who I’ve known forever. He has phenomenal taste and knows what I am into PLUS he’s a massive comic head so every once in a while he’ll send something cool my way that cannot be missed.
I thought this was so rad, so bloody, so graphic. I’m not sure if this plans to be on ongoing story but it ends at a perfect spot in this volume. It empowers women to dismantle the terror that men have inflicted on them for centuries and in a way that demands they never come back and try to lay hands on them again. It punishes, disassembles and erases the wicked in gory fashion. So sick.
Love where this went and how handily it took care of business.
September 25, 2024
Multilayered gory horror story. It is a multi-genre mashup that explores supernatural elements, politics, current events, and vengeance. There's a supernatural mystery that can get confusing at times, but it ties up effectively.
April 6, 2024
I think this comic is very interesting. It walks the line of social commentary that recognizes widespread issues and dramatizes some aspects, but refrains from leaning fully leftist, which I found strange. The main character feels complex, but she still uses the abusive systems that allowed the injustices that she seeks to remedy. In the end, the recognition of the need to dip into a force greater than self to obliterate systematic oppression rings through.
August 4, 2024
I'm finding it strangely difficult to summarize Garth Ennis's latest, but let's say The Ribbon Queen follows a New York City cop named Amy, who's investigating the death of a girl who ends up not staying dead for very long. The general approach Ennis took here- which I'd describe as urban, supernaturalish noir/horror, with a touch of police procedural- was an easy sell for me, initially reminding me of his work on Hellblazer. Now that I've finished, though, I realize that the closest analogue from his previous work is probably The Punisher, right down to the NYC setting. Ennis wrote Frank Castle (that's the Punisher's real name, for those who've never read comics) as someone who'd given up his humanity, less a person with an accessible inner life than an obsessive and frightening spirit of vengeance; and that idea . As in all of Ennis's work, the bad guys here are true shitheels; but also, as in almost all of his work, he's interested in the point where the ostensible good guys' pursuit of justice becomes morally twisted, maybe even worse than the original crime, and arguably not justice at all. I think that in The Ribbon Queen, he's saying very directly what he's been saying in his stories for a long time: there's something inside each of us that we should be very careful of- because once we say "yes" to it, there's no going back from it and no telling the consequences.
At times I felt the insertion of a character here or there talking about contemporary social issues to be a little awkward, shoehorned in- Amy's sister Sarah, for example, who disapproves of Amy's job as a cop, seemed to me a particularly weak part of the story, about as straw-womanish as a character can be. But overall, I would say that Ennis is in pretty disciplined storytelling form here- not excessively jokey as in The Boys, nor completely over the top with nonstop depravity as in Crossed. Tonally and thematically The Ribbon Queen is probably most similar, again, to his roughest and most humorless Punisher stories, such as (if there's anyone out there who remembers this one) "Widowmaker." But while it definitely carries some allegorical weight, it's also not one of those ostensible horror stories where the horror aspect is almost perfunctory. No, Ennis picks and chooses his spots here, slowly building to some nasty and harrowing scenes; and the introduction of and helps create a memorably occult atmosphere.
I'd never heard of AWA Comics before, but clearly the days of the Marvel-DC duopoly, with Image as the Green Party or something, are over (I know it's probably been that way for a while- I've been out of the loop). Artist Jacen Burrows, meanwhile, has a relatively unflashy visual style that, like Steve Dillon's back in the day, suits Ennis's somewhat straightforward approach to character and plot, and the combination feels like what a director like Walter Hill might have done with the material. I also like the way Burrows populates the city; in many of the panels there are just everyday New Yorkers in the background of the action- drinking coffee, reading the paper, bartending. An 8-issue limited series (the complete paperback is out now), The Ribbon Queen was the first comic I've bought monthly, in individual issues, for easily over a decade. That alone brought on some feelings of nostalgia, and I wish Ennis would write more of this kind of thing, but I guess inspiration has its own schedule. Reading some old Hellblazer issues from the 90s earlier this year, I noticed that one of his characters made reference to "The Ribbon Queen." He must have been thinking about this story for a long time.
July 12, 2024
There is little humor here. Most of the focus is on the horror element, but that one is a doozy. If you enjoyed Crossed, you won't have issues here. The main ethical question in the story is what happens to men who turn away from their humanity. If they behave like monsters, do you still punish them as men? Or do you simply wipe them from existence, with no concern for laws?
Cops are being accused of institutionalized racism nowadays. In this story, a female Asian police officer is the main character. The way she handled a case puts her in a negative light with her colleagues. From that point onward, she feels discriminated against. Her colleagues don't trust her any more, which partly translates to racism and sexism in her mind. BLM, me-too and abortions are also mentioned in passing. Oh, the problems of the first world!
After being saved from a serial killer, a young woman named Bella is found killed. The main suspect for the investigating officer Amy Sun is the very police officer who led the team that saved the young woman, Keith Connolly. He breaks into Amy's home, claims he didn't do it and also threatens her about revealing something sensitive in her past. He is a respected police officer, while she is skating on thin ice. Amy doesn't back down. When she visits his home, he finds him literally being skinned alive, but there is no one doing the skinning. His skin just peels away on its own, leaving behind a ruined body. Amy remembers seeing a woman before entering his house. Was it Bella?
Cops are being accused of institutionalized racism nowadays. In this story, a female Asian police officer is the main character. The way she handled a case puts her in a negative light with her colleagues. From that point onward, she feels discriminated against. Her colleagues don't trust her any more, which partly translates to racism and sexism in her mind. BLM, me-too and abortions are also mentioned in passing. Oh, the problems of the first world!
After being saved from a serial killer, a young woman named Bella is found killed. The main suspect for the investigating officer Amy Sun is the very police officer who led the team that saved the young woman, Keith Connolly. He breaks into Amy's home, claims he didn't do it and also threatens her about revealing something sensitive in her past. He is a respected police officer, while she is skating on thin ice. Amy doesn't back down. When she visits his home, he finds him literally being skinned alive, but there is no one doing the skinning. His skin just peels away on its own, leaving behind a ruined body. Amy remembers seeing a woman before entering his house. Was it Bella?
March 12, 2024
This started off incredibly strong, but got a touch muddled toward the end. However, that being said, it did get some really good points across.
And I don't think Jacen Burrows has ever done more spectacular art in any other series than what he pulled off here. Terribly beautiful.
And I don't think Jacen Burrows has ever done more spectacular art in any other series than what he pulled off here. Terribly beautiful.
June 3, 2024
Harrowing. Gorey and extreme but entirely necessary to the story, reminiscent of that first Hellblazer arc in that way. The best thing I've read from Ennis since Preacher.
Definitely a horror comic, though, so don't read it if that's not up your alley.
Definitely a horror comic, though, so don't read it if that's not up your alley.
July 30, 2024
Interesting approach and good art. It definitely touches on many social issues, but not in depth or strong enough to build the characters or story. The main character is a touch complex. Not a bad read.
August 6, 2024
Jacen Burrows is so good with horror artwork. Surgical might be the right expression. Story is quite interesting too.
September 12, 2024
Nice read
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews