Lumberjanes

Lumberjanes is a comic book series created by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn A. Allen and Noelle Stevenson[2] and published via the Boom Box! imprint of Boom! Studios. The story follows a group of girls named Mal, Ripley, Molly, April, and Jo spending summer at a scout camp, and the strange creatures and supernatural phenomena they encounter there. Originally planned as an eight-part series, the comic was made an ongoing series following strong sales and critical acclaim.[3]

Lumberjanes
Publication information
PublisherBoom! Studios[1]
FormatOngoing series
GenreAction
Dark fantasy
Comedy-drama
Coming-of-age
Publication date2014-present
No. of issues60, plus 3 specials
Creative team
Created by
  • Grace Ellis
  • Shannon Watters
Written by
Artist(s)
  • Brooklyn A. Allen
  • Brittney Williams
  • Aimee Fleck
  • Faith Erin Hicks
  • Becca Tobin
  • Carolyn Nowak
  • AnneMarie Rogers
  • Felicia Choo
  • T. Zysk
Letterer(s)Aubrey Aiese
Colorist(s)Maarta Laiho
Editor(s)
  • Dafna Pleban
  • Whitney Leopard

Publication history

Lumberjanes came about as the result of Boom! Studios editor Shannon Watters approaching writer Grace Ellis in the hopes of creating a girl-centric comic series. After settling on a story set at a summer camp, the pair brought in Brooklyn A. Allen for initial character designs and Noelle Stevenson as a co-writer.[4] The series would be the second published on Boom! Studios' Boom! Box imprint, which aimed to feature experimental, creator-driven work by writers and artists from outside the mainstream comics industry.[5] A single eight-issue story arc was originally planned, but shortly after the release of the second issue, Boom! Studios announced that Lumberjanes would become an ongoing series.[6] The Lumberjanes characters were featured in a six-part crossover with DC's Gotham Academy in June 2016.[7]

Overview

The story is set in and around Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady Types, a summer camp whose attendees are known as Lumberjane Scouts. The five scouts of the Roanoke cabin—Jo, April, Molly, Mal and Ripley—witness a mysterious old woman transforming into a bear, and after following her into the woods, encounter a hostile pack of three-eyed supernatural foxes. As more three-eyed creatures start to appear, the girls task themselves with solving the mysteries surrounding the camp.

Over the course of the story, characters earn or refer to various Lumberjane scout badges. The characters frequently invoke the names of notable female pioneers, with phrases such as "Oh my Bessie Coleman" and "What the Joan Jett?" [8] Each issue ends with a track listing for a mixtape prepared by one of the characters.

Characters

Campers
  • Jo is the most cool-headed and analytical member of the group. She is a transgender girl who has two gay fathers. She acts as the de facto leader and specializes in the more mathematical puzzles the group faces, and is the most by-the-book of the scouts, knowing the Lumberjane pledge by heart. She has a strong bond with April, including a secret handshake. When Jen is absent, Jo is the most likely to worry about the safety of the group and attempt to rescue her friends. She has the most badges in Roanoke cabin. She is also April's cousin, as shown in Vol. 10, "Parent's Day."
  • April has a flair for the dramatic and a love of puns, and habitually takes notes on the various puzzles the group encounters in her diary. Though outwardly the least physically imposing Lumberjane, she is revealed to be the strongest after successfully arm wrestling a giant living statue. She is also the fact-finder and knowledge base for most of their adventures, and is always ready to face the unknown. She is Jo's cousin and best friend, and was the first person Jo came out to.
  • Molly is a skilled archer, but being shy, she sometimes worries that she doesn't contribute enough to the group. However, it is revealed that she has a head for word games and puzzles, and likes to read, loves history, and has the second-most patches of anyone, belying her experience. While Jo or April take the lead and forage ahead, Molly will watch the back of the group, preferring to look after Mal (often anxious), or Ripley (often distracted). She has a raccoon companion named Bubbles whom she wears as a hat and has a mutual crush on Mal. She has a rocky relationship with her family, particularly her mother, probably due to her love interest in Mal, while her relationship with her father appears to be relatively neutral.
  • Mal, despite her punk appearance, is the most cautious and sensitive of the group. She specializes in crafting elaborate plans. She is often paranoid about the dangers facing them at the camp, has a fear of rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, and is watched over and protected by Molly, whom she loves romantically. They often hold hands and share panels together as a couple.
  • Ripley is the youngest and most energetic of the girls, liable to launch herself towards danger without any fear. Her famous move includes drop kicking things in the stomach, including foxes, yetis, statues, and even Mal. She loves animals, from kittens to dinosaurs, and cookies, candy and other sugars. Despite often being the catalyst for trouble (forcing the others to follow her to rescue her from jumping into white water rapids, for example) she possesses keen insight into other people's feelings. Molly and Mal are often Ripley's unofficial guardians, and if not them, then Jen. She also tends to be a softball, thrown by Mal, generally. She also has a big family but gets along with her siblings quite well. she is shown to have a very close relationship with her Abuela.

Camp staff
  • Jen is Roanoke cabin's scout-leader and is a student in high school. The girls consider her an adult figure, meaning that they are likely on the younger end of their teen years, though it is never specified. Though Jen takes her job very seriously and is often stern with her campers, she genuinely cares for them and tries to protect them from harm. She is extremely knowledgeable about various fields such as botany and astronomy, and usually tries in vain to interest her adventurous campers in safer activities before catching on to the odd happenings at Camp.
  • Rosie is the camp scout-master, an easy-going, tattooed woman who enjoys woodcarving (and by dress, tattoos, name, and hobbies, is an obvious nod to Rosie the Riveter[9] [10], playing into the theme of "Hardcore Lady Types" and feminist empowerment). She seems to know more about the mysterious events surrounding the camp than she is willing to reveal, and encourages the Lumberjanes to keep their eyes peeled, tacitly encouraging them to solve the mystery.

Collected Editions
Title Authors ISBN Release Date Comments
Lumberjanes Vol. 1: Beware The Kitten Holy Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooklyn A. Allen 978-1608866878 April 7, 2015 collects issues #1-4
Lumberjanes Vol. 2: Friendship To The Max Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooklyn A. Allen 978-1608867370 October 13, 2015 collects issues #5-8
Lumberjanes Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooklyn A. Allen 978-1608868032 April 5, 2016 collects issues #9-12
Lumberjanes Vol. 4: Out Of Time Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooklyn A. Allen 978-1608868605 July 12, 2016 collects issues #14-17
Lumberjanes Vol. 5: Band Together Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooklyn A. Allen 978-1608869190 December 13, 2016 collects issues #13 & 18-20
Lumberjanes Vol. 6: Sink or Swim Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn A. Allen, Kat Leyh, Carey Pietsch, and Maarta Laiho 978-1608869541 April 11, 2017 collects issues #21-24
Lumberjanes Vol. 7: A Bird's-Eye View Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn A. Allen, Kat Leyh, Carey Pietsch, Maarta Laiho, and Ayme Sotuyo 978-1684150458 December 12, 2017 collects issues #25-28
Lumberjanes Vol. 8: Stone Cold Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn A. Allen, Kat Leyh, Carey Pietsch, and Maarta Laiho 978-1684151325 February 20, 2018 collects issues #29-32
Lumberjanes, Vol. 9: On a Roll Kat Leyh, Carolyn Nowak, Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn Allen, and Maarta Laiho 978-1608869572 July 24, 2018 collects issues #33-36
Lumberjanes Vol. 10: Parents' Day Kat Leyh, Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn Allen, Ayme Sotuyo, and Maarta Laiho 978-1684152780 December 11, 2018 collects issues #37-40
Lumberjanes, Vol. 11: Time After Crime Kat Leyh, Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn Allen, Ayme Sotuyo, and Maarta Laiho 978-1684153251 April 2, 2019 collects issues #41-44
Lumberjanes, Vol. 12: Jackalope Springs Eternal Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooke A. Allen 978-1684153800 July 30, 2019 collects issues #45-48
Lumberjanes, Vol. 13: Indoor Recess Kat Leyh, Maarta Laiho, Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn Allen, and Dozerdraws 978-1684154500 December 24, 2019 collects issues #49-52
Lumberjanes: Bonus Tracks Faith Erin Hicks, Jen Wang, Kelly Thompson, Holly Black, Gabby Rivera, Chynna Clugston Flores, Rosemary Valero-O'Connell, Christine Norrie, Savanna Ganucheau, Mariana Julia, Gaby Epstein, Maarta Laiho, and Joie Foster 978-1684152162 April 3, 2018 A collection of Lumberjanes short stories.
Lumberjanes: To The Max Edition, Volume 1 Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooklyn A. Allen 978-1608868094 December 8, 2015 Hardcover; collects issues #1-8
Lumberjanes: To The Max Edition, Volume 2 Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooklyn A. Allen 978-1608868896 September 13, 2016 Hardcover; collects issues #9-16
Lumberjanes: To The Max Edition, Volume 3 Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn A. Allen, Kat Leyh, Carey Pietsch, and Maarta Laiho 978-1684150038 June 13, 2017 Hardcover; collects issues #17-24
Lumberjanes: To The Max Edition, Volume 4 Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn A. Allen, Kat Leyh, Carey Pietsch, Maarta Laiho, and Ayme Sotuyo 978-1684151837 June 12, 2018 Hardcover; collects issues #25-32
Lumberjanes: To The Max Edition, Volume 5 Kat Leyh, Carolyn Nowak, Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn Allen, Ayme Sotuyo, and Maarta Laiho 978-1684153121 February 26, 2019 Hardcover; collects issues #33-40
Lumberjanes: To The Max Edition, Volume 6 Kat Leyh, Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn Allen, Ayme Sotuyo, and Maarta Laiho 978-1684154944 March 24, 2020 Hardcover; collects issues #41-48

Novels

Author Mariko Tamaki and artist Brooklyn Allen expanded the series into a four-book series of middle-grade novels:[11]

  • 1. Unicorn Power! (3 October 2017, ISBN 9781419727252)
  • 2. The Moon Is Up (8 May 2018, ISBN 9781419728686)
  • 3. The Good Egg (30 October 2018, ISBN 9781419740923)
  • 4. Ghost Cabin (10 September 2019, ISBN 9781419733611)

Reception

Lumberjanes launched to positive reviews. Many reviewers commented on the importance of the comic as an all-ages, female-led and female-authored title. Alison Berry of Comicosity said that "Lumberjanes is the book that so many have asked for, both accessible and girl friendly without sacrificing entertainment value for the older set... Girls doing for girls is important in comics especially, because it is traditionally dominated by male characters and creators." [12]

The series has a rapidly growing fanbase, and at the Staple Comic Con in Austin Texas on March 7, 2015, the regular artist of the series, Brooklyn Allen, said that the official name for fans of the series is "Lumber Jumbies" and that he hopes the fans take to this name. The name “Lumber Jumbies” was posed by 2 fans in a Q&A panel on that same date.

Awards and nominations

In 2015, Lumberjanes was nominated and won two Eisner Awards, for Best New Series and Best Publication for Teens;[13][14] In 2015, it was also nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book.[15] It was nominated for the GLAAD Outstanding Comic Book in 2018 and 2019.[16]

Film adaptation

As of May 2015, 20th Century Fox was working on a live-action adaptation.[17] In August 2016, Emily Carmichael was announced to direct the film.[18] In August 2019, the film was reportedly canceled by Disney after its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. [19]

References
  1. "BOOM! Box Announces Stevenson, Ellis And Allen's New Lumberjanes Series". Comics Alliance. 2014-01-06. Archived from the original on 2014-11-16. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  2. "SDCC '15: Shannon Watters Talks The Future Of Lumberjanes - Bleeding Cool News And Rumors". Bleedingcool.com. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  3. "Interview: Shannon Watters on Lumberjanes". Icv2.com. 2014-10-17. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  4. "Grace Ellis Sends Girl Power to Camp in Lumberjanes". Paste. 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  5. "Lumberjanes #1 Arrives Next Month. It Looks Awesome". Panels and Pixels. 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  6. "Lumberjanes Goes Ongoing at BOOM! Studios". Multiversity Comics. 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  7. "Exclusive: BOOM! Studios Announces 'Lumberjanes' and 'Gotham Academy' Crossover Series". Villagevoice.com. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  8. "What the Junk: Lumberjanes #1". Panels. 2014-10-05. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  9. "Review: 'Lumberjanes,' vol. 1 — Good Comics for Kids". School Library Journal. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  10. "Lumberjanes - Book Review — Awake at Midnight". Awake at Midnight. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  11. Serrao, Nivea. "See an Exclusive Look At The Cover For The First 'Lumberjanes' Novel". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  12. "Review: LUMBERJANES #1". Comicosity. 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  13. "2015 Eisner Award Nominations". Comic-Con. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
  14. "Eisner Awards Current Info". Comic-con.org. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  15. "Nominees". GLAAD. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
  16. "GLAAD Media Awards: 'This Is Us,' 'A Fantastic Woman' Among Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
  17. "'Munchkin' Writer Will Widger to Adapt 'Lumberjanes' Comic for 20th Century Fox (Exclusive)". Icv2.com. 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
  18. Gonzalez, Umberto. "Emily Carmichael to Direct 'Lumberjanes' for Fox (Exclusive)". Thewrap.com. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  19. Sobon, Nicole. "Lumberjanes Live-Action Film Canceled By Disney". cbr.com. Retrieved 14 August 2019.


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