Grace Ellis

When Image Comics has new titles to announce, it doesn't play by halves; the publisher has been known to throw down a massive number of awesome sounding titles led by amazing creators, before dropping the mic as if to say, "Top that". Last night at Emerald City Comic Con, the publisher did exactly that as it announced fifteen new comics and original graphic novels, including new work from Jeff Lemire, Declan Shalvey and Matt Wagner.

It's Kids' Week at ComicsAlliance! As the summer draws to a close and young comics fans get ready to go back to school, we're presenting a week of articles focused on great kids' comics, including comics recommendations for younger readers. Hey! Kids' comics! Lumberjanes is a fantastical young adult comic that debuted April 2014 from the Boom Box imprint of Boom Studios, created by Grace Ellis and Shannon Watters. The series follows five adventurous girls --- who are all completely different --- in a camp where nothing is what it seems.

When it comes to feature film adaptations of comic books, you can keep your grim cape-man broods for three hours action fests, because the project we're most excited to see on the silver screen is Boom Studios' Lumberjanes. Plans for a movie had been announced already, but the project has made one big leap towards reality now that rising star Emily Carmichael has signed on to direct.

Despite all the naysayers and negativity, the new Ghostbusters movie has received a rave reception from critics and audiences, thanks in large part to the chemistry and charisma of its four lead actors, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon. If you loved Ghostbusters and you're after comics in a similar vein, we've rounded up five of the best independent comics that capture the spirit (no pun intended) of the summer's biggest comedy.

I was in the happy position of sitting at the same table as the Boom Studios/Lumberjanes team when they scooped up two Eisner Awards at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, for best new series and best publication for teens. The team seemed surprised and overwhelemed, but to everyone else in that hall it must have felt like an inevitable moment of truly deserved recognition for a landmark series that showcased exciting new talents and brought a flood of new readers into comics. Now Boom is recognizing Lumberjanes' accomplishment in its own way with a beautiful hardcover collection of the first eight issues; Lumberjanes To The Max.

The 27th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards took place at the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront San Diego on Friday night, and it was a great night for diversity, for women in comics, for comics aimed at a younger audience, and for the future of the industry.

Some of you may remember that Lumberjanes, easily one of our favorite comics of the year, was originally slated to be an eight-issue miniseries. Fortunately for everyone, it was upgraded to an ongoing by virtue of being completely rad, but next week marks the release of the eighth issue of the series from Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen, closing out the first arc of friendship, merit badges, and creepy, creepy woods. And as you might expect for the start of a final chapter, things are not looking so good for our heroines.

You would think that after six months of adventures at a summer camp that is constantly being menaced by all manner of monsters and supernatural troublemakers, the Lumberjanes would have enough to worry about without the added stress of trying to pull off a heist. And yet, when Lumberjanes #7 hits shelves next week, from Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Brooke Allen, that's exactly what they're doing, going all Ocean's 11 (or in this case, Ripley's 6), with a log cabin standing in for a casino vault.

Lumberjanes is many things: paranormal adventure, ode to friendship, celebration of girlhood, viral success, emblem of a changing industry. A lesser book might have crumbled beneath these ambitions and expectations. It very immediately became not just a highly-anticipated comic, but -- for reasons included the fact that it's written, drawn, colored, lettered and edited by women -- an important comic, and that's as promising as it is dangerous. Privately, I had my doubts—it looked interesting, but I've been burned before by important books and I kept my excitement at a low simmer. But five issues into the Brooke Allen-drawn series, Boom! Studios/Boom! Box's Lumberjanes has firmly established itself as one of the cleverest, most good-natured comics on the market. The story of a delightfully plucky troop of wilderness girl scouts (not to be confused with the Girl Scouts) and the variously hilarious and supernatural adventures they get into at summer camp, the book is buoyed by the emotions and friendships of early adolescence, and can be enjoyed by neophytes and collectors alike—including, happily, young girls. It is never didactic or (most crucially) boring, and it balances character focus and plot extremely well.It is, simply and uncommonly, fun. ComicsAlliance sat down with creators Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Watters to discuss Disney movies, comics on Tumblr, and what's coming next for our favorite hardcore lady-types.

You're all reading Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen's Lumberjanes already, right? I mean, of course you are, we've been telling you how great it is since January, and in that time, the action, mystery and friendship have made it one of our favorite comics on the stands. So really, it's not like you need a preview to know that you're going to want to pick up the fifth issue when it hits the stands next week. But, on the off chance that you want to know what you're in for, we've got good news in the form of an exclusive peek at Lumberjanes #5, with bad dreams and hints at the mystery of the boys across the lake. So get out your yarn and get ready, because it's time to make some friendship bracelets.