Welcome to the latest installment of my comics review column here at Skiffy & Fanty! Every month, I use this space to shine a spotlight on SF&F comics (print comics, graphic novels, and webcomics) that I believe deserve more attention from SF&F readers.
This month, I want to take a look at a new original graphic novel that definitely deserves more attention than it has received. That graphic novel is Moonstruck Volume 2: Some Enchanted Evening. Warning: this review contains spoilers!
I continue to be puzzled by how completely Moonstruck fell off our collective SFFnal radar; the early issues were received with so much enthusiasm that I initially wondered if the series was so prominent and successful that it no longer needed the spotlight this column attempts to give.
But then? Online conversations about Moonstruck subsided. I don’t recall seeing much discussion of the conclusion of the first storyline or the release of the collected volume that compiled it, which I suggested voters consider for a Hugo nomination this year.
And as far as I’ve seen, the release of the second volume, an original graphic novel (OGN) that never appeared as individual issues, passed without comment.
That’s weird, right? Especially for a work that achieved so much initial buzz and that remains so damned good.
It’s almost enough to make me wonder if there’s … a curse or something?
Nah. Couldn’t be.
Or could it?
[I mean, no, obviously it couldn’t. Shaun, nobody is going to buy this. Stop being silly. Yes it could, Stephen. You shut your face. Magic is real.]
Ahem. Anyway. So, this volume begins a new chapter of both Moonstruck and of adorable werewolf couple Julie and Selena’s relationship. There are buckets of trust issues and a fairybro frat party that goes horribly wrong, especially for Julie’s sort-of-friends who get trapped in the frathouse. There’s also some kind of ancient grudge between two factions of the Fair Folk that plays out in a feud between the frat and a sorority. In addition, vampire slacker Mark has what he thinks is a dark secret; centaur Chet has a burgeoning romantic relationship with minotaur Manuel; seer Cass has an actual dark secret; and Julie has a manuscript for her own graphic novel set in her beloved Pleasant Mountain Sisters series that she won’t let Selena read…
So there’s clearly a lot going on in this volume, and while Julie and Selena remain central to the rom and the com, a lot of the activity involves other members of the cast taking their turns in the spotlight — most importantly, Chet, who happily emerges as a co-protagonist rather than continuing as a sidekick to the alpha couple.
The characters, their relationships, and the dialogue remain the highlight. I don’t have much of a background reading fan fiction, but the absolute charm of the workplace sitcom elements of the story, with Julie, Chet, and their perpetually grumpy token human co-worker at the coffee shop, CT, make me understand why the coffee shop AU is such a thing (you can learn more about this trope here). It’s a perfect setting for bringing characters together and encouraging interaction and banter.
And banter they do. CT snarks, Chet enthuses, Julie tries to bridge divides to little avail, and lots of other characters drop by. Chet’s utter unfettered delight at explaining his obsession with NewPals (it’s NeoPets with the serial numbers filed off) to Manuel — at length — is worth the price of admission by itself, as is his equally over-the-top angst when he later worries that Manuel might — gasp! — actually not like NewPals! And the pop and sparkle of the wit isn’t confined to the main cast or the dialogue. There are background and throwaway jokes on every page.
In addition to being a very funny book, it is a sweet and heartwarming one. The payoff in the progress of the relationships between the characters — not just romantic relationships, but also friendships — is deeply satisfying. I cheered out loud at Julie and Selena hitting another relationship milestone and at Chet’s happiness with Manuel. Even Mark, who’s basically a jerkass as well as a vampire, gets an opportunity to grow and become a better friend.
The plot is obviously very active, but also a bit thin in places. Not all the wheels being spun are strictly necessary for forward momentum. I think this is totally forgivable. When the point is the characters interacting, a plot that basically just serves to get them from points A through B to C is really all you need. But recognizing that the plot is simply a vehicle also serves to underscore that some of the backstory, exposition, and ongoing hints at a big magical destiny feel a bit obligatory. I’ve read a lot of fantasy; I don’t need another big magical destiny to unfold, not when what I’m really here for is Julie and Selena’s unfolding relationship and coffee-shop snark.
It’s also clear at points that this volume, while released as an original graphic novel, wasn’t written or drawn that way. It retains the cliffhangers, breaks, and even the covers and backmatter that would have appeared in each individual issue as it was published. In terms of the content, this is a perfectly reasonable choice. I especially love the presence of the covers; they make excellent chapter breaks. But in the absence of serialization, the repeated cliffhanging and reveals can feel bumpy. I suspect the decision to move to the original graphic novel format was made when the production process was fairly far along. I understand that timetables and workloads would have made it challenging, time-consuming, and expensive to revise the work to better fit the new format after so much had been completed. Still, I found that some of the transitions pushed me out of the story, especially given writer Grace Ellis’s obvious love for exposition-driven and in media res chapter openings.
The art, however, goes a long way towards smoothing the occasional choppy transition. It’s outstanding — better than Volume One, and I really liked the art in Volume One. Shae Beagle’s grasp of the characters and their expressions and movement is even stronger, and she seems to be working in what I suspect is both a more conscious and more effortless partnership with colorist Caitlin Quirk. The result is that the characters and backgrounds work perfectly in the soft-focus romantic glow created by the glorious tandem of art and colors.
This volume is clearly a transitional one, marking the point that the creators made the bold and admirable decision to pursue the original graphic novel model for the series and eschew releasing further single issues. That’s an unusual choice, even in today’s more graphic novel-friendly market. Most series that start using the serialization-to-collections models continue to follow that path while series that are OGN usually use that model from the start. I hope that the series continues to thrive by releasing (perhaps) annual original graphic novels. Now that they’ve embraced this approach, the creators are able to structure and write subsequent volumes more consciously to read as books rather than as a collection of chapters.
I don’t know why we all stopped talking about Moonstruck. Unless it really was a curse. [Darn it, Shaun, this is ridiculous — IT WAS NOT A FREAKING CURSE. Yes, it was, Stephen. Shut yer yap.]. But it’s my hope that this second volume rekindles some of the enthusiasm and excitement that greeted the initial issues so that there are many more from this outstanding creative team, carrying the story forward for years to come.
Moonstruck Volume 2: Some Enchanted Evening
Writer — Grace Ellis
Artist — Shae Beagle
Additional Art — Kat Fajardo
Colorist — Caitlin Quirk
Letterer — Clayton Cowles
Editor/Designer — Laurenn McCubbin
Moonstruck: Volume 2 is published by Image Comics. It is available where all good graphic novels are sold.
Acknowledgements and Disclosures:
I have no personal or professional relationship with the publisher or creators of this work. I purchased my own copy of the book for review.
I would like to acknowledge that Toronto, and the land it now occupies, where I live and work, has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory waswha the subject of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. This territory is also covered by the Upper Canada Treaties. Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island. I am grateful to have the opportunity to live and work in the community of Toronto, on this territory.
