In this review The Moon Is Following Us #2, readers start getting more answers as to the situation with flashbacks to how everything started.
The Moon Is Following Us #2
Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson
Artists: Daniel Warren Johnson, Riley Rossmo
Colors: Mike Spicer
Main Cover: Riley Rossmo
Variant Cover: Daniel Warren Johnson
Release Date: October 23, 2024
The Moon Is Following Us #2 starts off with a sequence featuring Sam, Duncan, and Penny enjoying a happy, normal day together. Night falls, Penny goes to sleep, and the next morning brings sheer panic. She’s not waking up for any reason. Medical science can’t explain what the problem is, because she’s still alive…just in a coma. The closest thing Penny’s parents get to a solid answer is from a sleep specialist, who comes to the conclusion that her circadian rhythm is a bit different than normal, and that she keeps getting pulled into the world of her dreams like it’s her reality.
But because of how unprecedented this whole thing is, there’s not much that can be done for the kid. Which, of course, doesn’t sit well with her parents (particularly Sam). As she’s lamenting the entire situation, she receives a note from someone that claims they can help. She and Duncan go to meet with whoever sent the note, and it turns out to be Tash, the wizard they were shown to be allied with in issue 1. He provides them with the tech to travel into the world of Penny’s dreams, populated by her toys. They also receive more answers as to what’s going on with their kid (an infection)…and some actual hope that they can beat this threat to their daughter.
So, first and foremost, I definitely appreciate that they went back to the start of this whole ordeal for The Moon Is Following Us #2. The first three pages in particular were really well-done. No dialogue needed until that last panel, as a final cap on how much this couple loves their kid. An excellent example of “show, don’t tell”. And this all makes those scenes where Sam and Duncan (particularly Sam) are trying to figure out just what in the hell happened to their daughter hit harder. The grief and desperation are palpable enough that I could practically hear it. That’s how vividly the expressions and dialogue for those scenes come across.
There’s also a time and a place where “We’ve never seen anything like this” can be a wonderful, awe-inspiring thing to hear. Now, when someone’s dealing with ANYTHING in a medical context? That’s the most horrifying thing imaginable. So the stakes are definitely there.
The fact that this second world is the one in Penny’s dreams can lead to a lot of fun design stuff. A child’s imagination tends to be a bit more vivid than those of most adults. So her toys being alive and residing in this realm is honestly kind of perfect. Her stuffed toad toy that she’d called “Cupcake” in the Waking World, that’d been lost during an outing, hit by a car, recovered later with only one eye? In the Dream World, he’s an eyepatch-wearing badass. Because it just makes sense that the kid’s subconscious would make that happen. The fact that it’s Penny’s dream also makes the mashup of classic fantasy and modern weaponry make a lot of sense.
As for The Cascade, I’m wondering if they’re the source of the infection or more of an opportunistic force that saw it coming and jumped right on the chance to invade. Yes, the apparent option is that it’s them, but we’re only in issue 2 of 10 and we’re dealing with the world of a kid’s dreams, and that’s not always the most predictable territory.
So, to sum it up: we get an emotional kick-off to the journey itself (the prior issue having started mid-adventure), which leaves the reader thirsty for what comes next.
