Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur are reunited but Lunella still has problems. She’s an Inhuman… with a power that’s more of a hindrance. She’s a genius… whose stuck in elementary school. Oh and she’s a superhero… who has a new Fisk to deal with.
MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #32
Writer: Brandon Montclare
Artist: Natacha Bustos
Cover Artist: Natacha Bustos
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Publisher: Marvel Comics
What You Need to Know:
Previously, Lunella had sent Devil Dinosaur back to the Savage Lands in a misguided attempt to return him to where she thought he belonged. Later, she teamed up with The Thing and the Human Torch to help save the world from Super Skrull. Unfortunately, things just didn’t work out until she completed their own Fantastic Four by bringing back Devil Dinosaur.
What You’ll Find Out:
Lunella’s having trouble in school. She’s got the normal nightmares of public embarrassment we all get. For example, turning into red T-Rex in the middle of a test. But Lunella’s real problem makes her angry, angry that she has to waste her time at school. P.S. 20 just doesn’t challenge her and she’s tired of only using her brains afternoons or on the weekends. Unfortunately for Lunella, the challenge that appears is not necessarily academic.
Wilson Fisk is the new Mayor of New York City and has two surprises for Moon Girl. He’s doing a major overhaul on Education and he has a brand new adopted daughter going to Lunella’s school, Princess Fisk. In class, Princess wastes no time informing the class that Daddy says she deserves the best and that means she’ll be watching them to make sure this school gets better. Eduardo wastes no time in throwing Lunella into conflict with Princess by saying the school doesn’t need Princess because they’ve already got the smartest girl in a school, Lunella. Princess is not pleased.
Princess lasers in on Lunella with some snark but seems to note that Lunella’s going to be a problem when she deflects it. the other kids keep butting in, in defense of the school or otherwise, and Princess shuts them down. They better stop being lame is they want to keep there school. Most kids don’t believe her until the teacher cuts in and starts handing out practice tests. Apparently, the school needs to do really well on these tests or Princess might be right. It’s even more obvious how dire this test might be when we see the teacher practically begging Lunella to raise the school average. Princess is unamused.
That night, Moon Girl is having dinner with her parents and talking about the day. Her dad seems to believe Mayor Fisk is trying to help more than himself but Lunella and her mom are quick to point out he was a supervillain. The parents seem to be starting a fight but quickly drop it to tell their daughter to get a good night’s rest when Lunella abruptly and groggily leaves the table.
We immediately see that Moon Girl has actually gone out to patrol the streets with Devil Dinosaur. DD is worried about Moon Girl because she seems dizzy and tired but Moon Girl pushes him away. That’s when she sees the lights on in the school and goes to investigate. Inside we find Princess in full spy regalia looking for Lunella’s school files. Moon Girl confronts her and Princess immediately starts trying to explain herself but it’s pointless. Moon Girl has switched minds with Devil Dinosaur and is rampaging towards Princess as the issue ends.
What Just Happened?
Issue #32 follows a somewhat disappointing story arc with the remains of the Fantastic 4 and a weirdly good PSA issue on smoking. I thought this issue did a good job of picking back up important storylines for Moon Girls character development. The brain switch power? complication? has been hanging for a while now so it’s nice to see that being an issue again. It was also great to see a very realistic life problem for a genius in elementary school. How is this girl not taking college courses at least? But what would Lunella lose not being around kids her age? This is all interesting stuff I hope the series keeps focusing on.
Princess Fisk is such an awesome character. She looks and feels like the love child of Kingpin and Black Widow. She is not actually Fisk’s daughter and could secretly be the daughter of a number of Kingpins past associates. The art of design is wonderful and again she feels like a Fisk. She’s a little chubby and she’s the queen boss around here which is a great character to have. A mastermind character like Kingpin could be a great villain for Moon Girl and every hero that sticks around needs a rogues gallery.
The dream sequence at the beginning seemed like a waste of panels and the whole comic felt a little short. It makes me worry this 5 part arc, like the last, will be too drawn out. Still, I can’t let my worries for the future ruin what’s right in front of me.
Finally, the art was great and keeps the same style we see through the rest of the Moon Girl series. The facial expressions from this issue were especially on point.
Rating: 8 /10
Final Thought: Issue #32 is a major upswing from the last arcs mini-crossover event. It sets up a great villain and hints at some interesting character development but does feel a little short. Now we just have to wait and see if we can get Princess Powerful in here too.
