Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur...A Marvel Comic and A Review

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is a new series released by Marvel... and it is fun, fresh and full of potential! I'm not really the super hero kind of comic book reader, but when I heard about this new series I just had to check it out...

What's is all about? Moon Girl is really Lunella Lafayette, a 10-year-old, little girl, who is super smart (genius) and nerdy, with no friends, and a strange alien time bomb in her DNA that will eventually change her into something inhuman.  She'd rather invent things to try and solve the whole alien DNA problem, than live a normal preteen life, which makes her kind of not fit in too well with the world she lives in. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view at the moment) Lunella finds an alien orb that creates a time portal and Devil Dinosaur leaps into the present day along with 5 prehistoric cavemen called Killer Folk, because basically they kill people. This causes a bit of havoc, with Lunella getting captured by Devil Dinosaur. Eventually the story is suppose to have Lunella and Devil Dinosaur team up together and become the BFF's they need.

Issue #1 introduces us to Lunella, her school, and family. Shows us how she doesn't really fit in and no one really understands her. She's smarter than her 10 years and looking forward to getting into a better school. We also are introduced to Devil Dinosaur in a brief "backstory", where he is with Marvel's original character, Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur's original sidekick. We also meet the Killer Folk briefly and are introduced to the orb that first originates in prehistoric times with the Killer Folk and Devil Dinosaur until the time portal opens and Devil Dinosaur walks through "the gate" followed by the cave guys. The cave guys are after the orb, Devil Dinosaur is after the cave guys (because they killed Moon Boy) and Lunella is trying to hold onto the orb because she thinks it's the key to solving the alien DNA problem she has.

Issue #2 finds Devil Dinosaur, who still has Lunella, causing all sorts of havoc in the city where Lunella lives. At the same time, the 5 cave guys are causing their own havoc in the subway and then with a couple of policemen. I don't want to spoil anything here, but Lunella finally gets away from Devil Dinosaur only to be captured by the cave guys... you'll have to read the comic to find out what happens.

Issue #3 has Devil Dinosaur save the day, first saving Lunella and then ... Okay, I don't want to spoil any of the fun of the story. Basically Lunella and Devil Dinosaur are becoming the BFF's they were intended to become, they have a pretty cool adventure and then walks in the Hulk, yes that Hulk (the big green guy), and tries to save the day, because Lunella is just a little girl (right) and can't handle a big hulking dinosaur, right? And that's where issue #3 ends...

What do I think of the Series so far? So far, I am enjoying it! The beginning of the story was a little much with first Moon Boy & Devil Dinosaur and the Killer Folk. Just too much going on that didn't seem necessary. I guess the writers felt they had to somehow get Devil Dinosaur into the present day somehow and without Moon Boy, since these 2 were beloved characters many years ago.

After we get all that straightened out, the story seems to flow better. Lunella is just perfect! She is really thought out and well developed. Her storyline is great - nerdy little girl who doesn't really fit in, uses her brains to good advantage and just so happens to have a pet Dinosaur, who can crush any living thing. By issue 3, Lunella and Devil Dinosaur are working together to help others. The artwork is great, particularly Lunella, who is so adorable! I like the fact that Lunella is a strong female character, but we can also say that Marvel has shown some diversity here by making Lunella African American.

I look forward to reading the next few issues to see this Marvel World take shape. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur have such great potential and I have high hopes. One point Marvel had in developing Moon girl was to offer something to the younger crowd, someone they could relate to and I think Lunella (aka Moon Girl) can serve that purpose. I also think that adults will enjoy this too. It's fun (those cave guys have potential to really be funny as they adapt to 21st century life), and the camaraderie between Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur has the potential of bringing out the kid in you!

I give this series 3.5 Cavemen, with a good potential for a 4 plus rating in the future if they make this into the great series I think it can be. The first 3 issues are already out, #4 will be at your local comic shop on Feb. 24th and the trade paperback, collecting #1 - #6, will be out July 5th, 2016.  Published by Marvel Comic. Writers: Brandon Montclair and Amy Reeder. With art by Natacha Bustos and Amy Reeder.

*BTW, do you think you're not a comic book reader? I never thought I was either. Someone handed me a graphic novel and told me to read it. I was curious, but I didn't think it would have me reading comic books. It did though. The storyline was great and the artwork was too. Even the lettering was nice. Of course not all graphic novels and comic books have artwork that I like or that you may like. And for the most part I hate computer generated lettering, much preferring hand lettering. BUT, the point of my little speech here is to say, if you thought comics were silly, they may surprise you. Things have changed since we were kids, and you should step out of the box and try one.