Gravity Falls: Lost Legends

Gravity Falls: Lost Legends is a graphic novel published by Disney Press, based on the animated television series Gravity Falls. Written by series creator Alex Hirsch, the comics in the book are illustrated by various artists, including Asaf Hanuka and Dana Terrace. The comics explores four new adventures taking place within the show's continuity.

First announced at the fifth D23 Expo in July 2017, the book was released on July 24, 2018, alongside the complete series box set. Barnes and Noble released a special exclusive edition as well which includes 16 extra pages with behind the scenes production art and drawings from the book. Lost Legends was generally positively received by fans, with praise for its "brilliant application" of the comic medium. The book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list in August 2018.

Plot
The story begins with a narration by Shmebulock, who at first is believed to be the "village idiot" of the gnomes who only says his name, but in actuality was cursed by an evil warlock to only speak his own name, only able to speak again for a thousand years from moonlight. Shmebulock tells the reader four tales about the Pines family and their untold adventures.

Face It
Stanford Pines puts Dipper in charge of looking after his journals while he searches for the Mothman (who owes him money). Pacifica Northwest approaches Dipper and Mabel for help to remove a wrinkle for an upcoming photoshoot with her parents. As Dipper refuses to help, Pacifica sneaks into the Mystery Shack to view the journals and summon Mr. What's-His-Face. Promised to be given a flawless face, Pacifica accepts his deal, but the exchange was interrupted by the twins. Mr. What's-His-Face steals Mabel's face instead of Pacifica's.

Dipper and Pacifica track the monster into the Crawlspace, a paranormal black market underneath the town. Evading the monsters, they disguised themselves in rubbish. In an argument, they are caught by other monsters and sold to an unknown buyer. While in the burlap sack, Dipper assures Pacifica that she is "more than just a pretty face" after she reveals her insecurity with regard to her appearance due to pressure from her mother.

Finding themselves at Mr. What's-His-Face's home, the two demand to have Mabel's face back, but he instead steals Dipper's face. Facing a choice on whether to have an everlasting beautiful face or fight him to get back the twins' faces, Pacifica sets Mr. What's-His-Face's head on fire by tossing explosive beauty pills at him. The three escape into an outhouse, where Stanford freezes the monster. With little time left to clean herself up, Pacifica decides not to care about her appearance and attends the shoot covered in rubbish, much to her parents' disgust.

Comix Up
Soos brings over his collection of comic books to the Shack. However, Stanley confiscates them, due to his disdain of the medium, and locks them in a cursed chest. A malicious narration box follows Stanley around before he is trapped in a comic book. Dipper, Soos, Mabel, Stanford, and Wendy follow him into the book and enter a world of shifting art styles and genres. They chase a mysterious purple-cloaked man, believing that he knows Stanley's whereabouts. Managing to corner him, the cloaked man sets off a bomb that sends everyone flying out of the story's panels and into the margins.

Soos finds a sobbing Stanley in a comic he drew in his childhood, which was rejected by publishers due to its excessive use of profanity, causing him to resent the medium. Soos urges Stanley to continue his childhood dream and apologize to the cursed chest, but Stanley refuses to refer to the medium as "graphic novels". Before they are killed by the narration box, they are rejoined by the others, who defeat the narration box with white-out. Returning to the real world, Stanley reproduces his childhood comic and sells them in the Shack's gift shop.

Don't Dimension It
During an expedition through the forest of Gravity Falls to check for leftover dimensional rifts in the aftermath of Weirdmageddon, Mabel falls into a wormhole while retrieving her pig Waddles, prompting Stan and Ford to enter it in order to find her. She ends up in a pocket dimension, along with other lost Mabels of the multiverse. However, as they are preoccupied with their own tasks, none are able to help her return to her dimension. She meets another Mabel who resembles her and shares her determination to leave the dimension. Both work together to retrieve a flare gun and manage to alert the grunkles to their location. However, the other Mabel locks Mabel into an outhouse, revealing herself to be Anti-Mabel, an evil version of her, and intends to take over another Mabel's life and her dimension. Stan and Ford, unaware of the switch, pick up Anti-Mabel. Leaving the outhouse, Mabel tries to get help from the other Mabels but becomes aggravated when they are too preoccupied to help. Coming to realize how similar to past actions of hers they are, Mabel manages to rally the other Mabels for help in defeating Anti-Mabel.

While on the way back to their dimension, Stan and Ford are overpowered by Anti-Mabel. Mabel and her other versions arrive, fighting Anti-Mabel and rescuing Stan and Ford. Anti-Mabel is defeated and ejected into space. Dropping the Pines off at the rift leading back to their dimension, the other Mabels thank them for their help before returning to their home dimensions, and Stan and Ford seal the rift. Mabel apologizes to Dipper for her past mistakes and gives him a new journal, which she got from Mabipper. She expresses her hope of starting new adventures with Dipper.

The Jersey Devil's in the Details
In the 1960s, a younger Stan and Ford plan to spend the summer going on adventures and working on their new boat, the Stan-O-War, but their dreams are dashed when Stan is accused of stealing their father's gold chain and told he will be grounded for the entire summer. They cut a deal with their father that if they can find the true culprit within 24 hours, Stan's innocence will be proven, otherwise he will be grounded.

Ford analyzes the clues surrounding the crime scene and comes to the conclusion that the chain was stolen by the Jersey Devil, and the two set off to search for the cryptid. While stocking up on adventuring supplies, they meet the Sibling Brothers, snooty mystery-solvers who do not appreciate the Pines brothers encroaching on their territory. Stan and Ford head down to the carnival to look for more clues, where they are at first rebuffed by the circus freaks until Ford shows them his six fingers, whereupon they allow the boys to view a map of the Jersey Devil's hideout tattooed onto the back of one of the performers.

This leads them to the nearby lighthouse, but they are not allowed inside due to Stan's delinquent reputation. They also discover the Sibling Brothers are also on the same trail as them, causing Stan to accidentally push the brothers off a sand dune. Believing them to be dead, the Pines decide to make the best of it and steal their clothes to impersonate them. They succeed and discover the pathway to the Jersey Devil's cave.

While separated when exploring the cave, the Sibling Brothers reappear and present Ford with photographic proof that Stan is the one who stole the chain. Stan eventually returns with the Jersey Devil chasing him. All four boys flee, but when Stan and Ford make it to safety, Ford demands to know the reasons behind Stan's actions. Stan tearfully confesses that he did take the gold chain, but only because he wanted to customize it for Father's Day in the hopes of earning their dad's approval, and he panicked when he accidentally broke the glass. Before Ford can reply, the Jersey Devil shows up again, but is captured by the Sibling Brothers, who give Ford the chance of taking credit for finding the monster if he gives them the pictures of Stan stealing the chain back so they can collect the reward — otherwise, they'll frame both Pines twins for the theft. Ford allows Shanklin (Stan's possum friend with a knife strapped to its back) to attack the brothers and also free the Jersey Devil rather than betray his own brother, and after the humiliated Sibling Brothers call them freaks, they are set upon by the circus folk as Stan and Ford head home. The two are grounded for the summer, but they find solace in each other's company.

The story ends with a flashforward to present-day Stan and Ford preparing to set sail on the Stan-O-War II, and a short ballad detailing some of their adventures on the seas.

Epilogue
Shmebulock breaks the fourth wall by ranting about the potential for the stories he told to be adapted into either a film or miniseries, and also disclosing that he presumably has more adventures for another "season". Shmebulock tells the reader of the existence of a secret message hidden in the book, but before he can disclose further, he reverts to his cursed self as day breaks.

Publication history
Gravity Falls is an animated television series created by Alex Hirsch. It aired over two seasons, with the finale having aired on February 15, 2016. In subsequent interviews about the show, Hirsch mentioned he considered creating comics for the series, using various ideas that were not used for the show as they were considered too short, "weird" or "specific".

The graphic novel was first announced as Untitled Gravity Falls the Graphic Novel at the D23 Expo in 2017, during a shared panel with Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Through an online jigsaw puzzle via Twitter called Puzzling Pines, the cover art for the book was released on February 15, 2018; which also was the 2-year anniversary of the show's conclusion. The book was released on July 24, 2018, as part of a dual merchandise release with the Shout! Factory-produced complete series box set, with an estimated sales of 702 copies in the subsequent month.

Lost Legends also contains series of codes that lead to a companion website called "shmeb-you-unlocked". On it, there is additional tie-in content and comics as well as additional codes which are deciphered using a key found within the box set for the series.

Critical response
Gravity Falls: Lost Legends has been generally well received by fans. In August 2018, the book appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. It has been praised for its "brilliant application" of the comic medium, especially with one story Comix Up making reference to various art styles of other renowned comics. The four stories have been welcomed as "faithful additions" to the Gravity Falls series and considered "a love letter to the fans from Alex Hirsch himself". Capturing the "charm" of the TV series, the graphic novel includes cryptogram scattered throughout the stories and exploration of morals just like the episodes in the show, with each character "learning something important about themselves" at the end of each story.