Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Vol. 1: BFF (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015-2019))

I read this with my 7yo son, who decided he didn't want to read because he was “rubbish.” At the same time, he talked about wanting a “real comic book.” I did some research on comic books that were good for kids, and Moon Girl came up over and over again. The reviews were right: this was perfect.As a kid that grew up with Spiderman, I loved this comic. Moon girl is a smart kid who gets in trouble because she can be a little too smart with her parents and teachers. She loves science and isn't ashamed of it. Early on, she stumbles on a device that opens a portal which releases Devil Dinosaur into our world. It also releases the Killer Folk, who are the villains of he piece.Moon Girl and D Dino become friends and get into a fair amount of trouble. They even have to go up against the Hulk.My son loved every second of it. We took it in turns with me to read the dialogue (I usually had to be the baddies or the boring grown ups). We're reading more Moon Girl and his confidence with reading has gone way up. Being able to read things like “Omni-Wave Projector” ha that effect, I suppose. And I loved it to: great characters, compelling story arcs and fantastic artwork. I'm looking forward the point when my son wants to go off and read these by himself, but I'll also be reading them after he's done with them.

Moon Girl is revolutionary in that it's a comic book trying to appeal to a highly ignored demographic… actual children.Yes, I know it’s shocking, but Moon Girl and The Devil Dinosaur is perfect for its age group as it’s got so much going for it: a relatable child genius who’s capable but held back by the Big Bad Adults, bright and colorful artwork and most important of all: a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex. What ten year old wouldn’t want to read about that?The art looks good and has a very cute aesthetic; lots of very soft, round faces, very bright colors and a look that makes it look like a very well kids cartoon.But what this comic really has as its asset is the heroine, Lunella. Lunella is a child genius who loves science. Because she lives in the Marvel Universe, that means no boring titration experiments and waiting to see if the test paper changes colour: we can skip all those hypothesis and get straight to the ‘science’ that instantly give you superpowers ! As such, Lunella spends her days holed away in her room working on her most recent science project… a cool glowy orb with science fiction rings. And if fiction and video games has taught us anything, there’s nothing more powerful than glowy jewels.Lunella is a really great child genius- .for a start, she actually comes across as a gifted child rather than a child who’s ‘gifted’ to compensate for the fact that she sounds too much like an adult because writing children is hard. She is smart, but she definitely still sounds like a kid.What makes Lunella really fascinating because of her difficulties fitting in. Because she’s so advanced for her age, she has difficulty fitting into her age group, and struggles with the fact she doesn’t find school challenging. She’s dismissed by adults who just want her to conform, or won’t take her seriously because she’s a child.Feeling isolated from their peers is definitely something that the more nerdy kids that are likely to buy this comic can relate to (I say that as a former child nerd), and what child doesn’t hate being treated like a kid? And also, wow, actual scientific talk in a comic- and not just techno babble to justify the existence of an earthquake machine or whatever madhat device the plot wants to justify. That’s something unique right there!And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how great it is to finally see a cool black girl taking the lead. It’s rare to see a black person being portrayed as a genius (see the new Ghost Busters, with the black woman being the token non scientist), and when we do see a smart black woman she’s often… kind of boring and a little too perfect- as if the writers were so concerned with making her a role model that they forgot to make her a character. Here, not only is Lunella smart, but also memorable and well rounded character. With her and the likes of Katara, Princess Moana and Connie from Steven Universe, it’s good there are more strong WOC in media who get to be more than ‘token black girl in the group’, though there’s still a lot of work to be done.When the story focuses on Lunella and her life, it’s really engaging. But the few pages where we’re introduced to Devil Dinosaur were… kind of boring. Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur follows on from an already existing series, Moon Boy and The Devil Dinosaur- which I haven’t read- but apparently it involves Devil Dinosaur and a neanderthal.I wasn’t such a fan of the neanderthals’ design in this comic, as they just looked like people wearing monkey costumes. Some gang of mean neanderthals seem to be trying to steal the glowy device, but are stopped by Moon Boy and Devil dinosaur.The weird glowy orb device our heroine’s found apparently allows time travel and Devil Dinosaur and the villainous gang of neanderthals were taken through the portal and are running amok in the town.I found those parts a trial to get through, as I really didn’t care about any of it and would rather get back to Lunella, although I guess that part was necessary to set up the story. Where it will go, I’ll find out with the next issue, but we’re off to a strong start.VERDICT: Although aimed at a younger audience and the more… surreal… storyline will probably make it harder for an adult to get into, there’s a lot to like. Lunella is an excellent heroine with a lot of potential, the dynamic between her and the adults around her was well written and the art looks great. I’d definitely recommend this to any child, or anyone who wants to read about a strong WOC.

I got this for my niece's 15th birthday and, right away, she was thrilled because it was the first time that she'd seen a comic with a character who is a spitting image of her.I didn't get to read it first, but I know she's mad at me for not getting her the next volume, too, because there's a cliffhanger.

10000000000000 out of 10 i love marvel i am a nerd i like dinosaurs nerd works with dinosaur in the marvel universegood artworkamazing storygiant mayhemsuperpowers epic cliffhangeri wish i could read no.2good use of money get it now-platypuslover1

Great read, great characters

Funny and smart, this new Marvel hero is starting strong and she will stay important in the Marvel Universe

Great story, daughter really liked this

Daughter read it in an hour or so. That's fine but she is now hooked and wants more