Moonchild!

I've been aware of Moonchild, Nick Cuti's peculiarly nubile creation for many years, running across the character in a history of Underground Comics. I've never read any full-blown story until I got this collection.

I ordered up Walt Wentz's collection of Moonchild stories. He's collected the Moonchild stories from the early fanzines and underground comics and put them together in a slim but intriguing magazine-sized B&W comics package. At $8 bucks counting shipping this curiosity is worth the price of admission. If you're a Nick Cuti fan like me, it falls into the must-have category.

You see a very young Cuti at work here, with much of the work raw and at times amateurish. But there's an undercurrent which makes it hang together someway. Moonchild is a Starbaby, a space-based fairy, and like Little Annie Fanny or Barbarella is naive and innocent while possessed of a healthy female body. There is actually little sexual content here, but there is lots of suggestion and nudity. Mostly this is light-hearted and weird cartooning. There are also some Pussywillow strips, a more purely underground version of Moonchild.

This collection ain't for everyone. I'm not sure I get it all, but it's a very good look at a solid comics talent's early formative work. And Nick's a heck of a nice guy to boot.

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