The Compleat Moonshadow by J.M. DeMatteis

Luckily I knew better than to expect some sort of grand and satisfying revelation at the end. Teen Moonshadow looks like a young David Bowie, and that never hurt anything. Some of the ideas were wonderfully imaginative, and the art-moody, impressionistic watercolors-was frequently stunning. I have to admit that part of me was riveted by it. It's also got some Star Wars/ Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy thing going on. The story feels familiar, but that's probably because it reverberates with literary allusion. It's inspired by a Cat Stevens song, for Christ's sake. The whole thing is embarrassingly earnest and emo and hippie-dippy and meaningful. But he also makes some good friends and grows up and, to some extent, finds out what he's made of. The story is told from the point of view of an old-and I guess alcoholic-Moonshadow, who is forever droning on about his 'awakening.' Young Moonshadow ('Moonshit,' as Ira calls him) proceeds to lose his innocence in every way imaginable: loved ones die virginity is lost patriotism is a sham chivalry is gone rulers are crazy war is brutal and pointless faith is lost friends betray you horrible things happen for no apparent reason. Oh, and Moonshadow's cat Frodo emerges every twenty or so pages, out of nowhere. At the zoo, Moonshadow slavishly follows around some lecherous, foul-mouthed, cigar-smoking, bowler hat-wearing, Wookie-like creature named Ira, and together they have some adventures after Moonshadow's father springs them from the zoo and gives them a spaceship in one of his random appearances. Moonshadow was born in an intergalactic zoo, the offspring of a drug-addled, Brooklyn-born hippie who calls herself 'Sunflower' and a 'grinning ball of light,' an alien creature who may or may not be entirely capricious (read: absent father extraordinaire).

This is probably one of the weirdest books I've ever read. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned. Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss.

Originally released in the mid 1980's by Epic Comics, then re-released in the Compleat version a decade later by Vertigo, now collected all together once again by Dark Horse. The story here just isn't very interesting, but it is worth flipping through the book for the art. It's not graphic visually, but the prose can be. Moonshadow does have a furry sidekick who is obsessed with sex.

As the book labored on over it's 500+ page run, I found myself getting more and more perturbed with Moonshadow's pacivity as he continually just lets these awful people do horrific things to him. The comic is told as Moonshadow's memoirs and is more illustrated novel than a comic. Told allegorically with planet-sized malls called GimmeGimme, each issue focuses on a different subject as Moonshadow comes of age, consumerism, death, war, sex, etc. However, it's more of a Dickensian tale set in outer space. Moonshadow is billed as a fairy tale for adults.

The Compleat Moonshadow by J.M. DeMatteis