Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1

By Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder, Natacha Bustos and Tamra Bonvillain

One of the best takeaways from Secret Wars—so far, if you want to get technical, because it’s not over yet—was a brutal, warrior Captain America and Devil Dinosaur teaming up in Planet Hulk. That series was stellar and it really helped to bring back Devil Dinosaur and put him in front of a larger audience, especially after the success of a certain dinosaur movie that revitalized a franchise. Putting Devil back into the Marvel Universe, with a wink and a nod to the old Jack Kirby tale is, frankly, brilliant. Who doesn’t want a huge, raging T-Rex like beast running around New York City? Nobody, that’s who.

Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder (who you might recognize from Rocket Girl, a book you definitely need to check out) really lay it all out for the reader here. Between the daily life of Lunella—Moon-Girl if you didn’t catch that—and the struggles of her genius in regular life to a bit of the backstory on Devil Dinosaur if you’re unfamiliar, Montclare and Reeder do a wonderful job of putting all the cards on the table straight away. There’s no dragging it out or holding back, at least for the most important stuff. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is a quick read that actually flew by faster than one might like, simply because it introduced an interesting character and, of course, Devil Dinosaur. Who doesn’t want more of him?

For the art, Natacha Bustos and Tamra Bonvillain seem to have a sort of Chris Samnee and Matt Wilson thing going on. That’s said with the utmost respect, of course, because Daredevil was a phenomenal book. While Bustos certainly has her own style, it does feel more on the cartoony end of the spectrum, like Samnee, which fits with the narrative and overall feel of the story perfectly. The art is dynamic and interesting, Devil Dinosaur’s look is killer and Bonvillain’s colors are eye popping and perfectly chosen. Really, it’s just a damn good looking book from a crazy talented set of artists.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur flew by, sure, but it read and looked fantastic while doing it. This creative team might have something special brewing here and once we start to get an idea of the relationship between these two in the issues to come there might be no stopping it. Devil Dinosaur is always a win, and thankfully Montclare and Reeder have made Moon Girl an interesting character to be opposite him. You know that last page Marvel has been putting in, about the second issue? After reading number one, there is absolutely no doubt that you’re going to want to see what happens next. Pick this up.