"Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery" looks great, but sounds stale

It's about time someone put out a comic with a fantasy theme, and with not one, but four heroines at its center.  Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass and Sorcery is an imaginative and visual treat for the eyes.  However, the effect it has on the ears and the brain is another one altogether.

The four leads here are a curious bunch: small, elf-looking Betty, who's all about getting high and tripping on mushrooms; Violet is the hipster who apparently used to have a beard, but no longer does;   Dee apparently comes from a family of monster cultists, and finally there is Hannah, who is an elven mage sporting a rocking attitude and image.  These so called Rat Queens fight giant orcs, battle mysterious and unknown assassins who're trying to kill them, and do a fair amount of cursing and partying.  All in a day's work for rebellious and sassy undersexed warrior women.

Writer Kurtis J. Wiebe and artist Roc Upchurch's fantasy epic is perfectly illustrated and impressively stunning on most pages.  The supporting characters, as well as the four heroines, are presented with great attention to detail, as each frame vibrates with life and action.  However, the writing is less than impressive.  The plot of this first TP is confusing and unclear, and the characters do way too much talking for a genre that is supposed to feature sorcery and dragons and all things fantastical.  The leads appear to be interesting girls/women, but they don't really have a story worth following, nor a quest of any sort that is appealing.  By the time I reached the last page, my only reaction was, "Is that it?"

From a graphic perspective, this serial is similar to Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples's sci-fi opera, Saga.  The characters in both universes appear to be human, but are instead hybrids of human and animal, giving them a look of modern centurions, at least above the waist.   The major difference between Saga and Rat Queens, though, is that he former pulls you in and engages you with the characters and their plight, whereas with Rat Queens, you're flipping past page 100 and still looking for a reason to keep on reading.  I, unfortunately, could not find one.  My engagement with this serial will apparently end sooner than expected.  But hey, don't blame me: I'm not the one who's supposed to have sorcery on my side.
C