Lumberjanes 2: Friendship to the Max

Although Lumberjanes has since been promoted to ongoing comic, it was originally intended to be 8 issues long. As such, the first and second volume (which contain those 8 issues) make for a nice, complete story. Which means that, as much as I've enjoyed this series, I'll probably stop here. But this was a great story about girls at camp confronting supernatural creatures.

I probably should have re-read the first volume to refresh myself on the story so far. But it didn't take me too long to settle back into this story. And I was able to figure out most of what I needed to know from context. I probably missed out on some suspense, but that's alright. I can always read the two volumes back to back in the future to get the complete story.

For now, the back half of the story actually works pretty well on its own. It helps that the main villain is introduced here, having lurked in the shadows for the first four issues. And now that the friendships between the main girls are established, the story can take a step back to look at trust and (perceived) betrayal and how to navigate your feelings when you find out your friend has been keeping a secret.

Jo is the star of the show in this volume, and that's especially gratifying knowing what's coming down the line for her character. But it means that the other characters get a bit of a short shrift. Ripley isn't much more than comic relief, which is fine. And I felt like more could have been done with Mal and Molly. They're present in the story, and they both get some key moments. I just wish more time had been spent on them as people and their budding romance. Maybe that will happen in future issues.

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