Moonstar #1: Aim For The Stars

After the fall of the Society of the Eternal Dawn, Dani Monstar has been feeling at a loss. Returning home to collect her thoughts, Dani’s reflection is interrupted by the remnants of the Society, who need her help recovering the mystical sword Dainsleif, whose wielder is aiming to turn the world into the walking dead. 

Danielle Moonstar is a character that feels like she should be bigger than she is when it comes to fan popularity. While she was the co-leader of the wildly popular New Mutants (a title she shared with Cannonball), Dani has often found herself left behind by her teammates. Cannonball, Sunspot, and especially Magik have all eclipsed their former team by miles over the years. She’s had a few standout moments and series (2025’s X-Vengers being the most recent outing) here and there since the glorious days of the Copper Age, she has long been denied a true breakout performance despite her status in the X-Fandom. Unfortunately, going by this opening issue we might still be waiting on that moment.

Ashley Allen brings Dani in to pick plot threads Allen herself introduced in her recently concluded Magik solo series, as well as Al Ewing’s still-running Immortal and Mortal Thor books. As someone who has read neither of those titles there was a bit of an adjustment to be had, but Allen does a good job of getting the reader up to speed on the important details. Personally, I had hoped that the story would focus more on Dani’s Cheyenne roots, but a story about her Valkyrie connections isn’t bad. As for our title character, while she is written competently she also feels a bit younger than she should be. Not teenaged, but she doesn’t feel like the same character with the lived experience. 

This isn’t helped by Edoardo Audino’s art, which is by no means bad, but adds to the illusion of Dani’s de-aging. Outside of that the art is solid with some interesting panel layouts helped by Arthur Hesli’s moody colors.