Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume 1

I had another impulsive moment at work recently, where I went to our New Books Wall and took a look at what there was to offer. Since these books don’t go to the usual request list, sometimes you can get really lucky and find something that’s in demand or brand new. I was immediately taken in by the gorgeous cover on a new graphic novel collection. I mean, DAMN, look at the cover for “Moonshot (Vol.1)”! Is it not staggering and beautiful!? I gave it some time on the wall, because I had a big stack at home and wanted to give the patrons a chance to snatch it up. But after waiting awhile I just had to have it. And I am so glad that I was entranced by the cover, because “Moonshot” as a whole was an entrancing collection!

The show more first thing to know about “Moonshot” is that it is a collection of one shot stories that are written by people from Indigenous Nations across North America, as are the artists. The second thing to know is that it is a collection filled with stunning variety because of all of these differing perspectives. I wasn’t sure of what to expect from this collection, but whatever my expectations may have been they were blown out of the water by what I found. While there are a number of stories in this book, a few of them really stood out to me, so I will focus my attention on them. That isn’t to say that the others aren’t as good, however. These are the ones that left the biggest impression because of story or artwork.

“The Qallupiluk: Forgiven” by Sean and Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, and menton3 (Ill.).

This story is from the Arctic regions, and concerns themes of death and forgiveness. This was also the one story in the collection that had minimal artwork, as it was mostly text with a few large pieces that stood out for the most important parts of the story. I liked a couple of things about this story. The first was that it was creepy as all get out, as the Qallupiluk is a creature that hides beneath the ice and takes unsuspecting victims under the water and kill them. This story is about a Qallupiluk that takes on the form of one of it’s victims in hopes of stealing away a child, until a dog calls it out. I liked the personal journey that the Qallupiluk took, as odd as that sounds, and has to confront the concept of forgiveness. The art, as I said, was scattered, but the images that were there were absolutely breathtaking and visceral. As someone who loves creepy imagery, this one was a true treat.

“Siku” by Tony Romito, and Jeremy D. Mohler (Ill.)

Another story from the Arctic region, and another one that involves malevolent forces and scary imagery. This one is about a hunter who witnesses a conflict between two otherworldly beings, one of which is a demon. Boy do I love the demon stories. This book definitely was more set up like a comic, with panels, bubbles, the works. It felt like an old school horror comic, and like something that I would pick up at the comic book shop when looking for something twisted. And the end, WAHH, so unsettling. The art didn’t stand out as much in this one, but that didn’t matter because the story really kept me interested. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t go into much detail, but it kind of cut to the quick in that it definitely touched on one of my bigger freak out factors in horror.

“Coyote and the Pebbles” by Dayton Edmonds, and Micah Farritor (Ill.)

I’ve grown up hearing many iterations of the Coyote myth, as Coyote is a very prominent character in many Indigenous narratives and mythologies. This one sounded familiar, but Edwards really made it his own. I’ve always liked Coyote, be he a troublemaker or sympathetic, and in this story I really liked how he was portrayed as somewhere in the middle (but being me, I still felt for him). It concerns the nocturnal animals of the world hoping to see more at night when the sun is down, and thinking that they should draw portraits of themselves to light the way. And Coyote thinks that he is the best artist of them all. This story is a straight up ‘how this came to be’ myth, but I really liked it. This was also my favorite art style in the collection, with animals shifting between animal form and human form, but even in human form still evoking their animal identity. Farritor has a real skill for pulling animal characteristics from his drawings, be they animals or not. This story was lovely and melancholy, and I really, really enjoyed it.

“Moonshot (Vol.1)” is a collection that was so fun, and breathtaking in a lot of ways, and I seriously cannot wait for Volume 2 to come out (YES, there is going to be a Volume 2, isn’t that great?!). I think that it’s also a very important work, especially since Indigenous representation is one of the lowest in Children’s and YA Literature. I cannot recommend this book enough to comics enthusiasts, and I think that everyone should consider picking it up. If the cover alone doesn’t get you, the stories inside certainly will. show less

I'm a relative newcomer to Canada, able to trace back only four generations before I run into a relative that immigrated to Canada instead of being born here. I have no native blood in me whatsoever. And, if I'm honest, I know exceedingly little about Canada's indigenous population, who walked this land for generations before we showed up and fucked everything up.

Still, for all of that, I found myself captivated both by the stories and legends presented in this collection, as well as the stunning artwork.

I'll still claim to be mostly ignorant of native customs and lifestyles, but this collection, beautiful in both design and production, goes a little way to educating me.

And a total shout-out to Myth Hawker Travelling Bookstore, who show more introduced me to this graphic novel and ensured I didn't just set it back down again. show less

An admirable mission to bring indigenous voices to comic books has mixed and uneven results in this graphic anthology. About half of the creators of the short stories presented are identified as First Nations/Native American, and a few long-time comics professionals are thrown in, like George Freeman of Captain Canuck fame, Lovern Kindzierski, and David Mack, whose Daredevil story introducing the origin of Echo (Maya Lopez) is excerpted here.

The stories tend toward superhero, fantasy, horror, and science fiction spins on indigenous folklore and culture, with a few more traditional adaptations sprinkled in. The quality of the art is pretty high, but the writing delivers quite a few clunkers with stories that are barely vignettes, hard to show more follow, clumsily told, or just not satisfying.

My library has the next two volumes, and I will definitely be checking them out to see how this project develops. show less

Interesting and wide collection of stories and styles. All were interesting for the voice even as I liked some better than others. I'd bought this for Bear a couple years ago, I'm glad it exists for him.

Moonshot is a collection of comic book art & stories by Native American creators. The works range from an excerpt from a mainstream superhero comic to ancient American stories. The settings also run the gamut of past, present, and future. The common threads that bind them together is the cultural sensibilities and the excellent art and storytelling. Either is a good enough reason to buy this book and put it on your shelf.
--J.

Most of these short comics felt like they were just beginning to scratch the surface and could have been fleshed out, but I am so happy this project was undertaken and look forward to reading more of these authors/artists in depth.

More of a collection than an anthology (excerpts of stories are collected rather that whole short stories), Moonshot is an interesting look into cultural myths of native peoples, mainly Native Canadians. The artwork, then, varies in style, tone, and form, but there's never an amateur attempt in the collection.