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Luna #1 Review
Luna is a supernatural thriller comic book with a trippy and interesting art style. It is written and drawn by Maria Llovet, with variant covers by Jenny Frison and Maria Llovet. Readers who enjoyed comics like Pretty Deadly may enjoy this title as well.
Teresa is plagued by prophetic dreams she knows are leading her to something powerful. After a car accident, she wakes up under the care of the Family of the Sun. At first, they seem like the sort of hippie commune that was common in the 1960s. As Teresa spends more time with them, she discovers the Family dabbles in a lot more than sex, drugs, and love.
Luna #1 is published by BOOM! Studios and is available from February 3, 2021.
Luna #1 Story
The comic opens with the end of a moment of action, Teresa has been in a car accident. Something called her out into the middle of the desert. The panels show a desolate setting with extensive red rock features that remind us of California or Southern Utah. Teresa’s brightly-colored visions immediately pull the audience into the story headfirst. The art in this vision sets the 60s tone for the rest of the story.
Teresa knows her visions are trying to show her something significant, but she cannot make heads or tails of their meaning. As I read the comic, I noticed I kept flipping back to the two-page spread of her first vision to make connections throughout the story, which showed me just how engaged I was in solving the mystery of Teresa’s dreams. When she awakens, she is being cared for by the hippie cult, the Family of the Sun. The Family lives near a beautiful oasis, even though they are still in the barren desert. This is one of our first clues that something is not quite right about this group.
At first, they seem typical for the time frame, but we quickly realize all is not as it seems. Something about the lone male figure in the group, Lux, seems a bit off, especially when he gives Teresa some kind of blood-laced drug before they’re about to get intimate.
Luna #1 Art
Maria Llovet is both the writer and artist on this story, and she does a stunning job. The art reminds me of a lot of mural-like comics I’ve enjoyed in the past. The colors are playful and very reminiscent of the 60s era, enhancing the experience and quickly bringing the reader back in time. I suspect there is a lot of symbolism in both the art itself and the characters’ names. Throughout the story, we see images of suns, moons (luna means “moon” in Spanish), skulls, and eyes gazing at the reader. These images were engaging and caused me to look back and forth through the comic to make sense of their symbolism. The use of vivid imagery also helped me connect to Teresa, who is also trying to understand her visions’ meaning.
There are two moments where Teresa is lying on the ground, one after her car accident and one where she is being shown around by one of the hippies, Donna. The images seem to mirror each other. In the first moment, Teresa is in distress. In the second, she feels connected and bonded to the world around her. Both scenes also have a raven flying overhead, watching her and both moments also lead to visions.
The art and colors lend themselves to this story’s dreamlike feeling, Llovet does a beautiful job showing movement and the strange feelings drug trips inspire.
Luna #1 Conclusion
As I started this comic, I was unsure what to expect, but it took me on a journey. It experiments with imagery in a way I have not seen in many other comics, and I’m interested in seeing what Llovet puts in later issues. The art is very compelling, and it amps up the feelings of surrealism and spiritualism.
Luna is off to a solid start with this first issue. I found myself wanting more as the comic ended. This series currently runs for five issues. If you enjoy the first issue as much as I did, put in an order for the next parts of the series.
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