Last year I wrote about discovering the works of J.M. DeMatteis, a comic book writer, and how it was really a re-discovery of sorts, because he wrote Moonshadow, a graphic novel I read years (nay, decades) ago. Shortly after that post I was able to purchase a cheap, used copy of Moonshadow from eBay, which was a major feat, considering that most used copies of it sold for around $100.
This week a new edition of Moonshadow was published by Dark Horse Comics, and I purchased a copy. It is a beautiful deluxe hardcover:
So what is Moonshadow about, you may ask? That's a difficult question to answer. Here are a few attempts:
- I like the phrase "a cosmic coming of age story".
- DeMatteis himself describes it as "Dickens' David Copperfield meets Siddhartha in space". I've never read those books, though, so I have no idea what that means.
- A commenter on DeMatteis' blog described it as being "like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, except way more poetic", a description which DeMatteis liked.
Here's how the publisher's website describes it:
A romantic, unreliable narrator leads us through his interplanetary coming-of-age story, as an older Moonshadow recounts his strange mixed-species birth in outer space, his escape from a deep-space zoo, and his struggles to survive in a war-torn universe.
It goes on to describe it as poetic, philosophical, and groundbreaking. I would also say it's the most literary graphic novel I've read. It inspired me to read Dostoyevsky, after all!
I was a little disappointed at first that the cover art on the new edition is different from the previous one. But as soon as I opened the book, I discovered a welcome surprise. The previous cover art is beautifully reproduced on the inside cover:
And that reminds me: one of the minor characters in the book is a black cat named Frodo!
I love Moonshadow. I can't wait to re-read it in this new deluxe edition. If you're interested in it, just be aware that the subject matter is inappropriate for kids -- mature readers only!