By Jennifer Tait

As someone just sticking her toe into the vast comic book world pond, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to dive in at last when my friend Debbie Smith invited me to review Lumberjanes Issue #6 for her blog. After reading this comic, though, I think I may apply for an honorary Lumberjane membership, as no one in this sisterhood-is-powerful collection of characters would find it necessary to wait for an invitation to anything.

Issue #6 opens with several of the Lumberjanes huddled against a dirt cliff in what seems at first to be a life or death situation… until it emerges that we readers have simply been dropped into the middle of a very spirited game of Capture the Flag. As we will see, both teams of girls are “in it to win it,” and both are willing to play rough; that said, it’s refreshing to note that the creative team didn’t resort to pat tomboy characterizations to depict this rough and tumble crowd, nor did its creators feel compelled to include that increasingly wearyingly (but ever-more-ubiquitous) cliché of “the mean girl” which is so prevalent in every aspect of our culture today.

Nor is anyone on either Lumberjane team a wet blanket; rather, they take their gaming so seriously that one of the older members has to remind the group that it IS just a game they’re playing even as the adult guardians sitting and knitting on the front porch discuss the fact that just yesterday (in Lumberjanes Issue #5) the girls had to ward off a life-and-death raptor attack without their help. Before you mistake those guardians knitting away for squares, though, you should be aware that one sports copious amounts of ink on her massive, Rosie the Riveter forearms and cradles an ax, and the other is hot African American chick wearing a hip green beret. As for the Lumberjanes themselves, just know that with their side-shaved heads, headbands, cool hairdos, assorted stylistic embellishments, and sidekick raccoon, this is one unique bunch of girls, though there are a few token boys thrown in to round out the game.

Lumberjanes Issue #6 seems more character than plot-driven (something other reviewers have observed in preceding issues), but the main thrust of the plot in Issue #6 is that both teams are doing their no-holds-barred level best to win the game. There are also supernatural elements sprinkled throughout and references to earlier encounters with other worldly beings included in the mix.

While Lumberjanes seems mainly pitched for the ‘tweener set, I have a hunch that this comic book series might hold some charms for grown-up kids as well, for the Lumberjanes’ world is vibrant with possibilities in both a natural and supernatural-world context and its characters’ zeal to explore it is a delight to see. In the Lumberjanes’ universe, girls are free to roam, do battle with sea monsters and yetis, and most importantly, evade adult supervision and authority, and what adult wouldn’t jump at the chance to visit a camp like this once and awhile?

Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis’ text is illustrated by Brooke Allen, colors are by Maarta Lailho, and letters are by Aubrey Aiese.