contract image/svg+xml
Band of Bards Comics
Publisher

Band of Bards Comics

Monthly goal: $0.00/$100.00
Showing all posts in
23 pages
Read Reluctant Hero  1 Page 3 in English
Read Reluctant Hero  1 Page 2 in English
Read Reluctant Hero  1 Page 1 in English
bbullen

RapidFireReviews 1 year ago

This was my first time reading Manga and at first it seemed to be a bit strange but I was soon drawn into the story of Asta and Lolly and the mysterious Mallory. I do like a slice of life story and this tale of friends at The Middlesmoor College & University (MCU) does a good job of giving you a glimpse into their lives. What starts off as a seemingly safe story of first days and meeting new people soon begins to show a darker side and is this all somehow linked to the events in 2008???

After my brain adjusted to the reading order I found that the story had a nice rhythm to it all. The pace and flow were right for this type of story. In chapter 1 it was very much an introduction to the characters of Asta and Lola, giving us a chance to see who these friends are and the push and pull of their friendship. Asta is the nerdy shy girl experiencing college life for the first time while Lolly is a much more party girl who has been at MCU for longer. There are some funny moments throughout the first chapter especially Asta’s night time bike ride home, while unsettling at first the reality of what is happening around her is a lot more lighthearted, it is at the end of Chapter 1 we meet Mallory.

With Chapter 2 the cat is really set amongst the pigeons as Mallory's presence seems to be causing a bit of tension between Asta and Lolly. It's Lolly that can sense what we the reader are being shown throughout the panels, there is something off with Mallory, but what is it. It is this mystery that will hook you and keep you reading as you will need to know more about her motivations and why she seems so focused on Asta. Also what happened in October 20008? Will the friendship survive Mallory’s manipulation ?

As I have said I am new to Manga and its illustration style. I liked the look of these chapters and found the style to really suit the story tones well. The story has a nice feel to it with the characters friendship and the illustration seems to match that with its almost innocent look to it in the main. But when there is a change of tone or a sense of danger the style seems to shift slightly. Lolly is drawn as more rounded and friendly while Mallory is more angular, this feels to me to represent the characters personalities. I believe this is a similar style to other Manga titles but I found it really helped with the visuals for the characters as they interacted with the world.

I am glad this was my first venue into the world of Manga reading. It eased me into the reading style nicely and I will definitely be reading more, especially of this series and others. I liked the writing style, and I am a sucker for a mystery so I need to find out who Mallory really is and what she is doing with Asta. If you want a fun read with a little bit of a mystery I would very much recommend this series to you, just pop over to Global Comix to read Chapters 1 and 2 ASAP.
I have the scripts for the next 3 chapters so I can’t wait to see where this is all going. I will continue the reviews in a very spoiler free way so there's no worries about finding stuff out before you get a chance to read it yourselves.

Reina-Setsuna

Reina-Setsuna 1 year ago

Very interesting so far! I wonder if her superhero dreams will come true...

30 pages
Read Coins of Judas  2 Page 3 in English
Read Coins of Judas  2 Page 2 in English
Read Coins of Judas  2 Page 1 in English
23 pages (FREE)
Read American Dreams  1 Page 3 in English
Read American Dreams  1 Page 2 in English
Read American Dreams  1 Page 1 in English
SailingHeroicGuardian

Aceblade 10 months ago

I remember reading this a few years ago. glad to see there are more issues!

29 pages (FREE)
Read Coins of Judas  1 Page 3 in English
Read Coins of Judas  1 Page 2 in English
Read Coins of Judas  1 Page 1 in English
31 pages
Read VIGIA  2 Page 3 in English
Read VIGIA  2 Page 2 in English
Read VIGIA  2 Page 1 in English
35 pages (FREE)
Read VIGIA  1 Page 3 in English
Read VIGIA  1 Page 2 in English
Read VIGIA  1 Page 1 in English
29 pages
Read PROSPECTS  3 Page 3 in English
Read PROSPECTS  3 Page 2 in English
Read PROSPECTS  3 Page 1 in English
148 pages
Read From the  Static  1 Page 3 in English
Read From the  Static  1 Page 2 in English
Read From the  Static  1 Page 1 in English
morpheus

morpheus 1 year ago

I backed this on Kickstarter and it was a fun read! Though to be honest this is a pretty irregular anthology, which happens when you have a compilation from different creatives. There's some stories here that are AMAZING in every way (art, writing, lettering, etc.) and then there's others that honestly felt amateur. It made for a bit of a jarring experience to read something like “The Infant” or “A Little Piece of Me” and then reading “Beholden” which honestly had some pretty sub-standard art. The tone in the anthology was also pretty inconsistent, some of the stories did not even feel like horror (like “How the Devil gets you” or “NU-V (2U)”) and a couple seemed like they were either aimed at kids or preteens (“The Cauldron” and “When you’re not looking”). When you’ve got an anthology that has some comics that have nudity and gore and others that are for younger audiences in the mix you wonder if they didn’t put too much thought on who they were making the anthology for and what their target audience was. I’ll also say some of the writers did not do a good job writing short stories. Some of these are not even full stories but only a premise or idea for a story (like “Embrace Me” or “She Who Weeps”). A story needs to have a beginning, middle, and end, and many of these just stop at the beginning without making it worth our time or giving us a conclusion. In my opinion editorial should have done a better job keeping an eye on the creative teams and making sure this anthology was more cohesive, but given that it’s Band of Bards’ first anthology book in a catalogue that’s been mostly outstanding is pretty commendable. Highlights of this anthology were “The Infant”, “A Little Piece of Me”, “Post Traumatic Credit Scene”, “The Glow Up”, “Angler”, and “The Bodega”. Overall, this was a good read but I hope they do a better job at being consistent in the future. Thanks!

RapidFireReviews

RapidFireReviews 8 months ago

Thoughts…

Since getting back into comics a few years ago I have found that one thing that the comic media excels at is horror. There is something about the comic format that lends itself perfectly to all the various genres of horror tales. From the Static a great representation of that, this collection has a myriad of stories all different styles of storytelling and illustration. We get creature features, psychological scares, body horror, comedic horror, and some emotional tales as well. The whole book is a really great collection of short stories with some really interesting takes on the horror genre and there are some really interesting art style choices used throughout also.

Some stories that really stood out to me were

The Cauldron, this had a great feel to the story, nice and light hearted and had a very solid visual to the whole thing. There is a one shot set in this same world and it really does a great job of capturing a real fun spirit to a horror story.

A Little Piece of Me, this story went full on body horror, this one really didn’t hold back at all. A great story with some really stand out panels, and an ending that is not for the faint of heart.

Post Traumatic Credit Scene, this story had a very twisted feel to it, definitely one on the psychological horror side while at the same time giving us some of the most gore filled moments of the book. This story also gives us one of the more thought provoking stories of the anthology, with the way trauma stays with us.

The Unfortunate Consequences of Being a Time Traveler, this was my favourite story in the book. When it hit me what the story was really about I was blown away. The story and the illustration style went really well together as well. For me this story was a whole different and very real type of scary.


This is only a small sample of the stories that are in the anthology and all the others are really great reads. I think this book will have a different impact depending on the reader, each story will hit differently and that is what is so good about this type of book, everyone will find their story within it and at the same time get to see writers, artists and letterers that they have never experienced before. Horror can be a very personal thing as what scares one person will be fine for the next person, in this volume there will be that story for you that will make a connection with you. I would give this anthology a 9 out of 10, this is a really great presentation of how horror works so well in the comics format both from a storytelling perspective and a visual one.

68 pages
Read Bro-D Can't be Broken  1 Page 3 in English
Read Bro-D Can't be Broken  1 Page 2 in English
Read Bro-D Can't be Broken  1 Page 1 in English
Headypidgeon4180

Headypidgeon4180 2 years ago

Congratulations on being featured! Great cover the facial expressions are solid

HellToBreakfast

HellToBreakfast 1 year ago

Super awesome. I love how cheerful the art is and the way that really highlights how serious and dire the story gets.

57 pages
Read Hush Ronin  1 Page 3 in English
Read Hush Ronin  1 Page 2 in English
Read Hush Ronin  1 Page 1 in English

Band of Bards Comics 2 years ago:

Our new series 'Reluctant Hero' by Alexandra McCarthy hits GlobalComix in January 2023! Hit that follow button and be the first to read it!

227 pages
Read Sentience  2 Page 3 in English
Read Sentience  2 Page 2 in English
Read Sentience  2 Page 1 in English

Band of Bards Comics 3 years ago:

SENTIENCE is live on Zoop now. You can read the entire Prologue for free before you back it.
Help us make this amazing American light novel come to life!

8 pages (FREE)
Read Sentience  1 Page 3 in English
Read Sentience  1 Page 2 in English
Read Sentience  1 Page 1 in English
29 pages
Read PROSPECTS  2 Page 3 in English
Read PROSPECTS  2 Page 2 in English
Read PROSPECTS  2 Page 1 in English
26 pages (FREE)
Read PROSPECTS  1 Page 3 in English
Read PROSPECTS  1 Page 2 in English
Read PROSPECTS  1 Page 1 in English
Christopher

Christopher admin 3 years ago

This is AWESOME!

BandofBards

BandofBards 3 years ago

Thanks, Chris! We’re so glad you like Prospects. Max & Jean made a fantastic comic!

30 pages (FREE)
Read Final Gamble  1 Page 3 in English
Read Final Gamble  1 Page 2 in English
Read Final Gamble  1 Page 1 in English
EricTapper

EricTapper admin 4 years ago

hell yeah! if you upload a preview you can use crowdfinder to drive people there, too!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5STvQe2ros