Moonray: Book Two: Echoes of Ascension

Moonray #2

by Brandon Graham, Xurxo G. Penalta (Artist), Joe Keatinge (Editor)

In a post-human world, the Miium warrior Adam is now separated from his companions and explores his strange world. Pursued by an alien Hive cult, he's chased through an undertown of malformed half-men and a living sentient city.

Written and drawn by Eisner and Diamond Gem award-winning author and artist Brandon Graham (PROPHET, KING CITY, RAIN LIKE HAMMERS) and featuring artist Xurxo G. Penalta, Moonray presents a mind-altering new dawn for a distant sci-fi future unlike any other. This next step in the bold graphic odyssey continues the Moonray saga, from comic book to video game and beyond.

Introduction by filmmaker and illustrator Sylvain Despretz.

Genres: Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fantasy

160 pages, Hardcover

First published July 2, 2024

About the author

Brandon Graham (born 1976) is an American comic book creator.

Born in Oregon, Graham grew up in Seattle, Washington, where he was a graffiti artist. He wrote and illustrated comic books for Antarctic Press and Radio Comix, but got his start drawing pornographic comics like Pillow Fight and Multiple Warheads (Warheads would go on to become its own comic published by Oni Press in 2007). In 1997, he moved to New York City where he found work with NBM Publishing and became a founding member of comics collective Meathaus. His book Escalator was published by Alternative Comics in January 2005, when he returned to Seattle. His book King City was published by Tokyopop in 2007 and was nominated for an Eisner Award. In May 2009 Graham announced that King City would continue publication at Image Comics and his Oni Press title Multiple Warheads would resume publication after a delay, this time in color. Also at Image he is the writer on Prophet, the return of a 1990s series, with the rotating roster of artists Giannis Milonogiannis, Farel Dalrymple, Simon Roy, and himself.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

The first volume of Moonray was far from my favourite Brandon Graham comic, and if anything I'm getting more of a handle on why as it continues. The god-material miium is endlessly various and reshapable, but making that one substance so central to the narrative leaves it feeling a little samey compared to the strange old worlds he normally gives us, littered with relics of uncountable different technologies. The art is likewise less cluttered, and while his vistas are good, his clutter was always great. Part of it is the exigencies of the particular Edelweiss ARC I read, its double-page format making for a cramped read even once zoomed. But more than anything - and informed by Joel Morris' recent critique of updated Calvin & Hobbes strips - I think the issue may be the colouring, where the realistic look of the sky implicitly makes everything not given the same treatment drab, as against previous Graham comics in which the monochrome or minimal palette allowed the reader to mentally fill in a world whose hues were as expressive as the lines. As is the case here in the back-up strip, where Xurxo Penalta, working in a very different style, commits more fully to the chromatic possibilities and creates quite the most memorable image in the volume, a floating city vomiting up mucus roads.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was intrigued but not convinced by the first book, but I think I'm officially sold. I honestly didn't remember much of what happened going in, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the hell out of it. Graham is really leaning into the gamey side of it, with NPCs leaving quest markers for our character to follow. And the soulslike aspect of the world is still very much present. The story's still paper thin, but that didn't stop the soulsborne game from being my favorites either. The Xurxo G. Penalta chapter was also really cool, more of a Fallout vibe to it. It's crazy to me how different their art styles are, yet they both fit the world perfectly. Very cool seeing it through two different lenses like that.

Looking forward to where this goes ! Apparently there's an animated series in the works now, on top of the game !

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This weird and wonderful graphic novel transports the reader to a future without humans—at least, not as we know them. It’s the most graphic of graphic novels; you don’t get much story apart from the visuals, and that makes me wish i’d read Book 1 so I could follow the story better. Still, it is a visual feast—so many dreamy concepts—and it is most enjoyable.

Many thanks to Living the Line and to Edelweiss for an early DRC.