Under the Moon is from the new DC Ink imprint of YA graphic novels based on its popular characters. In this, we meet 14 year old Selina Kyle, living with her single mom and her mom’s abusive boyfriend. Selina is sort of getting by, but when her mom’s boyfriend’s violence goes too far, she leaves home and school to live on the streets. There, she meets a group of young bandits who take her in on a plot to steal a valuable book from Wayne mansion. Despite putting up many walls, she begins to grow close to her new friends and becomes a mentor to the youngest of the group. With this new family she begins to hone the skills that will later enable her to become Gotham’s smartest, sneakiest cat burglar.
This didn’t really do it for me. Myracle writes dialogue and situations for a mature YA book, but the plotting feels more middle grade. There’s some animal abuse that is hard to read, and some of the cute nods to the comic lore didn’t feel authentic. The artwork is very sweet, but again, feels more middle grade than YA.
Each of the DC Ink titles is penned by a different YA author, so I’ll likely read the other titles. Especially considering the heavy hitters behind some of them! (Mariko Tamaki on Harley Quinn, Meg Cabot on Black Canary, and Laurie Halse Anderson on Wonder Woman!)