Posted: 29 March 2020 at 5:03am | IP Logged | 7
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Cool to hear some Moon Knight discussion.
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Rick, my overview / review of Moon Knight so far issue #'s 1 - 16. Bit more detail as I have lockdown time on my hands.
I never quite understood the labelling of Moon Knight asMarvel's “Batman” since I felt he had his roots more in the occult pulps andwas their version of The Shadow instead
# 1 - The Macabre Moon Knight - Moon Knight's origin is detailed for the 1st time. The issue introduces Frenchie, Marlene Alraune, Betrand Crawley, Gena Landers and arch nemesis Raoul Bushman in to the origin even though some had appeared before. Moench offers up a straightforward, easy to follow story that establishes the status quo, and does not require the reader to have read previous MK stories. Sienkiewicz is still in his early phase - many peopleconsidered him to be a Neal Adams clone, not that there was anything wrong withthat. I'm not sure I see Adams specifically, but it's definitely a morerealistic style of art and he does a lot of good stuff with shadows. I would consider Raoul Bushman one of the scarier villainsto come out in this period. Also he's an African warlord (there are lots of them in thereal world) and one of the few African villains not to be a Black Panther foe. # 2 - The Slasher - Moon Knight stops a man that has been killing New York's homeless. The issue introduces Gena Landers kids, has nice art by Sienkiewicz, but is a fairly routine "hero tracks serial killer" story. Not bad. Just workman like. # 3 - Midnight Means Murder - Introduces another member of MK's rogues gallery, The Midnight Man, a psychotic art thief. Great art by Sienkiewicz, and Moench clearly building up MK's world with the Midnight Man. The villain and his motives were interesting. As an aside, Moench seems to have taken the concept of the Midnight Man and spread it across Nocturna and The Thief of Night in his 1983 - 1986 Batman run. Read this issue and the Batman issues introducing them and you'll see the similarities. # 4 - A Committee of 5 - "The Committee", the group that hired Moon Knightto go after Werewolf By Night in Moon Knight's first appearance, hires a crewof specialized assassins to get vengeance for Moon Knight's betrayal. Sienkiewicz gives a very strong Neal Adams look and feel to this issue. Moench revises MK's origin and 1st appearance to marry in with issue # 1 of this series, and take care of some of the continuity snags from the Werewolf by Night issues. It works well and doesn't contradict what we have seen in this series so far, or invalidate any earlier appearances. # 5 - Ghost Story - MK chases two bank robbers through a supposedly haunted house. The house is "haunted" by a crazy elderly lady. Fairly routine again in terms of story, but Moench and Sienkiewicz make it entertaining and there are two good twists along the way Issues 6 - 10 up next time!!!
Edited by Greg McPhee on 29 March 2020 at 5:04am
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