I picked this book up for my "Graphic Novel in a Series" for my college class. I thought it was the first book in the series. Instead it was a collection of one shots. Not bad but not fully what I was anticipating. Still, the story of girls and friendship set across a outdoor camp....fun! ( )

Möjligen har jag inte läst samlingarna med Lumberjanes extrahistorier i rätt ordning, men detta spelar ingen roll: poängen med dessa korta berättelser är ju att de inte skall vara en del av någon större handling och istället kunna fylla hela eller delar av serietidningar som inte täcks av sådana.

I Bonus tracks är det fråga om tre längre och två kortare historier, om självlysande spökhästar och en mystisk, blek kvinna med vassa tänder, om spökande, utsvultna guldgrävare och om ett besök på ett medeltidslajv där de leker Robin Hood och träffar en ny vän, respektive när Ridley träffade en sfinx och när de spelade spansk såpopera. Tonfallet är i samtliga fall det rätta, även om jag nog bäst gillar den pessimism som första berättelsen delvis slutar i samt lajvandets många hopp från en idé till nästa.

Då skiljer sig de tecknade stilarna betydligt mer: fem författare kan uppenbarligen alla skriva någorlunda enhetligt, men fem olika tecknare är det svårare för. Ingen faller riktigt ur ramen, även om Christine Norrie får dem att verka lite väl vuxna. Annars finns inte mycket att anmärka på. ( )

The majority of the book I liked until the last story. I don't know why it didn't pull me but I couldn't read it all the way through and it wasn't the same as the other stories I have read throughout the series. That is why I took a half star off. But the other stories in this book are great!! Heart Ripley! ( )

Lumberjanes: Bonus Tracks is the collected volume of Lumberjanes one-shot special issues. I didn't really know what to expect when I picked this book up. I bought it because it (and Volume 4 of the main story) were what was available in the comic book shop. I'm glad I did grab this book, though, as it exceeded my expectations.

Once I overcame the slight weirdness of seeing different artists draw familiar characters in slightly different ways — exacerbated by the fact that I had just read one of the regular volumes — I really enjoyed the short stories presented here. This volume contains five stories written and illustrated by different creators. Each is a self-contained story and they don't require very much prior knowledge of the series except for the general setting. I think there were a couple of very minor references to events in Lumberjanes issues I haven't read, but the plot certainly didn't hinge on them.

It's not a terrible sampler to get an idea of whether you want to read more Lumberjanes, even if the writers are not the regulars. That said, I think readers will get a little bit more enjoyment out of Bonus Tracks if they've read a bit of Lumberjanes before, since these stories do none of the work of establishing setting or character (which makes sense, given the context). I don't want to say much about the content of the stories since they're so short it would feel like spoilers; I think the blurb says enough. However, I will note that my favourite story was the one written by Holly Black, "Faire and Square", but it was a very close race between all of them.

I highly recommend this volume to fans of Lumberjanes. As far as I can tell, it can be inserted anywhere in your Lumberjanes journey and still be enjoyable.

4.5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog. ( )