Gravity Falls Journal 3 Review

“TRUST NO ONE!”

Review:

Gravity Falls was an amazing show and while there’s a small part of me that wishes they could’ve lasted another season I am still happy and amazed with how much they have gotten done in the two seasons and mini-sodes that they have in terms of wonderful mystery and action plots as well as touching characterization. However, to help fill a desire for more Gravity Falls content and expand on this weird, wonderful universe is the Gravity Falls Journal 3 which apparently in-universe was restored after Bill was defeated along with everything else he destroyed. Who’d a thunk it?

Straight from the creator Alex Hirsch himself, as well as looking like it’s straight from the show itself too, Journal 3 acts as a fill in to the events that took place before and during the show’s main story. With the very beginnings of Ford coming to Gravity Falls, the road to the breakdown of his only friend and assistant McGuckett, and his eventual discovery of how sinister his “muse” really is. The section dealing with Ford gives us glimpses of the pages we saw Dipper reading on the show in glorious, actual paper with dedicated details and more monsters than we expected. It also chronicles Ford’s growing discoveries and pride up until his paranoia gets the better of him and of course, goes through the portal. Along the pages and sketches we can see some of the secret code the show is also known for and crossed out notes of Ford missing his brother.

Where Ford leaves off in the Journal Dipper and others continue cataloging their adventures, many seen on the show that we witnessed with them such as Mabel talking about her Smile Dip trip from the haunted convenience store or Dipper elaborating on other memories he saw in Grunkle Stan’s head. There’s also Soos even writing about his crazy computer girlfriend GIFFany (who he is still unsure how to pronounces her name) who actually gets a happy ending herself by surviving her game being burnt and finding a boyfriend in Rumbles McSkirmish. The section written by the twins and other cast members gives us more details about the adventures they had such as Stan stealing a dinosaur egg only for it to hatch into a little Pick-Pocket-asaurus and the ghost lumberjack who haunted the Northwests being an ancestor of Wendy! Once Ford comes back he picks up writing in the journal again, only to fill in what he did while stuck in other dimensions which was barely touched in the actual show. It’s really a mind-blowing, fulfilling read for fans of the show.We also learn the most sought after mystery of Gravity Falls: Dipper's real name!

Not only is Journal 3 a fun read for Gravity Falls fans and anyone in general, it wonderfully doubles as a replicated prop from the show with the pages all done in the same style we saw glimpses of in the beloved cartoon. When the dust jacket is removed the book also looks just as it does on the show with no logos and comes with a nice ribbon for book marking. Where it fits in being a true "Graphic Novel" is debatable but it's got pictures, I love this series, and it deserves being discussed and advertised.

Recommendation:

A must for the shelves, though for slightly older children like the Juvenile section as it is wordy and alludes to darker subjects. Given the shows’ popularity many will be wanting to get their hands on this book as much as Gideon Gleeful did. Though for different reasons hopefully.