Bandette, a cute little thief in the streets of France, has stolen my heart and some priceless Rembrandt paintings. Find out what happens to our heroine, and how beautifully well done the artwork is, by reading this review – and then going out and buying the comic, of course!
The concept of Bandette was simple enough to summarize and praise in the first sentence of this review. Overall this issue reads as a filler with a couple of hints as to where the plot is going to go, but this first issue does not serve as a compelling story but instead as a fun introduction. The character of Bandette is quickly characterized as she talks to a dog in the house she is currently robbing.
A little is also discovered about some of the side characters in this issue. There's Monsieur, a "mysterious" collector, and Belgique, a police chief who begrudgingly admits he needs help. He almost reminds me of Harvey Bullock from Batman because of how crass he is in this issue, which does lead to some funny back-and-forth humor between him and a fellow officer.
Again, the story is a filler with only a few drops written in forwarding a possibly ongoing plotline. But the flimsy plotline in the beginning of the issue with Bandette robbing a house morphs into a chase scene that reveals another cool and unique plot point involving a lot of other characters.
Another unique fact is that the comic's setting is clearly somewhere in France. I could not pinpoint where in France the comic takes place. I would assume Paris just because that's the most advertised place in Paris with some of the most beautiful sites in the world, but there is never a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower or any other notable monuments. Hopefully we'll get more background on the setting soon visually, and not just see a blurb telling us where we are.
The artwork in this issue by Colleen Coover is fantastic. It almost reminds me of the artwork you would see in Madeline - you know, the little red headed girl in an orphanage who probably plagued your childhood at one point or another with her feature length film and collection of short stories. This is the perfect tone for the comic. The artwork has a mature but cartoony vibe and is accentuated by a mixture of bright colors, which included browns and other pale colors that I never even realized could be bright until I had the pleasure of reading this issue. The background colors always look painted, resulting in a breathtaking look that I think deserves to be in "The Art of Painted Comics." The design of Bandette's costume is also brilliant as we see her seamlessly transform from Bandette into her alter-ego using the same exact clothes from her costume without being as obvious as Superman who just throws on a sweater. These artistically choices make the comic stand-out all the more as the unique little gem it is.
The most important thing that this comic has which is becoming, unfortunately, all too rare in comic books, is that it is a lot of fun to read. It's a quick comic, and thankfully the price reflects it's length rather than it's content (which would have made it much more expensive). This is the perfect issue to read on your lunch break, and is a great read for casual comic book readers or first timers who want to find something light and fun to read rather than some of the heavy and depressing stuff going on in the DC universe right now. I have a feeling the plot threads dropped may lead to a story arc, which does worry me since I would be content just reading one-shot stories, but there's no reason to doubt the combined abilities of writer Paul Tobin and artist Colleen Coover from MonkeyBrain – Bandette has stolen my heart and I don't want it back anytime soon.
An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.
