Inclusive supernatural comic Moonstruck makes its colorful debut

Lumberjanes creator Grace Ellis has joined forces with newcomer Shae Beagle to produce a diverse supernatural comic with a super natural edge—these werewolves and centaurs are baristas by day. Moonstruck debuts Wednesday.

Mythical beasts are pretty typical comic book fodder. Mythical beasts who are also juggling roommate issues and frustrating barista jobs, and offering up much-needed queer representation are far less common. In Moonstruck, a new series launched Wednesday by Image Comics, barista Julie (who, spoiler alert, is also a werewolf) and her centaur best friend Chet team up to take on the world. And those roommate issues.

With Beagle’s distinct, colorful artwork and Ellis’ knack for playful storytelling, Moonstruck feels fresh and engaging. In the debut issue, readers see Julie and Chet chatting through normal best friendy kind of stuff: Julie’s love interest Selena, work, books they’re reading. The fact that one of them has a horse body and hooves, or that another character’s hair transforms into writhing snakes when things get heated is secondary. Friendship, uncertainty, and young love are big themes.

Moonstruck page, courtesy of Image Comics

Also addressed nonchalantly in the books? Characters’ sexual orientation or gender identities. Moonstruck presents the fact that Julie is queer, for example, as just one facet of her personality, instead of its defining trait as is often the case in mainstream storytelling. As Beagle explained to Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview:

"I think it’s important to have these stories that involve queer characters by queer creators that are not, at their core, a coming-out story. These characters are comfortable in their identities and have a life outside of that. I really enjoy that kind of story, and it’s great that we’re expanding on that and putting it out there."

The series stands out additionally for some clever structural choices. It’s chockfull of delightfully silly puns, which is always a plus, and includes several references to the Pleasant Mountain series of books Julie is reading. As Beagle told EW, for each story, the creative team plans to invite a different artist to create the book-within-a-book Pleasant Mountain pages, which feels like a fun way to get more artists involved with the series.

Moonstruck‘s next three issues will be published in the latter halves of August, September, and October. In the meantime, Image Comics will be on-hand at this weekend’s San Diego Comic Con, selling Moonstruck’s debut issue, participating in panels, and signing autographs.

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Find out more about Moonstruck and order your copy at imagecomics.com.