This might be my favorite issue of Lumberjanes so far. Mal and Molly are trapped with the bearwoman in another dimension; meanwhile, Jo, Ripley, and April attempt to earn badges. So, Mal and Molly followed the bearwoman through a portal, and now the three of them have to find their way home. Not so simple when literally everything is out to get you, and don’t forget the dinosaurs. Time passes more quickly in this dimension, apparently; night passes in an hour or two and then the newly founded trio are off on their mission.
Mal is feeling a lot of self-doubt, not particularly brave in this unknown world. Molly seems to have truly embraced adventure; she’s excited for what lies in store, and she does her best to perk Mal up.
Meanwhile, our other trio- Jo, Ripley, and April- are in a cake decorating workshop in the hopes of earning a “mundane” badge. It’s still afternoon in their dimension, if you want to keep track of our timeline here. Jo and April manage to fail at cake decorating, for different reasons. Jo’s too distracted to actually decorate her cake; instead, she invents a device that will apply perfect layers of frosting. April is overly ambitious, and when her decorating does not turn out as she’d hoped, her cake “mysterious” turns into a pile of mush. Ripley’s the only one to walk away with a badge: she frosts her face, then sticks her face onto the cake. It counts, somehow.
Back to Mal, Molly, and the bearwoman, who have to go through essentially an obstacle course in order to complete their mission of finding the bearwoman’s glasses. (The dinosaurs stole them, obviously.) They do their best, but end up exactly where they started.
I absolutely adored this issue. It was so fun and so enjoyable. These girls are rather overdramatic, and it’s beyond endearing. This comic is ridiculous, these characters are ridiculous, these situations… but none of it is overdone or overly absurd. It’s just fun. I laughed quite a lot while reading this. There were some really heartfelt, touching moments with Mal and Molly. April’s resignation at their “life of mediocrity” and subsequent indignation at their string of failures was just plain funny.
I don’t know that I can recommend this comic enough. I know it’s not for everyone, but I love how bright it is. The quips, the relatable characters, the bright colors, and the absurd situations all together make for a really enjoyable read.
Score: 4/5
Lumberjanes #11 Writers: Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters Artist: Carolyn Nowak Publisher: BOOM!/Boom Box Price: $3.99 Release Date: 2/18/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital