Lumberjanes Book 1 - Noelle Stevenson

An intrepid group of girls at sleepaway camp bond while solving mysteries in the woods and encountering supernatural creatures. This graphic novel has a Gravity Falls-esque feel to it and it all begins with a fight against a pack of three-eyed foxes.

Thus begins the adventure as the five girls of Roanoke cabin are left with a strange phrase and a golden eye that leads them past a river monster, down into the earth and in direct confrontation with a troop of mind controlled boy scouts.

The story is arranged in a unique way as if it’s been stuffed into the middle of a field manual for the camp. Each chapter begins with a page from the manual about a specific badge (all named using puns) and ends with polaroids documenting their journey. It creates an immersive feel that expands the world beyond the scope of the art and dialogue.

While it’s difficult to make this many characters distinctive “Lumberjanes” accomplishes this and then some. All of the girls are different with a variety of personalities and body types. And as the story begins in medias res we learn who they are through action and dialogue. Apart from being incredibly funny, the dialogue itself was fluid and an amusing substitute for swearing and a shared catchphrase showed how closely the group had bonded.

The artwork was bright and colourful, which felt fitting in terms of the ages of the characters and the supernatural elements of the story and creatures encountered in their investigations.

The one drawback is that the felt cut off. The first chapter is darn near perfect because it introduces us to the characters and the world and ties up the adventure encountered within while leaving room for questions and further exploration. The next three chapters are all tied together and created more questions than it answered by the end of the story and I was left feeling unsatisfied.

Apart from that one hiccup this was a great read and introduction to a series that both amused and intrigued me.