Advance Review: Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale
DC Comics had announced last year its intent to produce Young Adult material, as well as their mainline books Black Label books, thus giving the company a true diverse reading audience. Cynically, I have to say, when I was kid, you just read comics; there wasn’t a need for demarcation.  But the times they have changed.
Under The Moon is an origin book of sorts. From the outset you have Selina, living a, at times, Harry Potter-esque world. Her Mom seems to fall in with the wrong sort of guys; the type who are all take and no give. School acts a the semblance of peace but in reality, is just another battlefield. Into each of her wars, the one at home with her Mom’s boyfriend and the school with its not quite friends and bullies, there exists two tiny rays of hope; Cinders the kitten and Bruce Wayne respectively. As with most stories, there needs to be a tragedy to push the lead character into change, and as if Selina’s home life of constant bullying and living in fear of Darnell wasn’t enough, the death of the kitten sends Selina out onto the street. From there she ekes out a living of sorts, as along the way she falls into a crowd who leads her to her more famous occupation. Robbery! Of course, sooner or latter it all returns to Bruce in part as the pair start a careful friendship regardless of their own respective sides of the track.
Writer Lauren Myracle is a New York Times best times selling author having written a number of YA books. Here, there is a simplicity to the story that seems too convenient, at least for my way “older than YA eyes”. Putting that to one side, Myracle has delivered the type of story that would certainly engage it’s target audience. Selina, for all her attitude is likeable, Bruce for all his wealth isn’t a pompous twit and the rest of the cast round off the seemingly necessary vagabond tropes, including the damaged young girl Selina takes under her wing. The book is teamed with emotional aspects which help guide the reader through Selina’s up and downs, staying consistent with most versions of the character in essence rahter than actions. THe relationship between, required for this sort of tale. The relationship between Selina and Bruce does remind me of early season Gotham to some extent. Myracle astutely shows that whilst Selina can achieve things on her own, asking for help from the right person, doesn’t diminish her strength.
Isaac Goodheart provides the art for the book using simple panels to move the story along. The faces and figure work is kept equally simple with flowing lines used for the most part. This will no doubt help younger readers eyes read it as a comic, without the verity of “special effects” that can crowd in on mainstream panels and pages. The art fits the book well, bad guys have an almost caricature elements that makes their intent easily recognisable; good guys are pretty and in Bruce’s case have great hair! Crucially, the art helps deliver the emotional impacts of the story; I am not saying the Myacle couldn’t do the same with just the writing, but comics are for the most part a visual medium and it is great to see the two coalesce so readily. Jeremy Lawson gives the book a whimsical feel as he uses blues and reds in a very soft manner, with the rest of the coloring done gray-scale. It works well, keeping that easy on the eye style. Letters are provided by Deron Bennett who gets to play with a number of different fonts for different situations, effectively breaking up repetition and highlighting the important parts of the story.
An engaging read for the YA crowd that successfully shows how two of the most popular comic book characters can be written for a different audience without them losing their core components.
Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by; Lauren Myracle
Art by; Isaac Goodheart
Colors by; Jeremy Lawson
Letters by; Deron Bennett
Published by; DC Comics
ON SALE 5/1
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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