Yeah, it's a comic book. One with more depth, humor, and relevance than 90% of mainstream literature as found on NYT lists or NPR.

This is a whoppingly big graphic novel that originally came out in serialised form during the 80s. First off the artwork is beautiful, and throughout the book it evolves from being childlike and cartoonish and then eventually becomes more delicate and intricate... which shows Moonshadow's journey from being a child into death. I've seen some reviews criticise this because Moonshadow is a "punching bag" and is just getting knocked from pillar to post and has no control over his destiny.... also s...

(4.5 stars, although...I'm wavering. It was really good.)More than some of Vertigo's other graphic novels, this one comes closer to being an illustrated novel. Yes, there are still dialogue balloons and even traditional comic book onomatopoeiae, but they're well dominated by narration coupled with absolutely fantastic artwork.Where to start.... Since I've brought up the art, I'll go over that first. It's not just watercolor, although that's certainly the majority, and used to all its strengths:

It's so rare to find a graphic novel that works on more than one level, but when you do, it's wonderful. On the one hand, there’s the gorgeous watercolor art, some of it literally breathtaking, one the other, there’s the solid story that tackles various important topics while still being exciting, engaging and occasionally humorous. Sci-fi fans will no doubt find the story fascinating. It’s the “journey of awakening” of 15-year-old Moonshadow, the child of a hippy earth-born mother and a giant g...

Undoubtedly one of my favorite comics ever, I was unaware of its influence when I first discovered a copy in a box at an antique/junk shop. One of the first comics to feature fully painted artwork, it featured a complex adult storyline that melded poetry, crude humor, fairy tale, and science fiction into a wistful story of reminiscence, a coming of age tale set in space. It does suffer from a rambling plot that at times lacks cohesion, but Muth's gorgeous art binds it together beautifully, and M...

The watercolour illustrations in this book are alone are captivating, and as it turns out, the story is also very beautiful. As many commentators have noted, this is an original and haunting coming of age story. Moonshadow, the main character, and the book itself are innocent and full of wonder. Because this is a story of awakening, it is also full of confusion, heartache, sorrow, betrayal and pain. The artwork, the author's prose, and even Moonshadow himself created such an atmospheric experien...

Imaginative, with interesting pictures, at times very beautiful. I would easily give this 4 stars if I had not taken so long to feel attached to the story or characters. By the end, I did feel attached, to varrying degrees. During the first third of the book I felt incredibly annoyed with the pompous writing. I think this book is overrated yet I would still recommend it to fantasy lovers.

What a journey! Moonshadow's journey begins before his birth, with her mother's and perhaps with his great aunt's journeys on Earth. In Brooklyn, to be specific. His hippie, peace-loving, war-hating mother is abducted by whimsical, spherical aliens to become a part of their intergalactic zoo, where she marries one of the giant orbs and Moonshadow's born! Moon grows up in the zoo, but when he's 15, he's forced to go on a journey. So Moon, his mother, his loyal cat, and a raunchy, irreverent alien...

The best comic book series I ever read, the one to which I compare all others. Even five stars isn't enough.

Under the editorship of visionary Archie Goodwin, Marvel's Epic Comics line, with titles such as Dreadstar, Coyote, and Starstruck, showcased some of the best and most innovative comics of the 1980s.Premiering in 1985, the fully painted twelve-issue fairy tale Moonshadow by writer JM DeMatteis and artist Jon J. Muth continued that bold tradition.The chronicles of the young, naive Moonshadow's life continued in 1986. Orphaned and raised by strange aliens and befriended by a cantankerous, foul sme...

Moonshadow is a 1985–1987 limited series written and created by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Jon J. Muth and Kent Williams as well as George Pratt. It was later released as a trade paperback currently entitled The Compleat Moonshadow. The comic was inspired by the Cat Stevens song of the same name. It takes the form of a bildungsroman with elements of satire. The first issue of this come out while I was on my own bildungsroman, and the echo and significance of this was not lost on me. It w...

This raucous and magical coming of age story is one of my all time favourite books. First read it in the 1980's and I've reread it a dozen times since discovering new things every time. The artwork is gloriously gentle except when it isn't, the story is charmingly whimsical, except when it isn't. This book has everything, poor parenting, sex and debauchery, war and violence, love and peace, happiness and misery and in the end acceptance. DeMatteis' writing is heavily autobiographical, one has to...

This is probably one of the weirdest books I've ever read. 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). 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...

Dude who runs the hobbie shop said this was his favourite comic ever. That's high praise for a major nerd! Plus he gave me a discount. Sweet!Dec. 25, 2011The ending to this book actually bumped it up from beige 3 star read to 4 stars. I expected so much more from this when I started it. The artwork is really whimsical, a perfect fit to the story. But as I read further and futher, I couldn't stand how pretentious the narrator was. Ugh! Get over yourself. Throughout the book, the narrator breaks t...

This is a great graphic series. I can't say what I loved more if it is DeMatteis' words or Jon J. Muth's incredible watercolers. This series has a great mixture of comedy and tragedy that is almost like I. B. Singer's books in comparison. DeMatteis has written many series since, but this remains my favorite because of the way it tells the story of a childhood innocence forced to confront grown up reality. Though told in very fantasy terms, this is a realistic view of love, life and death, and gr...

Moonshadow is billed as a fairy tale for adults. However, it's more of a Dickensian tale set in outer space. 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. The comic is told as Moonshadow's memoirs and is more illustrated novel than a comic. 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 continuall...

What does one write when one knows he couldn't possibly give a book justice.Wouldn't it be fun if we all lived in a Disney Animated Movie nd could simply burst out into song instead... in fact, I do believe that is exactly what I am going to do...Oh, I'm bein' followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow Leapin and hoppin' on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow And if I ever lose my hands, lose my plough, lose my land, Oh if I ever lose my hands, Oh if.... I won't have to work no more. And

3.75 starsMoonshadow is a fantastical coming-of-age tale with splashes of sci-fi drama. It wasn't perfect, but it was an interesting ride overall. Let's talk about the main feature first: the artwork. It was lovely! The watercolors were beautiful. The color palette seemed fitting for the setting of the story. I also enjoyed the character designs. There was an old-school charm to it that I can't exactly put my finger on. Moonshadow was a cool thing to flip through simply for the art alone.The sto...

Definitely an overlooked, imaginative, unique, creative, funny, with some depth, sci fi, coming of age graphic novel. Ira is quite the character in and of himself- he's a sarcastic, funny, impulsive, selfish, lecherous alien and he is the pretty much unwilling companion to Moonshadow, the main character, a young boy trying to figure out where he belongs. The artwork is also quite talented. This is one of the best books I bought impulsively from the used section at a bookstore. Maybe this comic i...

Van Morrison’s Moon Dance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lFxG...Cat Steven’s Moon Shadow:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGNxK...“Piping down the valleys wildPiping songs of pleasant glee,On a cloud I saw a child,And he laughing said to me: ‘Pipe a song about a lamb!” So I piped with merry chear‘Piper, pipe that song again!’So I piped; he wept to hear.”—BlakeThe Compleat Moonshadow is a kind of fictional/fantasy (auto)biography of Moonshadow, which the author John Marc DeMatteis says is a stor...