Writer: Brandon Montclare / Artists: Natacha Bustos, Domo Stanton, Ray Anthony Height, Michael Shelfer / Marvel Comics
We need more diverse books like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. We have the serious, slightly heady stuff like Black Panther, and I am not complaining about having Ta-Nehesi Coates in the comic book world at all, but it’s nice to have Black characters starting to span the spectrum from the more serious coming-of-age hero tales we get with Miles Morales to the fun, all ages, universe-spanning tales we get with Lunella Lafayette.
Issue #24 picks up with Moon Girl getting along on her own without Devil Dinosaur, figuring out what’s next for her exploits when she’s abducted by Mojo. Let me just say that I love how random Lunella’s rogues gallery is from adventure to adventure. It took me a long time reading comics (and a few episodes of Black Mirror) to truly appreciate the potential for satire and social relevance a villain like Mojo has. This is the sort of thing that makes superhero comics worthwhile. Thirty pages of Moon Girl interviewing potential new partners is worth its weight in gold.
The format of vignettes by different artists worked out really well for this issue. Domo Stanton and Michael Shelfer’s styles vary enough to make for great looking stories that play with characters’ looks and styles while still not deviating from Natacha Bustos’ aesthetic so much that it’s distracting.
Bottom Line: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is one of the most accessible, well written all ages comics I’ve ever read. This book can do no wrong. In twenty years, if someone tells me that world peace was achieved because this book existed back in the day, I’d believe them. Brandon Montclare should just go ahead and make space on his shelf for an Eisner.
Reading Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
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