Moon Girl (EC Comics)

This article is about EC Comics character. For the short film, see Moongirl. For the Marvel Comics character, see Moon Girl (Marvel Comics).
Moon Girl
Moon Girl #6 (1949)
Publication information
PublisherEC Comics
comiXology
Red 5 Comics
First appearanceMoon Girl and the Prince #1 (fall 1947)
Created byMax Gaines
Gardner Fox
Sheldon Moldoff
In-story information
Alter egoClare Lune

Moon Girl is a fictional character published by EC Comics from 1947 to 1949. Moon Girl is a character from the Golden Age of Comic Books and has since passed into the public domain.[1] Her secret identity is Claire Lune, a junior high history teacher.[2]

Like DC Comics' Wonder Woman, Moon Girl was the princess of an isolated tribe of warrior women in Samarkand, and fought evil in her telepathically controlled flying moonship. Her powers derived from a Moon rock.[3] Her love interest was Prince Mengu, who tried to invade her kingdom in Samarkand, but became her companion and fellow teacher in America.[4]

Publication history

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2010 ComiXology version of Moon Girl

Bill Woolfolk and Sheldon Moldoff created the character and debuted in fall 1947's The Happy Houlihans #1.[5] After that appearance, the character was immediately spun off into her comic, Moon Girl and the Prince.

The original EC Moon Girl title went through multiple name changes (and a final genre change) as explained by Mark James Estren in his A History of Underground Comics:

A trend toward crime and adventure comics was developing, and E.C. was in the forefront—staying in the field of love comics and Western stories as well. But the special E.C. style was emerging fast as the forties waned. It was a style that never took itself completely seriously; when an adventure comic did not make it after three titles were tried (Moon Girl and the Prince, then simply Moon Girl, then Moon Girl Fights Crime), the book was changed to a love comic with completely different settings and characters, but with an oddly familiar title: A Moon, a Girl... Romance. Moon Girl #5, by the way, had a story with a title that looked forward to the great horror comics of a few years later: "The Corpse with Will Power".[6]

Moon Girl and the Prince lasted a single issue (fall 1947), and ran as Moon Girl for issues #2–6. It became Moon Girl Fights Crime! for two issues, before concluding its run as A Moon, a Girl...Romance with issues #9–12.[7] Moon Girl appears only in the story "I Was a Heart Pirate" in issue #9 (Sept-Oct 1949) and no subsequent issue. The series continued as Weird Fantasy beginning with issue #13.[8]

The Moon Girl story is one of two credited with starting the trend in horror comics at EC.[9]

In 2010, Moon Girl was revived as a comiXology title by Tony Trov, Johnny Zito and Rahzzah.[10][11] This new story was then published in printed form as a five-part comic book series by Red 5 Comics starting in May 2011. It depicted Claire Lune as a foreign princess living in the United States. This iteration of the character had powers granted by a moon rock.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Moon Girl at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016.
  2. ^ Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. pp. 188–189. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
  3. ^ Booker, M. Keith, ed. (2014). Comics Through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. ABC-CLIO. p. 116. ISBN 9780313397516.
  4. ^ Mougin, Lou (2020). Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics. McFarland & Co. pp. 415–417. ISBN 9781476638607.
  5. ^ Morris, Jon (2015). The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half Baked Heroes from Comic Book History. Philadelphia: Quirk Books. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-1-59474-763-2.
  6. ^ Mark James, Estren (1993). A History of Underground Comics. Ronin Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-914171-64-5. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  7. ^ Cronin, Brian (2009). Was Superman a Spy? And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed. Plume. p. 213. ISBN 9780452295322.
  8. ^ Moon Girl at the Grand Comics Database
  9. ^ Thomas, Roy (Spring 2000). "A Moon... A Bat... A Hawk: A Candid Conversation With Sheldon Moldoff". Alter Ego. 3 (4). Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  10. ^ Parkin, JK (January 19, 2010). ""Moon Girl" Exclusive to comiXology". ComicBookResources.com. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  11. ^ a b "Moon Girl Debuts At Comixology" (Press release). Comic Book Resources. January 28, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
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