Marvel just revealed a brand new comic featuring a new female superhero and her unlikely teammate: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Longtime Marvel fans might remember a 1978 comic called Devil Dinosaur featuring the titular character and Moon Boy, his human counterpart. This is essentially a reboot of that except instead of Moon Boy, we’ve got a Moon Girl, who is described as a somewhat awkward genius kid outcast. Of course, no awkward genius kid outcast is ever really complete without their giant red dinosaur because hey, this is comics. So who else is already totally in?
Writing the book are Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare, with Natacha Bustos taking care of art. If you’ve read Image’s Rocket Girl, then you’re familiar with Reeder and Montclare’s work, and you know how fantastic they can be. They’re also acutely aware of the importance of a young hero like Moon Girl. When they spoke with Entertainment Weekly about how she was developed in their minds, they said:
Mark and I were talking about how whenever people come in with young kids, or even just for Mark’s own kids, we don’t have that many publications that we can give to people that have that broad reach. Generally, we’re skewing a little bit older with a lot of our titles and we wanted to create something that adults and kids could really love, like a Pixar feel. That’s where the tone jumped off for us.
It’s refreshing to see a new Marvel title that isn’t grimdark and gritty or blue and depressing. Not that those things are bad, but there is such a thing as too much.
Moon Girl is not only young, she’s also a person of color. While there are no hard details on her ethnicity quite yet, Bustos, the book’s artist, shared her take on the importance of representation. She said:
I also feel a great responsibility, as I’m sure Amy and Brandon do… it’s great to be a part of the creation of something which can mean something special to so many people. I myself have come up against this dilemma (I’m half Afro-Brazilian and half Chilean besides being Spanish) of finding few or no cultural references, especially in Spain, a country where there is isn’t any community comparable to the African American community in the states. You end up ironing out your differences and you need to work hard on this aspect to be able to continue maturing as a person.
For decades now, we have seen more independent publishers taking a gamble on diversification, but always within the underground scene. It’s really important that the mainstream throws up new references like these and it’s an honor to be a part of that change that Marvel is bringing to the comic book creative landscape. A greater number of readers are looking for characters they can identify with, and above all, with the aim that any reader, whatever their background or lifestyle, is capable of transcending their own identities to see themselves in a mirror of entertainment for 20 or 30 minutes without any difference.
The more this creative team talks about their views, the more we get excited about this book. As for some details about the book’s plot, editor Mark Paniccia shared a few:
Something that’s hallmark of a Marvel Hero is that they’re gifted with a power they may see as a curse. Lunella is a little genius with grand plans on going to big schools, but she’s got an Inhuman gene, unpredictable alien DNA inside that—once triggered—could take her life in a wildly different direction. She’s determined to control that change. I think that speaks to struggles we all experience as kids and will make her story resonate with young and older readers alike.
The usage of gene mutation as a stand-in for the physical, social, or emotional changes that come with being an adolescent is a well-worn but effective trope. Given what’s been shared here between the entire team behind the book, from the writers to the artist to the editors, we’re incredibly excited and cannot wait to watch Moon Girl tromping down the streets of New York City.
Be sure to check out the full interview over on Entertainment Weekly for more details and preview images.
(image via EW)
—Please make note of The Mary Sue’s general comment policy.—
Do you follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?
