MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #1

Capsule Review

Magic. Pretty much out of nowhere, creators Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder, and Natacha Bustos create one of the very best (if not the best) books in this Marvel relaunch. This series comfortably fits in the informal “TweenerVerse” Marvel has set up with books like Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, and Spider-Gwen, but to dismiss this book for being all-ages is to do it a grave injustice. Our hero is Lunella Lafayette, a middle school super-genius who might be too smart for her own good — not because it leads her into trouble so much as it distances her from her peers, and sees her zoning out during her science lesson because she already knows what the school has to teach her, backwards and forwards. She’s not dismissive of her teachers and schoolmates so much as profoundly disinterested, and Lunella genuinely can’t understand why anyone would obsess over Taylor Swift when there are more important things to do, like creeping around the roots of the Brooklyn Bridge with a homemade Kree Detector hunting up stray wisps of Terrigen Mist. Which she does. And somehow opens a portal to Jack Kirby’s prehistoric age, admitting Devil Dinosaur into the present. Sensitive, well-drawn, marvelously written, and given warmth and vibrance by colorist Tamra Bonvillain’s palette, this book is simply delightful. Read it!

Approachability For New Readers

Very good. This is a genuine origin story and new readers won’t be lost. They may wonder at the weirdness of Devil Dinosaur and his world, but it won’t get in the way of the fun (and veteran readers will appreciate getting a fresh glimpse of Devil’s prehistoric age).

Read #2?

Absolutely!

Sales Rank

#63 November

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