Lumberjanes is one of those comics that everyone says I should read. Well, I got my hands on Volume One, and then I bought every other issue I could snag at the time (I made it through Issue #17) and I can officially say that all those people are right – you should read Lumberjanes, not because it is feminist and LGBT positive (although that’s awesome), but because it is so much fun.
Lumberjanes is about a group of girls who attend Lumberjanes summer camp. It’s basically the Girl Scout camp we all wish we went to – there are uniforms and badges and a pledge and also there are monsters and Greek Gods with family problems and magic caves and an old woman who turns into a bear (or possibly vice versa). One particular cabin group seems to encounter all kinds of strange things to the horror and bewilderment of their camp counselor, who wants to keep them safe, and the delight of the girls themselves, who thrive on adventure.
The comic has short arcs and some stand-alone stories. Ripley loves animals, is high energy and literally throws herself into danger, with mixed results. Delicate little April is actually very physically strong, as she demonstrates in a memorable arm-wrestling situation. Jo is great at solving puzzles, and Mal is great at concocting elaborate plans. Molly is a shy, yet badass, archer with a very special hat.
One of the great joys of Lumberjanes is its casual yet prominent inclusion of LGBT characters. Mal and Molly are a more-or-less official item and they are adorable. They are both very young teens/tweens, the age of a first really huge crush, so their relationship is very sweet. It’s my favorite romance ever, but totally age-appropriate. What’s great about their relationship is that the other girls take it completely for granted. They might tease a little about Mal and Molly being on a date, but it’s clear that the teasing is friendly teasing about a romance in their midst, not homophobic teasing or bullying. Jo has two dads and is transgender, a fact which she seems to be open about and which doesn’t faze her fellow campers in the slightest.
In Issue #17, Jo makes friends with a Scouting Lad who seems more comfortable with The Lumberjanes than with the Scouting Lads. Whether he will be a regular or recurring character in the future, it’s clear that the girls consider him one of their own. The arc involving The Scouting Lads is great because it uses humor and adventure to show how toxic masculinity affects boys – the Scouting Lads like making cookies and tea, and their scout leader is horrified that they aren’t more macho. Of course it turns out that sinister forces are at work, and since this is a light, fun comic, everything is made better with kittens.
One of the things that makes this comic fun is that all the characters are DIFFERENT. They have different body types and hairstyles. They have different fashion senses and different hobbies and interests. They have different ethnicities and quirks. They are…wait for it…PEOPLE. All of the main characters other than the aforementioned Scouting Lad are women, although there are male supporting characters. No one is considered less of a girl or more of a girl because of how she was born or what she likes to wear or what her interests are. No one has to prove anything. As they say at camp, “All lady types welcome.”
Obviously, Lumberjanes has a lot to say, but it’s not a preachy comic. It’s just fun – pure, joyful, crazy fun. Romance readers will like the romance between Mal and Molly because it’s so darn adorable, and I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t get a kick out of the antics of the girls. It’s like a ferociously intelligent, feminist version of Scooby-Doo. There is plausible character development and a lot of details in the art that show what’s happening with characters (for instance, when danger strikes, Mal and Molly grab each other first) and with the story.
If you like reading comics in trade collections, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy collects the first four issues and is available now. Volume 2 will be out October 13, 2015. Of course you can buy all the issues up through #17, which I did because I needed them NOW NOMNOMNOM.
Noelle Stevenson, one of the lead writers and artists, is moving on after Issue #17 (cue sobs) but she seems to be leaving it in good hands – this comic has always been something of an ensemble piece, with an all-woman team of writers and artists most notably creators Grace Ellis, Shannon Waters, and Brooke Allen. This comic has all the energy of a superhero comic with a refreshing change of setting and a delightful absence of testosterone. As the Lumberjanes say, “Friendship to the max!”
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This looks quite promising and (yay!) my library has volume 1 so that’s already been requested. Can’t wait to read it.
Still grateful for the Saga recommendation. Love that series…my sole complaint is the time delay between issues. However, faster never guarantees better so I just wait impatiently and scarf down the new ones as soon as they hit the presses. Rereads are my friends.
LUMBERJANES!! I love, love, love Lumberjanes! I was never much into comics, but this got such raves that I decided to check it out. I was hooked from page 1, and now so is my husband. (He still giggles about April’s scrunchie.) We loaned the first story arc to our 9-year-old niece, and she adored them, too.
I’d always felt that comics weren’t for me – I’m not huge into the standard dudely superheroes – but there is so much great stuff out now. Rat Queens, Wicked and the Divine, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Jem and the Holograms, Bitch Planet, Unbelievable Squirrel Girl – and that’s only part of my subscription list. Lots of amazing lady-centric titles that I would have killed for when I was younger.
I’m always looking for books and comic with female leads for my 10-year-old son. I read a review of this last year and included it as a “mommy’s choice” (meaning it didn’t count toward his 3-comic limit) on one of our trips to the comic shop. He fell for it and now it is his fave comics. I’m not much of a comics reader but I love it too. Yay Lumberjanes!
I love Lumberjanes! If you haven’t read Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona, it’s also wonderful, in a different way. There really has been an explosion in comics about girls, which is wonderful for my two little comic loving girls. And their brothers, who will happily read titles like Zita the Spacegirl, Cleopatra in Space, and Rollergirl without caring that they aren’t “boy” comics.
Friendship to the max! I second the Nimona recommendation, although it’s not quite as all-ages friendly as Lumberjanes. (I’m a shark!)
Yay Lumberjanes! It is just the happiest book. My husband had been reading it first and after I had a particularly bad day last fall, he gave me the first 7 issues to read. Lumberjanes made me feel so much better! Now it’s a go-to comfort read. Thanks for helping spread the love, CarrieS!
Yes! Yes! Um, how excited was I to see Lumberjanes on SBTB?!?! What the junk!?
Yes, everyone should go grab this and then get extras and pass it along to all the ladies in your life. My sister gave these to me and I recently passed them along to a good friends 12 year old daughter.
I also love that they improve on further reading- there are sly visual puns and subtleties that you don’t catch the first time. 🙂
I loved NIMONA and just bought Vols. 1 and 2 of LUMBERJANES through the Amazon link (thanks for taking my money!). At first, I struggled with the artwork in NIMONA, but I caught on after a while and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to more great graphic novels.
Sweet! I too have heard much about the Lumberjanes, will definitely need to get my hot little hands on a copy (or more. Probably more.).
I really do love this book. I haven’t read much of it lately due to finances but it is great.
LOVE Lumberjanes and Nimona! (So did my 15 yr old daughter.) I can’t wait for Volume 2 next month.
But— how did I miss that Jo is transgender? I don’t remember anything that pointed me that way.
Can I mention another blog here? If so, the Bloggess rec’d Nimona a while back and I fell in love with her.
Thanks to those of you reccing other titles as well. I’ll be looking into many if not most of them.
I was curious about this comic after reading a panel description for it at NYCC, so thanks for reviewing it and giving me more info! It sounds really fun and luckily my library has vol 1. I added volumes 2 – 4 of Saga to the hold request as well, so I should be able to binge shortly!
Thanks for the review – I have a question about age level. My niece is turning 9 and this sounds like her thing, but I can’t tell if it’d be too old for her.
She loves fantasy with a bit of mystery (she just read the entire Harry Potter series this year) – a smarter, feminist version of Scooby Do sounds perfect for her. But she’s really not into romance yet and I know her parents are trying to avoid things explicitly aimed at teenage girls when they can. How important is the romance to the plot and how teenagey do the main characters act?
Cleo – I’ve only read volume one so far, but in that volume, the romance is very mild. I remember two characters holding hands and smiling at each other. It’s certainly possible it’s a bigger deal later, but volume 1, at least, is very kid-appropriate in terms of romance and behaviors.
The romance is very subtle, as are the hints that Jo is transgender. Totally appropriate for age 9. Any age, really.
Yay friendship. Boo mean girls and back-biters.