Quick review: Moon Knight #1
By Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev
The fourth (or is it fifth) volume for this character is here. I remember back in the day seeing grainy ads for Doug Moench and Bill Sienkewicz' run in the pages of Daredevil or Uncanny X-Men, thinking it looked cool. When I finally got to flip through a few issues I was struck at how modern and slick the style was. It read like an action movie, predating tough guy mercenary programs that would become popular in the 1980's. Many people call Moon Knight a second or third rate Batman, those people have usually never read an issue of Moon Knight or they'd see that he is nothing of the sort. He throws crescent darts much like Batman uses batarangs, pilots a crescent moon-shaped copter just as Batman uses a Bat-copter, operates as a debonair playboy by day but that's where the similarities end. Batman may have a kind of 'super sane' way of dealing with the death of his parents and his war on crime may be one of obsessiveness taken to a new level but Moon Knight is a whole other deal.
Once a soldier of fortune, Marc Spector operated with a band of cut-throat ex-special ops soldiers, offering up their skills to the highest bidder. His partner in crime, known as Bushman, took to the life and had himself surgically altered; his face tattooed and teeth filed to points in order to appear more beastly. When Spector and his crew stumbled upon an archeological dig ripe with treasure, Bushman and Spector finally butted heads and Marc paid the price. Gunned down and left for dead, he was placed at the feet of the Egyptian god Konshu. Spector believes that Konshu revived him to be the god's weapon on Earth, resurrected to do the deity's bidding.
Moon Knight also developed four distinct personalities (to mirror the four phases of the moon), including cab-driver and mustache maven Jake Lockley, the hard as nails soldier of fortune Marc Spector, the playboy Steven Grant and the fist of Konshu, Moon Knight. His initial run remains a cult hit with readers which explains why he keeps getting revived over and over. His most recent run consisted of the hyper violent Charlie Huston issues in which Spector took a dark turn and brutalized crooks in the name of his god followed by the reinvention of the character as a seemingly sane crime fighter who had turned his back on Konshu and even killed off his Marc Spector persona (by Gregg Hurwitz). They are all great comics that not only build on what made the character cool back in the day but give him an edge that makes him brand new.
The latest iteration of Moon Knight comes from that blockbuster team that gave us an incredible run on Daredevil, Spider-Woman and currently Scarlet. Bendis and Maleev have a fantastic collaborative vibe that immediately brings attention to a title. The new series follows Moon Knight after he has become a member of the Avengers and appears to have made good on his decision to turn his back on the madness and just be a vigilante dressed all in white fighting bad guys.
Fortunately, this is not the case and Moon Knight is far nuttier than he has been portrayed before simply because he is unaware of his madness. In the past he would see manifestations of Konshu speaking to him as either his former foe Bushman or a miniature goblin version of Konshu. But these days he is as sly businessman operating in LA as Jake Lockley. Shopping the story of Marc Spector and the legend of Moon Knight as a syndicated TV program.
The issue opens with Wolverine, Captain America and Spider-Man arriving to give Moon Knight a talking to and a reality check to make sure he can perform the duties of LA' resident superhero. This is significant since the ads and cover show Moon Knight possessing similar abilities to the three Avengers with the tag line that he is 'all the Avenger you need.'
Yeah, I thought it was a lame tag line too.
Some East Coast supervillains are relocating to sunny California to start up business and the Avengers need to be sure that Moon Knight is capable of taking care of them. Somewhat flippant and distracted, Lockley tries to assure the team that he has a handle on things and immediately gets involved in something way over his head.
A business deal for stolen arms turns out to involve a discarded Ultron robot and a very nasty unknown supervillain capable of intense explosive acts. Retrieving the Ultron head, Moon Knight holds a meeting of the Avengers in his lair, comparing notes and theories. As he concludes that it's a good thing the Avengers have his back, it is revealed that Moon Knight is in fact alone and talking to himself.
While this is a much subtler and more underplayed opening issue than the previous two attempts at the character, I have to admit that it does intrigue me. Stylistically, the new series has captured the 80's noir feel of the Moench/Sienkewicz series and that's a very good thing. I do worry about how long this high profile creative team will be attached to the series and if they do leave soon, will that once again curse the fist of Konshu to an early cancellation?
Who can say.
In the meantime, I recommend picking up an issue and giving it a try. If you are a fan of the street-level Batman, Miller and Janson's Daredevil or the current Black Panther book, this is right up your alley.
Recommended:
Essential Moon Knight, Vol. 1Moon Knight: Countdown to DarkMoon Knight, Vol. 1: The BottomVengeance of Moon Knight, Vol. 1: Shock and Awe
