Since the early nineties, Sailor Moon has been fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight. Nearly a half century earlier, however, a different lunar lady of justice was busy punishing bad guys in the name of the moon. Created in 1947 as EC Comics' answer to Wonder Woman, Moon Girl was the brainchild of publisher Max Gaines, writer Gardner Fox, and artist Sheldon Moldoff. Appearing in only eight issues of her own series and a handful of stories printed in other magazines, Moon Girl failed to match the long-running success and lasting popularity of her Amazonian forebear. On the other hand, she does manage to match up with a certain sailor-suited pretty soldier in a surprising number of ways. Below is a breakdown of some of the uncanny parallels between these two legendary moon maidens.
Secret Identities
Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) is a junior high school student. Clare Lune (Moon Girl) is a junior high school teacher.
Usagi's name is a pun on the Japanese phrase "tsuki no usagi," meaning "rabbit of the moon," a reference to a form of lunar pareidolia particularly popular in East Asia. Clare's name is a pun on the French phrase "clair de lune," meaning "moonlight." Her character design is, in part, inspired by the image of the Woman in the Moon, another form of lunar pareidolia more commonly held in Europe.
Despite not wearing a mask or any other type of disguise, no one ever recognizes Usagi as Sailor Moon, nor Clare as Moon Girl.
Both Sailor Moon and Moon Girl wear crescent moon earrings, and both often dress in pink.
Usagi is best friends with a girl whose family owns a jewelry shop. Clare is friends with a family that runs a jewelry business.
Lunar Royalty
Sailor Moon is the reincarnation of Princess Serenity, heir to the throne of Silver Millennium, a matriarchal kingdom located on the moon.
Moon Girl is the Princess of the Moon, heir to the throne of an unnamed kingdom situated on Moon Mountain in a heavily fictionalized version of the Samarkand. Her kingdom is likewise matriarchal, if not so exclusively female as Silver Millennium appeared to be. Moon Girl is also heavily implied to be the reincarnation or second coming of Khutulun, the great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan and Moon Girl's own ancestor.
The benevolent Queen Serenity, Princess Serenity's mother, plays a key (if minor) role in the series. The identity of Princess Serenity's father is unknown, and the question of her paternity is never raised.
Moon Girl's equally benevolent mother, the unnamed Queen of the Moon, similarly plays a key-if-minor role in the earliest issues of the Moon Girl comics. The identity of Moon Girl's father is likewise unknown and the question of her paternity never raised.
Magic Gems
Sailor Moon is the possessor of the Mystical Silver Crystal, a sacred stone handed down from generation to generation of the Moon Kingdom's royal family. A "stone containing infinite, immeasurable power," it grants its bearer miraculous abilities, and though it is ostensibly a tool for good in the right hands, it seems to bring with it much tragedy.
From her mother, Moon Girl receives the fabled Magic Moonstone, a powerful talisman likewise handed down through the generations of her royal lineage. The Magic Moonstone grants whoever touches it limitless strength and a wide range of superhuman abilities. But, as the Queen Mother warns her daughter, it can also bring much unhappiness.
Usagi uses the Silver Crystal to transform into Sailor Moon beginning with the series' second story arc. Clare sometimes uses the Magic Moonstone to transform into Moon Girl; other times, she is shown putting her costume on manually.
The Silver Crystal flashes when danger is nearby. The Magic Moonstone glows red to warn Moon Girl of impending peril.
The Silver Crystal's power is activated by prayer and linked with the light of the moon. The Moonstone's power is likewise invoked through prayer, and must be charged by placing it in moonlight.
Dudes in Distress
Usagi's love interest is Mamoru Chiba (alias Tuxedo Mask), the reincarnation of Prince Endymion, her past life self's soulmate. Tuxedo Mask is a supportive ally to Sailor Moon in her fight against the forces of evil, and as the series progresses, he's revealed to be almost as powerful as she is. Despite this strength, he is notoriously prone to getting kidnapped and brainwashed, and more than one of Sailor Moon's foes are infatuated with him.
Moon Girl's love interest is Prince Mengu from the Kingdom of Mengu. (Yes, you read that right.) Opaquely described as "a true son of Hercules," he is second only to Moon Girl in terms of physical strength. Though his courtship of Moon Girl mirrors that of Khutulun and her lover, Mengu (who later assumes the alias Lionel Manning and fights crime simply as "The Prince") does not seem to be implied as anyone's reincarnation, though his name does suggestively mean "eternal." Like Tuxedo Mask, the Prince is prone to getting knocked out, kidnapped, and brainwashed. At least one of Moon Girl's enemies, Erica from Venus, is in love with him.
Future Stalkers
In the second story arc of Sailor Moon, the titular heroine must deal with the unwanted advances of Prince Demand, a villain from the hitherto crime-free 30th Century who has become obsessed with her.
In the second issue of her eponymous series, Moon Girl must deal with the unwanted advances of Future Man, a villain from the hitherto crime-free 30th century* who has become obsessed with her.
*(Specifically, Future Man is from the year 3000, which the text erroneously identifies as the 31st century. It is, in fact, the final year of the 30th century.)
Mini-Mes
Also introduced in Sailor Moon's second story arc is the character of Chibiusa, Usagi's daughter from the future. Chibiusa poses as Usagi's cousin, and, with the help of her own Silver Crystal, fights alongside her as Sailor Chibi Moon.
Moon Girl Fights Crime #7 introduces the character of Selena Brown, a young girl who is revealed to be the daughter of Moon Girl's late aunt, also named Selena. Moon Girl takes in her orphaned cousin, who, with the help of her own Magic Moonstone, begins fighting crime alongside her as the Starlet.
(Curiously, Selena lost both her memories and her parents in a car accident. This is quite similar to Mamoru in Sailor Moon, who lost his own parents and memories in a car accident on his sixth birthday.)
Bewitching Adversaries
Sailor Moon's first major adversary was Queen Beryl, a red-haired sorceress who lived in a cavernous ancient castle, occasionally spouted Hebrew, and kept her dead henchmen lying around in caskets.
Moon Girl's final adversary was Lurani, a reddish-blonde witch who lived in a cavernous ancient castle, chanted the names of Hebrew letters, and kept at least one of her undead henchmen lying around in a casket.
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