Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Vol. 4: Girl-Moon

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

by Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos (Illustrations)

Journey to the Living Planet! It's Lunella Lafayette's biggest adventure yet, as a voice from the outer reaches of space beckons her and Devil Dinosaur on a truly fantastic voyage - an Ego trip, if you will! Are you ready for Moon Girl to meet...Girl-Moon? Lunella isn't just smart, she's the smartest person on Earth - but what good is that when the problems she faces are intergalactic? And when our incredible duo makes it back to Earth, they might find things a little different than how they remember. What happened to Yancy Street? And who exactly are Devil Girl and Moon Dinosaur?! The story of a young genius and her T. rex pal gets wilder than ever!

COLLECTING: MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR 19-24

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 2018

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lunella or Moon Girl may be the smartest person in the world, but she is not the emotionally smartest person in the world. She is rather normal in that department.

I didn't care for the alternate universe or time travel here, but I understand it is part of the universe. I did find Ego and his daughter interesting for a bit.

I enjoy Moon Girl and this wasn't my favorite of the series. It was still fun though.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moon Girl heads to space and other dimensions. The story felt disjointed. Several pieces just didn't click for me. I did like the decision she made in the back half of the book. It makes sense and is the right thing to do. I also like where the book is headed in the next arc. Fantastic Three sounds promising.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moon Girl, you dummy!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur...no more? A trip across the galaxy turns into an interdimensional voyage that pits Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur against Girl-Moon, and Devil Girl and Moon Dinosaur - yes, seriously.

I wonder if this was one of those 'we came up with the names before the story' kind of deal, because this arc's a little disjointed. Lunella heading off-planet to save someone isn't too out of this world, but the trip to Ego and then to the parallel dimension don't really seem that related to each other. They do expose Lunella to some good parallels that help her grow as a person, but it seems like a stretch to get to these positions.

And then there's the ultimate decision that Lunella makes at the end of the story, which didn't sit right with me at all. I thought it'd be a quick reverse, but from interviews and such it doesn't seem like it, which makes me sad. I'm hoping there's a larger plan in place here. Please.

Series artist Natacha Bustos draws the majority of this arc, with a few fill-in pages later in the story from an array of close copies. I do feel like there were a few issues here that were much shorter, as if they were missing a few pages. Issue 24 especially felt like it should have been longer.

I'm conflicted about this one. On the one hand, it's more Moon Girl being Moon Girl. But on the other, it doesn't look like things are going to be happy again any time soon.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't my favorite but there are some good things here.

616 Ego the Living Planet isn't much better than MCU Ego at being a dad. Here, Lunella answers a distress call by Illa, the Moon Girl. She's literally a moon. Ego is her father and, due to their orbit, she has never seen him. He looks after her, but they don't speak. As a result, Illa is lonely enough that she calls for Lunella because she wants a friend. Lunella finds a way to get Ego to finally really see and talk to his daughter. This storyline is heartwarming.

It's just a bit offset by the fact that there's a Lunella "Moonbot" running around pretending to be Lunella so that her teachers and her parents don't notice she's missing. Her parents are very concerned about their daughter's strange behavior and lack of appetite and they're being pushed away by Moonbot. Maybe these things will come to play in the next volume but I just felt really sorry for Lunella's parents. It's a plot that's completely opposite from the plot with Illa.

There's a minor subplot where the Moonbot talks to the Doombot head about their individuality, agency and sense of identity. Rather deep for a very small subplot.

In the end, Lunella leaves Devil D in the past for his own good. It's rather sad. We then get shorts where she tries to find a new partner. Not sure if there was a universe wide event or something but it was interesting.

This volume just felt a little more serious and less fun and adventurous compared to the others. Which isn't to say that it isn't good - it's just different.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh this went from bad to worse in no time...

[D.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy to see Lunella get less bratty, or, at least more self-aware. My major qualm with this series is how unlikable Lunella can be at times as a know-it-all.

The story with the moon was super adorable, and I'm interested to see where things go with Lunella's "new partner."

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will Moon Girl get back to the right reality? Will the daughter of the Moon grow up and stop being vindictive? Will Devil Dinosaur stay in his true time and space?

Next, please!

[Adan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lunella discovers a girl in need of help via radio transmission and goes into deep space (in a Moon Mobile of her own invention, of course) to help her. Lunella discovers that the girl is no ordinary girl, but a literal Moon Girl (or Girl Moon, as the story calls her) named Illa, the daughter of Ego (man, that goateed planet dude is showing up all over the place recently). She’s lonely, but also kind of obnoxious, kind of like Lunella herself.

Hey, wait a minute! Is Illa going to make Lunella learn something about herself too? Yeah, she totally is. Moon Girl continues to be a great character and this book continues to be one of my favorites.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 Stars

Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur are back for another volume, this one oddly enough is named Girl-Moon. You can probably make a guess or two what that is about, but we’ll talk about that more in a bit. I have to say that even while I don’t always love the plots for Moon Girl, I’m always happy to read her series. Sometimes a character is interesting enough to make up for a subpar plot, and thankfully Moon Girl is one of those characters (it helps that Devil Dinosaur is adorable).



Girl-Moon is six issues long, with five of the issues focusing on the same plot. The last one is more like a series of (silly) short stories. It was nice to get a longer plot for Moon Girl, even if it wasn’t the best I’ve read from her. There were plenty of funny and quippy moments to make up for a lot of what the plot was lacking.
To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about Girl-Moon (the character, not the volume title). It’s kind of a funny idea? It’s also a bit…lame? Basically Girl-Moon is the daughter of none other than Ego the planet (because who else could be her father, really?). She’s desperately lonely and completely lacking in any social skills – mostly because she’s spent the majority of her life alone. Now, I don’t know what the lifespan of a moon/planet is, but it kind of seems like Girl-Moon is stuck as a perpetual child (we never hear about Ego as a child, so I’ve always kind of assumed he was always this way). I could be wrong, but I really can’t picture her any other way.
Thanks to Lunella running off to save a girl she’s never met she finds herself in an odd sort of situation. Specifically she finds herself in another dimension at one point. So Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur get to meet Devil Girl and the Moon Dinosaur. Yeah…it’s funny and cute, but Devil Girl doesn’t have any of the charm that Moon Girl has. It’s an odd thing to say, but it’s true. It’s like they took the best parts of Lunella and hid them away. I’m sure it was an odd experience for both of them, but it was odd.
Admittedly I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to the whole interdimensional interactions thing. I have no problem with it occurring; all I ask is that it be well done. I don’t feel like that was the case here. More like it was thrown in for a quick gag, moving on quickly once they made their point.
Throughout all of these somewhat silly and absurd (I meant that in the unlikely sort of way) moments are some truly funny moments. The Doom bot being left in control of Moon Girl’s cover while she’s gone is pretty insane…genius, but insane. It ends up with a lot of interesting and funny moments, to put it lightly. It also feels like this may actually be going somewhere, but it’s hard to be certain if it’ll be anything more than a gag in the long run.
I will say that the conclusion to this plotline was wholly unexpected and incredibly heartbreaking. It actually scared me into thinking it was the end of the series for a moment, though since I know there’s another volume coming out that it isn’t the case. I do hope they change it back…otherwise they’re going to have to find a new title for the series.
The last issue is a series of short stories. Maybe it’s because of what happened in the issue before, but I just couldn’t get into this one. They were silly or jarring to me, and I just wasn’t feeling it. I’m still curious about what the next major plot will end up being, so that’s good.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as awesome as some other volumes (and the last issue almost knocked the entire collection down another star, but I restrained myself), but still loads of fun. I'm glad that Moon Boy is back and that he's been reunited with his friend Devil Dinosaur, even if it means Moon Girl won't have her big red companion anymore. The last chapter's gratuitous guest-stars really went a bit over the top, although Mojo and the X-Babies have been overdone for a very long, long time so I couldn't really see the point in them appearing anyway. As a HUGE fan of the Fantastic Four I am eagerly awaiting the release of the next volume with Johnny and Ben appearing.

[Alison (ageekyreader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this volume because I really love these characters, but I wasn't a fan of this story arc. Her decision at the end of the volume (the last two issues) came out of nowhere, and it didn't make sense to me. The main story line for this volume also felt like it took too long to wrap-up, it definitely could have been told in fewer issues.

I have higher hopes for the next story arc because I think it's pretty likely there will be a happy reunion.

[Alex Sarll]

The smartest person on Marvel Earth heads off it and meets Girl-Moon (daughter of Ego the Living Planet, obviously), not to mention alternate world counterparts Devil Girl and Moon Dinosaur. Meanwhile, back home, a Doombot head gets into progressively sillier spots while attempting to cover up her absence. But then she also seems to say goodbye to her big red sidekick, and audition for a replacement - a change I really hope won't last long, because I'll miss that lunk.

[ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.14159 stars. Happy Pi Day.

I haven't read Vol. 2 or Vol. 3. Oh well...

This is an action packed comic, cause you know... Moon Girl meets the moon... Who's a girl...
This comic doesn't sound interesting, but you should read it anyway.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction]]

Is this the end? I hope it isn't the end. I need more Lunella and DD!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an improvement on previous volumes. Lunella has to do a lot of self-reflection as she tries to help Illa, the daughter of Ego the Living Planet, overcome her loneliness. She ends up returning Devil Dinosaur to Moon Boy through time travel ( X-Men: Fallen Angels seems to be ignored). Hopefully when she gets him back, Moon Boy won't be killed this time. I liked Devil Girl and Moon Dinosaur and her friends Eduardo and Zoe on a parallel earth, but we didn't get a lot of time with them. The cover, unlike Spider Gwen: Ghost Spider vol. 2 is at least honest in its homage to The Amazing Spider-Man #50 in that Lunella ends her partnership with Devil Dinosaur and puts her device in the trash. The last chapter has her go through several partnerships with other characters before giving us a preview of the next story arc in which she teams up with Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm before getting Devil Dinosaur back.

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The random adventures of Moon-Girl seems to stretched to their limits in this issue. Sure its amusing to see her try to make friends with Illa, Ego's daugther but at the same time there is a lot of major elements you have to look past. Her parents can't notice Lunella's replacement is a freaking robot and don't question at all when a doom bot shows up. I know the readers are just suppose to ignore this element so they can enjoy a super genius kid and a dinosaur have adventure but these elements can be a bit distracting overall.

[Clarissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was kind of indifferent to Girl-Moon, daughter of Ego, the living planet. Her story was sad but I didn’t care as much as I think I should have. Even the alternate universe with Devil Girl and Moon Dinosaur didn’t do much for me. However, I am curious as to what Doombot is up to.

I continue to love Lunella and Devil’s friendship so that ending made me sad.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much better than Ms. Marvel. this kind of has a Calvin and Hobbes flavor too it.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still super cute and fun, but not quite as good as the previous volumes

[Maggie Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might be a 3.5.
This wasn't my favorite Moongirl and Devil Dino... I feel like they don't know what to do with her. I love Lunella and very much enjoy the whimsy that her stories create. I just felt... meandering?

Not giving up, will never give up! But hope they can focus her hero's story a bit more.

[A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur travel to a moon light years away, tracking a distress signal. It turns out that the being in distress is ... the moon! Girl moon, born of Ego, has been feeling terribly lonely, but that's because she's orbiting her father, but turned away! Moon Girl tries to fly back home, to get some time to think, but Girl Moon throws her off her trajectory and into another dimension where she meets Devil Girl and Moon Dinosaur, an evil version of herself. She manages to return to Girl Moon and taunts Ego until he forces Girl Moon to rotate to confront Moon Girl. Girl Moon now has companionship.

Moon Girl tries, again, to fly away, but ends up back in Dinoworld. She Bigfoots Devil Dinosaur, telling him she doesn't want him anymore. He remains back in time and everyone's sad. Moon Girl spends a few series trying to find a new companion. She tests out the X-Men, Ghost Rider, and Daredevil. none of who work for her.

[Xanthe · Rating 3 out of 5]

It finally happened. My four-year-old daughter noticed that there was a DINOSAUR on the cover of these graphic novels and they are now HERS. She doesn't care about the story, is moderately interested in Lunella because of her relationship to Devil Dinosaur, and is not interested in sharing these with her brother who actually wants to read them. As for me, I found this volume to have the most jumbled and hard to follow plotlines thus far, with some space-travels, time-travels, X-Men, Daredevil, alternate universes, and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. I still love Lunella and admire her brains, but this one was a bit of a mess. However, as long as there are plenty of pictures of dinosaurs, we'll continue being charmed.

[Matt Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first introduction to Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, but I didn’t feel lost even though this is volume 4. That’s always a good thing, along with a fun and meaningful stand-alone plot with two out of three storylines that were strong and quietly poignant. One side plot involving robot clones didn’t really go anywhere, which makes me think it will show up in future adventures. That and the epilogue are my only gripes: a little breathing room from a solid ending could have boosted a very good story into being great. Those are minor quibbles, however. I look forward to reading other volumes, and I can’t wait to introduce the smartest girl on earth to our own kid.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur jet off into space to console the daughter/spawnling of the living planet, Ego. Yes, it is as silly as it sounds. Yes, there is an extremely contrived plot device that makes it difficult for our heroes to get home. Yes, it inexplicably ends with Moon Girl making a rash decision that will have repercussions in the next volume. It's all fine, particularly the art, but it feels like a one-issue story stretched out to five. And Moon Girl's narration - almost one thought per panel! - is tiring and hard to follow.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 4 doesn't quite reach the same level of the rest of this series. The story goes in some less-effective directions, and just didn't appeal to me as much as previous story arcs. However, I'm curious to see what the next volume brings. And I still love these characters, so no regrets about spending more time with them.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love these characters, but this volume was whackadoo. Sometimes rhe writing felt disjointed. And Lunella's big decision just comes out of nowhere and doesn't make any sense.

I really hope the next volume is better.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

As compared to the others...this was a big let down. I enjoyed this but I did not love it. At the end there is no Devil Dinosaur anymore? Now we are auditioning replacements? I don't know how I feel about this. I hope that the next one is better. This is one of my favorite graphics.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moon Girl is not really my wheel house. But I am shocked by the less than 4 average rating. This is really a volume that a kid could sit back and enjoy. They could also learn a few things including the importance of others.