Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Vol. 3: The Smartest There Is

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare (Contributor), Natacha Bustos (Illustrator)

Collects Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #13-18.

Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Victor von Doom, T'Challa, Amadeus Cho...the greatest minds in the Marvel Universe all have one thing in common: they're not smarter than a 4th grader! That's right, the rumors are true - Lunella Lafayette is the smartest there is! Now it's time to put her unrivaled intellect to the ultimate test. Thankfully her best friend, Devil Dinosaur, is thirty feet of mutated prehistoric muscle, making for the perfect combination of brains and brawn! And they're going to need it to stand up to some of the worst villains the world has to offer - and maybe even one of the greatest heroes! Because, while Reed Richards, the guy who used to be the cleverest one around, is away, his best pal Benjamin J. Grimm is here to defend his pole position!

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

147 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 11, 2017

About the author

Amy Reeder is an American comic artist known for her work on titles such as Fool's Gold, Madame Xanadu, and Batwoman.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the entire Marvel universe shows up in this one. I'm sure there are a few people who don't. I didn't think this was the best volume so far. Still, I like how confident and smart Lunella is. She is a great role model for younger kids.

This is one of those really wild titles Marvel has. There is a real Dinosaur in this one and Lunella trades places with it on the full moon, well their minds trade places. Lunella is an Inhuman. They are the big group lately. It was X-men and now it's Inhumans.

I was entertained and it was fun.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every issue has a different guest star showing up to check up on Lunella. She's passed this test by Bruce Banner that declares her the smartest person on Earth. Moon Girl fights some Doombots.

The Good: It's nice to see a title in the Marvel U aimed at younger readers.

The Bad: There's not much of a plot or story in any of these books. Just because it's aimed at younger readers, doesn't mean kids can't handle a story.

The Ugly: Moon Girl is supposed to be the smartest person on the planet but still goes to a normal grade school in NYC. It drives me nuts because there's no way she wouldn't be in a special school for the gifted in New York. We had a gifted program in my grade school in a small town of 7,000 people 35 years ago and I live in NY now and know they exist. It just drives me nuts every time we are shown Lunella in school looking bored.

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fabulous volume, this time with special appearances by The Thing, Ironheart, Doctor Strange and the X-Men!
Moon Girl learns to ask for help and realizes there is strength in needing others when she gathers the friends she's made in her adventures to team up and save the city from Doombots.
A great plot, strong message, and heartwarming character development for Moon Girl. I love sharing this series with my daughter!

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An underrated, overlooked gem in the Marvel universe. This is one of the nost joyous books in the Marvel U.

Sure, it's not QUITE as well wtitten as Ms Marvel, or QUITE as offbeat as Gwenpool or Squirrel Girl....

But I LOVE the two titular characters of this series!!

[Alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm so sad that as I read more volumes, my opinion of this comic seems to be going down. I think I partly wasn't in the mood, but I'm also just really annoyed by the constant superhero interference in this one. I'm sick of every Marvel comic I read being a massive and continual crossover. I realize they're very integrated in the world/multi-verse, but if I read a comic about Moon Girl I expect a comic about Moon Girl and her struggles and villains, not a comic where she interacts with 20 different superheroes as her wannabe mentors.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as single issues]
Moon Girl's fought ape people from the dawn of time, and a snot-nosed Kree love interest. Now, she's out to prove herself as the Smartest There Is as one of the Hulk's genius tests reveals that she's not just the world's smartest nine year old, but the smartest person, period.

Enter a parade of guest stars as Lunella grapples with her new status and the fame (and villains) that it brings, with a Doctor Doom-related sub-plot bubbling away in the background at the same time.

I still find Lunella's internal monologue a little grating at times, but it makes sense given her situation. No one's ever taken her seriously, and she does NOT like being patronized, so being standoffish to literally everyone makes perfect sense in context.

Natascha Bustos (with a little help from Ray-Anthony Height) continues her run on the book with the usual fine line between cutesy and superheroic; I love her Devil Dinosaur so much, and there are a lot of guest stars to get her teeth (and pencils) into.

Next up: Moon Girl, meet Girl Moon. Yes, seriously.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is such a thing as genius envy and Dr. Doom is fuming...

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

this series is beyond fun. I love that kids reading this are going to have a badass, intelligent role model like lunella who, despite her powers and responsibility, is still allowed to act like a nine year old.

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

Some series drop off in quality over time, but so far that has not happened with Moon Girl. Volume three will be a particular delight to the fans out there that love cameos (and there sure are a lot of them in this one!). Moon Girl is the smartest person in the world, but getting others to accept that is easier said than done. This volume is all about Moon Girl trying to find her place in the world with her new status.



I mentioned that there were quite a lot of spoilers in this volume, and that is certainly the truth. Along with the expected cameos (Amadeus Cho and Kid Kree), we’re also graced with the appearance of the Thing, Ironheart, Ms Marvel , Doctor Doom (ok that’s not totally accurate, but I don’t want to spoil the ending), Doctor Strange, the X-Men (Wolverine, Storm, and a few others), and even the goons from volume one. Like I said, it’s a lot of cameos.
I enjoyed each of these cameos, for the most part, but all for different reasons. While Luna didn’t fully appreciate the Thing stopping in to check on her – I certainly do. He knows what brilliant minds are like, and the trouble they’re likely going to get themselves into. Thus he was worried about Luna, and rightly so. I hope he makes more appearances in the future – he’s sweet. Though it’d probably be better if he chooses to only show up when Amadeus isn’t around, those two have some issues to work out, preferably outside of a city full of civilians.
Ironheart’s cameo was probably the best one as far as being capable of understanding Luna and her past is concerned. Both are young and brilliant, so Ri Ri obviously understands why Luna would be bored out her mind in a standard school (it stills upsets me that nobody has made a move to place her in a better educational situation). Like Ben, she acknowledged that Luna is certainly smart enough to make her own decisions, and thus she had no right to try and stop her. I loved it.
Doctor Strange probably had the funniest cameo, with the bonus of him being one of my favorite characters, so naturally I loved seeing him. Seeing an itty bitty Devil Dinosaur was just icing on the cake. I’m not sure he’ll be making further appearances (I didn’t get the same impression from his cameo as I did with Ben and Ri Ri) but I would be more than happy with him showing up again anyway.
The X Men were probably the last of the longer cameos, and theirs was probably the oddest. They just suddenly show up, take Luna to a location (apparently to give her a specific item she wanted) and get into a fight with Doom bots. Seeing everybody fight was fun of course, though I was surprised that Luna just watched rather than participating (though admittedly she had other things on her mind, like how did she set them all back in time?).
I know I’ve mostly talked about cameos this volume, but to be honest the cameos held up, supported, and carried the plot to the end; thus why I focused on it so much. The cameos were actually well done, and while there were a lot of them they never crossed the line into boring or annoying. So I’m pretty happy with this volume on the whole (I swear I’m not just saying that because Doctor Strange and Ms Marvel showed up!). I’ll be curious to see what volume four will bring us.


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

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 stars.

This continues to be a delightful young reader series!

This book follows Lunella after the discovery that she is the smartest person in the universe. After solving the Banner box puzzle (problem? I'm still not entirely sure what this thing is), Amadeus Cho wants Lunella's help working on the Banner Box. Lunella is feeling extremely validated by this news about her status among the world's geniuses. She's spent her entire life feeling like no one else understands her and the way her brain works and finally she has some proof of her intelligence. I've said it once and I'll say it again: it's freaking awesome that the smartest person in the Marvel Universe is a little black girl. Little me would have died over this book!

As this is happening, Lunella receives a visit from Ben Grimm. He returns to Yancy Street to visit and look in on Lunella because his experiences with other geniuses have led to him being concerned she may need to learn that being smart isn't everything. Or something? I'm not entirely sure what Ben intends to teach her but he's sweet. He runs into Totally Awesome Hulk and they tangle because the Thing has always tangled with the Hulk. Lunella has to defuse this situation by using her brain.

A side effect of Lunella's status as the smartest person in the universe is that she ends up on another genius' radar: Dr. Doom. Doom is pressed because he thinks of himself as the smartest person in the universe and he sets his sights on Lunella. He sends Doom Bots after her and she receives some advise from several others: Riri Williams (aka Ironheart), Dr. Strange, the X-Men and a host of others for the finale.

Sidenote: part of this story takes place during Halloween and Lunella's classmates dress up as Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Kids are dressing up like Lunella and that's not only cute, it's super important. It's like when I see little black kids dressed as the Falcon, Miles and Moon Girl at cons. Representation is so important and this was the comic book version of saying that little kids look up to Lunella. I love this!

As with the other two volumes, there's a lesson to be learned here. Lunella has to realize that she can't do everything on her own and sometimes she has to ask for help. Although, it's interesting that the older heroes come to realize Lunella isn't quite in over her head. She knows what she's doing and she knows how to solve problems using her brain instead of brute strength.

I continue to question how her Inhuman ability is going to be helpful in the long run. Regardless, I still really liked this book. I took off a little bit on the rating because the X-men cameo seemed slightly pointless. I mean, I like seeing Storm in pretty much anything but I'm not sure if their appearance served any purpose outside of explaining their role in the finale.

3.8 stars.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this book and character more than when it first started, but here's my problem with it that keeps bugging me: to write a story where the protagonist is supposed to be The Smartest There Is, you have to start with a very smart writer. We get that with The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl regularly - lessons in logic, computer science, American Sign Language, conflict resolution negotiations, and many real-world facts about animal behaviors. Squirrel Girl does not claim to have an Intelligence stat of 10, but the reader actually gets to become smarter while seeing what brains paired with humility and compassion looks like. It might make sense that 9-year-old Lunella hasn't matured enough to present her intelligence with such grace, but her expressions of intelligence look more like parlor tricks than exceptional wits. We get words like "thesis" and "quantum" and other words that would pop up on a cloud graph of commonly-found words in a B.S. program. Visually, we're shown a pretty green holographic puzzle that Bruce Banner designed, and a triceratops made out of Lego blocks. These things, along with spring-loaded roller skates and boxing gloves, are fun, but there's never anything of substance to make the reader really believe that Lunella is a super-genius. It felt to me more like what a couple of stoned high school drop-outs might *imagine* being The Smartest There Is looks and sounds like.

If Moon Girl were written by someone of exceptional intelligence, who has interesting truths to reveal through the pages, then we would have a much better, more internally-consistent and believable comic.

[Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I assumed these comics were just going through the phase some series tend to where random cameos are introduced to sell issues without any satisfying payoff storywise, but I was dead wrong.

Each issue does feature a different supporting character who attempts to help Luna and teach her about their perspective on the world, but it truly means something. Their wisdom leads Luna to reevaluate her seemingly wanted loneliness, and begin to realize the importance of relying on others.

The last issue was powerful not only because Luna and her newfound friends all fought together as a group, but because of the growth that allowed that moment. It's difficult to grow up in a world where you feel like an outsider. Sometimes the easiest way to cope with it really is convincing yourself that you don't need anyone but you, even though that's destined to become self-destructive.

Being the smartest there is doesn't mean you understand everything and don't need anyone, and it's relieving Luna is learning this lesson early on so she doesn't develop the same unhelpful and toxic behaviors that some of the other geniuses in the Marvel Universe have. I'm both proud and glad that she's is letting herself leave isolating mindsets behind, and hope she's able to gain an emotional intelligence to compliment and enhance her logical one.

[Alex Sarll]

This is one of Marvel's most delightful books, covering the adventures of one nine-year-old supergenius and her saurian pal, with both of whom I identify far more than might make immediate sense. But this particular volume, not so much. Yes, it makes sense that with Lunella officially identified as the Marvel Universe's most intelligent, lots of people are going to take an interest in her. But while some of them (Amadeus Cho in particular) have already been established as part of her supporting cast, and others (Ironheart) would naturally gravitate towards her, too much of this is an unending parade of guest stars seemingly for the sake of it (or maybe sales - though the book has already powered through several times when naysayers were convinced it was about to be cancelled). Ben Grimm, Strange, the X-Men and more all potter through, none of them with enough time to establish an interesting connection before we're on to the next bit. And as for the threat - it's immediately obvious to anyone that they're not the real Doctor Doom, they're Doombots. So how come it takes the world's smartest so long to figure it out?

Still, the next volume is Moon Girl versus Girl Moon, which looks far more promising.

[Geppis Baltimore · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this volume of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Lunella solves the Banner B. O. X. which is a puzzle that has never been solved before, making her the smartest person in the world. This goes to her head quite a bit and we see her grow more and more egotistical until she's faced with a problem she can't beat on her own. Lucky for her she has plenty of friends to fall back on like Ms. Marvel, the X-men and the Thing.

This series is just delightful, go check it out! ~Elisa

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love the character of Moon Girl, particularly the fact that she's written as a super smart kid that struggles because of her intelligence. However, this volume dragged. It featured a lot of cameos from other Marvel characters meant to help teach Moon Girl a few lessons, but really this could have been accomplished in half the space.

[Alison (ageekyreader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

(read as single issues)

This continues to be my favorite book from Marvel. I wish we saw a little more of Lunella's home life, but it's good to see her growing and accepting that even though she's the smartest there is, she's capable of asking for help every once in a while too.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this my least favorite of the three volumes I read. For the most part, it is because it feels like guest stars galore. Though to see two girls/young women discussing sciene, two women of color, is worth the price of the comic. Lunella as always is entertaining.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moon girl is the smartest person in the world, and if you forget that she will remind you in the next two pages. She rarely does anything particularly intelligent in this volume. Her foil for this arc is Dr. Doom is angry because some arbitrary test declared Moon girl to be smarter than him. Generally speaking, highly intelligent people don't have to keep reminding everyone that they are intelligent.
We are also assaulted with a plague of guest stars. I feel like only when your character can't carry their own book do you need a special guest EVERY issue. Even NFL Superpro didn't do that.
So why is this a three star review instead of something lower? Well, I finally figured out that our protagonist is an unreliable narrator. Clearly she isn't the most intelligent person. The misinformation that her teacher is presenting about Columbus wouldn't be in any modern curriculum. All the superheroes wouldn't drop whatever they were doing to help her. No reasonably intelligent person would trust an inspector Gadget helicopter that was held together with duct tape. Just like the books that surround her on one of the covers (quantum physics, tank?, fight power? Etc) her intelligence is superficial. But in her daydreams during science class, she can fight an army of Doctor Dooms with roller skates and boxing gloves.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprints Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #13-18 (January 2017-June 2017). Lunella has solved the Banner B.O.X. which is an unsolvable puzzle…meaning she’s the smartest person on Earth! As Lunella deals with her new found claim to fame, Thing, Ironheart, Hulk, Doctor Strange, and the X-Men are out to help Lunella try to understand what being a hero is all about. Lunella’s claim that she is the smartest person on the planet isn’t sitting well with some including Doctor Doom who intends to prove he’s the smartest, and Lunella could pay the price.

Written by Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Volume 3: The Smartest There Is! follows Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 2: Cosmic Cooties. The collection features art by Natacha Bustos and Ray-Anthony Height.

Lunella is an interesting creation. She is a substitute for the original “Moon-Boy” who seemingly perished in the first issue of the new series (people in comics rarely die) and she is an attempt by Marvel and other publishers to broaden the world of superheroes to create heroes that are more inclusive. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur gets the concept right.

The problem with modernizing many of the heroes is that it completely writes out the past character or just replaces them with new and undeveloped heroes. In Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, it seems to work better in that Moon-Boy wasn’t the most popular Marvel character of all time and Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder have worked to make Lunella more rounded and “real”. She’s smart, but she’s still a kid.

This collection is essentially a series of team-ups with Lunella joining forces with other heroes after a flashforward to a potential future where she is the leader of Earth’s heroes. While some team-ups feel gratuitous like the X-Men, other team-ups fit right like Ironheart. Ironheart is an example of a poor roll-out of a Marvel character that deserves better. She was introduced as the new Iron Man, took over Iron Man’s title, but wasn’t given Iron Man’s name…Unlike Lunella, Riri was facing an uphill battle and was being set-up to lose. It is nice to see her in this title where she is allowed to be more like Lunella and less like another Iron Man fill in.

This volume of the series however feels like it is a little too late and should have happened earlier in the run. It feels like a lot of set-up for future issues, but in the competitive comic book market, I don’t know how Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will do since it is a smaller book with a character that isn’t a name among the non-comic book readers that Marvel attempts to woo. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 3: The Smartest There Is! is followed by Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 4: Girl-Moon.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly didn't think this title would be anywhere as good and entertaining as it is. Great stuff. Sure it gets a bit silly at times, but then were dealing with Marvel here - so how seriously can you really take this stuff.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't the best installment in the series. I really got confused between actually dialogue and the thoughts that were going on in Moon Girl's head. It was too much. I did appreciate the inclusion of all the Marvel superheroes. It was fun and interesting to see them all working together. With that being said, I think that she definitely learned the value of friendship in this volume, but I'm hoping to see more in the next volume. I really enjoyed volume 2 so this was sort of a disappointment.

[Colona Public Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have really been enjoying this series so far. I like the stubbornness and intelligence of moon girl, plus who doesn't love a giant Dinosaur joining forces with her? The art in here is really wonderful and had some great hero cameos. I liked the other 2 volumes a little better, but I have a feeling that there might be some great character development in store for future issues! ~Ashley

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lunella's adventures are just so cool!

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still think this series is adorable, I just didn't care for this particular storyline as much.

[Jean Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

When do we get a Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Marvel movie? :)

[Bee (BacchusVines) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this as much as the previous two, but still! Moon girl is my favorite because of her smarty-ness.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realize that Lunella is growing as a character, but there are still times where I would like to smack her. Just because you are the smartest person in the room doesn't mean you are the wisest.

[Meepelous · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving on to Volume 3 of the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur series, character chamios go into overdrive to a very largely enjoyable effect. There was one fight between Hulk and The Thing that I really didn't enjoy, but there was also a guest artist on that one, so it may have just been due to miscommunication.... I don't think this volume is for everyone but I really enjoyed the return of grouchy old man Wolverine. And sans real-world problems of little girls ending up in the beds of strange men, tiny devil dinosaur is SUPER cute.

In contrast to the previous volume, where I (as I mentioned) I felt like Lunella ended up being more than a little gas lit. In this volume, we have something concrete that Lunella believes that all the adults around her doubt, but that she is ultimately proved right on. This isn't to say I think that Lunella can never be wrong, but I do think it comes down to how she is wrong and whether issues are actually proven one way or another. Volume 2's problem was it was far too wishy-washy and didn't seem to realize what it was doing.

So while I'm obviously not front and center as far as this book's audience is concerned I have found it a pretty interesting read. I already have volume four, which will be the first volume I haven't read previously, and so I will hopefully have even more thoughts soon.

[Adan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lunella is the smartest there person in the world, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need help once in a while, especially when Doctor Doom is dogging you. A cavalcade of guest stars show up in this collection, including Thing, Amadeus Cho, Riri Williams, the X-Men, and Dr Strange, to help Lunella learn that even the smartest people need help to solve problems.

[Clarissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The issue with the X-Men brought this rating down a bit, but I’m still loving this series.

Lunella is feeling validated after finding out she is the smartest person in the world. Suck it, number 8 (looking at you Amadeus Cho) 😂

It’s nice to see her come into her own and accept that having friends is a good thing. She’s discovered a bit more about her Inhuman ability but idk how it’ll work in the long run.