Some readers were concerned about the actions of girl detective Goldie Vance in the first issue. Goldie “borrows” a car in the course of an investigation, and there was consternation over the lack of consequences for her. Well, this is the time to remember that the story is four issues long, since this is the issue where the pigeons come home to roost for Goldie, with repercussions that extend beyond her to her father. His boss, the hotel owner, has […]

John Allison, best known as the webcartoonist of Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery (also available in a series of books from Oni Press), is now writing Giant Days, a print comic from Boom! Box. (You can find out more about his various projects at his website.) Issue #15 is out this Wednesday, June 1, and since they all contain satisfyingly complete stories (although with continuing events tracing the passage of the school year), you can start with it. Or […]

I’m thrilled we’ve reached a time when that classic of YA literature, the girl detective, can successfully come to comics. Hope Larson (Mercury, A Wrinkle in Time) writes and Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!) draws the story of Goldie Vance, a young woman solving mysteries at the Florida resort hotel her father manages. It’s a four-issue miniseries with the same appeal as Boom!’s Lumberjanes (and they know it, since they included preview pages from the upcoming Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy crossover […]

I admire Justin Jordan’s writing, although his stories, such as The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, tend to be too violent for my tastes. John Flood walks right on that edge, but I’m so intrigued by the lead character that I keep reading. Flood was the subject of a government experiment that removed his need to sleep ten years ago. As a result, he can make connections no else sees, but he’s also in a permanent dream state, so he […]

The more I read Lumberjanes, the more it grows on me. I’ve liked the concept — of a group of unique girls depending on each other — since the beginning, but some of the plots didn’t keep my interest as much as I hoped. However, now that the series is a bit more established, they’re beginning to explain more of the background, and that I’m really interested in. Take this issue. Written by Noelle Stevenson and Shannon Watters and illustrated […]

Late to the Lumberjanes bandwagon? Don’t worry, this new starting point is perfect for you. Brooke Allen, the artist on the first series issues, returns for a kind of origin issue. Noelle Stevenson and Shannon Watters have written a story where we get to see the first day of camp for the girls and how they all met. It’s fascinating to find out more about the background of each scout. Jo’s well-to-do fathers are pushing her to live up to […]

For those of us no longer excited by expensive serial comic releases, those who want more satisfying chunks of story, those who like longer-lasting comic formats, or those who can no longer remember the details of a story month to month, the most-talked-about new series of last year has put out its first collection. Lumberjanes Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy collects the first four issues of the series, making up the first half of the first storyline. It’s written […]

Roger Langridge’s charming modern-day fable concludes here, and the ending is just what I expected. (I previously talked about issues #1-3.) I don’t mean that I knew what was going to happen — Langridge is a better storyteller than to telegraph all his twists and turns too obviously. No, what I meant was that I got all the things I wanted from a kids’ adventure tale: excitement, suspense, silly fun, just rewards, a touch of sadness to give it all […]