The Lunar Ladies is a modern-day tribute to the old sci-fi/adventure comics of the ’40s and ’50s. If you’ve read my reviews in the past, you may know that I am a big fan of this style and genre. I’m happy to report that Lunar Ladies does well by it. It’s a fun and entertaining story that really does feel like you’re reading something from comics’ Golden Age—only without the problematic elements like casual sexism that frequently came with the comics of that era.

Queen Velouria rules over a kingdom on the moon, populated entirely by women—along with her partner Star and their daughter Clare. When a renegade named Venus attempts to overthrow the kingdom, the Queen sends Star and Clare down to a pre-historic Earth to be safe. Unfortunately, Velouria can’t stay there long herself, as back on the Moon, Venus is cloning an army to wreak her will upon the kingdom. An army of… Men! Can Velouria stop Venus and save the Moon? Is Clare really safe on this primitive planet full of cavemen?

The story is filled with action and adventure, from spaceships to robots to ray guns and more. The art style looks uncannily like the old Golden Age comics, which adds to the fun—a feat accomplished both by Joel Cotejar’s pencils and inks and Paula Goulart’s colors, both of which have that 1940s style. There are plenty of great characters, too… Plus, there are a few modern pop culture references, just for fun.

The comic consists of a three-chapter story arc, plus a bonus one-off comic about one of the supporting characters, done in a more modern art style. I kind of wish there had been some behind-the-scenes material at the end, like a lot of graphic novels have. I would have been really interested to hear about what inspired this comic, and perhaps see the evolution of some of the artwork. It’s apparently based on an actual comic, Moon Girl, which ran very briefly in the 1940s and is now in the public domain. I would have been interested to hear about writer Omar Morales’ connection to the source material, and how this modern version came to be.

Perhaps the behind-the-scenes material can be included in the next volume. The story is self-contained, but there’s certainly room for more adventures, if Morales and company are so inclined. I rather hope they are, as I would love to see more. Or if not, perhaps they can find another public domain character to build a new story around. The style and genre are a lot of fun. In the meantime, if you’re a fan of old sci-fi adventure comics, you’ll definitely want to check out The Lunar Ladies.

Creative Team: Omar Morales (creator/script), Joel Cotejar (pencils/inks), Paula Goulart (colors), Jaymes Reed (letters), Renae De Liz (cover art), Joel Edelman (copy editor)
Publisher: Scout Comics
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