I've probably gone on about one of my favourite cartoons, Gravity Falls. And if I haven't, I will this Summer when the new graphic novel comes out.
Lumberjanes draws on a similar aesthetic, or perhaps genre, young people exploring enchanted woods, as Gravity Falls, and really of so many of the fairy tales we're told as kids. The difference between these five ladies (hardcore ladies, that is) and lots of those fairy tale kids is that these guys take no crap. They're open to weird and strange possibilities, but they never let those possibilities push them around. They're pretty badass.
I came across this trade by accident in a thrift shop and I'd heard so much good about it that I thought it worth the investment. It is that and more. A lovely, dynamic art style - the amount of information the ladies convey in facial expression is wonderful. Not every comics artist can do a wide range of expressions, but Ms. Allen manages to say so much with just a few extra lines. And the stories are right out of an adventure novel, Indiana Jones-esque, and, occasionally, a bit of Stephen King novel thrown in. There's definitely some darkness in this series, but I think it's really only there to contrast to the light that the five main characters radiate. They're flawed. They're young. And they're having a very weird Summer.
I will be having at look at the next volume, at the very least. I'm curious to see if the series develops a larger story, which will necessitate the passage of time, and thus of camp coming to an end, or will it remain an eternal Summer of investigation of the hardcore ladies of Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqui Thistle Crumpet's camp.
To be continued...
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