Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer: Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson
Artist: Brooke Allen
Release Date: 9th April 2014

Lumberjanes is the latest title to come from Boom!’s new creator-owned imprint Boom!Box and follows the adventures of five best friends, John, April, Molly, Mal and Ripley, who find themselves at a Girl Scout Summer Camp where the surrounding woods are full of all manner of supernatural beasties.

Described as “Buffy meets Gravity Falls”, Lumberjanes is as fun a comic as I’ve read all year. Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis’ script is a real delight, mixing humour and action with an intriguing mystery and a light-hearted horror feel, not to mention a cast of irresistible characters that you instantly warm to.

The art is nothing short of gorgeous too. Brooke Allen’s beautifully spooky designs call to mind Ted Naifeh’s work on Courtney Crumrin, but with a kinetic, Adventure Time-style thrown into the mix. It would look great even in black and white, but Maarta Laiho’s stunning colour work has each panel almost jumping from the page.

As much as there is to appeal to older readers, with it’s overriding theme of “Friendship To The Max” and identifiable young characters, Lumberjanes is an ideal comic for kids to get into, so I can’t wait to buy a copy to give to my daughter, but this is a comic that will strike a chord with anyone and everyone. Wonderful.

Rating: 5/5.

---

The writer of this piece was: Jules Boyle