Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1

by Amy Reeder

If the post-holiday doldrums have set in, cheer yourself up by reading Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, the new Marvel comic by Brandon Montclaire and Amy Reeder. In this comic, a brilliant African American tween girl named Lunella tries to use science (Inspector Gadget style) to avoid becoming an Inhuman. The Inhuman thing is part of the new Marvel mythos, but don’t worry about it – the point is that she’s super smart, she’s into science, and she fears change, and you’ll get all of that from this comic even without having other Marvel knowledge.

When Lunella discovers some alien technology, it brings her into contact with a giant alien Tyrannosaurus Rex. At this point in the comic’s run (end of December 2015/beginning of January 2016) the series is only two issues in, so we don’t know where the story is going, but we do know that this could be the cutest Girl and Her Dog Dinosaur ever. The comic is a reboot of a Jack Kirby classic, Devil Dinosaur and Moonboy, but again, you don’t need to know anything about the original to adore this reboot.

Look at the cover of Issue #1. LOOK AT IT.

Let’s be honest – if the first issue consisted of this cover and a bunch of blank pages, I’d still give this comic an A. I’m utterly helpless before its powers. This is possibly the most adorable yet badass thing I’ve ever seen.

This comic has adult appeal and kid appeal. The first two issues have been perfectly enjoyable for me as an adult but have also been suitable for kids at least eight and up, or younger depending on how the parent feels about comic-book-style violence.

It’s too early for me to know a great deal about this comic, except that it’s thrillingly diverse, colorful, and exciting, it has some underlying themes anyone can relate to, and it’s SO MUCH FUN.

– Carrie S

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