Moonray: Mother’s Skin
by Brandon Graham and Xurxo G. Penalta
In a post-human world, the man of miium is born. Created to avenge a slain goddess, our nameless warrior travels an unrecognizable landscape, constantly evolving with new wonders and terrors: Zanikam pirates, deadly reflections, a living bridge, and a red tear in the sky. Written and drawn by Eisner-award-winning author and artist Brandon Graham (PROPHET, KING CITY, RAIN LIKE HAMMERS), and featuring artist Xurxo G. Penalta, Moonray presents a mind-altering new dawn for a distant sci-fi future unlike any other. This bold graphic odyssey births the Moonray universe, from comic book to video game and beyond.
Moonray is a daring experiment in world-building—a true graphic epic that began in a truly unusual way. The Moonray graphic novel series shares its name and characters with a surreal 3rd-person multiplayer battle arena game set in a fantastical sci-fi world. Featuring intense combat, stunning visuals, and a world-class soundtrack, the game has been in development by the independent studio Moonray PBC since 2019.
But the book came first.
Rather than a tie-in, the game is an adaptation of Graham’s singular vision. In Moonray: Mother’s Skin, Book One of the series, Graham leverages his narrative freedom to create a story of untethered exploration, of naivete and determination—a graphic novel as gentle as it is thrilling.
Book Details
- Title: Moonray: Mother’s Skin (Moonray, Book One)
- Creators: Brandon Graham (author/artist), Xurxo G. Penalta (artist)
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 160
- Trim Size: 7 x 11 inches
- Language: English
- Publisher: Living the Line
- Publication Date: October 31, 2023
- ISBN: 978-1736860590
- MSRP: $34.95
- Reading Age: 12 years and up
Praise for Moonray
“MOONRAY is gloriously epic, exploding sci-fi fantasy world daydreams in every wonderful way! I can’t think of anything I’ve enjoyed more in recent memory!”
— Michael Allred, Madman, Silver Surfer, Red Rocket 7, Superman: Space Age
“Moonray is a deeply personal work built on top of a licensed property, that provides a stunning meta-mythical framework for how to live happily in the 21st century.”
— Carson Grubaugh, The Strange Death of Alex Raymond, The Abolition of Man
“Moonray is a heady rich stew of psychedelic science fiction, my favorite kind. And in the skillful hands of Brandon Graham and Xurxo Penalta, it’s served with an unsettling ease in every bite. The perplexing becomes the flavors. It’s joyful to get lost in it.”
— J.H. Williams III, Echolands, Batwoman, The Sandman Overture, Promethea
Reviews
Library Journal (Tom Batten):
“In a graphic novel that is the basis for a forthcoming video game, a pair of godlike beings engage in epic combat in the vacuum of space… While some science‑fiction and fantasy fans might be frustrated by Graham’s … improvisational plotting and emphasis on worldbuilding over propulsive forward progress, fans of the more experimental fringes of either genre are likely to embrace this fascinatingly surreal, richly imagined cosmic odyssey.”
