Sunday, May 6, 2018

4 Kids Walk Into A Bank - Short Review

This hidden gem of a comic is barley known to the comic’s community. Issued by a small publishing company, 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank is much more than just a bunch of silly kids walking in and robbing a bank. This groovy, funny, and clever story was written out of the brilliant mind of Matthew Rosenberg and brought to life from the art of Tyler Boss.  It is a refreshing coming of age story that is all about friendship, family, right and wrong, and childhood innocence. These elements are strongly bound together, hidden in the shadow of stories like the Duffer Brother’s Stranger Things and Ben Affleck’s The Town.
Who can rob a bank first: a tomboy, a nerd, a giant, and a goofball, or two murderers, a skinhead, and a marksman? This comic follows four friends, Paige, Stretch, Walter, and Berger, as they battle school, family, and the task of robbing a bank. Paige’s father has a dark past that he has always tried to keep from Paige. When his past finally catches up to him, Paige is willing to do anything to keep her father out of trouble. She recruits her best friends to help her rob the local bank before her father and his gang of thugs do it first. The four friends need to work together and touch on all of their individual talents in order to get the job done. 
All of these narrative and formal elements fit together and make the comic very successful. The themes in the comic are friendship, family, with contributing elements of innocence and moral decision making. The reader can visually see that Paige is very protective of the people she cares about. The reader sees her defend her friends from bullies and her father from the thugs. Those elements of her character drive her to make impulsive and destructive actions with good intentions. The narrative of the comic is successful because it asks the reader an important question. Does Paige’s actions deem her good or bad?

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