For Moonshadow, writer J.M. DeMatteis doesn’t shy away from showing off the comic’s sci-fi influences. There’s a little Douglas Adams, a little Kurt Vonnegut. But DeMatteis doesn’t rely on those nods to move the story along, they’re just around to make the reader feel comfortable.
This first issue introduces Moonshadow, a half-human boy being raised in an intergalactic zoo, and his supporting cast. There’s his mother, who was a hippie on Earth, their cat, Frodo, and then Moon’s de facto best friend, Ira. Ira’s a shaggy alien who looks like Cousin It from “The Addams Family.”
Not a lot happens in the first issue, just the setup–Moon, at twelve, ready to explore the universe–and a lot of good narration from DeMatteis and some beautiful art from Jon J. Muth. The comic moves deliberately and calmly, with DeMatteis carefully including some humor and Muth delivering gorgeous pages.
A-
CREDITS
Songs of Happy Cheer; writer, J.M. DeMatteis; artist, Jon J. Muth; letterer, Kevin Nowlan; editors, Shelly Bond, Laurie Sutton and Archie Goodwin; publisher, Vertigo.
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