Devil Dinosaur Returns With New Friend, Series

Description: Illustration of a young black girl leaning forward to kiss the
snout of a red dinosaur several times larger than she is, the dino's sharp teeth
prominently visible in frame.

In the late 1970s, legendary comic artist Jack Kirby created a short-lived comic series for Marvel- Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur. Decades later, Devil Dinosaur returns in a new series: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. While the original series took place in an alternate Earth where Neanderthal-like cave people lived side by side with dinosaurs, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur places the titular dino in modern-day New York City, where he befriends Lunelle Lafayette, aka Moon Girl.

So what was the inspiration to revive a decades-old, somewhat obscure Marvel comic book series? Why bring a dinosaur to NYC? As Assistant Editor Emily Shaw explains in an interview with Entertainment Weekly's Andrea Towers, there was something she and the series writer noticed when looking at Marvel's current line-up:

“Mark and I were talking about how whenever people come in with young kids, or even just for Mark’s own kids, we don’t have that many publications that we can give to people that have that broad reach,” Shaw explained to EW. “Generally, we’re skewing a little bit older with a lot of our titles and we wanted to create something that adults and kids could really love, like a Pixar feel. That’s where the tone jumped off for us.”

And the artist Natcha Busto adds that she sees the introduction of Lunelle Lafayette as someone that she wished she could have seen growing up as an artist and comic fan herself:

“For decades now, we have seen more independent publishers taking a gamble on diversification, but always within the underground scene,” she explained. “It’s really important that the mainstream throws up new references like these and it’s an honor to be a part of that change that Marvel is bringing to the comic book creative landscape. A greater number of readers are looking for characters they can identify with, and above all, with the aim that any reader, whatever their background or lifestyle, is capable of transcending their own identities to see themselves in a mirror of entertainment for 20 or 30 minutes without any difference.”

With a talented roster, an interesting concept, and plenty of excitement surrounding the title, this is one comic series I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye out for.