Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Vol. 1: BFF

Lunella got her hands on a possible Kree device that she believes she can use to stop the inhuman genes in her body from transforming her into a monster. Devil Dinosaur is sent from the prehistoric past to keep the device out of the hands of the evil Killer Folk, a time traveling band of bad to the bone cavemen. Phew. It’s a lot of plot. But it’s also a really great exploration of a young girl’s understanding of her own identity AND a story of a burgeoning friendship between dinosaur and girl. I really loved it.

This book is not funny or charming enough to get away with not having the plot or characters' actions make any sort of sense. Squirrel Girl could get away with hiding a dinosaur in a school basement, Moon Girl cannot.

So it’s been since, oh, last July since I’ve picked up and reviewed a Marvel Comic collection, which means I’m probably about due to do so. As you all know, Marvel isn’t really my scene, though I don’t begrudge people who like it (sure wish that some people would extend me the same courtesy when I say I’m a DC Fan, but oh well, no matter…). But I do have to say that I applaud Marvel in it’s quest to be more inclusive in it’s stories, even if a number of those stories don’t quite gel with me. However, I couldn’t pass up “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” when I laid my eyes on it at work recently. I had heard of it in passing, but kind of forgot about it… Until “Vol 2” was on our new Teen display. I of course show more had to grab “Vol.1” in that moment. Because hey, a story about a genius, African American little girl who teams up with a friggin’ DINOSAUR has got to be something special!!

And for the most part it was! It’s a pretty genius idea to take an old title like “Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur” and reframe it in a way that can introduce a new character like Lunella, a character that adds a new and needed perspective and representation. Lunella is clever and precocious, and while sometimes it teeters towards a little on the twee side she is supremely charming and very three dimensional. It was refreshing to see a character who doesn’t strive to be special when it comes to supernatural super powers, and in fact shies away from them. Lunella knows that she has the potential to transform into something inhuman because of her genetics should the Terrigen Cloud (that has transformed others) come in contact with her. And unlike some of those others, she does not want that, so she is trying her best to stop it. So I liked that she is super great and smart and clever, and in this story that’s considered enough for the reader to look up to. Which isn’t to say she doesn’t have her troubles. She is isolated from her peers, isn’t stimulated enough at school, and has frustrations that no one takes her seriously because she’s a little girl, even though she is quite possibly the most intelligent character in the Marvel Universe. So seeing her try and prove herself was one of the main cruxes of this story, and definitely had a lot of emotion to it.

And then there’s Devil Dinosaur, a character from Marvel’s past that makes a ROARING COMEBACK. GET IT? In spite of the fact that this guy is an honest to God dinosaur, and has no spoken dialogue outside of noises, the illustrators did a really good job of portraying exactly what he’s feeling in any given moment through his facial expressions and body language. I LOVE me some dinosaurs, and Devil Dinosaur is absolutely delightful, and surprisingly nuanced as well. Well, sometimes. One of the appeals of this book was seeing a cute little girl interact with a giant theropod, and seeing them build a genuine affection for each other. While I think there’s still some room to grow for them in their friendship (boy is Lunetta impatient with him much of the time), you can tell it’s the start of something that is going to be very adorable and filled with a lot of heart.

Not totally certain about how I felt about The Hulk (I guess the Amadeus Cho version? I didn’t know, I had to do some research) showing up and beating up on Devil Dinosaur, even if it was to further the plot along. I know that Marvel really likes to keep their characters integrated and constantly making appearances in each others stories as of late, but that doesn’t sit well with me. I’m not here for the nods to other characters in the Marvel franchise, and hey, maybe I’ve figured out one of my problems with Marvel in this moment as I type this out. Bottom line, let Lunella and Devil Dinosaur shine on their own!

The art is also pretty cute, as the colors jump off the page and both Lunella and Devil Dinosaur are totally adorable. So I’m fairly certain that I will probably keep going in this series, because it’s pretty adorable and a fun read. And it ends on something of a cliffhanger for Lunella and Devil Dinosaur. Enough so that I want to know what happens next. Lunella and Devil Dinosaur have charmed me completely! I just hope that the next one doesn’t have any pesky cameos. show less

Nine-year old inventor Lunella Lafayette has Inhuman DNA, the result of alien Kree meddling in the human bloodline thousands of years ago. This means that if she's exposed to the cloud of terragen gas hovering over Manhattan, her home, she'll turn into .... something else. Lunella doesn't want to be anything but herself, so she spends all her time inventing a way to protect herself, and everyone else with Inhuman DNA, but in the process accidentally brings a T. rex forward in time to 2016. Whoops!

A very enjoyable comic. Lunella is very fun, and the art is fantastic. There's some backstory going on with Devil Dinosaur and the Neanderthals (?) that travel through time with him that I didn't understand, (apparently Devil Dinosaur was an show more existing Marvel character from the 70s that just hung out in his normal time period) but Lunella's charisma more than makes up for it. show less

I'd seen this book in a bunch of new "diverse" graphic novel round-ups, so I finally had to check it out. I liked the premise - a black nerd girl who knows she carries the Inhuman gene and is looking for a way to prevent its activation and stay human. Plus, pet dinosaur. BUT so many things about this book irritated me that on balance, I ended up feeling kind of "meh" about it.

First of all, let's talk about the cavemen living alongside dinosaurs. I appreciate that this is clearly a universe that had some Kree interference, but as Luna just delivered a lecture on evolution like one page previous, it deserves a throwaway line about how/why this deviation from our timeline occurred.

Also, it just hurts me to have a science teacher call Luna show more a little-miss-know-it-all. I understand that there are horrible teachers in the world, but I think that they are in the minority, and this is horrible. It's so heavy-handed.

And seriously? What is up with this version of The Hulk? Smug and vain? Self-congratulatory? When have these ever been traits associated with Hulk?

All that said, my eleven-year-old, LOVED it, and did his fake-crying thing when I told him how long he had to wait for volume two. So I immediately gave him this book to keep. Maybe I'm just the wrong audience. show less

Really fun. I loved Devil Dinosaur - he was adorable and reminded me of a cat. The heroine was spunky and headstrong. Her scene with the Hulk did leave a lot to desire - the only defense for that scene I can think of is that it was entirely written from Lunella's perspective: there's an adult (Hulk) telling her not to do something for her own protection, so in her mind, he's a big meanie jerk who just doesn't get her. It's like a caricature of the ignorant adult. But, if that's not the case, then yeah, Hulk is just a big meanie jerk.

I want to simultaneously let Lunella run free with her genius and her magic dinosaur friend AND hide her and protect her from all the people who hate black girls and their joy and magic. That is what you have done to me, Amy Reeder. :)