Writers: Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder / Artist: Ray Anthony Height / Marvel Comics
If you have any affection whatsoever for #BlackGirlMagic, you need to introduce Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur into your monthly comic repertoire. Amy Reeder has this “hero for the millenials” thing down almost as well as G. Willow Wilson does in Ms. Marvel (which should be the All New All Different Marvel standard bearer as far as I’m concerned). If you’re not reading this book by now, I reserve the right to question your love for the art form.
This issue is the third installment of this “Smartest There Is” storyline. Lunella is still trying to adjust to life in the wake of finding out she’s the smartest person on Earth. Though the book doesn’t make too much headway in forcing a real confrontation with Doctor Doom, we get a short but sweet team up with Riri Williams. The thing I appreciate about these team-ups is that they don’t condescend to the kind of character Reeder and Brandon Montclare are trying to build here. Much like the way parenting should be, the book always takes the time to consider Lunella as a person and remind the supporting cast that she doesn’t deserve to be talked down to just because she’s nine years old. But she also doesn’t get to run around unsupervised just because she’s smart with a dinosaur for a friend.
Ray Anthony Height perfectly blends childish whimsy with fun comic action. One of the cutest scenes I’ve ever seen in a comic book is Lunella working on a superhero gadget, pouting while her mother does her hair. And my gawd, there is simply nothing funnier than Devil Dinosaur bringing Moon Girl a stuffed carnival, his face clearly awaiting acknowledgment like a dog would.
Bottom Line: Whether you read comics for grandiose superhero slugfests or witty character development, if you’re a comic reader, it will be to your ultimate benefit to read this book. Not too heavy, but also not too trite, it meets its audience in the middle for one of most sincere, endearing titles on the shelf.
Reading Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
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