This is the only review I wrote for the week of February 2nd-3rd's releases, and Luna was easily my pick of the week across all publishers. For reasons I talk about in the review, I was completely blown away, and can't stress enough how much I'm looking forward to the rest of this series. High-Concept stories are often difficult to pull off in comics, and Llovet is off to a remarkable start. I can't recommend Luna enough! In other news, expect some mild restructuring in the way I do my posts here. As you probably know, I recently started a podcast version of this very blog, called Sensational She-Geek Live from Yancy Street (Yancy St. being a reference to the location of the Fantastic Four's headquarters, the Baxter Building). While writing has been a passion of mine my whole life, and this blog has been an excellent outlet for that, I've now realized that working on the podcast is more manageable for my free time. Where a blog post might take several days to write up, the podcast comes together from the past several days' thoughts on comics and comics culture, can be organized in under an hour, recorded in the same time, then posted in another hour. To sum up: It's easier, more natural to create, and has far more views than my standard blog post. So, I'm letting the blog writing take back seat so I can focus more on the blog, and on my own personal writing projects. Let me know what you think! In the meantime, Continue Reading for the discussion on Luna #1! Maria Llovet signs just about every page she draws. It’s something I noticed as soon as I first picked up Faithless, and remains a constant through almost every page she’s drawn ever since. While her signature doesn’t necessarily add anything to the art, it does act as a constant reminder of the amount of work comic artists put into every frame, which we as reader often take for granted, passing over often times without a second glance.
It’s also interesting to pay attention to the dates by her signatures. Several scenes were apparently completed in 2019, while others weren’t started until 2020. And even then, certain impressive spreads are marked 2019, making me think they are the pages that drove her overall vision, and came to her early on in the project's creation. While this particular fact is really just me appreciating the process, it’s also worth noting that Llovet has put at least two years of effort into this project, and her effort shows. I actually found myself taken aback when I referred back to the inside cover credits page, to discover Llovet does ALL of the interiors. All the art, writing, lettering, design, etc. is all her own hand; an enormously impressive feat. I knew, of course, that she is writing and drawing this series, most similar creators bring in an assistant for coloring or at least lettering. Llovet chose to go above and beyond, taking total creative control of her story, which I admire as much as I am enjoying the outcome. The page of dream imagery the series basically opens up with remains relevant though the rest of the issue. Symbols repeat and are referenced through the story, as Theresa works out what’s going on, where she is, and gets to know those around her. Llovet's key visual details drive the reader's awareness of Theresa's mind-state and, whether she is slipping into another vision, falling into a high, or taking in the revelers that night. In a drug induced state, you can practically feel the staticky heartbeat pounding behind her eyes as she silently watches the groups members. Coloring, framing, and an eerie combination of hippie, religious, and pagan symbolism that creates a 3D effect through the panels all adds to the effect, allowing us to follow Theresa's gaze and thoughts, perfecting Llovet’s artistic vision. Colors change, bodies writhe, and Theresa experiences the oddities of this new life she's being offered. There are several spreads in the issue, including the initial dream sequence, that I would spend good money on as full-sized posters. A calm field of flowers in a desert oasis, the group sharing various smoke-making drugs, Theresa taking a liquid drug, and so may other pages and panels took my breath away with their originality and creativity in the design. Llovet has outdone herself with her art, symbolism, literary devices, and intrigue. And that's all ignoring the plot being made thick and clear with those very same symbols and devices. Based on this first issue, here is what we know of the actual story. Theresa, once called Lunetta, has been plagued with visions in her dreams her entire life. Her grandmother urged her to draw them out, which is what we see on the initial double-spread of symbolism and iconography. When she wakes from this particular vision, she's somewhere she doesn't recognize. A young woman tells her she had an accident, and they found her, saved her. She is in a desert oasis, saved by a hippie cult called the Children of the Sun. Their leaders is a classic leader of this type--slender, shirtless guy with flowing golden locks. The likeness to a certain too-often white-washed middle-eastern man of historical significance is noted. The women are all his and each others' lovers, it is pretty clear. Again, classic hippie cult stuff. But when one of the women takes Theresa to their somewhat mystical oasis garden near a mysterious desert cave, she gets one of her visions. Two figures, arguing. One is light, one is dark. They call each other the light and darkness. Later that night, Theresa joins them all at the campfire, smoking weed together while the other women dance freely around the fire. Her gaze latches on to that of the leader, and she ends up in bed with him. He offers her a new drug, something he promises is far better than weed, made of liquid. She takes one drop on her tongue, and her world evolves in front of her eyes. She asks what was in that, and he only tells her it was something special, mixed with his own blood. They have crazy drug-fueled sex, he cuts her neck and drinks her blood, and she drinks his from his wrist. Needless to say, this is not a comic for young readers. The heavy symbolism of blood rituals, sex, drugs, and dancing all make me think that the cult leader is one of the characters from Theresa's latest vision. She's only just starting to get hints of clarity since coming to the cult's oasis, it will likely be a while before she even begins putting the pieces together. In any case, I'm more than excited to find out what happens next, and the eventual answer to the mystery of her visions and this very desert oasis.
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