A completely terrifying, unfathomably evil voice from the woods wants to destroy camp and annihilate the Lumberjanes. Soooo, y’know… Tuesday? Your Major Spoilers review of Lumberjanes #45 awaits!
LUMBERJANES #45
Writer: Shannon Watters & Kat Leyh
Artist: Ayme Sotuyo
Colorist: Maarta Laiho
Letterer: Aubrey Aiese
Editor: Dafna Pleban
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Lumberjanes: “After everything that’s happened at camp, the Roanokes are in need of something to cheer them up. Luckily, Jen has the perfect thing: a search for a jackalope!”
ALWAYS DELIGHTED BY A NEW ISSUE OF THIS BOOK
Picking this comic up (metaphorically, I buy mostly digital now) put a smile on my face for one, simple reason: It’s a quiet, independent title with a spectacularly unique point of view that has made it to issue #45! That alone is worth celebrating, Our story begins somewhat awkwardly, with Molly returning to the cabin to find that her friends are still leery of her, after the mysterious voice almost made her help destroy them all. April, Mal, Joe and Ripley are unnerved, leaving their counselor Jen to worry about how out-of-character the girls are being. Her answer: Make an intentionally suspicious trip into the woods to hunt the legendary jackalope! Their pursuit through the woods finds not a jackalope, but a bison, accompanied by its cowgirl rider, Elena, who proceeds to tell them that the woods are strange and full of creatures large and small. That’s when things start to get… Well, the only world for it is “Lumberjaney.”
“AFTER EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENED THIS SUMMER, YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN JACKALOPES?”
This issue features a nice look as counselor Jen, as she frets and worries about her cabin to camp director Rosie, only for Rosie to give her oblique advice that starts the whole issue off. That’s only the first of many lovely personal and interpersonal moments, from the awkwardness of the girls about Molly to Elena Marie’s story of her wagon train and how she got to the woods to the final page, which promises something that is at once scary and wonderful. The fact that it’s not automatically terrifying is a testament to the fun of this comic, which captures that youthful joy in discovery without all the grown-up immediate fear of the status quo. Add in the art of Ayme Sutuyo, which is kinetic and beautifully expressive in every panel, and you’ve got another winner from the Lumberjanes crew.
THE BOTTOM LINE: ANOTHER LOVELY ISSUE
It’s great to see a book like this last as long as it has, as many equally fascinating comics have never made it anywhere near fifty issues, petering out due to lack of story or loss of creative team or general missing mojo. Lumberjanes #45 is an example of a book that just keeps getting better, with more examination of our characters and depth of mythology, making me happy that we’re still getting the book year after year, earning a truly impressive 4.5 out of 5 stars overall. If you’re not reading Lumberjanes, you’re missing out, folks, because this is truly an all-ages book in the best sense of the word…
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