I’ve mentioned before (last week, actually) that I like crime. Underworld stuff, teen detectives, Columbo, Miss Marple, all of it. Crime and the solving thereof is my jam. But heists and thieves hold a particularly special place in my heart. That’s why I originally picked up Bandette.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I originally picked up Bandette because even if Colleen Coover drew a book of really elaborate eyeball dissection diagrams, I’d at least give it a shot.
But I’m glad it was thief stuff.
Bandette is a digital-first comic written by Paul Tobin, with art by Collen Coover. It’s about teen thief who runs all over France, eating candy bars and “liberating” interesting treasures from terrible people. If Parker from Leverage grew up in the Madeline books, you would get Bandette. And I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to read her dialogue without imagining an Amélie-level French accent.
She has a team of people (teenagers, ballerinas, a cute kid named Belda, and a smitten delivery boy) who help her when she’s in a tight spot, the police call her in when they’re in trouble, and the only person who comes close to rivaling her skill has been in the game since before she was born. Bandette is beloved by all, and Tobin manages to make that feeling carry over to the reader. Bandette is brave, carefree, and fearless. She knows that she has skill and value, and if you’re silly enough not to realize that then she’ll gladly show you. And if you still won’t believe it, she’ll just laugh and move on.
It was Coover’s art that originally drew me to this book. After seeing some of the work she’d done for Marvel, I looked her up and found Bandette. One of things that makes Bandette so appealing a character is that Coover can convey happiness beautifully. When Bandette smiles (which is…usually) there’s an effusive sort of energy to it. Her design for Inspector Belgique manages to be true to her style, while heavily (and intentionally) evoking Beligian comics like Tintin.
Coover does actual physical ink wash prior to coloring digitally. The backgrounds have soft lines and desaturated colors, which ends in the feeling that the characters are capering through water color paintings. On the foreground figures, the ink wash adds a natural texture to the shading. It softens the figures just enough that they still look crisp, but don’t fight with the backgrounds.
All of the issues that are currently available can be found on Comixology, or in two hardcover volumes. You can buy volume one and volume two at those affiliate links, though the cost per issue is lower on Comixology. I have, and adore, the hardcovers and they include a lot of extra material. In volume one, Coover provides a step-by-step explanation of her drawing and color process for the comic. Both volumes have the script for a scene, a prose story by Tobin, and a pile of Urchin Stories. I love the Urchin Stories. They’re short comics featuring Bandette’s many cohorts and helpers, and they’re all drawn different artist. Between the two volumes, there are comics drawn by Erica Moen, Lucy Bellwood, Emi Lenox, and a ton of others. If you’d rather get the comics digitally, the Urchin Stories are available for free on the Monkey Brain Comics website.
Books I’m Picking Up This Week:
All-New X-Men #40
Convergence #3
Convergence: Flash #1
Kaptara #1
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4
Velvet #10
Loki: Agent of Asgard Vol. 2
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