Lumberjanes #48 is a nice little stand-alone issue that fills out the world of the camp for hardcore lady-types. It begins with Barney distributing the new camp newsletter in a story written by Shannon Watters and Kat Leyh and illustrated by Ayme Sotuyo. The Zodiac cabin is putting together articles, sports, weather, horoscopes, cartoons, and a “weird corner”. The responsibility for that drives one contributor crazy, making her yell, “Do you know how much weird this camp has?!” Yes! That’s […]

In Mega Princess, Kelly Thompson (Jem and the Holograms, Hawkeye) brings her energetic, aware writing style to a wide-ranging fantasy adventure for kids. The mega princess of the title is Maxine (who prefers Max). It’s her tenth birthday, which means she gets the powers of all princesses. But what she really wants to be is a detective (in the cutest little blue trenchcoat). Max, accompanied by her pony Justine, gets to combine both sides of her life when her adorable […]

Abbott #1 is a terrific comic that I really wanted to be something else. As written by Saladin Ahmed and illustrated by Sami Kivelä, it’s the story of a black female investigative reporter in 1972 Detroit who stumbles across a supernatural killer. The publisher blurbs the story as her looking into “the work of dark occult forces… that took her husband from her.” I loved the setting, the detail, and the character, particularly seeing how she coped with reporters and […]

Hi-Fi Fight Club is Lumberjanes meets Empire Records with a strong overlay of first girl crush and a sprinkling of Scooby-Doo. It’s 1998 New Jersey, and 16-year-old Chris has her first job at the record store Vinyl Mayhem. She’s uncertain and worried about what’s cool, but since everyone she works with falls in that category, she’s loving the situation. Maggie is cute and friendly; Dolores tough and grumpy; Kennedy, older and knowledgeable with savior faire; and Irene is the boss […]

When comic art works well, sometimes it becomes invisible, making it easy for readers to concentrate on the events of the story. When it doesn’t work, though, the comic falls flat, and readers may not even realize why. I liked the first Slam! series, written by Pamela Ribon and illustrated by Veronica Fish. It had character-driven action and an intriguing cast. Then the series was restarted with a new artist, Marina Julia. Unfortunately, as seen in Slam!: The Next Jam […]

In our world of prolonged adolescence, it’s refreshing to read a comic about people having to grow up. (I’ve said before that this is one of the many things I like about Giant Days, that it’s “exploring what it means to be an adult and take care of yourself”.) Previously, Susan, Esther, and Daisy set up housekeeping together, moving out of college dorms, but now it’s been a year, and in Giant Days #32 (written by John Allison; pencils and […]

Reviewing a good, consistently enjoyable continuing series is hard. There aren’t any creative changes to rave or rant about and no big events in which to hide word count as plot description. Nevertheless, Giant Days remains an immensely readable, goofily funny soap opera about three British college students and their struggles with everyday life. Some of the events are crazy, but under it all, as written by John Allison and illustrated by Max Sarin and Liz Fleming, there’s a good […]

Lumberjanes #41 takes a little bit of a departure. Much of the series has focused on the campers encountering various supernatural or fantasy creatures, but this issue starts out with science, as shown in these preview pages. It’s written by Shannon Watters & Kat Leyh and illustrated by Ayme Sotuyo. Jo is building a time sensor array. Plus, we get a little insight into what she’s found valuable about her summer with her friends — a way to rediscover the […]