In this review of The Moon Is Following Us #1, Daniel Warren Johnson and Riley Rossmo present a story about the quest loving parents take to bring their daughter back before she’s lost forever.
The Moon Is Following Us #1
Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson
Artist and Main Cover: Riley Rossmo
Variant Covers: Daniel Warren Johnson, Ryan Stegman
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: September 18, 2024
This review may contain spoilers.
Family tends to be a huge motivator. In a lot of stories, it’s a go-to theme. Sometimes of the found family variety, sometimes they’re one’s natural relatives. Either way, you’ll find that a lot of protagonists will do all they can to keep their family together.
The Moon Is Following Us is another candidate for that particular theme. The Moon Is Following Us #1 drops us right into the situation: Duncan and his wife Sam are introduced right away, on a mission to save their daughter Penny from the Cascade. When we first meet them, we’re in what looks like a fantasy setting, complete with an ominous enemy castle. At the same time, though, the tech level isn’t what one would associate with medieval fantasy (firearms exist in the same realm as magic).
Sam and Duncan storm the castle with their wizard friend Tash, and are, of course, met with as much resistance as their enemy can throw at them. Which, as it turns out, is a lot. They meet with an acquaintance for some more weapons (for a price, of course), Sam gets injured, and they have to bail on their mission for the time being. I don’t want to go into too many spoilers for this, but as it turns out, we’re dealing with two different worlds entirely in this story.
Analysis
First, the dot tones in The Moon Is Following Us #1 are a nice touch for the artwork. Gives it a sort of classic quality, I think. I’m liking the artwork in general, but the dot tones used for the shading give it a little something more. And speaking of the artwork, I’d say that the backgrounds work well for the story, and the character designs are pretty fun. I especially like the design of Sam’s armor in the fantasy/sci-fi world. It gives about as much coverage as the oft-parodied chainmail bikini, but it has a distinctively modern bent to it.
The helmet (minus the horns) definitely makes me think of something you’d find out somewhere, and the main outfit? Totally makes me think of something someone might wear to the gym. The color work is not overly-saturated, but still bright and has some nice contrasts happening here and there.
I can’t quite judge the story so far, as we’re only 1 (of 10) chapters in, but so far, we’re off to an intriguing start. This starting point had me asking a few questions…First and foremost: what happened to put Penny in her current predicament? The three theories that ran through my head right away were either: 1) Chosen One Shenanigans, 2) revenge against her parents, or 3) a simple case of wrong place/wrong time. Also wondering if this other world is its own dimension or if it’s a VR sort of scenario. How far into Isekai territory would we be getting with this story?
Again, it’s hard to really get a bead on where it’ll be heading at this point in time. Parents swearing to do everything possible to help their child is, of course, one of THE most often-used motivations that comes up in fiction (right up there with “revenge” and “romantic love”), so I think it’ll be interesting to see what this creative team does with such a familiar theme. That’s what keeps well-worn tropes fresh, after all: how creators use them. I am, of course, also curious about this world in general (Who are The Cascade? Are they a generic evil fantasy-setting group?), but can’t really harp on that too much right now because we’re only an issue in so far.
Final Thoughts
The Moon Is Following Us #1 leaves me wanting to see more of these characters and I want them to succeed, but at the same time, a bit more world-building would have been nice to see. Maybe in future issues?
Image Comics provided The Comic Book Spot with an advance copy of The Moon Is Watching Us #1 for review purposes. Find more reviews here. If you would like to buy a copy of this title, and help support the Comic Book Spot at the same time, consider purchasing this book at Amazon, My Comic Shop, or at Things From Another World.
