Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur #1
Marvel Comics
Reeder, Montclare, Bustos & Bonvillain
The legacy of Jack Kirby is alive and well as Marvel launches a new series based on seldom used characters that Kirby created some forty years ago. This particular series continues the trend of Marvel launching a brand new character with some relatively new voices on the creative side. The results are another comic that is fun, interesting and charming. I recommending checking this comic out.
Lunella Lafayette is a young girl (twelve? thirteen? fourteen?) that doesn't quite fit in. She doesn't like regular school because her attentions are on other, more interesting things; like alien technology. She doesn't quite fit in at home because they can't understand why she doesn't simply want to live as a kid and have friends. To say he's out of place is an understatement.
While the reader gets to know Lunella, we witness the apparent demise of Moon-Boy. Before he perishes he transports the Nightstone, Devil Dinosaur and some local cavemen to another time and place. They happen to all converge on Lunella on the school playground.
The book is paced well, it takes time to introduce all of the characters while filling the reader in what a Nightstone and a Moon-Boy are, but still moving briskly along. The book also has charm to it that doesn't feel forced or out of place. There is a protected innocence to Lunella that is presented rather than simply stated. The comic has all kinds of possibilities based on this first issue.
The artwork is a lot of fun. Lunella gets a lively look and she has a wide range of expressions. It is easy for the reader to fall in love with her zest and enthusiasm. The comic uses a green base for a lot of the backgrounds and it seems to do well when the comic switches gears to the whole time travel thing. It has a mood to the book that gives off an all ages vibe without being cartoon like. The artwork tells a very good visual story.
"Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" is a comic book title that sounds like it could be a lot of fun and the initial issue delivers on that prospect. The reader gets to know a new character, Lunella Lafayette, and the cast around her as well as the general set up of the Jack Kirby creations of Moon-Boy and Devil Dinosaur. The comic book is energetic and charming and brings the reader into a world that has a ton of possibilities, all of which appear to be fun. The artwork provides an all ages element to the story without coming across as cartoony. This is definitely a book to keep an eye on and an issue to pick up. This is undeniably something different in the Marvel Universe.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
