by rory midhani

While we’re over here waiting for A-Camp 2015 to start in just a few days, the Lumberjanes are once again full in the swing of their own awesome camp adventures. While the last issue recounted their origin story, this time we’re back in the middle of camp, where the girls are out trying to pitch a tent and show off that they can do normal (non-fighting-supernatural-creatures) stuff when all of the sudden they’re caught off guard by a blizzard. In summer. Of course, this being Lumberjanes, the blizzard doesn’t come alone; it brings with it a whole pack of Giant Monster Antler-Wolves.

Art by Brooke A. Allen.

The Janes are already getting disoriented in the blinding snow, and then when the monsters come, it’s pretty much a forgone conclusion that something bad is going to happen. Unfortunately, that bad thing is Jen falling down a snow cliff and being completely surrounded by a whole horde of the snow beasts. While that’s happening, the rest of our intrepid snow campers are finally rescued by Rosie when she comes in riding on a bull moose, because of course Rosie rides a bull moose. She gets the Roanoke girls safely back to camp and tells them to stay there, where they’ll be safe from the cold, but they don’t wanna build a snowman, they just want to go back out and find Jen. So that’s what they set off to do.

Art by Brooke A. Allen.

Meanwhile, Jen wakes up after her fall and finds herself in the very fancy and trophy-filled hunting lodge of a brand new character (how exciting!), Abigail. Abigail has the looks and charm of a Golden Era Hollywood movie star and the hunting skills of a hunter played by a Golden Era Hollywood movie star. At first Jen is a little unsure of Abigail; I mean I think most of us would be if we woke up in a stranger’s house that was full of dead animals, old photographs and dynamite, but Abigail uses her charm, some hot cocoa and Jen’s love of libraries to calm her down. But that doesn’t mean we, the Lumberjumbies aren’t still suspicious. I know I am.

Then, for the first time in forever, we see Barney and the Scouting Lads again! And it’s a good thing, while the Lumberjanes are full of pluck and a lot of skills that might get the out of other jams, they’re not having that much luck finding Jen. So they recruit him to join their search party and let him start leading the way. Barney also hooks them up with some winter gear that actually fits (and some cookies for Ripley), so that’s a nice bonus.

Art by Brooke A. Allen.

I’m really, really excited for this arc. There were some super cute and great character moments in this issue and I can’t wait to see even more in the issues coming up. One of my favorite moments was Ripley wanting to give Jen a hug, but not being able to because she was stuck dangling from one of the tent poles. I also loved the panels where Barney said that he thinks being a Lumberjane seems really cool (I think Barney’s speaking for all of us non-Lumberjanes there) and then where he’s able to use his tracking skills and when April says “YOU are my new favorite person,” you can tell that Jo is more than a little hurt and more than a little jealous. I also loved Molly’s clearly-too-small sweater. It’s this kind of great character building that makes Lumberjanes really stand out.

I also can’t wait to see where Abigail’s story goes. There’s obviously a lot going on there. First, we know that she was once a Lumberjane herself, possibly quite some time ago. We also know that she and Rosie used to be BFFs, but that now their relationship is a bit of a fixer upper. We also know that she’s a skilled hunter with a room full of explosives. Is Jen safe with her? Will Barney lead the Lumberjanes to find Jen safe and sound? What will happen when Rosie and Bear Woman meet up with Abigail after all this time? Only one month’s time will tell!

Art by Brooke A. Allen.

We do need to talk about one other thing though. If you bought a physical copy of this issue then you probably saw the cover, which features the Lumberjanes climbing on each other and forming a totem pole, with other totem poles in the background. The Lumberjanes team realized that this was cultural appropriation and had the potential to hurt readers and published an apology online.

Hi Lumber-pals,

Last week, one of our own team pointed out to us that the cover for LUMBERJANES #14 was appropriative of native cultures. On second look, all of us agreed, and we wanted to, as a team, apologize for our oversight.  For those of you personally hurt by the appropriative imagery, we extend a special apology to you…it is not the Lumberjanes way to cause harm, and we hope that we can redeem ourselves in your eyes with our work in the future. The cover will be pulled from all digital versions of the issue as well as not appearing in any collections or reprint. We will also be making a personal donation as a team in the Lumberjanes name to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. Thank you for reading.

Cheers,

The Lumber-Team (Grace, Noelle, Shannon, & Brooke)

So while we shouldn’t pretend that this wasn’t appropriative and potentially hurtful, it’s good to see the Lumberjanes team stepping up before the issue came out to both apologize for their mistake and take steps to make amends.

New Releases (May 27)

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #3 (Archie Comics)

Adventure Time #40 (Boom!)

Tomb Raider #16 (Dark Horse)

Sandman Overture #5 (DC)

Red Sonja #16 (Dynamite)

Swords of Sorrow Masquerade and Kato Special #1 (Dynamite)

Edward Scissorhands #8 (IDW)

Infinite Loop #2 (IDW)

All-New Hawkeye #3 (Marvel)

Black Widow #18 (Marvel)

Infinity Gauntlet #1 (Marvel)

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