Lumberjanes

Originally planned as an eight-part series, the comic was made an ongoing series following strong sales and critical acclaim. The comic series came to a close after 75 issues with a one-shot finale in December 2020, ending its six-year-run.

• Genre — * Action • Comedy drama • Coming-of-age • Publisher — Boom! Studios • Date — 2014–2020 • Issues — 75, plus specials • Writers — * ND Stevenson • Grace Ellis • Shannon Watters • Kat Leyh • Faith Erin Hicks • Artists — * Gus Allen • Brittney Williams • Aimee Fleck • Faith Erin Hicks • Becca Tobin • Casey Nowak • AnneMarie Rogers • Felicia Choo • T. Zysk • Letterers — Aubrey Aiese • Colorists — Maarta Laiho • Editors — * Dafna Pleban • Bones Leopard • Creators — * ND Stevenson • Grace Ellis • Shannon Watters • Gus Allen

Lumberjanes came about as the result of Boom! Studios editor Shannon Watters approaching writer Grace Ellis in the hopes of creating a girl-centric comic series. After settling on a story set at a summer camp, the pair brought in Gus Allen for initial character designs and ND Stevenson as a co-writer. The series would be the second published on Boom! Studios' Boom! Box imprint, which aimed to feature experimental, creator-driven work by writers and artists from outside the mainstream comics industry. A single eight-issue story arc was originally planned, but shortly after the release of the second issue, Boom! Studios announced that Lumberjanes would become an ongoing series. The Lumberjanes characters were featured in a six issue crossover miniseries with DC Comics's Gotham Academy series written by Chynna Clugston Flores with art by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell. The series titled Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy, was released between June and November 6, 2016.

The story is set in and around Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady-Types, a summer camp whose attendees are known as "Lumberjane Scouts". The five scouts of the Roanoke cabin — Jo, April, Molly, Mal and Ripley — witness a mysterious old woman transforming into a bear, and after following her into the woods, encounter a hostile pack of three-eyed supernatural foxes. As more three-eyed creatures start to appear, the girls task themselves with solving the mysteries surrounding the camp. Over the course of the story, characters earn or refer to various Lumberjane scout badges. The characters frequently invoke the names of notable female pioneers, with phrases such as "Oh my Bessie Coleman!" and "What the Joan Jett?" Each of the first seven issues ends with a track listing for a mixtape prepared by one of the characters.

• Jo is the most cool-headed and analytical member of the group. She is a Navajo transgender girl. She acts as the de facto leader and specializes in the more mathematical puzzles the group faces, and is the most by-the-book of the scouts, knowing the Lumberjane pledge by heart. She has a strong bond with April, including a secret handshake. When Jen is absent, Jo is the most likely to worry about the safety of the group and attempt to rescue her friends. In Vol. 10, "Parents' Day", she and April refer to each other's parents as "uncle", but it is not clarified whether they are related, or that this is meant to imply that their families are close friends. • April has a flair for the dramatic and a love of puns, and habitually takes notes on the various puzzles the group encounters in her diary. Though outwardly the least physically imposing Lumberjane, she is revealed to be the strongest after successfully arm wrestling a giant living statue. She is also the fact-finder and knowledge base for most of their adventures, and is always ready to face the unknown. She is Jo's best friend, and was the first person Jo came out to. As of issue 73, she has every badge available to Lumberjanes. • Molly is a skilled archer, but being shy, she sometimes worries that she doesn't contribute enough to the group. However, it is revealed that she has a head for word games and puzzles, and likes to read, loves history, and has the second-most patches of anyone. While Jo or April take the lead and forge ahead, Molly will watch the back of the group, preferring to look after Mal (often anxious), or Ripley (often distracted). She has a raccoon companion named Bubbles whom she wears as a hat and has a mutual crush on Mal. She has a rocky relationship with her family, particularly her mother, while her relationship with her father appears to be relatively neutral. • Mal, despite her punk appearance, is the most cautious and sensitive of the group. She is Korean-American. She specializes in crafting elaborate plans. She is often paranoid about the dangers facing them at the camp, has a fear of rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, and is watched over and protected by Molly, whom she loves romantically. They often hold hands and share panels together as a couple. • Ripley is the youngest and most energetic of the girls, liable to launch herself towards danger without any fear. Her famous move includes drop-kicking things in the stomach, including foxes, yetis, statues, and even Mal, and she sometimes gets her friends to throw her at enemies. She loves animals, from kittens to dinosaurs, and sweet things such as cookies and candy. Despite often being the catalyst for trouble (forcing the others to follow her to rescue her from jumping into white water rapids, for example) she possesses keen insight into other people's feelings, and notices things others will overlook. Molly and Mal are often Ripley's unofficial guardians, and if not them, then Jen. She has a large family, and often bickers with her siblings. She is shown to have a very close relationship with her Abuela. She is half Irish-American and half Afro-Mexican.

• Jen is Roanoke cabin's scout-leader and is a student in high school. The girls consider her an adult figure, meaning that they are likely on the younger end of their teen years, though it is never specified. Though Jen takes her job very seriously and is often stern with her campers, she genuinely cares for them and tries to protect them from harm. She is extremely knowledgeable about various fields such as botany and astronomy, and usually tries in vain to interest her adventurous campers in safer activities before catching on to the odd happenings at Camp. • Rosie is the camp scout-master, an easy-going, tattooed woman who enjoys woodcarving (and by dress, tattoos, name, and hobbies, is an obvious nod to Rosie the Riveter, playing into the theme of "Hardcore Lady Types" and feminist empowerment). She seems to know more about the mysterious events surrounding the camp than she is willing to reveal, and encourages the Lumberjanes to keep their eyes peeled, tacitly encouraging them to solve the mystery.

Author Mariko Tamaki and artist Gus Allen expanded the series into a four-book series of middle-grade novels, published by Amulet Books: • Unicorn Power! (3 October 2017) • The Moon Is Up (8 May 2018) • The Good Egg (30 October 2018) • Ghost Cabin (10 September 2019)

Boom! Box released a series of original graphic novels, written by Lilah Sturges and drawn by polterink: • The Infernal Compass (23 October 2018) • The Shape of Friendship (26 November 2019) • True Colors (20 October 2020)

In September 2025, it was announced that the series would be rereleased as a vertical scrolling webcomic on Webtoon.

In May 2015, 20th Century Fox announced it was working on a live-action adaptation. In August 2016, Emily Carmichael was announced to direct the film. In August 2019, the film was canceled by Disney after its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. In October 2020, HBO Max won a bid against Apple and Peacock to release an animated television adaptation of the series. The one-hour animated special introducing the characters will be executive produced and written by ND Stevenson. He will also write and direct episodes for the main series, while serving an executive producer. Additionally, Ross Richie and Stephen Christy, from BOOM! Studios, will be executive producers, as will Mette Norkjaer, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Gus Allen. After the adaptation was announced, fellow animators, like Matt Braly of Amphibia, Rad Sechrist of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Aaron Waltke of Tales of Arcadia, Shadi Petosky of Twelve Forever and Danger & Eggs praised the development. There were similar sentiments from voice actors Liam O'Brien, Sam Riegel, Aimee Carrero, Felicia Day, and Cissy Jones, comic artists Alex Z. Zhang and Victoria Ying, TV writers Shane Lynch and Benjamin Siemon, and comic writers Jackson Lanzing and Dan Slott, among others. On October 22, 2020, Stevenson stated that the show is in "development, not production" and that there is "no crew at this time." In January 2021, Gumroad said that Stevenson is "steering" the animated Lumberjanes adaptation. as did Morgan Shaunette of CBR. In 2021, Out, ITV, and Polygon described the series as in development, noting the role of Stevenson. In December 2022, Multiversity Comics reported that they were "still waiting for the Lumberjanes TV show", with no news in 2022. In a June 2023 interview for Deadline Hollywood, Stevenson said he was still "developing Lumberjanes" and "figuring out that world." A New York Times profile of Stevenson, also in June 2023, described him as working on developing the series. In February 2025, ComicsBeat noted that there has no word on Lumberjanes for many years nor any confirmation that the "show was canned" due to the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. into Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2022. In April 2025, Liz Wyatt of Comic Book said that people were "waiting very patiently" for the animated adaptation, noting that "the project isn't dead", said it was likely that "ND Stevenson is still working on adapting the script," and stated that if Max did scrap the series, Netflix could pick it up. The following month, Wyatt wrote that fans are "eagerly awaiting any and all news" about the adaptation. On September 17, 2025, Stevenson told Comic Book Club that production of the animated adaptation had ended, noting adaptations of the comic went through "many iterations," saying certain issues, including corporate mergers, made working on it "untenable." He noted that the most recent adaptation is "sort of on ice," but opined that it is "a long way from dead" and that he is down to "keep playing with different iterations of it" with the possibility of a stage musical, an RPG, or something else, adding "those conversations are happening. It's just there's nothing solid at this point."