Lumberjanes
Jul. 9th, 2014 11:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiki_engI picked up the first issue because I heard that it was a comic about five girls (five!) and that there was queerness that would be happening and it took me a while to get my hands on it, actually. My comic shop wasn't carrying it and so they ordered it in for me and it felt like forever passed before it actually arrived, and then I read it, grinning delightedly, and then immediately read it again.
It's great, it's so great. I want to draw hearts all over it, which, is actually kind of funny. I went to TCAF this past May and when I went up to one of the exhibitor's tables I was like I know this art. I have never seen this art before but I know this art. and then there was this really useful sign that said "gingerhaze" and "Noelle Stevenson" and probably some other stuff and I went aha! gingerhaze and bought something and, before we'd finished sorting out the change issue, the name "Noelle Stevenson" finished wandering through my brain looking for something to connect to and found "Lumberjanes". ...and now I have a signed copy that Noelle Stevenson has drawn wee little hearts on, which, like the comic itself, is also pretty great.
I'd brought it to TCAF with me so that I could share it withreadbystarlight, and she read it on the subway making amused delighted noises and reading bits aloud and taking a few pictures for her little cousins, and I met up with sobluethesky on my way home after the con and made her read it, too, and she... made delighted noises and quoted different bits aloud and then asked me how much comics cost.
There are now four issues of Lumberjanes out and I finally got my hands on the third one the week before last, because my comic shop sold out before I got there that Wednesday and just got it in for me then. ...and I think the third one is my favourite so far, because it has math and adventure.
I am incredibly enthusiastic about this comic and basically feel like everyone should be reading it. It's about the adventures of five girls at something that bears a striking resemblance to some sort of girl scout camp.
[Five girls are passing under a large wooden sign that reads, in cursive, "Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penninguigul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for", here, an additional sign has been nailed over at an angle. Crudely engraved it reads "HARDCORE LADY TYPES". An additional sign in the same style has been hung to the bottom of the main sign and reads "FRIENDSHIP TO THE MAX!" There are coniferous trees and log cabins visible in the camp and it is night; the moon is out and there are stars. A blonde girl in a coonskin cap and cargo shorts is gesturing the others into the camp with one hand and for silence with the other. A girl with messy brown hair with a blue streak in it and a red band tied about it like an athletic headband is at the back of the group and looks like she needs to pee. In front of her is a girl wearing rolled up pink shorts and what would be a classic Little Red Riding Hood cloak if it didn't have sleeves. Running through camp in front of her is a girl with short hair with shaved sides wearing a denim vest over a plaid shirt. In front of her is a girl with messy brown hair wearing what looks like an army green jacket with elbow patches, a matching messenger bag on her shoulder.]
...and, okay, that's sort of a ridiculously long image description, but there is just a lot going on there that is awesome. There is a lot going on in this comic that is awesome. It's set up for kids, and is generally delightful, and one of the things that that translates into is that this comic is curse word free. Instead, they say things like "What the junk?" and invoke the names of awesome ladies.
[A girl wearing a coonskin cap has thrown up her hands and is saying "Oh my Bessie Coleman, can we just worry about getting back to camp before Jen wakes up?! We'll decode the cryptic message later." A girl with messy brown hair has raised her fingerless-glove-clad hands in an appeasing gesture, replying, "Okay, okay. Cool your jets."]
There are cryptic messages. There's this really delightful fantasy element in this.
[A girl wearing a denim vest has her hands raised up in exasperation; "Guys, that wasn't the... I mean... OK, this is happening, I guess." Around her three other girls are attacking what appear to be exceptionally large, snarling, three-eyed foxes.]
The woman who runs the camp is named Rosie and bears a really strong resemblance to the Riveter and has tattoos and cat-eye glasses and I have opinions about her. They have this fantastic put-upon camp counselor named Jen and they're all individually fantastic and relatable and it's funny and great and the art is really fresh and solid and sort of perfect? (I am murdering it a lot with my camera - it's really vibrant and has great lines - lines that do not include that bit of white animal hair that snuck into the first photo.) It's sweet and funny and really, really feminist. Every issue so far has had a mixtape made by one of the girls at the end and there's stuff like Sleater-Kinney, Joan Jett, Janelle Monáe, and Tegan & Sara on them.
Reading this comic it's just incredibly obvious how much its creators love girls and women, and the whole thing is this glorious romp. It's one of those things that I look at and go, okay, so, when I somehow become an aunt... And, look, I have so far restrained myself from buying extra copies, and I'm going like Eight Issues. Eight Issues and then a Trade? There needs to be a trade. Trades are nice. I like trades, and, I want to have all of this bound up in a single volume, to have it on my shelf and be able to hand it over to someone for them to love, because it's great, and great in ways I haven't touched on, writing this, and I want to share that.
[The first three issues of Lumberjanes are spread out on a white and pink floral background.]
The fourth issue of Lumberjanes is out today, and, yeah, I'm going to be legging it to my comic shop pretty soon.
It's great, it's so great. I want to draw hearts all over it, which, is actually kind of funny. I went to TCAF this past May and when I went up to one of the exhibitor's tables I was like I know this art. I have never seen this art before but I know this art. and then there was this really useful sign that said "gingerhaze" and "Noelle Stevenson" and probably some other stuff and I went aha! gingerhaze and bought something and, before we'd finished sorting out the change issue, the name "Noelle Stevenson" finished wandering through my brain looking for something to connect to and found "Lumberjanes". ...and now I have a signed copy that Noelle Stevenson has drawn wee little hearts on, which, like the comic itself, is also pretty great.
I'd brought it to TCAF with me so that I could share it with
readbystarlight, and she read it on the subway making amused delighted noises and reading bits aloud and taking a few pictures for her little cousins, and I met up with sobluethesky on my way home after the con and made her read it, too, and she... made delighted noises and quoted different bits aloud and then asked me how much comics cost.There are now four issues of Lumberjanes out and I finally got my hands on the third one the week before last, because my comic shop sold out before I got there that Wednesday and just got it in for me then. ...and I think the third one is my favourite so far, because it has math and adventure.
I am incredibly enthusiastic about this comic and basically feel like everyone should be reading it. It's about the adventures of five girls at something that bears a striking resemblance to some sort of girl scout camp.
[Five girls are passing under a large wooden sign that reads, in cursive, "Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penninguigul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for", here, an additional sign has been nailed over at an angle. Crudely engraved it reads "HARDCORE LADY TYPES". An additional sign in the same style has been hung to the bottom of the main sign and reads "FRIENDSHIP TO THE MAX!" There are coniferous trees and log cabins visible in the camp and it is night; the moon is out and there are stars. A blonde girl in a coonskin cap and cargo shorts is gesturing the others into the camp with one hand and for silence with the other. A girl with messy brown hair with a blue streak in it and a red band tied about it like an athletic headband is at the back of the group and looks like she needs to pee. In front of her is a girl wearing rolled up pink shorts and what would be a classic Little Red Riding Hood cloak if it didn't have sleeves. Running through camp in front of her is a girl with short hair with shaved sides wearing a denim vest over a plaid shirt. In front of her is a girl with messy brown hair wearing what looks like an army green jacket with elbow patches, a matching messenger bag on her shoulder.]
...and, okay, that's sort of a ridiculously long image description, but there is just a lot going on there that is awesome. There is a lot going on in this comic that is awesome. It's set up for kids, and is generally delightful, and one of the things that that translates into is that this comic is curse word free. Instead, they say things like "What the junk?" and invoke the names of awesome ladies.
[A girl wearing a coonskin cap has thrown up her hands and is saying "Oh my Bessie Coleman, can we just worry about getting back to camp before Jen wakes up?! We'll decode the cryptic message later." A girl with messy brown hair has raised her fingerless-glove-clad hands in an appeasing gesture, replying, "Okay, okay. Cool your jets."]
There are cryptic messages. There's this really delightful fantasy element in this.
[A girl wearing a denim vest has her hands raised up in exasperation; "Guys, that wasn't the... I mean... OK, this is happening, I guess." Around her three other girls are attacking what appear to be exceptionally large, snarling, three-eyed foxes.]
The woman who runs the camp is named Rosie and bears a really strong resemblance to the Riveter and has tattoos and cat-eye glasses and I have opinions about her. They have this fantastic put-upon camp counselor named Jen and they're all individually fantastic and relatable and it's funny and great and the art is really fresh and solid and sort of perfect? (I am murdering it a lot with my camera - it's really vibrant and has great lines - lines that do not include that bit of white animal hair that snuck into the first photo.) It's sweet and funny and really, really feminist. Every issue so far has had a mixtape made by one of the girls at the end and there's stuff like Sleater-Kinney, Joan Jett, Janelle Monáe, and Tegan & Sara on them.
Reading this comic it's just incredibly obvious how much its creators love girls and women, and the whole thing is this glorious romp. It's one of those things that I look at and go, okay, so, when I somehow become an aunt... And, look, I have so far restrained myself from buying extra copies, and I'm going like Eight Issues. Eight Issues and then a Trade? There needs to be a trade. Trades are nice. I like trades, and, I want to have all of this bound up in a single volume, to have it on my shelf and be able to hand it over to someone for them to love, because it's great, and great in ways I haven't touched on, writing this, and I want to share that.
[The first three issues of Lumberjanes are spread out on a white and pink floral background.]
The fourth issue of Lumberjanes is out today, and, yeah, I'm going to be legging it to my comic shop pretty soon.