Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy Vol. 1

I am so glad I gave this series a try. These are fun reads. Especially tempting to the reluctant reader. Not only will you not be disappointed, you'll probably get hooked too. I want to know what happens next every time.

My 10 year old daughter loves the Lumberjane books!

Great crossover

I was excited for a crossover between Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy because they were kind of my current favorite graphic novels. It starts with Prof MacPherson getting abducted and the Detective Club going in search of her with the only clue being a party in a lodge that is in the same forest as the Lumberjanes camp. Meanwhile, at the Lumberjanes camp, Rosie has been carried away and they are looking for clues when they cross paths with Detective Club, and Olive is chased and abducted by the mysterious hooded figures. When she comes to, we realize the party is real, even if the invitation is 30 years out of date, and they are stuck there by a curse.The story is pretty boring for what was to be an exciting crossover - most of their attempts are geared to getting Olive and the teachers out, but when that fails they themselves become part of the party. It isn't until much later they realize the why and how of the party and how to get out of there. The mystery isn't really a mystery, and the resolution was, well, predictable. The artwork is split between two artists, and changes mid-way, which was a surprise; I preferred the second one's style.Overall, I wasn't much impressed and I hope there will be another proper crossover in the future.

Gotham Academy / Lumberjanes collects the six-issue crossover mini-series starring Boom Studios’ Lumberjanes and DC Comics’ Gotham Academy.I have not read any Lumberjanes, and on the strength of this, I won’t be. I have been reading Gotham Academy, and the opening volume of the current series was excellent. This team-up however was heavy going. Had it been four issues, I would have managed, but stretched out over six, I had to take a break half-way and work myself up into finishing it.The writing style of the scripter was just so cloying that it choked me. Also, it is a supernatural story, which, unless well-handled – i.e. has a consistent internal logic - can be very annoying. The two together just didn’t work for me. There is a big cast, and trying to give everybody equal time just dragged a short story out to twice its length.However, that’s just my opinion.

The Good: Great idea for a crossover. I did like the 80's references and the use of the Cow Skulls from Time Bandits.The Bad: A lot of characters to juggle to the point where it was difficult for anyone to stand out. Plus, the story really dragged in the middle. Probably could have shortened this by 2 issues.The Ugly: The art didn't help. It wasn't bad, but all of the characters looked the same.

Daughter loves the series.