I wasn't sure if I'd really get into Once In A Blue Moon. It sounded very much like the kind of premise of several popular manga, as a normal girl is pulled into a fantasy realm and finds she has a destiny, and I'm generally not into the manga based on such premises. As I slowly read Once In A Blue Moon, and saw Aeslin, our heroine, dealing with boys and her mom and all that stuff, I was mildly intrigued, but not yet enthralled. Once Aeslin was pulled into the fantasy realm of Avalon, though, the creators hooked me, and their imaginative characters and classic fantasy plot kept me turning pages furiously, becoming more and more emotionally involved in the story. DeFilippis and Weir hit a very classic fantasy tone reminiscent of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien while maintaining a modern teen feel, and Quick's artwork helps to maintain both the sense of fun and the sense that the goings-on are very important, despite being what many would write off as childish fantasy.
As things in my life have changed, I've started to gravitate toward different kinds of stories, and while I still enjoy a lot of comics for me, I'm always on the lookout for comics that I'll be able to share with my daughter as she gets older. Once In A Blue Moon is that kind of story, as it features a young girl in a heroic role with a healthy (if unusual) relationship with her parents and has a terrific imagination and sense of wonder behind it. The central premise of being transported to a fantasy world is certainly not new, but it's clear that DeFillipis and Weir have plenty of new things to say with it.
Central to my enjoyment of Once In A Blue Moon are the characters and relationships that the creators have come up with to drive the story. There are several twists and surprises relating to people and their role in the grand story of Once In A Blue Moon, and I love that so many of the stories are tied to parents and children, not just in terms of carrying on a legacy, but in terms of working together. In most fiction with a younger hero, the adults are obstacles or even villains, and it's refreshing to see the whole thing approached from a place where the adults are more understanding about their childrens' roles in the adventure. I don't want to give away the twists, so I can't mention some of the specific moments I really loved, but suffice to say that Aeslin's story is far more complex than it appears at the beginning, and it seems perfectly likely that despite her dire circumstances, she could wind up with a happy ending.
It would be easy to mistake these characters as cliches: The scrappy tomboy girl with a rough exterior but a heart of gold, the naive heroine growing into her role, the scholar whose affections are divided between the two of them, etc. However, while the characters are such that they can be described with a shortcut, they're also a delight to read, and there are layers left unexplored to many of them. Aeslin's mom, for example, is a fascinating character once we learn everything by the end, and it's clear that Cassidy (the scrappy tomboy) is much more than just a foil for Aeslin or comedy relief as well. DeFilippis and Weir keep the characters and stories simple enough to follow, but at the same time, they give them enough emotional resonance to connect with a reader who is invested in the book.
Jennifer Quick's artwork has the same deceptively simple quality about it. At a casual glance, it might appear to be the kind of thing you'd find in any random manga, and to be sure, those who come to this book from the world of manga will be very comfortable with the style of artwork that Quick is using. However, as with the best manga artists, the surface sketchy style actually gives way to some pretty evocative artwork, with rough background images of mountains and trees really giving a sense of the unspoiled nature of Avalon and some very expressive character moments, especially the emotion that Aeslin's mother displays throughout the book. It reminds me a lot of the work of Fred Gallagher on Megatokyo, actually, except a little less bombastic and comedic and applied to a fantasy tale instead of a modern-day comedy.
Once In A Blue Moon is a book with wide appeal, both inside and out of the comics "mainstream." Those who love manga like Fushigi Yugi or Inu-Yasha will probably find a lot to like, as will those with a love for The Chronicles of Narnia or Lewis Carroll's Wonderland books. However, the best recommendation I can make for Once In A Blue Moon is for those who miss Crossgen's Abadazad, which was cut short far too early, and while Once In A Blue Moon might not feature Mike Ploog's lush artwork, it does have the same emotional strength and imagination that made Abadazad a cult favorite. 10/10
