Review by Frank Plowright

For anyone who’s been following Bandette this volume title’s going to be a surprise. While Sergeant Heloise has long held a secret passion for the grumpy Inspector Belgique, publicly revealed in The Six Finger Secret, there’s been no sign of it being reciprocated, so why will there now be a marriage?

Well, as we know, Bandette has a way of making things happen, and there’s a very good reason why it must. Of course, it’s secondary to the wonder of Bandette herself under Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover. He scripts his usual delightful whimsy such as Bandette recalling the last time she stood on the head of a hippopotamus – The Case of the Hippopotamus Head, since you ask – while Coover has Bandette dancing about the page as if feather-light.

So what’s new this time? Well, until now Bandette has just been seen as the playful force of nature she is, but Tobin drops hints as to her ancestry. Then we have new characters, with the Elegant Assassins a hilarious delight, a little more time than usual given to the supporting cast, and a great pair of pages recalling Belgique’s greatest hits. These are of course literal hits. There’s also the threat of the Voice, a criminal no-one ever sees, but you don’t even want to hear them. Is there genuine romance, you want to know, or a even a genuine wedding? We’re not telling.

Coover’s art on Bandette has been immaculate from the first volume, so why should that change? Her Bandette is a cartwheeling dervish, always either holding pastry, chocolate or some item she’s stolen in an entirely improbable manner, and the other cast members, every one of them distinct, have personality. Her London bus is somewhat fudged, but we can’t have everything.

Or perhaps we can as in addition to a great story there’s a good back-up strip from Coover alone.

Wonderful.