By Dahl Botterill
Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection was originally released by Alternate History Comics in 2015. They followed it up with a second volume a few years later, and all three volumes are now available through Inhabit Education Books. Each book collects short works by a variety of Indigenous creators from all over North America, and the third volume is another fantastic collection. Moonshot Volume 3 focuses on stories that illustrate the concept of “Indigenous Futurisms,” stories that tell of “the past, present, and future as being a nonlinear reality.” It’s a concept that provides the Indigenous creators being showcased a lot of room to breathe, and the result is a truly diverse collection of comics and illustrated stories.
There’s an abundance of different art styles at work here, from the classic superhero stylings of “Slave Killer” to the soft shades and lines of “Sky People,” and the bold blocks of bright colour in “Sisters.” The stories also vary a great deal in tone and scale. “Our Blood” and the aforementioned “Sky People” follow a few characters over a short while in settings that feel fairly contemporary. “Future World and Xenesi: the Traveler” blends science fiction with broad temporal strokes, while “They Come for Water” and “Waterward” blend tradition with horror and a sense of timelessness.
Moonshot Volume 3 is comprised of over a dozen tales written and illustrated by a wide variety of Indigenous creators from all over the continent, and the result is a fascinating collection of stories from distinct voices. If there is a disappointing aspect to the book, it’s that including so many stories require each tale be fairly brief and will leave the reader wanting so much more. Along with a foreword that expands on the concept of Indigenous Futurisms and provides some additional information on the individual stories, the collection also includes a short sketchbook of concept drawings and biographies of the contributors, including references to a number of their longer works. Perhaps a little something to read while hoping for the fourth volume of this important and thought-provoking series.