GRAVITY FALLS: LOST LEGENDS by Alex Hirsch

I was a late comer to the animated show GRAVITY FALLS. I was introduced to it by my brother. The show was one of the best written television shows I have ever watched. There were so many layers and everything fit together so well. Like so many others, I came to love the show and the characters that were on it. Unlike many series, GRAVITY FALLS ended after it had told the story it came to tell (after only two seasons). It is possible that the show might be revisited at some point (Dipper’s letter does say see you next summer), there are no new episodes of the series right now or any time on the near horizon. However, fans of the show do have a few more stories with the release of GRAVITY FALLS: LOST LEGENDS.

GRAVITY FALLS: LOST LEGENDS contains four new Gravity Falls adventures told by Shmebulock. It turns out that Shmebulock isn’t the “slow” gnome everyone thinks. He’s actually very intelligent but was cursed by an evil wizard a long time ago to only speak his name, but every 1,000 years he gets a chance to speak normally again for one night. This is the night and Shmebulock shares it with the reader.

The four stories are:

“Face It” – Dipper and Pacifica Northwest team up together after Pacifica unleashes a creature called Mr. What’s-His-Face steals Mabel’s face.

“Comix Up” – The Pines family and friends literally jump into the pages of a comic book to save Grunkle Stan.

“Don’t Dimension It” – Set after Weirdmageddon, but before Dipper and Mabel return home, this story finds Mabel sucked into the multiverse where she learns an important lesson about herself.

“Pines Bros. Mystery” – This story is about Stan and Ford’s first adventure as kids when they first met a mythological/supernatural creature. There are another set of twins in the story who are the Pine’s rivals who are parodies of the Hardy Boys.

Of the four stories, I really don’t have a favorite because they are all good in their own right. “Face It” is another classic Gravity Falls adventure and is the story most like an episode (watching the special DVD that comes with the Gravity Falls DVD boxset, I believe this story was an episode that was planned, but just never made it to the show). The story also hints at a possible romance between Pacifica and Dipper. “Comix Up” is a great story that features over half-a-dozen animation styles. “Don’t Dimension It” is really neat because it’s a story set right before Dipper and Mabel return home and could be foreshadowing of adventures to come. Lastly, I love the “Pines Bros. Mystery” because it’s a story that shows how much Stan and Ford really did care for each other growing up and why Stan risked so much to save his brother.

GRAVITY FALLS:  LOST LEGENDS is a must have for any fan of Gravity Falls, but as a graphic novel, it’s not too bad as a stand alone piece.