Marvel has done it again and is making headlines with a beautiful, brainy, bi-focal wearing brown girl named Moon Girl and my daughter Mikaela is OVER THE MOON ABOUT IT!
Marvel Comics has revamped Devil Dinosaur, a classic 1978 comic, and replaced the main character “Moon Boy” with a pretty pony-tail puff wearing black teenage girl.
Ironically, Mikaela looks like Moon Girl and immediately connected with the character and wanted to cop Moon Girl’s style! Whaddaya think? #nailedIt!
The main character in the comic, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, is Lunella Lafayette, a young woman with mysterious alien DNA and powers that are still yet to be determined in a modern-day New York City.
And we can’t wait until the comic hits the shelves in November and yes we are going to have a Moon Girl celebration to christen the moment!
“The Marvel Universe is at its best when it reflects the world outside your window — and that world looks different in 2015 than it did in 1963,” Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief at Marvel, told the Huffington Post. What a smart guy! (In 1963 being, Marvel debuted some of its legendary titles such as Amazing Spider-Man, Uncanny X-men, and the now mega-superhero media franchise of The Avengers.)
Marvel gets it and is not afraid to allow cultural diversity speak within the pages of its comics, just like it does in the real world. Diversity is everywhere and now Marvel has matched the world’s outlook with not only a brown Moon Girl, but Miles Morales, the new black-Hispanic Spider-Man and Kamala Kahn, a Pakastani-American Muslim tween who’s taken on the mantle of Ms. Marvel — a title once held by the very white and very blonde Carol Danvers. Recently, Michael B. Jordan stepped into the role of the Human Torch, and now there’s even a female Thor.
“The cultural impact can be seen at comic book stores, conventions and movie theater lines around the world,” Alonso said. “The Marvel Universe fan base has never been more diverse than it is now. And it’s going to get more and more diverse in coming years.”
The series is led by writers Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare, and artist Natacha Bustos, and editing team Mark Paniccia and Emily Shaw.
And I have already have the pleasure of meeting them through twitter when I sent them Mikaela’s Moon Girl pics. They were so kind and retweeted them. How cool is that!
According to Shaw, Moon Girl was created to provide a character with which younger readers could identify.
“Mark and I were talking about how whenever people come in with young kids, or even just for Mark’s own kids, we don’t have that many publications that we can give to people that have that broad reach,” Shaw told EW. “Generally, we’re skewing a little bit older with a lot of our titles and we wanted to create something that adults and kids could really love, like a Pixar feel. That’s where the tone jumped off for us.”
And when my daughter Mikaela immediately saw Moon Girl, she saw herself in the character. She said, “Mommy I’m Moon Girl! She looks like me! Hairstyle and all!” And it was no coincidence that we actually had the clothes Moon Girl wears right in Mikaela’s closet. So of course that meant an impromptu Moon Girl photo session! That really makes me smile and happy when my kids get a sense that the world around them appreciates and acknowledges their beauty– inside and out.
Having a beautiful brown young girl as a superhero lets all brown girls know that they are indeed are “super” and even if they aren’t depicted in the latest fashion ads, no matter because smart girls rule the world! I want my daughters to feel empowered through reading and comics like this are great. There are enough ads and videos that make young girls think they have to use their bodies to get attention. That’s a no-no. It’s mind over everything else and if we want young girls to believe in the power of their own brilliant minds then we have to produce content and images that we allow them to see the beauty of themselves– and the fact that the world at large realizes they have something magnetic and majestic to contribute to the world– their beautiful minds. Can you imagine how much brown girls are going to connect with Moon Girl. They’ll all be wearing ponytail puffs and circular glasses because nerdy is now the new fashion trend!
And I actually have real Moon Girls since my other daughter Kaitlin wants to be a scientist and loves science and math. Who said girls don’t want to pursue careers in STEM? Mine do! Mikaela, on the other hand is an actress as you all know so maybe one day she’ll get to audition for a role as Moon Girl in the movie! Movie? I’m already betting on a Moon Girl movie! Let’s make it happen Marvel! #MoonGirlMovie
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