Jam in the Band Book One
Looking back on my review for the preview of this book, it’s clear that I was taking a lot on faith, mostly based on the fact that Robin hasn’t really done anything that I’ve hated yet. I didn’t like the preview, but what the heck, it was just a tiny thing and could be changed all kinds of ways by the time the first book was finished. Well, let’s hear it for faith, as this book is fantastic. This tells the story of three young women who choose to leave a small town and head out on tour. They’re essentially leaping blindly, as they have one gig lined up but are going to make everything else up as they go along, and plan to spend months trapped in a tiny van together. Things start off with Nathan, a male friend of the band, finding out by accident that the girls are playing a gig near where he lives, and that nobody has bothered to tell him about the show. Of course, at this point he hasn’t seen anybody in the band in three years… which naturally leads to an explanation of how everybody got where they are now. Great setup to get everybody hooked in right away. Robin also makes excellent use of fliers and small bit characters, documentary style, to flesh everybody else out. I particularly liked the people from high school who stayed trapped in their small town and their various reasons for never leaving, but then, I grew up in a small town like that too, so empathy always scores big points around here. We only get to see the barest glimpse of what’s happening now, as the band plays their show and a romance starts off, destined to be long distance if it’s going anywhere. The only tiny complaint I have is that the other members of the band could stand to be fleshed out a bit more: we see plenty of Bianca (lead singer), but only relative flashes of Corbin and Tiara. Still, with this only being the first book of the series and with my previous faith in this so thoroughly rewarded, I see no reason to doubt Robin now. Check it out, on a page full of good comics this is one of the better ones you’ll find. $10
