Rating: 
Summary: Better reading
Review: A very good read, especially for people who like a lot of Vertigo works (especially Neil Gaiman works). It's kind of a mixture between a Science Fiction story and a Fairy Tale for adults which takes you to many different roads and shows you the intergalactic journey of a boy who has had no contact with the outside world ever and is suddenly put out in the real world, with his only knowledge being the stories he read in his books of Orwell, Tolkien and Shakespeare. With great painted art by John J Muth (Sandman) and written by J.M. DeMatteis (Spiderman: The Child Within
Rating: 
Summary: Moonshadow is worth every penny
Review: As Mike Zulli said in his introduction, comics these days tend to be all frosting and no cake. Well there is an awful lot of cake in Moonshadow. It's hard to call this just a comic, because it is so damned ambitious. The formidable talents of both writer and artist are stretched to the maxx here. What first drew me too Moonshadow was the art of course, comics being a visual medium. I just opened to a random page and was amazed by the artwork. The watercolors lend a certain woozy, dreaminess to the comic that complements the writing style nicely. The illustrations by themselves would make the comic worth buying, but there is so much more. It is the tale of a young boy's journey to manhood. I know it doesn't sound too original but the writer, John DeMatteis, puts a spin on it. He uses the whole galaxy as his playground. Moonshadow certainly isn't a sci-fi story, but there are a lot of aliens and spaceships. It seemed to me that the writer was using the universe and everything in it as metaphors and literary devices. Earth just wan't big enough to encompass the story of Moonshadow, so DeMatteis expanded his horizons a billion fold and threw the readers into outer space. While it is a very literate story, Moonshadow doesn't talk down to it's readers. DeMatteis isn't afraid to get down and dirty. Though vulgar and raunchy at times, this is offset by moments of heart-breaking beauty. Moonshadow is both smart and funny. It's one of those stories that you don't quite get right away. But you know it's wonderful anyway. And the more you think about it, the more sense it makes, and the more special it becomes.
Rating:
Summary: A work of art
Review: I am reading the reviews people wrote for this book, and I am seeing some one star reviews, and I am wondering, "What are these people thinking?" So I am here to tell you that THIS COMIC IS AMAZING! It is the best comic ever made - better than Watchmen, The Dark Knight, Cages, Sandman, Maus, Love and Rockets, etc, etc. Moonshadow surpasses them all! It is so good that it easily qualifies as a "real book" and should be required reading on College campuses across the country. I have read Moonshadow over and over during the past ten years or so, and I always enjoy it. The reviewer before me complained about the changed ending, and yes, the previous ending was better. But all we are talking about is two pages! And anyway, Moonshadow is about life and the paths we take - the ending isn't important; just how we get there. And believe me, the adventures Moonshadow, Ira, etc take before they reach their conclusion are fantastic...this is work filled with the beauty of life, and everyone alive should read this book. It is a work of art that has had a profound effect upon me, as well as many others. Find out for yourself and be amazed
Rating:
Summary: Great follow-up story marred by bad rewrite
Review: I consider myself a well read fellow. With that in mind I say in all honesty that Moonshadow is the most moving and important books I have ever read. Having first read the story as a teen in 1985 I identified strongly with the honest story telling of the transition of boy to man. Now this volume adds to the first by adding a story of Moonshadow's adult years. It is as brilliant and moving as the first and all the more meaningful to me now as I am maturing, as well.HOWEVER: Be WARNED! The ending of the first story, Moonshadow's jouney to awakening, has been vandalized with a rewrite. The last pages have been stained with changed dialog and excessive narration that dilute the meaning and convert a thoughtful exploration of the transendant into a parade of cliche's. I recommend this book for the additional Moonshadow tale but, to get the full value from this wonderful tale one needs to seek out the original volumes with the original text and meaning.
Rating:
Summary: Great follow-up story marred by bad rewrite
Review: I consider myself a well read fellow. With that in mind I say in all honesty that Moonshadow is the most moving and important books I have ever read. Having first read the story as a teen in 1985 I identified strongly with the honest story telling of the transition of boy to man. Now this volume adds to the first by adding a story of Moonshadow's adult years. It is as brilliant and moving as the first and all the more meaningful to me now as I am maturing, as well. HOWEVER: Be WARNED! The ending of the first story, Moonshadow's jouney to awakening, has been vandalized with a rewrite. The last pages have been stained with changed dialog and excessive narration that dilute the meaning and convert a thoughtful exploration of the transendant into a parade of cliche's. I recommend this book for the additional Moonshadow tale but, to get the full value from this wonderful tale one needs to seek out the original volumes with the original text and meaning.
Rating:
Summary: This is a life changing book
Review: I read this book when I was a teenager back in the late 1980's, and it had profound effect on my view of life. Not only is the art by Jon J. Muth extraordinarily beautiful, but the story by J.M. De Matteis is full of truths that are overlooked by most writers. This book, along with a very few others such as Maus and Watchmen, has helped establish the Graphic Novel as a new literary form apart from "comic" books.
Rating: 
Summary: this book is to confusing
Review: i recently read this book with hopes that it would be an interesting talke of how a child grows up and becomes oneself. This book however was intersting up to the quarter of the book. It jumps around the story with no absolute desintation and the world the characters live in are ubsurd and unbelievable. I quickly got tired of this book waiting for it to end because it seemed no to have a destination.
Rating:
Summary: Life Changing
Review: I remember reading the series of books when I was younger - and it changed my perspective of life. I never had the complete series and have searched for it for years. If I had known finding it was this easy I would have tried long ago.
Rating:
Summary: Startling work, a unique masterpiece.
Review: I'd finally tracked this down, as I'd lost out on collecting the entire series when it first appeared in 1985 (for some reason I never bought them... my loss). I wasn't ready for the storyline. It didn't resonate in the sixteen year-old that was me then, but there was something about the watercolors by Muth that did. After art school, I found myself abandoning oils and turning to watercolors. I could work quickly and didn't require as much ventilation, but watercolors are infintely harder to master than oils. I still hadn't returned to "Moonshadow". My awakening was still yet to come. Years pass and now I hardly ever paint, or write. I did something in goache recently for my Wife, and something clicked in my head, tiny but definitively. Ping! I found the "Compleat Moonshadow" for sale here, and bought it. After two days of reading (fighting a chest cold), and respectfully closing the book at its end, I can be thankful I'd found the book, and know now my own awakening had begun. Thank you, Mr. DeMatteis and Mr. Muth, for making this book. It means more to me than anyone but you could ever know... Fred
Rating:
Summary: Startling work, a unique masterpiece.
Review: I'd finally tracked this down, as I'd lost out on collecting the entire series when it first appeared in 1985 (for some reason I never bought them... my loss). I wasn't ready for the storyline. It didn't resonate in the sixteen year-old that was me then, but there was something about the watercolors by Muth that did. After art school, I found myself abandoning oils and turning to watercolors. I could work quickly and didn't require as much ventilation, but watercolors are infintely harder to master than oils. I still hadn't returned to "Moonshadow". My awakening was still yet to come. Years pass and now I hardly ever paint, or write. I did something in goache recently for my Wife, and something clicked in my head, tiny but definitively. Ping! I found the "Compleat Moonshadow" for sale here, and bought it. After two days of reading (fighting a chest cold), and respectfully closing the book at its end, I can be thankful I'd found the book, and know now my own awakening had begun. Thank you, Mr. DeMatteis and Mr. Muth, for making this book. It means more to me than anyone but you could ever know... Fred
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