“The New Adventures Of Disney’s Moana 2 Vol. 1: Born to Voyage” – Review (Updated)

Released by Papercutz, The New Adventures Of Disney’s Moana 2 Vol. 1: Born to Voyage offers an enjoyable chunk of content for Moana fans to enjoy.

I was provided a free digital copy of The New Adventures Of Disney’s Moana 2 Vol. 1: Born to Voyage for review. The opinions I have shared are my own.

The New Adventures Of Disney’s Moana 2 Vol. 1: Born to Voyage is set during the events of the first and second animated movies. Understandably, Moana’s a celebrity in her village and has been undertaking numerous journeys across the ocean. And while we get to spend more time with Moana and how she interacts with her community members through this graphic novel, the first mini-story decides to focus on Heihei falling in love. Was such a tale necessary? Not really. But I have to say it was still enjoyable because we don’t really get to spend much time with Heihei and Pua without humans around in the movies.

The second story, titled ‘Pinkie Promise’, was more emotionally impactful because it explored Simea’s feelings toward Moana always leaving the island for days on end. I liked how Simea offered to help Moana prepare for her upcoming adventure and then proceeded to find ways to delay the preparations to keep Moana on the island as long as possible. A kid like Simea didn’t yet understand why Maona needed to head out. I liked how the narrative had Simea deal with those complicated feelings as a child would.

Moana’s brief moment with her mother to talk about Simea was a surprisingly welcome addition to the exploration of the relationship between the two sisters. The narrative highlighted how important Moana’s family was to her. Moana’s familial bond as well as her connection to the community provided her with the strength and courage required to go on solo missions.

While a bit rushed, I think the story handled Moana comforting Simea quite well. As Moana mentioned (and promised!), Simea’s definitely going on adventures with Moana as soon as she’s the right age to do so. I wouldn’t be surprised to see just that in Moana 3 (you know it’s happening).

‘Loto’s Inventions’ shone the spotlight on Moana’s crewmember Loto and what she had to face when it came to having the village accept her creations over the years. This particular tale helped readers understand Moana’s natural talent as a leader and moderator. Moana doesn’t like conflict, and she’s always ready to support those around her. Loto’s excitement had her steamroll others when it came to using her inventions to make tasks “easier”. Moana aided Loto in realizing that it would be more productive to have the villagers be involved in her plans. Such feedback would help Loto learn about the issues the villagers actually wanted solved. Alongside that, an outside perspective could pinpoint flaws in her blueprints.

I don’t know, but ‘Loto’s Inventions’ really resonated with me. I think it might be because I try to be like Moana (when dealing with certain situations in my professional and personal life) while ensuring that as few issues as possible arise between the parties involved.

The final story, titled ‘Moni’s Dream Team’, was the weakest, in my opinion. It was just Moni retelling Moana’s adventure from the first film by inserting himself in the events. It added no character development whatsoever to Moni or Moana. I think it was meant to be on the more “joke-y” side of storytelling, but it fell flat, especially compared to the previous emotionally charged tales featuring Simea and Loto.

The New Adventures Of Disney’s Moana 2 Vol. 1: Born to Voyage is from a script by Sloane Leong. The layout, pencils, and ink are by Andrea Greppi, with Maria Claudia Di Genova being the color artist. I liked the artstyle, especially because of how expressive everyone was. If I were to nitpick, I would say that the scale involving the characters and environments felt off to me during certain panels.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read as a fan of Moana. I wouldn’t mind more volumes in this series.

Are you interested in reading more about Moana?

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Update: July 26, 2025

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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