Lumberjanes (2014)

Synopsis

At Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams!

Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together…and they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way!

From: BOOM! Studios

Notes on This Title

One of the five main girls is transgender and two others are in a relationship. Issue #16 introduces a non-binary character named Barney who joins the Lumberjanes and becomes a series regular. Barney uses they/them pronouns.

Writer Kat Leyh confirmed the ethnicity of several cast members in a Tumblr post, including Jo, who is Navajo, Ripley, who is of Irish and Afro-Mexican descent, and Mal, who is Korean American.

Lumberjanes has a series of spin-off prose novels written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Brooklyn Allen. An original graphic novel, Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass, by Lilah Sturges and polterink, was released October 2018.

Awards

2014 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Winner — Favorite Indie Book
2014 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Winner — Favorite Queer Comics Couple (Mal and Molly)
2014 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Shortlist — Favorite Queer Character (The girls)
2014 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Winner — Favorite Overall Comic
2015 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Winner — Favorite All-Ages Comic
2015 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Winner — Favorite Single Issue (Lumberjanes #17)
2015 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Winner — Favorite Queer Comic Couple (Mal and Molly)
2015 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Winner — Favorite Overall Comic
2015 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Awards Shortlist — Favorite Indie Book
2015 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Awards Shortlist — Favorite Queer Comic Character (Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley)
2016 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Awards Winner — Favorite All-Ages Comic
2016 Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award Winner — Favorite Queer Couple (Mal and Molly)
2015 Eisner Award for Best New Series
2015 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens
26th GLAAD Media Award Nominee for Outstanding Comic Book
27th GLAAD Media Award Nominee for Outstanding Comic Book
28th GLAAD Media Award Nominee for Outstanding Comic Book
29th GLAAD Media Award Nominee for Outstanding Comic Book
2017 Prism Award Nominee for Best Single Issue from a Mainstream Publisher (issue #17)

Reviews

Starred review: “There are plenty of comic-book series with this brand of madcap enthusiasm, but Lumberjanes  is the only one so dedicated to feminism in such a lighthearted way. Check out these exclamations: ‘What in the Joan Jett are you doing?!’; ‘Holy bell hooks!’; and ‘Where the Phillis Wheatley were you?’ The girls-only cast and casual mention of postmodern social activists should in no way dissuade a wide audience, however; this is pure mystery-solving, bad-guy-bludgeoning, summer-camp fun, and with buoyant, off-the-wall art and well-rounded characters, it’s already set up to be a hit.” (Booklist, vol 111, number 18, p42)

Starred review: “A must-have graphic novel for those who have graduated from Raina Telgemeier’s works.” (School Library Journal, vol 61, issue 2, p96)

Starred review: “Humorously riffing on everything from scout badges to the X-Men to feminist heroes (‘Where the Phillis Wheatley were you?’), it’s a sharp, smart, and most of all fun celebration of sisterhood that will leave readers eager for the Lumberjanes’ future exploits. Ages 10–up.” (Publishers Weekly, vol 262, issue 17, p)

“As the series has evolved, it’s proven itself one of the finest adventure tales for younger readers in years. Lumberjanes has woven together stories of ancient mysteries, cryptozoological oddities, the wonder and horror of the wilderness, and even the curious past of the camp itself. It’s built a mythology for itself, but one that’s also wrapped up in humour, camaraderie, and – per the camp’s slogan – ‘Friendship to the Max!’” (Source: Bear World Magazine)

Interviews

Paste Magazine: “BOOM! Editor Shannon Watters Talks Lumberjanes, Queer Representation and the Value of Scaring Kids”