A lot of old-school sci-fi as well as the hyperbole that spewed out of the 1950s/60s American space program promised lunar colonies and mostly portrayed it as desirable. Tom Gauld pokes gentle fun at that naivety in Mooncop, imagining what life would be like if we did have a moon colony. The answer? Bo-ring! There’s nowt to do up there!
Mooncop drives about the barren landscape doing nothing because there’s no crime. What few humans there are on the moon are also realising what a dreary place it is and are packing up their shit and heading back to Earth. But, no matter how much he wants to leave, Mooncop has to stay and maintain the peace - as if there was anything there to disrupt it anyway!
Gauld’s minimalist art style is suited to the unexciting environs and subdued story which reads in a quasi-humorous, even melancholic, way. But in showing how dull moon life would be Gauld’s written a pretty forgettable book, especially as there’s barely anything to really call a story. The art is pleasant and it’s readable but, unlike Neil Armstrong’s footprints on the moon, Mooncop doesn’t leave much of an impression. Disappointing too as Gauld’s comics are usually more entertaining than this.
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