Mystery Girl

This book collects the first four issues of the series Mystery Girl. So far, I am not sure there will be further issues, but these were certainly very enjoyable and fun to read, so I hope so. The plot revolves around Trine Hampstead, a young woman who lives in London, England and has a very unique ability. She knows everything. Almost everything actually, because she does not know how she got her abilities. But she can solve pretty much any mystery you have, no matter how mundane or extraordinary, and that is how she earns her keep.

 

As you can see from the excerpt, she comes into contact with some colorful characters, including strippers, police officers, sleuths, rich folk, and assassins. Much of the fun of this book is getting to know those characters and seeing how Trine interacts with them. Also, there is a lot of intrigue as she embarks on an adventure to find a lost expedition that was searching for live woolly mammoths.

The story is a typically jaunty, joyful affair by Eisner Award-winning author Paul Tobin. He has worked on a great many comics I have admired, including Bandette, Gingerbread Girl, and a long run on various Marvel Adventures series. Here, his story is accompanied by playful, colorful artwork by Alberto J. Alburquerque and Marissa Louise. Alburquerque has worked on the series Letter 44, and Louise has colored a number of comic series, most notably licensed properties such as Escape from New York and Robocop. Tobin speaks more about Mystery Girl in this interview.

Most of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Jesse Shedeen stated that it first contained "more laid-back character study than high concept drama, though it has its flashy moments." Jennifer Cheng was more critical of it, writing that "Tobin’s script has one twist after another, each of them fanciful and offbeat, but the cost in believability might not be worth the charm and the unpredictability." Chris Sims remarked that "the book moves so fast and so well that it all comes together beautifully."

Mystery Girl was published by Dark Horse, and they have previews and much more available here. There are nudity, sexual situations, and profanity in this book, and I suggest it for readers mature enough to deal with those things.

Bandette Volume 1: Presto!

I bet 99% of the reviews about this first volume of the Bandette series use the word fun, because dang it, this book just contains so much of it. It follows the exploits of Bandette, a young woman who is also a master thief with a cheeky sense of humor and panache. In addition to that simply brilliant set-up, the book also has a few other amazing qualities, including deft, witty dialogue; imaginative, taut plotting; and excellently composed and colorful artwork. Just take a look at that page and I dare you not be charmed.

Bandette's exploits and appearance belie an old-school, David-Niven-in-the-Pink-Panther type of thief, but the story is very much set in the present day, with the clever use of modern gadgetry and social media to coordinate efforts among Bandette's very large (for a secret thief, I gather) band of accomplices, who include a delivery guy, a band of street urchins, and a trio of dancers.

Plus, the series features further colorful characters, including colorful assassins, rival thieves, criminal masterminds, and the salty police inspector who begrudgingly collaborates with Bandette in times of crisis.

With all these characters and situations, there is the danger of a book like this trying too hard to contain too many "OMG THAT IS AWESOME" elements. But I am happy to report that this one brings everything together in an organic narrative that buzzes along in breathtakingly entertaining ways. This may be the most fun book I have read all year.

Bandette is another creation of husband/wife creative team Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover. They have collaborated in the past on the web-series Gingerbread Girl and Banana Sunday, an all-ages graphic novel about a young woman who becomes guardian of three monkeys. They are both members of the Periscope Studio. Tobin has written a number of comics, notably many entries in the Marvel Adventures series. He has also written a novel about superheroes, Prepare to Die! Coover has also written and drawn the adult comic book series Small Favors, which has a strong following, and a number of short works for Marvel Comics. Coover and Tobin speak more about their work on Bandette in this interview.

Bandette won the 2013 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic, and all the reviews I have read about this book have been very positive. Hillary Brown called it "wonderfully ephemeral." Publishers Weekly summed up, "This is a wonderful gateway comic for readers of all ages—one of the brightest, and most fun, comics of the year." Craig Neilson gushed, "I honestly can’t recommend Bandette highly enough to those of you who may fancy a change of pace from the overly serious, ‘grimy and gritty’ titles which seem to make up the lion’s share of comic book shelves these days."

The chapters in this book were originally published as 99¢ e-comics from MonkeyBrain, and you can keep up with the more recent episodes there. This book contains the first five installments, plus a bunch of bonus stories from some very talented artists as well as notes from Tobin and Coover about how they create the comic. It is a very well designed and purchase-worthy book, even with the option to cheaply buy the main narrative in shorter segments.

Presto! was published by Dark Horse, and they provide a preview here.

Gingerbread Girl

Annah Billups is a tease. We learn that in the first few pages of the story, as she awaits her date for the evening. It turns out she has made two, and she is leaving with the first person who shows up. Along the way, we learn more about Annah, her scientist father, and her potentially fictional sister, Ginger. As we follow Annah on her date, we meet a number of characters, from bulldogs to pigeons to passersby, and in an experimental storytelling twist, they become narrators for brief windows of time. Many philosophical questions, about identity, emotions, love, and reality are tossed around as we try to keep up with the flow of the evening.

This tale was originally published as a webcomic on Top Shelf 2.0. It is the product of husband/wife creative team Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover. They have collaborated in the past on Banana Sunday, an all-ages graphic novel about a young woman who becomes the guardian for three monkeys. They are also both memebers of the Periscope Studio. Tobin has written a number of comics, notably many entries in the Marvel Adventures series. He has also written a novel about superheroes, Prepare to Die! Coover has also written and drawn the adult comic book series Small Favors, which has a strong following, and a number of short works for Marvel Comics. Tobin and Coover both speak more about Gingerbread Girl in this interview.

Reviews of this book I have seen have been very positive. Comics Should Be Good's Greg Burgas called it "so beautiful and haunting" and added that it is "a fantastic comic that looks great." Phil Oldham described the book as "thought provoking, interesting and fun." Comicsgirl called the book a "true collaboration" between Coover's "cute and appealing" characters and Tobin's "playful" dialogue.

I agree that this story displays both creators' strengths. At first I found the shifting narrators jarring, then something of a novelty, and by the end of the book I had adjusted to them. I felt in a narrative where the reader is constantly seeking to dispel a cloud of mystery that the blend of authoritative information and (un)reliable narrators contributed to the book's tone in an interesting, inventive way. At the end there are multiple possibilities we can believe and no indications which are "real." Finally, I realize the entire story is available online but I feel the book is an attractive collection, well worth owning.

Previews, reviews, and other links are available here from the book's publisher, Top Shelf.