When Lumberjanes was released in 2015 there was a lot of buzz in the graphic novel and YA communities. Sad to say that it is still relatively rare for a predominately female comic to hit the market. It’s even more rare for a title to have a set of female characters who are very different from each other, yet love and respect one another, and work as a strong unit…while they battle three eyed wolves.
Jo, April, Molly, Mal and Ripley are cabin mates at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady-Types. Book one begins with them on an adventure in the wilderness where they come upon a gang of three eyed wolves. They barely escape with their lives, but then face their real enemy, Jen, their rule-following cabin leader. She turns them in to the camp director, Rosie, a tattooed, rockabilly bad-ass for punishment. We quickly realize that Rosie is not only aware of, but my also somehow be a part of the surreal events that occur in the woods.
With fresh phrases like, “What the junk?” And shouting out female heroes names when scared like, “Holly Mae Jemison,” and “Phillis Wheatley!” we immediately realize that these girls are as creative and smart as they are brave. We also get to witness a sugar-sweet blooming love story between Molly and Mal. The best part of this sweet love story is that it’s a component of the book but not the point of it, which plays a big part in normalizing LGBT relationships for readers.
Add to the high quality of the story and charcters the bombastic, exhilarating illustrations and you have a grade A book all the way around. Touting itself as a mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gravity Falls, this book will find a large range of readers. There are multiple volumes of Lumberjanes available and they can also be purchased in single issues comics.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publication date: April 7, 2015
ISBN: 9781608866878
Page Count: 128
Publisher: BOOM! – BOOM! Box
Authors: by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis
HipMamaJenn 