ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘Miles Morales & Moon Girl,’ Issue #1

Miles Morales & Moon Girl #1 is written by Mohale Masigo, illustrated by Ig Guara, colored by Rachelle Rosenberg, and lettered by VC’s Travis Lanham. It’s published by Marvel Comics. Luna Lafayette, aka the super-genius Moon Girl, is faced with the challenge of her young life: her partner Devil Dinosaur has gone missing after a night of crimefighting. Luna embarks on a journey to find Devil Dinosaur, and said journey leads her to Brooklyn Visions Academy – and into the path of Miles Morales!

Miles is having a major moment in the spotlight, especially since this year marks his tenth anniversary – he’s had a series of What If…? one-shots and is currently embarking on an adventure in his ongoing series that mirrors Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, where he was the main star. Both Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur are about to enter the spotlight as well thanks to an upcoming animated series set to launch this summer. And Masigo knows how to play them off of each other, as her script features Miles and Luna literally running into each other in both their civilian and heroic identities. The dialogue is also whip-smart, as Luna’s confident to a fault – which makes sense, given that she’s the smartest girl in the world and usually has a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex backing her up.

Masigo also launches a mystery surrounding Devil Dinosaur’s disappearance, which is ripe with emotional resonance given the connection between the massive lizard and Luna. Even though she’s argued with him in the past, Luna truly cares for Devil and is willing to go to any lengths to find him. Miles tags along, mainly due to the old chestnut of “with great power comes great responsibility” but also because he’s been in the same position with people in his life including his Uncle Aaron. That same sense of connection is shown throughout the issue, whether it’s Luna and her parents or Miles and his best friend Ganke.

Guara’s no stranger to illustrating Spider-People, having previously worked on Ghost-Spider; scenes with Miles feature the same sense of acrobatic web-spinning that showed up in Gwen’s series. Guara also gets to draw some intense fight sequences between Miles, Luna, Taskmaster and Black Ant – the resulting battle features Taskmaster utilizing a number of weapons to try and kill the teenagers while Luna counters his moves with some inventive gadgets such as a holographic boxing glove. Combined with Rosenberg’s vibrant colors – especially when it comes to Luna’s multicolored costume and red-tinted shades – and Lanham’s intricate lettering featuring a look into Luna’s thoughts, it all makes for a series that readers won’t be able to tear their eyes away from.

Miles Morales & Moon Girl #1 is a charming if rather unorthodox team-up between the title characters as they search for Devil Dinosaur. I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you want a superhero story that’s more low-stakes, or want to learn more about Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. It’s also a great starting point for younger readers and will continue with a one-shot that sees Moon Girl joining forces with the Avengers.

Miles Morales & Moon Girl #1 will be available wherever comics are sold on June 22, 2022.