4/5 – A Light-Hearted Adventure with a Sense of Fun
Described as a story that “treads a thin line between Tintin and Nancy Drew, with a few costumes thrown in.” Bandette follows the adventures of a heroine/thief and the exploits of other criminals surrounding her life. It’s also currently up for an Eisner award. The full list of candidates is available here: http://www.comic-con.org/awards/will-eisner-comic-industry-award-nominees-2013. This is the last Eisner-nominated digital comic that I’m reviewing (it’s the 5th of 5 nominees), and unlike the others (reviewed on the Webcomics reviews page) it’s not free, but is available for $0.99 an issue on ComiXology.
As far as the art goes, the Tintin-like description is spot on, as it seems straight out of an old-school comic serial. This meshes well with the sort of lighthearted capers the comic is trying to portray. The dialog is also very well-written, giving Bandette and the other characters a very distinct sense of personality. I thought this comic was a good example of the sort of lighthearted adventure story that you don’t tend to see quite as much these days. The unbridled optimism represented here is something of a rarity, but it’s done well here.
The one thing I thought this comic suffered from was that its focus on action made it so that over the course of a single issue not a whole lot happened in terms of plot. Combined with the fact that each issue is a dollar (which admittedly is way less than a print comic, but it’s not the free of most webcomics either) and I felt like it could have done with a little better pacing. However, this isn’t a huge issue, as the events the comic does portray are quite interesting and well put together. I would say it’s worth the money, but those who refuse to spend money on comics aren’t completely missing out (unless they enjoy lighthearted adventure romps in which case they definitely are).
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