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August 15, 2017 11:06 AM

Moonshadow was a ground-breaking graphic novel of exceptional beauty, a "fairy tale for grownups," beloved by Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut.

The comic was a 12-issue limited series published under Marvel's Epic imprint in 1985-7. It was written and created by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Jon J. Muth, Kent Williams and George Pratt. It was later released as a collection with textual revisions titled "The Compleat Moonshadow." The collection also contained a new one-issue sequel entitled "Farewell Moonshadow".

posted by storybored (18 comments total)

Funny, I have the books and the initial collection and for some reason my mind has retconned it to be a work by Neil Gaiman even though I know perfectly well I first encountered his work in Violent Cases, with Dave McKean. I'll dig the book out and loan it to my wife, as I am certain she will enjoy it. Thanks for the reminder!
posted by mwhybark at 11:46 AM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

Ahhhh!!! Moonshadow warped my youth. Every time I see one of Jon Muth's cute panda picture books I think OH I KNOW WHERE YOU'VE BEEN, BUDDY.
posted by speedlime at 12:17 PM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

The comparison to Gaiman and McKean is apt. Moonshadow was utterly unlike anything I'd laid eyes on up to that point. I think that DeMatteis runs hot and cold; sometimes his work on mainstream projects falls flat, as with his runs on Captain America and Spider-Man (he's responsible for this scene, for example), but he also participated in one of the most beloved runs of the Justice League ever. He's also done some really striking work with Mike Ploog on Abadazad.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:02 PM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

I somehow stumbled across this (in book form) when I was a teenager. I'd been drawn to comics as a medium but hadn't found any that I was really able to get into until Moonshadow. I read it and re-read it so many times over the years. The last chapters in particular have had a really lasting impact on me. It's been years since I last picked it up -- it's probably time for a re-read.
posted by treepour at 1:04 PM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

> "It's been years since I last picked it up -- it's probably time for a re-read."

Might possibly want to be careful with this ... when I re-read it was when I realized it was sexist as hell.
posted by kyrademon at 1:34 PM on August 15, 2017

There is a peculiar window in time circa late-eighties, early nineties for fully painted prestige comics projects like Moonshadow. DeMatteis followed up with Kent Williams on Blood: A Tale, a dreamy, odd piece of work about naked vampires. Jon J Muth and Kent Williams would later collaborate with Walt and Louise Simonson on Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown (boy, that one was a weird and beautiful mess). George Pratt came out with Enemy Ace: War Idyll and Wolverines: Netsuke. Bill Sienkewicz came out with Stray Toasters (brilliant and oh so problematic). Gaiman and McKean had Violent Cases, Signal To Noise, and eventually Mr. Punch (with detours into the D.C. Universe proper with Black Orchid and those beautiful and evocative Sandman covers).

A good amount of connective tissue to these artists at the time is Barron Storey, whose fine art approach to sequential storytelling was hugely influential. You can see the influence progress in David amack's work, who went from nineties black-and-white indie cartoonist to his current paint-and-collage style today.
posted by Eikonaut at 1:44 PM on August 15, 2017 [3 favorites]

The art is gorgeous. Is the series appropriate for kids?
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:56 PM on August 15, 2017

Probably not advisable for kids 12 and under. But for the right one, it's perfect.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:16 PM on August 15, 2017

Jon J Muth has a really nice series of kids books about a Zen panda that I've really enjoyed reading to the kids.
posted by Artw at 2:23 PM on August 15, 2017

I always think of Moonshadow in the same breath as Ann Nocenti & John Bolton's Someplace Strange, another painted comic which I dearly loved.
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:38 PM on August 15, 2017

Painted art is always a bit static, but for some things that works.
posted by Artw at 2:43 PM on August 15, 2017

Oh I remember how delightful this was - lyrical and lush. I think it's still in my big bookcase of comics. I should put on my "it was the 80's" googles of sexism resistance and see if they can stand the glare of a reread.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:28 PM on August 15, 2017

A good amount of connective tissue to these artists at the time is Barron Storey, whose fine art approach to sequential storytelling was hugely influential.

Holy crap, I'll say. I swear I'd never read or heard his name until now, but just a quick GIS shows a style that's very familiar because it's reflected in so many artists; the only work of Storey's that I'm familiar with off the top of my head is his iconic Lord of the Flies cover. As far as comics artists, the amount of influence varies; Sienkiewicz started out as a Neal Adams clone--although he quickly went very, very far away from that--but Mack seems to have barely bothered to scrub the fingerprints off.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:10 PM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oh man, blast from the past! I remember really loving this back in the 80s. I wonder what I'd think of it now.
posted by tavella at 5:39 PM on August 15, 2017

Sorry - came in here expecting Cat Stevens (and Spike Milligan!)
posted by Rash at 10:12 PM on August 15, 2017

Jon J Muth also illustrated a short version of Dracula which has some utterly gorgeous artwork. Worth checking out.
posted by elendil71 at 11:37 PM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

I read Moonshadow when it came out. I was in college, and a friend reintroduced me to comics.
I loved the visuals - so strikingly different from anything I was used to - and the mix of whimsy and fear.
posted by doctornemo at 5:59 AM on August 16, 2017

Loved this. I wonder if I still have any.
posted by evilDoug at 3:42 PM on August 16, 2017