The Comicon Advent Calendar 2024 Day 23: Staying On The Nice List With ‘Moon Girl & Devil Dinosuar’ #37
by Scott Redmond
‘Twas the night before the night before Christmas, and outside the house is a devilish dinosaur and a genius human. Prepare for the holliest and the jolliest of feelings as Day 23 of Comicon’s Advent Calendar brings the gift of Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur #37.
Just like the intro header, Brandon Montclare, Gustavo Duarte, Tamra Bonvillain, and Travis Lanham pull inspiration from the iconic poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” — which is routinely referred to as “’Twas The Night Before Christmas.” Lines from the original, and the imagery they evoke, are incorporated into the story, alongside plentiful changes of the team’s own inspiration. These help the story fit into both Moon Girl’s world and the Marvel Universe, but also give it a modern coat of paint.
What we have here is a very simple story. A disgruntled elf has dispatched Santa (putting him literally on ice) and it’s up to Lunella Lafayette/Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur to help finish delivering presents to the kids of Yancy Street in New York.
It is just a delightful tale that shows off the genius moves of Moon Girl and her inventions, the grand bond between Lunella and dinosaur, and the holiday spirit at its finest. Not to mention some solid superhero action as they take down the elf.
We even get a moment of Lunella pretending to be Santa, which is so emotionally heavy … especially the message about how sometimes kids are “bad” not through desire, but just the way things go in life. They don’t deserve coal just because they aren’t keeping to adult created standards of “good” every single second of every day.
Gather up the loved ones, because this tale is perfect for both adults and children. Sure to be a classic new tradition every year.
