“Maybe we’ve finally entered the Twilight Zone.  Really, it was bound to happen.”

These worlds are spoken by Jen, the Lumberjanes’ long-suffering and continually frazzled camp counselor.  She longs for normalcy and calm but inevitably gets reality-bending, supernatural chaos instead.  Really, at this point, what else should she expect as the “responsible adult” in charge of the adventure-magnet Lumberjanes.  And nothing has changed as she’s taken on temporary babysitting duties for the recently arrived group of Gotham Academy students.

As we rejoin the campers and students at the beginning of Issue #2, we find Jen and Olive in the mysterious Greenwood Lodge, in a time-warped bedroom that seems to be stuck in the ’80s.  As they are attempting to get their bearings and venture out into the Lodge proper, they find themselves again confronted by the floating skeleton-head, cape-wearing “monster things” (Yes, that’s a technical term!) and are escorted to the strangest dinner party ever.

In the meantime, the rest of our cross-over group has made it back to the Lumberjanes’ camp and are trying to settle on what to do next.  The Gothamites (I have no idea if that’s the right term, but I’m running with it.) want to charge off into the night to rescue their comrades; the Lumberjanes prefer the more cautious approach of coming up with a carefully researched plan first.  (Jen is totally rubbing off on them.  She would be so proud if she weren’t so busy running around in an atrocious prom dress.)

Thankfully, we can rely on Maps and Ripley to come to the rescue.  Fed up with the bickering of the older kids, they quickly collaborate and present a compromise to the group that gets the action moving forward.

This is really the strength and delight of this series so far…watching those delightfully funny and savvy characters you love so much from both of these publications come together and interact.  Maps and Ripley are soul mates stuck in different comic books, but for a brief time we get to see them in full “Wonder Twins Powers Activate!” mode, and the results are glorious.

As this mystery deepens, we are promised a very intriguing look into both Professor McPherson’s and Rosie’s backgrounds, a daring rescue attempt, and a glimpse of the person who might be behind the current weirdness.  I’m holding out for a peak underneath those skeleton-monsters’ robes.  And some more Maps and Ripley genius, of course.

We’ll see you back here for Issue #3!