Review – Missing On The Moon #1 (Mad Cave Studios)

December 18, 2024

2–3 minutes

Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Writer: Cory Crater
Artwork: Damian Couceiro
Colours: Patricio Delpeche
Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Release Date: 18th December 2024

Placing an action thriller on the moon might be one thing, but setting it in an alternative history where the USSR originally ‘won’ the Space Race and we’re now in a dystopian 90s lunar colony which is falling apart at the seals? Well yeah, that’s gonna grab my attention. We’ve got a boom in nuclear proliferation, robot enforcers with rudimentary AI, mysterious drugs that are ripping through the population causing untold suffering and misery, and all manner of strange new-fangled old-fashioned tech. What could come across like a salad bowl of influences from the likes of 2000 AD through to the sci-fi action movies of the 80s and 90s, Missing on the Moon manages to navigate some common tropes to produce an intriguing new read.

A wealthy, highly influential individual’s daughter has gone missing. There’s little communication from the kidnappers, and the investigator on the case, Detective Schwinn, a former hero during civil uprisings but who now finds themselves in the grinder with plenty of other skeletons, has only a ballet shoe to go on. Trawling the grime and moondust, we get the duality of both the claustrophobia of the lunar colonies with the expanse of the void outside. Sure, there’s plenty of caricatures with over-the-top slimy villains and robotic companions providing comic relief but I found myself all too eager to suspend the disbelief and enjoy.

Upon re-reading there are a few things which niggle and irk the sci-fi fan in me like the way the lunar gravity seemingly plays no part, but I’m willing to let this slide as it may crop up later and ultimately didn’t impact my initial take. If anything, it’s more in keeping with some of the old sci-fi stories where we simply allow the setting to provide an interesting backdrop for the story being told.

In that, Crater has managed to deliver a punchy opening issue which doesn’t allow the pace of the story to diminish the wider world building. There’s a lot of plot and hints at the wider story dropped as we move along and, whilst acknowledging some might find this frustrating, I found it well in keeping with the genre and promised at much more to come. Whether it may be focused on exploring Schwinn’s backstory, or more broadly on the history of the lunar colonies themselves, the central mystery is bolstered by everything swirling around it.

The choice of art style for this comic sells it for me. Whether the grime and neon blur of the seedy darkside of the colonies, or the grey dusty expanse of the surface, each of Damian Couceiro’s panels demand attention. The juxtaposition of colours and switch in details is just the right balance. The individuals are full of memorable character and it’s hard not to enjoy the emoji expressions of KLU, Schwinn’s android turned social commentator. Nothing feels like filler, instead careful deliberate imagery.

Missing on the Moon is keen to make its mark with the team poised to deliver a memorable arc.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]