Marvel has announced their newest superhero book; and this one doesn’t feature The Avengers, Wolverine or any other superlative heroes. Titled Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur the ongoing series is, in part, inspired by Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur published by Marvel in 1978. Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur told the story of an exceptionally intelligent dinosaur, Devil Dinosaur, and the caveman named Moon Boy he befriends.
In this new series, Moon Girl is the alias of Lunella Lafayette, who will join the ranks of Kamala Kahn and Miles Morales as Marvel heroes of colour headlining their own title. She is a pre-teen who, at the start of the series, lives mostly in her head and is described as a “super genius”. The title will be penned by Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare, and drawn by Natacha Bustos. Reeder and Montclare are best known for their creator-owned title Rocket Girl, which follows a teenaged cop from the future. Bustos is a newcomer to Marvel, but her work is quite impressive. Reeder said that she and Montclare were drawn to the idea of doing something new or putting their own spin on an existing, but not overly well-known, character:
I like that idea because you get to do a lot with those types of situations. you get to put a lot of creativity into it, and have your voice heard. You’re not quite tied in to all the events. So that’s something that attracted us.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is part of Marvel’s response to the demand for more all-ages titles. Assistant editor Emily Shaw acknowledged that the company was “skewing a little bit older with a lot of our titles” and said that “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.”.
Personally, I think the title looks perfect for readers looking for a fun, all-ages story. The series will be available in stores beginning November 2015.
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