in Blitheton, it's not unusual to encounter a vampire or a shapeshifter or even a unicorn. In fact, in Blitheton, Magical Creatures are as commonplace as you or me.
In the first volume of Moonstruck, by Grace Ellis and Shae Beagle, Werewolves Julie and Selena and their centaur friend Chet are working at their neighborhood cafe and enjoying day to day life (despite sometimes getting pulled, against their will, into friend drama). Then they are all invited to a mysterious magic show where an enigmatic illusionist performs a trick that transforms Chet into a human! Needless to say, they are devastated! Julie and Selena explore first love, help their friend cope with the loss of their horsey hindquarters, and try to track down the mischievous magician so they can demand the return of Chet's proper butt. The three friends must team up with some unlikely acquaintances, not to mention explore their own identities, if they ever hope to solve this mystery.
Moonstruck is a cute story about friendship, first love, and accepting yourself for who you are, all of which is great. And it could have been wonderful! Unfortunately, the plot gets somewhat muddled and difficult to follow. The secondary storyline about Mark and Lindi's band drama seems out of place and confuses the plot rather than enhances it. Ditto for the "Ask A Know It All" panels and bits from the book Julie is reading, both of which are interspersed with the main comic. More importantly, I didn't really pick up on why the Magician had such a vendetta against Chet...or any of the friends, for that matter. Either it was never explained or I, the reader, just didn't pick up on it. Neither of which bodes well for the writing. Perhaps everything will be explained in the next volume, but I didn't get enough of a feel for the story to continue (Unfortunate, because the art and the concept are both so cute that I really wanted to love this book).
Not really recommended. There are better options out there! --AJB
No comments:
Post a Comment