After escaping her prison cell at the hands of the Kalkars, Nah-Ee-Lah (the titular Moon Maid) finds herself in the underwater caverns below a ruined city, attacked by flying imps. She escapes the aerial nuisance and swims through the caverns, resurfacing at an underground hidden city. About to be taken captive again, Nah-Ee-Lah earns the trust of the city’s mutants by fending off a giant tentacled leviathan. The mutants take Nah-Ee-Lah to heir Queen, who regales the history of the ruined city above, how it was once prosperous and peaceful, yet the ancestors of the Kalkars started a revolution and slaughtered to city’s denizens. The nonviolent populace retreated underground and started a new life, and over the generations became mutated. Hearing of their barbaric ways, Nah-Ee-Lah resolves to return to the surface, rescue her still-captive protector Pal-Dan, and fight the Kalkar menace.
Issue #2 of Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon continues the adventures of Nah-Ee-Lah, the very sheltered daughter of royalty, as she sees the explores the world of Vah-Nah which is the Earth’s Moon. The setting of Vah-Nah combines the best attributes of the various settings Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote in the Hollow Earth and the Sword and Planet genre. In the world of Vah-Nah, the interior of the moon is a completely different world, covered in jungles, swamps, and ruins, making it ideal for adventure.
The second issue of the Catacombs of the Moon three-issue series leans more toward the exposition side of things but manages to juggle pulp peril as Nah-Ee-Lah encounters and combats various monsters with world building as she learns more about her Moon home. As the world of Vah-Nah is exotic to readers of the comic (and the original Burroughs stories), it is also both majestic and intimidating to Nah-Ee-Lah who acts as the perfect proxy for readers to immerse themselves in the world. Despite this issue mostly being underground, the artwork still remains vibrant and colorful. If each panel was converted to black and white, they would look like frames from an old adventure film. The American Mythology comics continuation continues to breath new life into the old Burroughs tales, yet imbues them with a modern sensibility, making them accessible and enjoyable.
Creative Team: Christopher Mills (writer), Gabriel Rearte (artist), Beezzz Studios (colors), Natalie Jane (letterer), Alex miracolo (cover artist), Alfret Le (variant cover artist)
Publisher: American Mythology
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