Last month, the teams of Scott Mescudy, Joe Clarke, Kyle Higgins and Federico Bartoni finally entered the origins of Moonman, and from the start they shared my favourite issues. After a time-bending psychedelic trip in last year’s issue via Ramon’s backstory, Moonman #7 deals with the aftermath of the crew’s encounter with unexplained cosmic forces. Unfortunately, the previous issue managed a strong balance of various threads, durations and character development, but this issue stumbles a bit with regard to forward momentum.
Much of the problem is spent debating what happened and what happened, with some people refusing to acknowledge traumatic events in the universe for a variety of reasons. It will be interesting to see how they deal with this. Some of them are afraid to acknowledge the gap in their knowledge, while others are even more afraid to ruin their reputation by admitting defeat and returning to Earth. Buckley goes until he disrupts the ship’s radio to force the mission forward. Unfortunately, some of these hangups are dealt with almost as quickly as they are raised (Buckley agrees to fix the radio soon).
Another conflict in this issue is the sudden appearance of some kind of smelly plant on the ship’s hull, and crews must deal with the Ellen Ripley style. This sounds a little more exciting than it actually is. After the crew discusses who will deal with it, the plants are disposed of in order that they have spent a little difficult time afterwards. There are cool moments where the flashbacks/flashsideways of time reflect current behavior, but otherwise I would not be so clear about the blocks of this sequence. I know that the threat has been handled, but I’m not 1000% about how it is.
Of course, there are still some advantages here. The crew’s fraying nerves and the growing tension within it are interesting, even stomping on familiar territory. This issue also has some fun in a close environment setting by abandoning the oddly topical references in Aselvik (abandoned line about my mind, like Elon Musk). And while some of the blocking and spatial issues enjoyed the book, Bertoni’s artwork here is still impressive. In particular, the plants they deal with in this issue look really bad, but the flashbacks that continue to invade the present are rendered nicely in colours that distinguish them from everything else around them. This is a great visual symbol that things are not what they were before, and is neatly tied to many of the series’ continuing themes.
Despite my criticism, Moonman continues to be a series that intrigued me. Look at it like this. At one point in question, Buckley tries to amortize the crew’s horrible experience as nothing more than “turbulence.” It’s a volatile installment that doesn’t ruin the overall experience, but we hope that the next issue will provide us with a smooth ride.
“Moonman” #7 hits a little turbulent flow
Moonman #7
Chapter 2 of the “Moonman” origin story is an unstable installment that doesn’t ruin the experience as a whole, but we hope that the next issue will provide us with a smooth ride.
An interesting juxtaposition between memory and current events, last month’s construction reveals that everything is connected
Some of the dialogue made me laugh out loud, even if it revealed a new facet to the character
The main action sequence found it difficult to follow
The arguments become repetitive immediately
Some of the conflicts are resolved too quickly
