Marvel is giving black comic book fans something to look forward to with a reimagining of a short-lived 1978 comic.
Devil Dinosaur was a comic about a red Tyrannosaurus rex and his cavemanlike friend, Moon-Boy. But in Marvel’s new comic, Devil Dinosaur will be joined by a little girl named Lunella Lafayette, aka Moon Girl. According to Entertainment Weekly, Lunella isn’t your average girl, but a “female Inspector Gadget” who actually knows a lot more than Inspector Gadget because of her “unpredictable alien DNA.”
In the new Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur comics, instead of action taking place in an alternate universe like in the older comic, the duo will embark on adventures together in New York City.
“What’s really cool is to be able to put a Tyrannosaurus rex in modern-day New York City and also juxtapose with a little girl,” writer Brandon Montclare said.
Natacha Bustos, the artist behind Moon Girl, says she looks forward to the diversity the comic will offer.
“It’s great to be a part of the creation of something which can mean something special to so many people,” Bustos told Entertainment Weekly. “I myself have come up against this dilemma (I’m half Afro-Brazilian and half Chilean besides being Spanish) of finding few or no cultural references, especially in Spain, a country where there isn’t any community comparable to the African-American community in the States.
“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.”
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur launches this fall.