Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together

Purchased last Spring when Gynn was visiting the US.

Title: Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together
Date: December, 2016
Publisher: Boom! Studios (Boom Box)
Writer: Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh
Artist: Brooke Allen, Carolyn Nowak
Colorist: Maarta Laiho
Letterer: Aubrey Aiese
Cover:  Brooke Allen, Maarta Laiho
Editor: Dafna Pleban, Whitney Leopard

While fishing at the lake, the Lumberjanes discover a merperson, along with some of her former friends who she used to be in a band with.

April, dazzled by the ideas of both merfolk and bands, comes up with a series of plans to help the merband reunite, whether they want to or not. Not surprisingly, mayhem ensues.

This volume had a much-needed bit of backstory, with a flashback chapter that showed the arrival of all of the main characters at the camp. It contained some really great insights, and was a perfect breather after the frantic pace that had been set in the previous four volumes.

The merfolk story also something of a break from the longer-term plot elements, and was a nice self-contained tale with good character development and a lot of small, unexpected twists. Not to mention a rousing finale!

This is a good book, and it could function as a jumping-on point for new readers.

Rating: 9/10

Lumberjanes Volume 4: Out of Time

My 1000th entry on this blog!!!!

Bought this last summer at Newbury Comics, Hyannis MA USA.

Title: Lumberjanes Volume 4: Out of Time
Date: July, 2016
Publisher: Boom! Studios (Boom Box)
Writer: Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters
Artist: Brooke Allen, Joy Ang, Kassandra Heller, Ricardo Bessa, Hope Larson, Kat Philbin, Carolyn Nowak, Jen Wang
Colorist: Maarta Laiho
Letterer: Aubrey Aiese
Cover:  Noelle Stevenson
Editor: Dafna Pleban, Whitney Leopard

When a sudden blizzard separates Jen from her campers, she is rescued by a mysterious hunter and taken to a house in the woods full of taxidermied monster trophies.

As the girls try to organize a search for Jen, they learn some of the past history of the Lumberjanes Scouts, and of the conflicts that divided the past generation of campers.

Now, those past conflicts boil up as a lifelong obsession with an ancient and powerful being jeopardizes the camp, the woods, and possible everything else.

The backstory that this collection added to the Lumberjanes mythology brought a whole new direction to the ongoing story, and served to shift the perspective of the reader as a whole trove of long-simmering secrets were hinted at.

The flashback sequences involving Rosie, Nellie, and Abigail are great and add a lot to those characters.

This four-issue arc also put Jo squarely in the spotlight, as she gets into a conflict with Barney of the Scouting Lads, which serves to bring out some of Jo's internal conflict, while at the same time providing a space for examining issues around transgender identity.

There was also plenty of excellent action, an interesting "Big Bad" threat, and all the weirdness and wit that has been great throughout this series.

Rating: 9/10

Lumberjanes Volume 2: Friendship to the Max

I liked the first volume of Lumberjanes enough that I went to New England Comics in Quincy MA and picked this one up, and read it in one sitting.

Title: Lumberjanes Volume 2: Friendship to the Max
Date: October, 2015
Publisher: Boom! Studios (Boom Box)
Writer: Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis
Artist: Brooke Allen
Colorist: Maarta Laiho
Letterer: Aubrey Aiese
Cover:  Noelle Stevenson
Editor: Dafna Pleban, Whitney Leopard

The second volume of Lumberjanes begins with dinosaurs attacking the Lumberjanes Scout Camp, and it proceeds to get weird from there.

This volume covers issues 5-8 of the comic series, plus a cover gallery and a preview of another Boom Box comic series, Giant Days. The Lumberjanes stories basically conclude the initial arc begun in the first volume (or first four comic issues), introducing some more well-defined villains, and a healthy dose of Greek mythology.

A game of Capture the Flag has much of the drama of real warfare, as the scouts learn to rely on each other under pressure, and they face down some serious supernatural forces by the end.

Character growth continues nicely, and the dialogue continues to be brilliant.

Giant Days, a comedy/drama about three women in their freshman year of college by John Allison and Lissa Treiman, looks like it has potential.

Rating: 7.5/10

Lumberjanes Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy

I bought this at Merrymac Games and Comics in Merrimack NH on our trip home for the summer.

Title: Lumberjanes Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy
Date: September, 2015
Publisher: Boom! Studios (Boom Box)
Writer: Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis
Artist: Brooke Allen
Colorist: Maarta Laiho
Letterer: Aubrey Aiese
Editor: Dafna Pleban, Whitney Leopard

This is the first trade paperback volume of the critically-acclaimed Lumberjanes series, collecting the first four issues, plus a bonus gallery of the variant covers.

Five girls discover friendship, weirdness, and various monsters during a summer at Lumberjanes Scout Camp.

Loaded with catchphrases and frenetically-paced, the story places the girls into one dangerous adventure after another, with hardly a moment to stop and wonder "What the junk?".

The character development happens in small moments and little details, amid plenty of humor and a strong sense of wonder and weirdness.

The occasional entries from the Lumberjanes Field Manual and the badges (Pungeon Master!) are a nice added touch.

There is lots of action in this volume, but not many answered questions. I look forward to seeing where all of this is going.

Rating: 8/10