By Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-0005-2 (TPB/Digital edition)
The Marvel Universe is absolutely stuffed with astounding young geniuses but Lunella Lafayette is probably the most memorable you’ll ever meet. Very young, very gifted and proudly black, she lives with her parents on Manhattan’s Lower East Side when not attending Public School 20 Anna Silver on Essex Street.
Thanks to her obsessive interest in astronomy and alien races the other kids mockingly call her “Moon Girl” whilst the brilliant, bored 4th grader’s teachers universally despair because she already knows so much more than they do…
It’s a hassle, but Lunella actually has bigger problems. Time is running out and her numerous applications to specialist schools such as the Fantastic Four’s Future Foundation have all gone unanswered. The situation needs resolving as it’s pretty important and urgent. Lunella has – correctly – deduced that she carries dormant Inhuman genes, and the constantly moving mutagenic Terrigen Cloud recently released into Earth’s atmosphere (see both the Infinity and Inhumanity events) could transform her into a monster at any windswept moment…
Thanks to her investigations, she’s an expert in advanced and extraterrestrial technology, and her quest for a cure or Terrigen-deterrence procedure sees her perpetually sneaking out past bedtime in search of gadgets and detritus left behind after frequent superhero clashes around town…
That impetus reaches its hope-filled climax when her handmade detectors locate a discarded Kree Omni-Wave Projector in opening chapter ‘Repeat After Me’…
At some unspecified time in Earth’s distant prehistory, various emergent species of hominids eked out a perilous existence beside the last of the great lizards and other primordial giants. At one particular key moment, a wide-eyed innocent of the timid yet clever Small Folk saved a baby tyrannosaur from ruthless pre-human hunters the Killer Folk.
They had already slaughtered its mother and siblings with cunning snares and were merrily torturing the little lizard with blazing firebrands – which turned its scorched hide a livid, blazing red – before Moon Boy intervened…
Under the roaring light of a blazing volcano, boy and beast bonded, becoming inseparable companions. It was soon apparent the scarlet saurian was no ordinary reptile: blessed with uncanny intelligence and unmatchable ferocity, Devil became an equal partner in a relationship never before seen in the world. It did not, however, prevent the duo becoming targets for ruthless Killer Folk leader Thorn-Teeth who now slaughters and sacrifices beasts and Small Folk to a mystic “Nightstone”. A more advanced observer might remark on how much it resembles a Kree Omni-Wave Projector…
When Moon-Boy steals the dread talisman, he is savagely beaten near to death even as – in a gym class on Essex Street – Coach Hrbek confiscates and accidentally activates a fancy doodad Lunella’s been playing with instead of paying attention to getting fit.
Lights flash, time shreds and universes collide. A hole opens in space and a pack of bizarre monkey men shamble into modern New York. Arriving too late in the antediluvian valley, Devil Dinosaur thunders straight through the portal, intent on avenging his dying comrade…
Arriving in an impossibly confusing new world, Devil understandably panics. After causing much chaos and carnage, the bombastic beast sniffs little Lunella and snatches her up…
A mad chase ensues in ‘Old Dogs and New Tricks’ as deeply confused Devil marauds through Manhattan with outraged Lunella unable to escape or control the ferocious thunder lizard.
Meanwhile, the Killer Folk rapidly adapt to the new environment. Hiding out and observing everything occurring in the Yancy Street Subway Station, they soon prove the old adage about primitive not meaning stupid. Within days they have grasped the fundamentals of English and new concepts like money and clothes, as well as the trickier notions of “gangs” and “protection rackets”…
Most importantly, Thorn-Teeth remembers that when they arrived, one of the hairless Small Folk was holding his Nightstone…
In ‘Out of the Frying Pan’, Moon Girl is having little luck ditching the overly-attentive, attention-attracting Torrid T-Rex. Tragically, when she finally does, the Killer Folk grab her and the Omni-Wave…
Their triumph is short-lived, since the lizard’s superior sense of smell summons Devil to the rescue, although, in the resulting melee, the precious device is lost. Growing grudgingly fond of the colossal critter, Lunella stashes Devil in her super-secret lab underneath PS 20, but when a spot of student arson sets the school ablaze, her hideaway is exposed and Devil bursts up through the ground to rescue kids trapped on an upper floor…
The fracas also unfortunately attracts the kind of superhero response Lunella has been dreading. ‘Hulk + Devil Dinosaur – ‘Nuff Said’ sees smug, teenaged Gamma-powered Avenger Amadeus Cho butt in with his bulging muscles and inability to listen to reason…
Poor Devil is no match for the Totally Awesome Hulk, forcing Moon Girl to intervene with some her own inventions. Across town, the Killer Folk – proudly carrying the Nightstone – deal with the last obstacle to their supremacy in the Yancy Street criminal underworld…
The Battle of PS 20 reaches its inevitable conclusion and Cho confiscates Devil Dinosaur, leaving Lunella thoroughly grounded and (apparently) behaving like a normal little girl in ‘Know How’.
Of course, it’s all a trick and as soon as everybody is lulled into complacency Moon Girl kits herself out with more devious gadgetry and busts Devil out of the Top Secret Wing of the Natural History Museum. She’s on a tight deadline now: her weather-monitoring gear confirms the Terrigen Cloud is rolling back towards Manhattan…
The spectacular jailbreak results in a ‘Eureka!’ moment coinciding with the Killer Folk consolidating their grip on the streets and using the Omni-Wave to capture Moon Girl. It also results in Lunella’s mother discovering who broke a dinosaur out of jail, and she furiously heads to the school for a reckoning with her wayward child…
The final conflict sees our little warrior at last victorious over the Killer Folk, albeit too late. As Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur roar in triumph on the rooftops, Lunella realises she is trapped outside with the Terrigen cloud descending. Her time and opportunity to create a cure has come and gone…
To Be Continued…
Collecting Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1-6 from January to June 2016, this compelling, immensely entertaining romp is crafted by writers Brandon Montclare & Amy Reeder, with art from Natacha Bustos, colours by Tamra Bonvillain and letters from Travis Lanham. With a cover and variants gallery from Trevor Von Eeden, Pascal Campton, Paul Pope, Jeffrey Veregge & Pia Guerra, this addictively engaging yarn affords non-stop fun: a wonderful all-ages Marvel saga that is as fresh, thrilling, moving and hilariously funny now as it ever was.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: BFF is the kind of tale to lure youngsters into the comics habit and a perfect tool to seduce jaded older fans back into the fold…
© 2016 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.