LUNA EXPRESS

Friendships don’t require magical abilities, but for Celeste and her close-knit crew of superpowered Celestial Children, they don’t hurt.

The night Celeste was born, a comet skimmed the atmosphere above Perth, Australia, imbuing all the newborns who were brought outside by their parents to gaze at the sky with powers that would later manifest. When the stars are out, Celeste, who presents Black, becomes “super-strong and fast,” and she eventually finds best friends with their own powers. This hyper-stylized work’s premise and illustration style have overt magical girl manga influences, but it becomes something wholly distinct as it takes on art, politics, and capitalism with gusto. Each chapter features pieces of an elaborate plot to displace the citizenry of Perth via arson, mind-controlling mushrooms, and other nefarious tactics devised by a cabal of demonic colonialist stooges. Along with Celeste, the mildly boy-crazy Lucy (who can jump through shadows); Lorelai, Celeste’s ex-girlfriend (who can conjure alien tech); and newcomer Alex (who can bring his art to life) are sometimes unknowingly enmeshed in these plots. Celeste is the timely, unabashedly political leader of their ragtag resistance. Even Whyte’s art feels radical in its melding of action manga and Western punk rock aesthetics as the story thoughtfully reconciles Australia’s long history of plunder, conquest, and exploitation. Social critiques and explosive combat abound, but sweetness underlies it all as our racially diverse heroes get hard-fought—but nonetheless messy—happy endings.

Smart, impressively crafted, refreshingly cool—and sheer fun.