Lumberjanes #12 finds Mal and Molly weeks into their alternate dimension adventure. Meanwhile, it’s only been a few hours in the “real” timeline, and April is still on a mission to earn a badge. Any badge. Really, she’s desperate. Mal is the gal with the plans. She’s drawn out a clever trap for the dino that’s got the Bear Woman’s magic glasses, the ones they need in order to return to their own dimension. Molly is still trying to figure herself out; in the face of Mal’s self-assured coolness, Molly is feeling a touch of self-doubt, and wants to stay with the Lumberjanes for as long as she can. These friends and the weird, supernatural camp that brought them all together seems to have helped Molly come into her own a bit. There’s a very sweet, very relatable moment where Molly tries to explain this to Mal. They’re interrupted, but we get the picture; I’m sure we all have similar experiences of being a young’un and trying to find ourselves. I really appreciated Molly being open with these feelings, not only as someone who was once a young teen girl, but on behalf of those who are currently young teen girls.

In another dimension, the “real” one, Jo, April, and Ripley are still working toward earning badges. April is becoming increasingly frustrated, until she finds one that seems absolutely perfect for her: competitive scrapbooking. I’m just going to say it again. Competitive scrapbooking. This is why I love this comic.

April gets a bit frantic trying to destroy the competition, but Jo suggests that the reason they haven’t earned a badge yet is because they’ve been trying to win. They end up going for quality over quantity, and it… doesn’t work. They still lose. Poor April. But they’re then reunited with Mal and Molly, as well as the Bear Woman, and while this arc has been fun, I’m happy they’re all together again. This group is just so delightful, and they complement each other so well. While I’m excited to see how Mal and Molly’s relationship develops, I’m all about friendship to the max.

Score: 5/5

Lumberjanes #12 Writers: Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters Artist: Carolyn Nowak Publisher: BOOM!/BOOM Box Price: $3.99 Release Date: 3/18/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital