Image Description: the book-cover of Lumberjanes, Vol. 5: Band Together by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Brooke Allen. The main cover features a split-view image, one half of the cover is of the Lumberjanes in canoes on top of the surface of the lake with fishing gear. The bottom half of the cover is an underwater view of the mermaids in the lake. It appears that one of the Lumberjanes’ fishing hooks has gotten caught in one of the mermaid’s hair.
Title: Lumberjanes, Vol. 5: Band Together
Creators: Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Carolyn Nowak (Illustrations), Grace Ellis, Kat Leyh, Brooke A. Allen (Illustrator)
Social Media: Goodreads
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Format and Price: Paperback from my local library
Stars: 3 out of 5 stars
About The Book:
It’s a battle of the bands… with mermaids! April takes it upon herself to restore a friendship that has fallen apart, but will she be in over her head as her above water friendships take a hit? When friendships are challenged, can the Lumberjanes save the day? Don’t miss out on this exciting collection!
This New York Times bestseller and multiple Eisner Award-winning series written by Noelle Stevenson (Nimona, Runaways), Shannon Watters, and Kat Leyh and illustrated by the tremendously talented Brooke Allen (Home for Mr Easter) and Carolyn Nowak (Rungs).
General Observations:
~Artwork style: There was a shift in artistic style and, while it wasn’t bad, it was a distinctive shift from the previous art-styles used in the Lumberjane series. I found the new art style distracting.
~Narrative Pacing: This volume was more of a breather episode, in fact, the characters lampshade it themselves. So, while it was good to take a step back from the intense plot-related previous volume, it has resulted in slow plot development and slow character development. The creators of the Lumberjanes could stand to speed up the plotting process a little. The creators make up with slow pacing with good character dynamics and humour but I can understand if a few readers didn’t enjoy this instalment of the series.
~Character Spotlight – April: In this episode, April discovers mermaids in the Lake (because of course there are mermaids in the lake). April has been obsessed with Mermaids since she was a kid. These mermaids are also somehow able to play musical instruments with electricity, while still being underwater and above water (this is also lampshaded internally).
The main plot revolves around April trying to help two mermaids resolve their differences with each other and help the two of them be friends again. To be honest, the plot doesn’t make a lot of sense, and the character development on April’s end did feel a little obvious/PSA, however, it was consistent with April’s character and it was engaging enough.
All in all, an alright addition that has a bigger emphasis on characters and humour, but with slow pacing. The pacing is a little frustrating, so I’m looking forward to the next volume, but I’m also not rushing out to get it.
Available for Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
Ambiguous Pieces 