I recently got an interesting commission request from a long-time Queen & Country fan. He asked if I would draw a recreation of Tim Sale’s classic cover from the very first issue of the series. I thought it was a pretty cool idea, so I took it on. And then I even threw some textures and colour on it. Check it out:

Yep, Tara Chace is still a badass.

For those who don’t know, Queen & Country was an espionage comic book series written by Greg Rucka. It launched in 2001 and I was the first artist. In fact, it was my first real comic gig. I was a rookie; a nobody. As such, Oni Press make a very wise call to bring in Tim Sale to draw the covers for that first arc.

I still remember doing my first store signing on the day that Q&C #1 came out. I was sitting there in The Comicshop on 4th Ave, hoping someone would pick up the comic so I could sign it for them. I believe the words I overheard were “Ooh, Tim Sale.” That was the sound of a cover catching someone’s eye. Thankfully it was followed by the sound of a customer flipping through the pages and getting further hooked. So cheers to Tim Sale for designing such a fine cover back in the day. I hope he appreciates this slice of homage.

It was interesting trying to find the right balance between how Tim Sale drew the cover versus how I tend to draw versus how I drew things twelve years ago. I’m still debating some of the choices I made but overall I’m quite happy with how it turned out.

The entire Queen & Country series is available for sale as four sharp-looking Definitive Edition graphic novels. Look for ’em at your local comic shop or online at OniPress.com.

If you’re curious about what Greg Rucka is up to these days, go check out the Kickstarter for his latest comic project, Lady Sabre & The Pirates of the Ineffable Aether.

And if you’re in Vancouver, I made a small run of 11×17 prints of this cover recreation that I’ll be selling this weekend at the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival.