Monday, December 28, 2020

Longbox Junk - Marc Spector: Moon Knight, Part 5 (Issues 41 - 50)

 Welcome to Longbox Junk, the place where I review comic books even though nobody asked me to!

Sorry I'm a bit late with this one.  It's been super busy at work, with a surprisingly-active season of holiday travel despite health care professionals practically begging Americans to just stay home this year.  The longer I work in this hotel during the pandemic, the more I'm convinced that Americans have an almost psychotic resistance to being told what to do.  I'm not being political. . .I'm just sayin' what my own two eyes are seeing.

BUT I DIGRESS!

My epic journey through the (until now) uncharted comic review territory of all sixty issues of Marc Spector: Moon Knight is about two-thirds of the way finished.  To read where I've been so far, you can click HERE (Part 1)  HERE (Part 2) HERE (Part 3) and HERE (Part 4)  But I'll give a short recap. . .

Things started off with Chuck Dixon giving us a stripped-down version of Moon Knight as a two-fisted crimefighter without any supernatural trappings or mental health issues normally found in Moon Knight stories.  It was simple, but pretty good.

Then Dixon left and J.M. DeMatteis took over for a short while.  He attempted to continue an earlier volume of Moon Knight (from a decade previously) with a deep dive into psychodrama that ultimately was just a muddled mess.

Next on board as regular writer was Terry Kavanagh.  He put his own stamp on Moon Knight by making him much more of a mainstream Marvel superhero. . .a high-tech urban crimefighter with advanced weaponry, an expanded network of supporting characters, and a shiny new suit of armor.  So far, Kavanagh's "New" Moon Knight has been struggling to find some solid footing.

My overall view of the series so far is that it's been a sort of schizophrenic reading experience, with three different writers delivering three almost completely different versions of the same character in the same series.  

These days,  Marvel probably would have broken things up into at least two different series (each with that sweet, sweet number one collector issue and multiple variant covers), with DeMatteis' offering as a mini-series between.  But in the 90's they just rolled on like a character almost completely switching up from one issue to the next wasn't even a thing to notice.

BUT ENOUGH OF THAT.

Let's move along to what we're looking at this time. . .

I've been sort of dreading the batch of comics at hand.  Almost half of them are tied into what was at the time Marvel's biggest and most ambitious crossover event. . .Infinity War.  With six main issues in the story and a whopping FORTY-SEVEN crossover issues of various titles (including these), not to mention that it's the middle part of a TRILOGY of massive crossovers,  Infinity War was a mighty pile of comic books!

As far as the story of Infinity War itself. . .let's just say that even the abbreviated Wikipedia synopsis is enough to make me dread jumping into even this small corner of it.  I'm not a fan of gigantic crossovers in general, and this was one of the biggest ever attempted.  But for the sake of a little bit of context, I'll boil it on down to what's needed to know HERE.

When Adam Warlock gains control of the Infinity Gauntlet, in an attempt to try and wisely control it, he splits himself into two parts. . .one of them a being of pure logic and the other a manifestation of pure chaos called Magus.  Magus manages to collect five cosmic cubes and uses them to open up another dimension that contains evil duplicates of Earth's superheroes (including Moon Knight) that he uses to attack Earth.  

There's a LOT more that happens after that, but Moon Knight doesn't really have much of a part in the rest of the story (which makes my head hurt just reading the short version), but spends most of his Infinity War time fighting an evil version of himself called Moon Shade through multiple dimensions.

Okay.  There's the background.  Let's do this!

MARC SPECTOR: MOON KNIGHT
PART FIVE (ISSUES 41 - 50)
MARVEL (1989 - 1994)

ISSUE FORTY-ONE

THE DARK DOPPLEGANGERS DESCEND

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: Gary Kwapisz
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Gary Kwapisz

THE STORY:

We begin our tale at Four Freedoms Plaza during a meeting with the Avengers, West Coast Avengers, X-Men, X-Factor, New Warriors, Fantastic Four, and Alpha Flight.  Moon Knight has been reactivated as an Avenger and is present at the meeting as the superheroes discuss the current crisis of attacks by evil versions of themselves.  

The discussion becomes heated as Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man blame the situation on some sort of unknown mutant menace.  Then suddenly out of nowhere, Daredevil appears and attacks Mr. Fantastic, setting off a full-scale superhero brawl!

Even though Moon Knight is "officially" an Avenger, he doesn't take sides as he fights his way through the Mutants vs. "normal" superhero battle, trying to make his way to where Daredevil and Mr. Fantastic are fighting in order to find out what's really going on.

On his way, he is forced into a fight with Gambit and Psylocke, who uses her mental powers to dig into Moon Knight's mind.  She discovers that Moon Knight is no enemy of the mutants, so she lets him go. . .but she ALSO discovers something horrifying inside him.  Unfortunately, she's unable to tell Moon Knight as he continues to fight his way through the room.

As the battle rages, it's revealed that Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man are both evil versions of themselves, and that the meeting was a trap!  Evil Mr. Fantastic attempts to set off a gamma bomb, but the heroes stop fighting and join together to prevent the destruction of themselves and the city.  Thanos appears and Evil Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic make their escape with him. A pursuit force of combined heroes and mutants is quickly formed to follow Thanos through his lingering dimensional corridor.

After the pursuing force departs, a group of evil duplicates appear and another battle begins!  Moon Knight's evil twin appears to have a separate agenda, and Moon Knight pursues it through the Four Freedoms building to the room of Franklin Richards, where Franklin's own evil version is using a device called a "Psi-Phon" to drain the boy of his "dream state" powers.

Moon Knight jumps to Franklin's defense and is forced to fight his evil self, but manages to drive off Franklin's evil twin during the battle, so that Alicia Masters can grab the boy and run.  Moon Knight's evil twin kills Evil Franklin, triumphantly declaring that with the Psi-Phon and some of Franklin's powers, he alone can now travel through dimensions and absorb the powers of his duplicates, becoming the greatest Moon Knight in the Multiverse. . .MOON SHADE!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

I am SO glad that Marvel decided not to give Moon Knight much of a part in Infinity War.  Here, he's sort of constantly wondering what the heck is going on before most of the other heroes just leave him behind as rear guard while they pursue Thanos.  Even the West Coast Avengers ditched him!  It's pretty bad when you get ditched by the Avengers back-up team.

But even though most of the crossover passes by Moon Knight, he's still got his small part to play.  It's sort of a strange little part, but it actually looks like it might be interesting.  What's MOST interesting (having looked forward already) is how much it resembles an abbreviated version of the current DC "hot" property of "The Batman Who Laughs".  A story about a dark version of Batman that travels the multiverse recruiting to his side or destroying any version of Batman he can find.  

You'll see more of what I'm talking about when we get to the next issue.  The story in this one was basically framed to take Moon Knight out of the main Infinity War storyline and set him up for his own adventure.  I liked the MANY superhero cameos in here, but damn am I glad I don't have to keep up with them all during these crossover issues.


Overall, this first Infinity War crossover issue wasn't nearly as painful to get through as I thought it would be.  It actually separates Moon Knight from the main story and sets it up for him to be doing his own thing. . .part of the crossover, but not TOO much a part of it.  And for that, I liked this issue!

NEXT!

ISSUE FORTY-TWO

MULTIVERSE MADNESS

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: Gary Kwapisz, James Fry III, Norm Breyfogle, Kelley Jones, Klaus Janson
INKS: Tom Palmer, Klaus Janson, Kelley Jones, John Beatty, Ty Templeton
COVER: Gary Kwapisz

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, Moon Knight is somehow tethered to his evil twin, Moon Shade, as he hops through multiple dimensions in search of different versions of Moon Knight in order to absorb them and become the most powerful version of Moon Knight in the multiverse.  

Moon Knight desperately battles Moon Shadow, trying to find a weakness as he is dragged to realities containing Moon Knights that are analogues to other heroes (but mostly Batman), including Darkmoon (gritty Dark Knight Batman), Moon Fang (Red Rain vampire Batman), Crescent Moon (Laser-shootin' far future science fiction female Moon Knight), The Spector (Will Eisner's Spirit), Moon Ghost (Hanna-Barbera's Space Ghost), Dino-Knight (Devil Dinosaur), and Moon Maid (Underwater world with a female Moon Knight based on Aquaman's Mera). 

They finish their strange trip in the exaggerated comic book world of Moon Man and Moon Boy, analogues of goofy Silver Age Batman and Robin.  Moon Man is the last remaining Moon Knight other than the original, and once Moon Shade absorbs him, he will finally have the power to absorb Marc Spector himself!

A brutal battle between Moon Man, Moon Knight, and Moon Shade ensues as Moon Knight tries to keep his evil doppleganger from draining the life force of Moon Man.  Moon Knight finally wins the day by using his staff to electrocute Moon Shadow from the inside. . .but he's too late to save Moon Man's trusty teen sidekick, Moon Boy, which mentally breaks Moon Man.

Unfortunately, with the defeat of Moon Shade, Moon Knight finds himself stranded in the strange Silver Age world of Moon Man, with no way to return home!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

I'll be honest here. . .the story in this issue made absolutely no sense, but I still really liked this comic!

Moon Knight gets a bit of flack for being "Marvel's Batman", so Terry Kavanagh and a roster of five artists lean HARD into the joke. . .dragging Moon Knight through worlds where there is (for example) literally a Frank Miller gritty aged Batman version of himself, with visuals and dialogue in the same style as Dark Knight Returns. . .and a twisted Vampire Batman/Moon Knight done in the style of Red Rain. . .and a handful of others as well, finishing off with the hilariously innocent Batman and Robin duo of Moon Man and Moon Boy.  Kavanagh and company don't just let you know they're in on the joke, they rub it in your face!

This was probably my favorite issue of this series I've read in a while.  The story itself is convoluted and nonsensical to the point of just absolutely making no sense, but I have the feeling that MIGHT be another layer of commentary behind the obvious joke of Moon Knight basically being Batman, but one aimed at a street-level character like Moon Knight being forced to take part in a gigantic cosmic crossover.

I haven't had much respect for Kavanagh up to this point, but his meta-commentary in this issue gives me a bit of hope for what he might give us going forward in this series.
 


Overall, this issue was a lot of fun!  Terry Kavanagh and company give us short looks at the Moon Knight of multiple different realities. . .and most of them are Batman!  I really liked how both the art style and the dialogue in different worlds switched up. . .from the gothic angst of vampire Moon Knight, to the Silver Age banter of Moon Man and Moon Boy.

NEXT!

ISSUE FORTY-THREE

MULTIPLE MANIACS

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: Gary Kwapisz
INKS: Jimmy Palmiotti
COVER: Gary Kwapisz

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, Moon Knight is briefly stranded in a strange Silver Age version of reality, but after Moon Shadow's body completely dissolves, he is transported back to his own version of New York, back where he started from at Four Freedoms Plaza in the middle of a fight with multiple evil versions of other heroes.

IN THE MEANTIME. . .back at Shadow Keep, Frenchie is extremely concerned with Marc's deteriorating physical condition and consults with the Shadow Cabinet, where he learns that Marc was somehow infected during his fight with Hobgoblin, and that the only has about a week to live!

Quickly working with the Shadow Cabinet, Frenchie starts pulling together a plan to gets some genetic material from the imprisoned Demogoblin in hopes of finding a cure for Marc's condition.  Frenchie isn't confident in their chances of success, so he begins activating Marc Spector's protocols he put in place in case of his death, meant to find a possible replacement.

ELSEWHERE. . .We find ourselves in the depths of an ancient Scottish castle, looking in on a rare meeting of the modern day Knights Templar's leadership, where they are discussing a dire situation (as yet unknown to the reader) that has made it necessary to consider activating one of their hidden agents, a secret weapon known as Jean Paul DuChamp. . .AKA Frenchie!

FINALLY, BACK IN NEW YORK. . .Moon Knight and his fellow heroes that had been left behind at Four Freedoms Plaza are fighting what seems to be a losing battle against a relentless horde of evil versions of superheroes.  They are all but beaten when suddenly the dopplegangers begin to dissolve, letting Moon Knight and company know that SOMETHING has happened elsewhere to help them win the day.

As the victorious heroes ponder how to contact the Avengers (last seen entering an interdimensional portal in pursuit of Thanos), time and reality both somehow come to an abrupt halt!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

Although this is still part of the Infinity War crossover, Moon Knight continues to play an extremely small role as he returns to the Fantastic Four's headquarters to continue fighting evil duplicate superheroes until things happen elsewhere that end the battle. . .with Moon Knight completely out of the loop as to exactly what is going on or where it's going on at.  

What this issue is REALLY doing is setting up three separate upcoming storylines. . .trying to cure Marc's demonic infection, Kavanagh's bid to make Frenchie a superhero himself (more on that interesting attempt to put his own permanent stamp on the Moon Knight mythos later), and the search for a new Moon Knight in case Marc dies (This was the earlier era of both Marvel and DC trying to replace their heroes with new "edgier" versions, so a very real possibility that this was being planned for Moon Knight as well).  

The first story thread of finding a cure for Moon Knight's malady is just a continuation of the story so rudely interrupted by Infinity War.  It's the other two story threads that hold a bit more interest for me.  They BOTH seem like pretty clear signals that Marvel already knew that Moon Knight was on borrowed time, even about a year and a half out (17 issues) from the end of the series.  It just seems to me (especially with the "replacement Moon Knight" story thread teased here) that Marvel was trying to figure out what to do with the character.


Overall, we have an issue that is interesting not so much for the extended fight scenes that make up Moon Knight's tiny part in Infinity War, but for the story threads hinting at Marvel not quite knowing what they were going to do with Moon Knight going forward.

NEXT!

ISSUE FORTY-FOUR

THE END HAS JUST BEGUN. . .

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: Gary Kwapisz
INKS: Jimmy Palmiotti
COVER: Gary Kwapisz

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, reality returns to normal as Adam Warlock wins the ultimate battle for the Infinity Gauntlet.  The Fantastic Four are somehow returned to New York, and the cleanup from the battle at their headquarters begins.

IN THE MEANTIME. . .In Scotland, the Knights Templar debate over whether or not to activate their secret operative, Jean Paul DuChamp (AKA Frenchie), but the discussion is cut short as one of their own (Called Seth) suddenly attacks!  With the aid of two demonic beings named Basilisk and Agony, (together called "The Hellbent") Seth makes short work of the other Templars.  Seth and his demonic allies plan their next move against the still-unaware Frenchie.

BACK IN NEW YORK. . .With the "Infinity War" at an end, Moon Knight turns his attention back to his own condition.  He tries to enlist the Fantastic Four for aid, but his previously misrepresenting his Avenger status (For help against Doctor Doom in issue #40) makes Mr. Fantastic reluctant to help until Alicia Masters informs him about Moon Knight's rescue of his son during the battle at the Four Freedoms building (Issue #41).

As Mr. Fantastic begins to run tests on Moon Knight, Doctor Strange appears.  He's sensed that Moon Knight's problem is based in magic.  His own tests reveal a demonic creature inside of Moon Knight.  Once revealed, it possesses the hero and attacks!  Doctor Strange is able to restrain the creature long enough for Mr. Fantastic to use a device to bring Marc Spector back into control.  

Strange and Fantastic working together determine that Moon Knight is afflicted by something that is a combination of human and demonic sources.  There's only one thing Moon Knight has come into contact with recently that matches that description. . .Hobgoblin (now called Demogoblin).  

Moon Knight returns to his Shadow Keep to consult with his Shadow Cabinet, unaware that Frenchie had already done so.  The Shadow Cabinet act like it's not even a thing as they repeat the same exact information they did in last issue. . .a cure MIGHT be possible with some of Demogoblin's DNA to work with.  

Moon Knight sets about making a plan to break into the special high-security wing of Brinkstone Prison where Demogoblin is being held. For some reason, Shadow Cabinet doesn't tell him that they ALREADY made a plan a few days ago with Frenchie.

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

First off. . .what a great cover for Halloween on this one! Now THAT'S nasty!

This issue is less of an Infinity War crossover and more of an Infinity War epilogue, with only about one page of actual Infinity War to be found.  I have to say that I'm happy with the way Kavanagh handled Moon Knight's part in Infinity War, keeping him in the crossover, but just barely enough to have it on the cover.  From the letters pages in upcoming issues, I see that there are plenty of fans who wanted Moon Knight to have a larger part in Infinity War, but in MY humble opinion (coming from almost 30 years down the road), this was just enough, because he really had no business being in it in the first place.

As for the issue itself, once the small bit of Infinity War is done with, it's pretty much a continuation of the triple story thread setup that began in last issue.  It's a little strange that Moon Knight basically calls on his Shadow Cabinet allies for exactly the same information that Frenchie did in the previous issue and none of them wonder why. . .so the story actually seems to be spinning its wheels and repeating itself during those sections.  

I'm also not particularly sold on the idea of Frenchie being a Knights Templar secret weapon without his knowledge.  It just seems like the sort of idea that could easily swerve things right off the tracks when the series is barely holding on as it is.  


Overall, I'm surprisingly satisfied with the way that Moon Knight's part in Infinity War was handled, but now I'm a little nervous about some of the upcoming storylines that are being teased. . .Frenchie being a Knights Templar secret weapon in particular.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see, because I ain't quittin' now!

CROSSOVER DONE. . .MOVING ALONG!

ISSUE FORTY-FIVE

GOBLIN KNIGHT

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: James Fry III
INKS: Chris Ivy
COVER: James Fry III

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, Moon Knight hurries to Brinkstone Prison to break in and try to gain some of Demogoblin's DNA.  Knowing that he might not succeed in the little time he has left (less than 7 hours), Marc orders Frenchie to begin implementing the "Legacy Quest" protocols he came up with to find a replacement Moon Knight in case of his death (even though Frenchie already started them up in issue #43).

At the Prison, a controversial execution is about to take place. . .that of serial killer and religious fanatic John DeZoan (AKA Deacon John).  In order to facilitate Moon Knight's break-in of the prison, the Shadow Cabinet has one of their contacts already inside the building orchestrate a power blackout.  He triggers it right in the middle of DeZoan's execution by electric chair!

The blackout gives Moon Knight the cover he needs to sneak into the prison, but the interrupted execution that also results from it has the strange effect of somehow resurrecting DeZoan and giving him electric powers.

Not knowing the unintended side effects of his prison break-in, Moon Knight makes his way toward the superhuman high security wing of the prison while DeZoan slaughters his way out of the prison.  Upon reaching Demogoblin, Moon Knight is overwhelmed by horrific hallucinations brought on by the demon's connection with him.  

By sheer force of will, Moon Knight manages to fight past the hallucinations and attack Demogoblin, gaining the DNA he needs, but as he attempts to escape, Demogoblin takes Moon Knight down, determined not to let his new human host get away so easily.  We end the issue with Moon Knight at Demogoblin's mercy!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

In the last batch of issues I mentioned that, in comics, sometimes good art can carry a story.  This issue's art team change gives us great example of exactly that.

At the heart of things, this is a pretty simple story. . .Moon Knight breaks into a prison, not knowing he's accidentally released a dangerous killer in the process.  He fights Demogoblin, gets what he came for, but is taken down as he tries to escape.  BUT. . .the new art team kicks in the door with the kind of visual swagger that makes even such a simple story something that grabs your attention!

It's too bad it took 45 issues to FINALLY get some really good art on this series.  Up to this point, it's sort of swung in the wind from pretty good to pretty bad, but mostly following a fairly average path straight up the middle of the road, telling the story, but not trying too hard to do any better than that.  THIS pencil/ink team goes beyond just telling the story, they amplify it.

The thick inks, sparse backgrounds, and use of large patches of negative space sort of reminds me of  Scott McDaniel's style during that time (the artist who gave us Daredevil's 90's armor makeover ). In any case, this new art direction has definitely renewed my interest in this series.


Overall, we have a fairly simple story about Moon Knight breaking into a prison and fighting with Demogoblin that is elevated by some really good art. . .good enough that I'm actually looking forward to the next issue for the first time in quite a while on this series.

NEXT!

ISSUE FORTY-SIX

DEATH WATCH

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: James Fry III
INKS: Chris Ivy
COVER: James Fry III

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, we find Moon Knight at the mercy of Demogoblin.  Realizing that he has very limited time and that in his weakened condition, he has no chance of defeating Demogoblin, Moon Knight gives in to the demonic entity inside him, allowing it to give him the strength to escape.

As the partially-transformed Moon Knight makes his way through the prison, he encounters DeZoan.  A fight breaks out and Moon Knight loses his adamantium staff to DeZoan, who flees the battle with the Demonic Moon Knight in hot pursuit.

Moon Knight runs into a mob of rioting prisoners that DeZoan freed, and fighting his way through them delays him long enough that he loses DeZoan.  At the end of the battle, the exhausted Moon Knight collapses.  He's taken too long to escape!

Luckily, Frenchie has been monitoring the situation and rescues Moon Knight with the Angel Wing, rushing the dying hero and the sample of Demogoblin's DNA back to Four Freedoms plaza, where Doctor Strange and Mr. Fantastic use a combination of science and magic to remove the demonic creature living inside Moon Knight.

Unfortunately, Mr. Fantastic reveals to Moon Knight that he got to them too late to completely remove all traces of the demonic virus, and that the next 48 hours would tell them if Moon Knight will live or die!

With Moon Knight's ultimate fate unknown, he returns to Shadow Keep with Frenchie to discuss the next step in his "Legacy Quest" protocols. . .choosing the next Moon Knight from a list of candidates the computer has created.

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

Not a bad issue.  Most of it is spent with Moon Knight fighting his way out of the prison he broke in to.  Once again, the new art team does most of the heavy lifting by elevating this story with some fantastic visuals that make a sort of "Meh" issue into something interesting.

The story itself is leading into a somewhat interesting direction even without the great art backing it up.  I know from reading ahead that (SPOILER ALERT) Marvel didn't pull the trigger on a replacement Moon Knight, but I can see from the last few issues that it was a definite possibility, especially given the time that this comic was published. . .the era of Knightfall, Reign of the Supermen, Thunderstrike, Danny Ketch Ghost Rider, U.S.Agent, and many others.

1993 was smack dab in the middle of the years of both DC and Marvel rolling out replacement heroes in an attempt to shake up the status quo that was already shaking from Image coming on the scene with newer "edgier" characters and blowing the roof off of sales figures with every new #1 issue (and expanding a speculation collector bubble that just about took down the comic industry as a whole when it finally burst).

They eventually came up with another "solution" for Moon Knight that was also a trend in the 90's, and we'll see what THAT was in the final batch of issues.  BUT I DIGRESS!


Overall, a decent issue that leans heavily on the new art team to keep things on the good side of average.  The most interesting part of it for me was seeing what looked like Marvel setting up for a replacement Moon Knight that never happened.

NEXT!

ISSUE FORTY-SEVEN

THE LEGACY QUEST SCENARIO

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: James Fry III
INKS: Chris Ivy
COVER: James Fry III

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, with his survival in doubt and Frenchie in a wheelchair, Moon Knight and his Shadow Cabinet test three likely candidates to replace Moon Knight in case he dies, each of them unknowingly put into situations where Moon Knight will judge their abilities and character.

The first candidate is a baseball player, but he is taken off the list after Moon Knight discovers that he's addicted to drugs.  The second candidate is a construction worker, but Moon Knight finds his courage lacking and takes him off the list.  The final candidate is a reporter that makes the grade in every way, but when Moon Knight tells him he was being tested and for what, the reporter declines. . .because he's Peter Parker and Moon Knight doesn't know he's actually Spider-Man!

IN THE MEANTIME. . .While Moon Knight and company are out testing possible replacements, we see that a female agent of the Templars is watching Shadow Keep, waiting for the signal to approach Frenchie.  As she waits, the demonic allies of Seth The Immortal (who destroyed the Knights Templar leadership in issue #44) attack her, proclaiming that they are there to destroy Jean Paul DuChamp! The Templar Agent barely manages to defeat the demons, but they promise they will return.

Disappointed with not being able to find a replacement, and not having time to test any others, Moon Knight returns to Shadow Keep to count down the final hours that will determine Marc Spector's fate with his best friend Frenchie.  At the appointed time, Moon Knight removes his armor to reveal that he has been healed!  

Frenchie and Marc's celebration of his recovery is short-lived, though.  A Shadow Cabinet alert tells them that John DeZoan, the serial killer that escaped during Moon Knight's break in at Brinkstone Prison (in issue #45 - 46) has been spotted calling himself "Deadzone" and attacking the henchmen of villainous crime lord Tombstone in New York City.  Moon Knight is back on the clock!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

This was a pretty good issue.  I think Terry Kavanagh is beginning to get Moon Knight on a little more solid ground as his time on the series goes on.  I'm still not sold on the whole Knights Templar storyline, but in this issue there's only a couple of pages about it.  Most of it is spent on Moon Knight and his Shadow Cabinet putting three possible Moon Knight replacements through their paces without their knowing it.

I really got a kick out of the final candidate being Peter Parker!  It was a great way to throw in a Spidey cameo without screaming about it on the cover, and it actually took me by surprise. . .so a job well done to Kavanagh for using one of Marvel's most popular heroes in such a humorous and understated way!

This issue also steps back from the edge of bringing in a replacement Moon Knight.  I'm not sure if it was ever REALLY a serious consideration, but like I said in the reviews of the past couple of issues, it really wouldn't have surprised me, given the time when these comics were written.  Still, whether it was a genuine possibility or not, it was an interesting hook to make me think a little while about the 90's wave of Replacement Heroes.


Overall, I liked this issue quite a bit.  Not only did it make me think a little about the 90's era of Replacement Heroes, but it also gave me a surprise chuckle by making Moon Knight's best possible replacement none other than Spider-Man!  

NEXT!

ISSUE FORTY-EIGHT

WHEN THE WHIP COMES DOWN

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: James Fry III
INKS: Chris Ivy
COVER: James Fry III

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, after Moon Knight receives reports of John DeZoan (now calling himself Deadzone) on a killing spree against organized crime, he arrives at the scene of the latest murders, only to be attacked by the henchmen of villainous crime lord Tombstone.

Moon Knight makes quick work of the hired help and Tombstone himself arrives on the scene, trying to convince the hero to work with his organization to take down Deadzone.  Moon Knight declines.

IN THE MEANTIME. . .while Moon Knight uses his Shadow Cabinet contacts to find out information on DeZoan and predict a pattern to his madness, Deadzone is busy attacking a mob meeting in Chinatown.  In the background of all of this, Frenchie is convinced by his lover, Chloe, to stop moping around the Shadow Keep and go out on the town with her.

As Deadzone continues his attacks on organized crime around New York, Moon Knight finally catches up to him at a secret crack factory.  Deadzone tries to convince Moon Knight to join his crusade of "purifying" the wicked, but Moon Knight declines, giving his "We're nothing alike and I work alone" speech for the second time in one day.

Moon Knight and Deadzone start to fight.  Moon Knight has a rough time of it because he's still not up to 100% after his near death scare, plus Deadzone is armed with the adamantium staff Moon Knight lost in his escape from prison a few issues back.  The hero goes down hard, and is left for dead by Deadzone.

ELSEWHERE. . .Frenchie and Chloe go to their favorite restaurant and encounter a lack of wheelchair ramps, but that's the least of their problems as they are suddenly attacked by the Templar traitor Seth's demonic "Hellbent" allies!

The badly wounded Moon Knight manages to make his way back to Shadow Keep, but when he tries to contact his Shadow Cabinet organized crime inside man, he discovers that he's been killed by Deadzone!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

I found this issue to be pretty average.  It's basically setup for the conclusion of this "Deadzone" story arc that was started in issue 45 and ends in the next issue.  Honestly, Deadzone just isn't that great of a villain.  Certainly not good enough to carry five issues' worth of story.  Once again, the problem with Moon Knight's slim "Rogues Gallery" rises to the surface.  I guess it's just hard for writers to come up with a good villain for Moon Knight that's able to last more than a few issues (the last we ever see of Deadzone is next issue).

Once more, the art team does most of the heavy lifting.  The visuals elevate a pretty "meh" story into something better than is should be.  The question now becomes how much longer will the art be able to continue carrying this series? With just twelve more issues to go in the run, I'd say not much longer.


Overall, we have a pretty average story propped up by some very nice artwork.  Deadzone is yet another example of the difficulty every writer on this series has had so far with giving Moon Knight some decent enemies to fight.

NEXT!

ISSUE FORTY-NINE

WHIP HAND!

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: James Fry III
INKS: Chris Ivy
COVER: James Fry III

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, with Deadzone killing mob bosses in New York, their gangs go to war against each other as they try to fill the power vacuums being left.  Moon Knight finds himself distracted from finding Deadzone as he fights to stop gang battles in the streets.

During a short break in the action, Moon Knight thinks back on how he recruited a former mob boss (now murdered by Deadzone in last issue) into his Shadow Cabinet.  He decides against the advice of his Shadow Cabinet to work with Tombstone to lure Deadzone out and bring him to justice.

IN THE MEANTIME. . .we see a group of remaining New York City crime bosses hiding together in a fortified mansion.  Unfortunately, their security isn't enough to keep Deadzone out and he attacks, killing them all.

ELSEWHERE. . .Frenchie and Chloe have temporarily escaped their demonic attackers, and Frenchie desperately tries to get Chloe to safety.  The "Hellbent" attack again and Frenchie manages to hold them off using weapons built into his wheelchair, allowing Chloe to escape.  As the demons go in for the kill, a mysterious woman jumps into the fight. . .the same Templar agent that's been watching Shadow Keep!  After she defeats the demons, she knocks Frenchie out when he seems to recognize her.

BACK WITH MOON KNIGHT. . .The hero has teamed up with Tombstone, posing as the crime lord's chauffer as he pays a respectful visit to the grave of Moon Knight's murdered Shadow Cabinet organized crime connection.   Deadzone takes the bait and he and Moon Knight fight in the graveyard.  This time, Moon Knight is better prepared and he manages to take Deadzone down. . .but then Tombstone steps in and snaps the neck of the helpless villain!

Filled with a near death frenzy, Deadzone attacks Moon Knight again, allowing Tombstone to make his escape.  Moon Knight almost beats Deadzone to death, but manages to stop himself from killing his enemy and becoming like him.  Moon Knight leaves the horribly beaten villain for the police.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

All in all, a pretty weak ending.  It almost seems like the writer wasn't exactly sure of what was going to happen until the last minute, making this issue seem disjointed and a bit sloppy.  Once again, most of the blame rests on the antagonist just not being an interesting or worthy adversary for Moon Knight in the first place.  

This wasn't the worst issue of this series so far, and it's not BAD. . .it's just sort of average and forgettable.  Not what I want in a comic that's supposed to wrap up a conflict that's been brewing for five issues. . .five months if you were buying these as they came out.  That's almost half a year!  


Overall, this was a pretty forgettable issue.  It hinges on the reader needing to suddenly place emotional weight on a character that until now has just been a face on a computer screen (Don G.  Moon Knight's murdered Shadow Cabinet contact) and leans on a throwaway villain that will never be heard from again.  The art is still great, but I ask again, how long can a good artist be expected to prop up average storytelling?

AND FINALLY. . .GIANT-SIZED 50TH ISSUE TIME!

ISSUE FIFTY

BLOODRITES

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: James Fry III
INKS: Chris Ivy
COVER: James Fry III

THE STORY:

Buckle in, folks. . .they packed a LOT into this issue!

We begin with Moon Knight training in Shadow Keep's Danger Room. . .er. . .Holo-Gym.  He's going up against a "Best Of" list of enemies from the entire series. . .from Bushman to Doctor Doom to Deadzone.  One after the other until it gets to his brother, Randall Spector. Marc isn't ready to face those memories and shuts the simulation down in order to return to the investigation at hand. . .trying to find his missing friend Frenchie.

Between his Shadow Cabinet contacts and witnesses on the street, Moon Knight follows a slim trail of clues that lead to a dead end with a stolen police car (That Frenchie had Chloe run for her life in during the attack by the demonic "Hellbent" last issue).  During the investigation, Moon Knight ignores several calls from the Avengers demanding that he meet them at their headquarters.

Finally, the Avengers get tired of being put off and send Thor (actually "Replacement Thor" Thunderstrike) out to bring Moon Knight in the hard way.  A short battle between the two begins as Moon Knight tries to dodge Thunderstrike's pursuit, but he finally surrenders after enlisting the Thunder God's aid in stopping the murder of a prostitute by her pimp.

IN THE MEANTIME. . .In a secret New York Templar base, we catch up with Frenchie as he wakes up with the mysterious woman who saved him last issue from the demonic Hellbent talking about a civil war in the ranks of the Templar and how she was assigned to protect him.  He suddenly realizes that the woman is actually his lover, Chloe in disguise!

BACK WITH MOON KNIGHT. . .The Avengers, currently under the leadership of Black Widow since Captain America (now operating as Nomad) decided to quit and let Replacement Cap (AKA U.S. Agent) take his place (The 90's wave of "Replacement Heroes" was an interesting time), are discussing why they've dragged Moon Knight to headquarters.

It seems they don't like him working with Punisher at all. They frown upon using a reserve Avengers I.D. to access resources to attack a sovereign nation's leader (Doctor Doom in issue #40). They didn't appreciate him starting a prison riot and accidentally allowing a psychopathic killer to escape custody. And they certainly don't approve of him teaming up with a known villain like Tombstone to capture that same killer (instead of enlisting the aid of the Avengers) and then almost beating Deadzone to death before dumping him off on the police.  And honestly, when they put it out there like that. . .I think I agree.

Moon Knight doesn't speak up in his own defense while Black Widow lays the charges down, because. . .well, they're all true.  Moon Knight has been a bad, bad, boy.  As they discuss what to do with their problem child,  Moon Knight gets a message from a Shadow Cabinet contact that they've picked up Frenchie's trail.  He decides that he doesn't have time to waste and ends the Avenger's debate by burning his I.D. card and showing himself out the door.

ELSEWHERE. . .We see Seth The Immortal in France at a hidden Templar base where he's briefing a new group of "Hellbent" demons on their mission to capture "Bloodline" (AKA Frenchie) before his full power can be activated by his Templar watchdog (AKA Chloe) before teleporting them to New York City for the attack.

At the same time, Chloe is explaining to Frenchie that he is "Bloodline", the last of a Templar family that has long been entrusted with the knowledge and secrets of the Templar, and that she has activated a hypnotic command that has begun Frenchie's transformation.  The final piece of the process is that Frenchie has to speak the final command words himself.  Chloe finally sells him on the idea by telling him that if he does, he will be able to walk again.  He speaks the phrase and begins having visions of long-dead ancestors, but nothing else happens.

WHEN SUDDENLY. . .The Hellbent strike team materialize and attack!  Taken by surprise, Chloe is quickly defeated.  Frenchie puts up a good fight, but being in a wheelchair is a bit of a hamper on his fighting ability.  BUT THEN. . .the adrenaline of the fight finally activates the hidden Templar code in Frenchie's DNA and he physically transforms into a sword-wielding pirate ancestor named Henri Remont, who skillfully continues the fight against the demonic attackers!  WAIT! WHAT? 

JUST THEN. . .Moon Knight finally manages to track down Frenchie's whereabouts and jumps into the fray!  Together, Bloodline and Moon Knight are able to better fight the Hellbent team.  At the last moment, yet ANOTHER creature teleports into the battle. . .but this time fighting on the side of Moon Knight and Bloodline!  After dispatching the final Hellbent, the creature introduces himself as "Manx", a "Shadowspawn" and informs Bloodline that there is a trial by fire coming for him, and that they will meet again. . .then he jumps out of the window and flies away!

After trying and failing to pursue Manx, Moon Knight returns to find Henri Remont gone as well, with Frenchie transformed back into his usual self, but hardly appreciating the rescue attempt and demanding that his friend now call him by his actual name instead of Frenchie from now on.  Moon Knight is a bit confused (ain't we all?) but agrees.  They return to Shadowkeep with one of the Hellbent bodies to examine.

EPILOGUE:  We find Seth the Immortal now in New York City and presiding over PhalkonCorp, making plans to wrest control of SpectorCorp from Marc Spector in order to build his financial base for his new Templar Order, and still plotting to gain the knowledge of Bloodline for himself.  We also meet his newest assistant. . .Marlene! Someone we haven't seen since she dipped out on Marc in issue #38 after his maniac brother kept trying to kill her.

BONUS EPILOGUE/ PROLOGUE!  At the newly-rebuilt, but still empty, Spector Mansion, we discover the mutant thief known as Gambit AND Werewolf by Night squaring off for a fight! 

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

Sheesh!  Like I said before the plot summary, they packed a LOT into this issue!  
Let's break it on down.  

It's a hefty hunk of story, but when you boil it down, there's two main things going on here.  The first is disengaging Moon Knight from the Avengers.  The second is the full transformation of Moon Knight sidekick Frenchie into "Bloodline", a Knight's Templar superhero able to transform into his ancestors in times of need.

The Avengers storyline is actually pretty good.  I liked the cameo appearances by the likes of beardy Thor (AKA Thunderstrike), aggressive jerk Captain America (AKA U.S.Agent), and Short hair "I didn't ask for this lousy job!" Avenger leader Black Widow.   I liked that Moon Knight himself realized he wasn't much of an Avenger in the first place and showed himself the door.  I'd say that it read like a pretty natural reaction for this character.

On the other hand. . .

Most of the issue is devoted to the Frenchie/Bloodline origin story, and I gotta admit, I'm not thrilled.  I'll venture a guess and say that not many other fans were either, because there's barely a mention of it to be found when looking for information on the internet. Once this series was done, it seems it was never referenced again, and in later Moon Knight runs Frenchie was just Frenchie.  I'll venture to say that when they're done, THIS set of reviews will probably be the most information on "Bloodline" to be found.

It's just a really strange and convoluted sort of thing, but it looks like Terry Kavanagh was all in on the idea because he's been laying the groundwork of this origin issue for seven months of real-world time (since issue #43).  The retcon of random Marc Spector housekeeper/ Frenchie love interest Chloe into a bad@$$ Templar secret warrior is pretty jarring. . .especially since when Stained Glass Scarlet attacked her and Frenchie on a date (back in issue #27, the last time we saw her prior to this arc), she was reduced to a whimpering, sobbing messenger.  And then there's Frenchie's ability to transform (clothes and all) into a swashbuckling pirate through the power of a hypnotic phrase that activates something in his DNA.

It just really seems like a bad idea that Kavanagh is having to over-explain.

One interesting thing that DOES stand out to me when reading about Frenchie/Bloodline, is the strong resemblance to the story beats of Assassin's Creed. . .which (for those reading who might not be gamers) is a video game franchise (the first released in 2007) that is based on secret orders of Templars and Assassins locked in eternal struggle, with the most recent strife being around technology that allows time travel via DNA, where the modern day ancestor actually transforms into their descendant in the past.

It's not note for note, but there's enough of a resemblance that it raised my eyebrow a bit, considering this storyline came out 14 years before the first game.  As a fan of Assassin's Creed, I can't help but wonder if this strange, practically-forgotten storyline in a barely-acknowledged Moon Knight series might have been part of the inspiration for the video game story.  If not, then it's a heck of a coincidence.


Overall, this issue could be described by me as "interesting".  Moon Knight quitting the Avengers was pretty good, but the new hero "Bloodline" that Kavanagh is transforming Frenchie into just seems to be a convoluted mess requiring so much explanation that it took up most of a double-sized issue.  In this strange (and pretty much forgotten, it seems) storyline, I can definitely see the writing on the wall for the end of this series in less than another year.

CONCLUSION

I've gotta admit. . .Marc Spector: Moon Knight is getting to be a bit of a grind to read and review at this point.  Overall, the ten issues in this batch were, on average, a pretty decent bunch.  There really isn't a BAD issue here, but on the other hand, there isn't a really GOOD issue either.  There's some pretty bad IDEAS to be found, but on the whole Terry Kavanagh is riding right down the center line of quality, with occasional small swerves toward the good or bad side of the road.

The art team switch-up in issue 45 certainly managed to breath a little life into the series, with the art actually carrying a few issues that swerved a little off toward the bad side of things.  Unfortunately, the art can only carry so much weight, as we will clearly see in the next batch of issues with the introduction of (then) superstar artist Stephen Platt.  But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Almost half of these issues were part of the massive "Infinity War" crossover, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Moon Knight's part to be pretty small and painless. . .actually some of the better issues of the bunch!  After that, we got issues hinting that Marvel was preparing to introduce a "Replacement Moon Knight" that never came to anything, but were an interesting look back to the 90's wave of hero replacements.  If you have an interest in comic book history, then those might be some of the better issues in the batch.

And then. . .

It's been pretty clear since Terry Kavanagh came on board as regular writer that he REALLY wanted to put a permanent stamp on the Moon Knight "Canon".  From resurrecting Marc Spector's brother, Randall, to giving Moon Knight a high-tech base, to giving Moon Knight a shiny new suit of 90's armor and his Shadow Cabinet group of contacts and confederates.  None of these efforts really survived into any future versions of Moon Knight, and are barely referenced at all today.

His biggest attempt at making his own permanent change to the Moon Knight mythos was turning long-time Moon Knight sidekick Frenchie into a superhero in his own right. . .a member of a secret Knight's Templar family that are able to tap into their ancestor's abilities and even their physical form in times of need.  So far manifested to readers as a duel sword-wielding swashbuckling French pirate named Henri Remont.

This "Knights Templar" storyline continues to the end of this series, and in my extremely humble opinion, it's what finally sank the whole thing into cancellation.  Once again, I'm getting ahead of myself a bit, but Kavanagh's final "Hail Mary" attempt to make a permanent change to Moon Knight never made it into the end zone.  I've found while trying to do a bit of research on this series that there is only the briefest of mentions of Frenchie as "Bloodline" to be found today.

In other words. . .it was a bad idea.  

Up Next. . .

This is it, folks! The FINAL ten issues of Marc Spector: Moon Knight!

Come with me and observe the STEEP downward slide of this series as Terry Kavanagh tries hard to push his new hero "Bloodline" into the permanent Moon Knight narrative, Marvel brings in a big gun artist to try and save things, and then they just throw their hands in the air in defeat and end the series!

Be there or be square!

Monday, December 7, 2020

Longbox Junk - Marc Spector: Moon Knight, Part 4 (Issues 31 - 40)

 Welcome to Longbox Junk, where you can find more comic reviews that you never asked for than you could ever ask for!  

I recently decided to take Longbox Junk back to what makes it stand out from other comic review sites and review a whole series from issue one to issue done (and all the issue fun in between).  I have to admit that I did bite off a big ol' mouthful of comics by deciding on the sixty-issue run of Marc Spector: Moon Knight, but here I am, still chuggin' along and halfway done!

If you want to check out the issues I've reviewed so far, then click  HERE (Part 1)  HERE (Part 2) and HERE (Part 3)  But here's a short recap of my thoughts. . .

We started off with Chuck Dixon giving us a stripped down, two-fisted street hero version of Moon Knight.  It might seem a little basic to many Moon Knight fans, but I liked the straightforward nature of  the series.  

J.M. DeMatteis took over after Dixon's departure with issue #24 and totally ignored the previous two years' worth of issues and took the series back ten years as an attempted continuation of Moon Knight's earlier ongoing series.  I say attempted because DeMatteis gave us a muddled narrative that WANTED to be deep and dark and ended up being just sort of a confusing mess.

BUT ENOUGH OF THAT. . .

The batch of comics at hand are going to take us through a few more DeMatteis issues and a couple of fill-in  issues by Chuck Dixon and Howard Mackie before new regular writer Terry Kavanagh jumps in, so there's a pretty fair amount of creative team hand-off through these ten issues.  Let's take a look!

MARC SPECTOR: MOON KNIGHT
PART FOUR (ISSUES 31 - 40)
MARVEL (1989 - 1994)

ISSUE THIRTY-ONE

EPILOGUE

SCRIPT: J.M. DeMatteis
PENCILS: Ron Garney
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Bill Sienkiewicz

THE STORY:

We begin our story following Moon Knight on patrol.  We see him talking down a veteran who has snapped and starts shooting from a rooftop, bringing a runaway boy back home, keeping a man from committing his first murder, and finally, saving a crime boss from an attempted assassination.

When Marlene asks why he's pulling his punches and letting obvious criminals go free, Marc explains that he actually died after Stained Glass Scarlet stabbed him and pushed him off a bridge (in issue 28) and he was brought back by Khonshu again and given a new mission. . .no longer as the vengeful "Fist of Khonshu" but as an agent of redemption.  If he can give someone a second chance, he will.  Marlene is skeptical about the change in Marc's crimefighting direction.

At the end of the issue, it's revealed that the Hobgoblin has been shadowing Moon Knight during his patrol.

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

When I saw that this was a "Scarlet Redemption" epilogue, I didn't have high hopes for this issue at all.  But it seems that someone (whether it was Marvel or DeMatteis) decided to swerve back away from the failed high-concept direction this series had been taken in over the past five issues.

This is much more of a straightforward superhero comic.  It still very much wants to be a continuation of the previous ongoing series by including Gena and Mr. Crawley. . .as well as some of the mystical weapons he last wielded in the six-issue "Fist of Khonshu" series, but haven't been seen or mentioned in this series until now.  

Even with the connections to past runs and being an epilogue to what is arguably one of the worst comic stories I've read in quite a while,  this issue was a surprisingly decent read.  It's not great, mind you, but at least I could get through it without gritting my teeth.


Overall, despite connections to previous runs (without any editorial notes) that still say "New Readers Not Welcome", this was a pretty decent return to crimefighting form for Moon Knight. 

NEXT!

ISSUE THIRTY-TWO

HALF-LIFE

SCRIPT: J.M. DeMatteis
PENCILS: Ron Garney
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Ron Garney

THE STORY:

Our story begins as Hobgoblin attacks and kills a former mercenary while ranting about how all who make a living killing for money must die.  In the meantime, at Marc Spector's mansion, during a sparring session that gets out of hand it's clear that a rift has been growing between Marc and Frenchie. . .who doesn't approve of Moon Knight's new "second chance" crimefighting philosophy.

Shifting scenes back to Hobgoblin, we see that he is actually a human possessed by some sort of demonic spirit as the villain keeps shifting back and forth during a mental battle.  We also see that Spider-Man (In his NEW BLACK SUIT! As the comic keeps reminding us) is on the hunt for Hobgoblin.

While out on a date with his lover, Chloe, Frenchie is attacked by Hobgoblin, who is ranting about Marc Spector being next.  Frenchie puts up a good fight, but he's no match for the demonic villain.  Luckily, Spider-Man arrives on the scene and saves Frenchie even though Hobgoblin escapes. 

Spider-Man and Frenchie rush for Spector's mansion, knowing Marc is Hobgoblin's next target, but the villain beats them there.  Moon Knight is forced into a running battle through his own home, all the while being watched by a mysterious unknown figure.

During the fight, Marc recognizes Hobgoblin as another mercenary named Jason Macendale during one of Hobgoblin's temporary transformations back into human form.  Moon Knight tries to help Macendale, but in doing so instead of fighting, Hobgoblin gets the upper hand and Moon Knight is defeated!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

It's been six months (while this comic was on the stands in 1991) since Moon Knight had a team-up, so here's Spider-Man! IN HIS NEW BLACK SUIT!  I've never really been a fan of Spider-Man, so I'm not familiar with Hobgoblin.  A little research shows me that I don't really WANT to be familiar with the character. . .he's got a sort of confusing history full of retcons that includes there being two versions of the same character existing at the same time and Marvel having to write a story where one kills the other just to keep things straight.

Here, Hobgoblin is a former mercenary possessed by a demon who is obsessed with killing mercenaries.  For the couple of issues he's in this series, I can dig it.  I'm not digging any deeper, though.

This is the last issue by DeMatteis before he left to write Spider-Man, and it continues the backpedal away from the muddled psycho-drama he tried to turn Moon Knight toward.  The issue focuses more on the strained relationship between Frenchie and Marc (set against the background of Hobgoblin's rampage) than on Moon Knight himself, which lets DeMatteis get into the heads of the characters without me wanting to punch myself in the leg to keep awake while reading the story.


Overall, we have an appearance by another hero I'm not a big fan of, bringing a villain I really know nothing about along for the ride.  Despite that, I enjoyed this issue.  By digging into the relationships between the characters, it's a pretty decent look at how DeMatteis COULD have put a better mark on this series than the God-Awful "Scarlet Redemption".

NEXT!

ISSUE THIRTY-THREE

TORN

SCRIPT: Howard Mackie
PENCILS: Ron Garney
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Ron Garney

THE STORY:

Continuing directly from last issue, Hobgoblin and Moon Knight are fighting in Marc Spector's mansion.  Moon Knight goes down because of his desire to help Hobgoblin instead of fighting him, but he barely manages to escape. 

Despite almost getting beaten, Moon Knight insists on trying to help Jason Macendale/Hobgoblin as the two phase in and out during the battle.  Frenchie and Spider-Man arrive on the scene, but not before Hobgoblin wounds Moon Knight.  A brutal battle ensues as Frenchie, Moon Knight, and Spidey try to take down the demonic Hobgoblin.

After being thrown from a window, the shock temporarily allows Macendale to take over.  He tries to take Marlene hostage in order to escape, even while Moon Knight begs Macendale to let him help.  

It's only after Marc realizes that Hobgoblin is a threat whether the demon or Macendale is in charge that he finally proceeds to beat the living Khonshu out of Hobgoblin to the point that Spidey has to pull Moon Knight off before he kills him.

At the end, Hobgoblin is defeated, Moon Knight is torn between the path of Redemption and Vengeance, and we see the next threat quietly observing all, unseen.  PLUS we got a guest appearance by Spider-Man IN HIS NEW BLACK SUIT!

The End.

THE REVIEW:

Okay, not bad!  I like how fill-in writer Howard Mackie used the fight between Moon Knight and Hobgoblin to walk back DeMatteis' "Second Chance" crimefighting philosophy he tried to pin on Moon Knight before he left the title.  The issue itself is mostly just a running battle through Marc Spector's mansion, but the character moments of Moon Knight forced to choose between Redemption and Vengeance were worth the read.


Overall, this was mostly just a long fight scene, but in between the punches Howard Mackie manages to undo a bit of the damage that J.M. DeMatteis did to Moon Knight during his short time on the title.  I really liked the "Redemption vs. Vengeance" angle through this issue.

MOVING ALONG!

ISSUE THIRTY-FOUR

THE GRUDGE

SCRIPT: Chuck Dixon
PENCILS: Joe Brozowski
INKS: Joe Brozowski
COVER: Joe Brozowski

THE STORY:

When Frenchie receives word from a contact that Killer Shrike has resurfaced in Atlantic City, shaking down a casino owner involved in organized crime, it's revealed that Frenchie has secretly been hunting Killer Shrike for over a year since the villain almost killed him during the "Acts of Vengeance" attacks (clear back in issue #10).

Frenchie takes the specialized gear he's been working on and leaves for Atlantic City on his own to get some payback.  Shortly afterward, Marc Spector notices Frenchie's absence.  He follows a few clues and, once he realizes what his best friend is up to and the danger he's in, Marc immediately follows with Marlene in tow.

In Atlantic City, Frenchie takes Killer Shrike by surprise in the middle of a heist.  Wearing electricity-damping body armor and using high-caliber weapons, Frenchie initially gains the upper hand, but Shrike recovers quickly and a brutal battle ensues between the two.

Moon Knight and Marlene arrive during the fight, but Frenchie demands that Marc stay out of it. . .win or lose, this is personal!  Moon Knight respects Frenchie's wishes and makes himself useful by taking down Killer Shrike's henchmen to also keep them out of the fight.

In the end, Frenchie wins the day by injecting Shrike with a chemical that disrupts his mental control over his electricity powers.  As Killer Shrike is taken in by the authorities, the victorious Frenchie returns home with Marc and Marlene.  Frenchie lets Marc know that, by letting him fight his own fight instead of treating him like a sidekick, all is now forgiven between the two friends.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

Chuck Dixon comes back on Moon Knight for a one-and-done filler issue before the new regular writer comes on board. . .and it's sort of like seeing the guy who quit at your office rolling in a month later to finally pick up his last paycheck.  Yeah, it's great to see him, but at the same time, things have carried on without him, and you know you won't be seeing him again.

The story itself is basically an extended fight scene between Frenchie and Killer Shrike.  I do like how Dixon's brief return is focused on Moon Knight's best friend rather than Moon Knight himself, which gives this otherwise throwaway issue a slight feeling of being a "Special".  


Overall, despite this being an obvious filler issue, Chuck Dixon makes it feel less like a throwaway and more like a "Special" issue by focusing on Frenchie instead of Moon Knight.  The brief return to the simple two-fisted adventure Dixon gave us during his run on this title was a welcome one.

NEXT!

ISSUE THIRTY-FIVE

BLOOD BROTHER PART ONE:
THE FAMILY THAT SLAYS TOGETHER. . .

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: Ron Garney
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Ron Garney

THE STORY:

Our tale begins as Marlene and Marc return from a night out only to see Marc's mansion rocked by explosions!  Marc quickly jumps into action as Moon Knight, searching the collapsing building for his friend, Frenchie.  As Marc escapes the devastated mansion with his best friend, Marlene is attacked outside and left for dead.  

Marc finds his severely injured lover clutching a familiar Halloween mask. . .the same mask his brother, Randall Spector, wore during his murder spree as the serial killer Hatchetman before Moon Knight witnessed his brutal death years ago!

IN THE MEANTIME. . .We see Randall Spector returning to a lavish hideaway guarded by the same "Knights of The Moon" that Moon Knight and Ghost Rider teamed up to fight a short while back (in issue #25).  There, "Princess Nepthys" and Randall discuss an upcoming ceremony and their successful plan to draw Marc Spector to them.

ELSEWHERE. . .The Punisher attacks the hideout of some A.I.M. weapons dealers.  He interrogates one of them and discovers that the buyers of the illegal weapon shipment he's been tracking are the Cult of Khonshu.  At the same time, Moon Knight is also following a trail of clues that lead him to the Cult of Khonshu's hideout.

After Moon Knight assaults the hideout and fights his way through the Knights of The Moon guarding it, Randall and Princess Nepthys reveal themselves, telling the shocked Moon Knight that the man he fought and saw die that he THOUGHT was Randall Spector was ACTUALLY an imposter made to look like Randall through plastic surgery and implanted with the memories of the REAL Randall Spector through drugs and brainwashing.  

But before Moon Knight can get any answers as to WHY, the Punisher arrives on the scene, guns blazing!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

The first issue of new regular writer Terry Kavanagh starts with a literal bang and doesn't slow down much from there.  It looks like THIS version of Moon Knight will be swerving back to the two-fisted, action-packed adventures this series started off with. . .but with more of a superhero tinge to things as Moon Knight is now packing multiple adamantium weapons instead of just his martial arts skills.

That's okay.  Well, maybe it's a BIT of adamantium overload, since just about every weapon Moonie pulls out this issue is described as being made of "indestructible adamantium", but I can dig a little superhero swerve.

What I CAN'T dig is the ridiculous retcon of Randall Spector's "death".  Look. . .I get it.  Moon Knight's "Rogues Gallery" is pretty slim on the recurring villains side of things, mainly because his rogues tend to die (Punisher also has this same sort of problem). You've got your Bushman coming and going somewhat often, but after that, things get sketchy as far as returning bad guys go.   

But to say that Moon Knight was fooled into believing that he directly witnessed his own BROTHER'S death when it was really an imposter just to bring back an interesting antagonistic relationship is definitely a long stretch in my suspension of  comic book belief.  

And it wasn't like Randall was killed in an explosion, fell over a waterfall, or something vague like that. He was rammed onto a tree branch during a fight and Marc was standing right there watching his own brother bleed out, and then was left alone with his impaled corpse.  No WAY he was fooled by some imposter in that kind of situation.  He was right there!


From HULK! Magazine #18 (1979)

At least the new editor also coming on board with this issue believes in editorial notes and issue references to keep track of the story beats from comics written TWELVE YEARS before this one.



Overall, new writer Terry Kavanagh is starting off on somewhat shaky ground.  While time will tell on his swerving Moon Knight in a more mainstream superhero direction, his ridiculous retcon of Randall Spector's death being faked by an imposter is extremely weak. . .not a good place to start when the next three issues look like they're going to be propped up on the story hook of Randall Spector's return.

MOVING ALONG!


ISSUE THIRTY-SIX

BLOOD BROTHERS PART TWO:
NOTHING CAN STOP. . .THE PUNISHER

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: Ron Garney
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Ron Garney

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue. The Punisher invades the same Cult of Khonshu hideout that Moon Knight has discovered, but as Punisher begins shooting at Randall Spector and Princess Nepthys, Moon Knight stops him because he wants answers as to what's going on.

The two heroes take a moment to fill each other in on why they are there. . .Punisher following a trail leading to an illegal A.I.M. weapons shipment, Moon Knight following a trail leading from the destruction of his home and the near death of his friends, Marlene and Frenchie.

Punisher decides that Moon Knight's personal reasons aren't as good as his wanting to keep illegal weapons off the street and resumes his attack.  Moon Knight intervenes again and the two heroes fight.  Their battle allows Randall and Nepthys to escape.  The two stop fighting when Moon Knight shows Punisher where the weapons he's looking for are stored.

While Punisher destroys the weapons, Moon Knight hacks a computer in the hideout and discovers where Nepthys and Randall are headed.  Punisher and Moon Knight agree to a truce and ride out together. . .It's TEAM UP TIME!

Punisher and Moon Knight end up sneaking into a hidden laboratory beneath Central Park, but they quickly learn they've fallen into a trap. . .part of Nepthys' plan to draw Marc Spector to her.  As Moon Knight and Punisher fight their way through Knights of The Moon, Randall comes out of a strange glass chamber wearing a costume similar to Moon Knight's.

Nepthys gleefully shouts exposition about how Randall brought back some scrolls from Egypt describing a ritual dedicated to Khonshu that would produce an invulnerable warrior. . .and that Randall was destined to be that warrior once the "False" Moon Knight was dead.

Punisher doesn't care about Moon God mumbo jumbo, though.  And as Randall proclaims himself to be "Shadow Knight", Punisher blasts him point blank with one of the high-tech A.I.M. laser rifles, seemingly killing Randall Spector again!

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

First, how about that cover?  It's about one of the most 90's-Tastic things I've seen in a while!
I'm not sure if I mean that in a good way or a bad way. . .maybe a little of both.

ANYWAY. . .

Punisher didn't really show up much in the previous issue, but here it's full on team up time, so we get a good look at Kavanagh's version of the character.  Unfortunately, his take on Punisher just doesn't hit the same sweet spot Dixon managed to from the last two times Moon Knight teamed up with him.  It's not BAD, but where I really enjoyed reading the dialogue between the two vigilantes on Dixon's run, here Punisher is just sort of grating and single-minded. . .which is a shame because I really DID enjoy Moon Knight and Punisher as a team previously and wanted to see more of it.

That aside, most of this issue was action and fighting.  The return of Randall Spector still doesn't sit right with me, and Nepthys' exposition dump doesn't shed any light on WHY she supposedly went to all the effort of creating an elaborate ruse to make Moon Knight think he'd seen his brother die a decade ago.  You know what?  I don't think the writer has even really thought it through at this point.  He just wanted to use Randall Spector in the story, no matter what.   


Overall we have an action-packed team-up that falls a little flat in between the fight scenes.  The return of Randall Spector is still the weakest part of the whole thing, and feels like it's happening just because the writer wants it to happen.  He'll come up with a reason (maybe) later.

NEXT!

ISSUE THIRTY-SEVEN

BLOOD BROTHERS PART THREE:
THE RISE AND FALL OF MOON KNIGHT

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: Ron Garney
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Ron Garney

THE STORY:

Continuing from last issue, after getting shot point blank by Punisher, Randall Spector (AKA Shadowknight) rises, seemingly unharmed!  As he attacks Punisher, a stray shot hits a weak point in the ceiling and water from the lake above begins to flood the chamber.

Moon Knight wakes up tied to a tree. . .the same tree where he thought he saw his brother die many years before.  Randall tells Marc that he saved him and Princess Nepthys, but left Punisher to die.  He goes on to throw down a hefty chunk of flashback-illustrated exposition. . .

It turns out that, BY COINCIDENCE, Randall was ALSO working as a mercenary during Marc's final mission as a soldier for hire, but on the other side.  Without realizing it, Marc shot his own brother during the gun battle!   AND THEN after Marc was betrayed and left for dead by Bushman, BY COINCIDENCE Randall found his way to THE VERY SAME temple of Khonshu and, unknown to Marc, witnessed his brother dying and being resurrected by Khonshu.  But when Randall crawled before the statue, expecting the same healing magic, nothing happened! 

BUT. . .Randall DID find some mysterious scrolls he couldn't read.  Later on, he hooked up with Nepthys and she translated them for him.  LO AND BEHOLD they found out there were actually TWO Khonshus!  Brothers! One dark and one light! JUST LIKE MARC AND RANDALL SPECTOR! CRAZY, RIGHT?  More, they ALSO discovered that one Avatar of Khonshu could gain the power of the other by killing him when the stars were right. . .AND BY CRAZY COINCIDENCE THEY WERE RIGHT THAT VERY NIGHT!

*deep breath*

ANYWAY. . .

Randall cuts Marc free so it can be a fair fight and they proceed to punchin' each other.  In the meantime, Punisher has made a desperate escape from the collapsed laboratory thanks to some handy explosives. . .because he's The Punisher and he ALWAYS has some extra explosives stashed.  Unfortunately, when he gets to the surface, there's Nepthys and what's left of the Knights of The Moon waiting for him.  He proceeds to killing them all and letting the Moon God sort 'em out.

While Punisher is busy teaching the Knights of The Moon the error of joining cults, Nepthys escapes, and with Punisher hot on her trail, they all end up where Moon Knight and Shadowknight are still Kung-Fu fightin'.  Moon Knight has come to realize that his brother's skin is now INDESTRUCTIBLE AS ADAMANTIUM!  But since he JUST HAPPENS to have some Adamantium weapons, he manages to hurt him enough that Shadowknight makes a run for it when Nepthys distracts Moon Knight with the good old surprise knife to the back!

Fortunately, Punisher is on the scene and he finishes Princess Nepthys' ambitions  once and for all with an Uzi reminder to not stab dudes in the back while they're having a man to man fight with their brother.  

At the end of things, Marc looks at the scrolls Randall had and realizes he can SOMEHOW read them perfectly!  They say that he's been doing it wrong. . .he's been following the wrong Khonshu this whole time! The Khonshu he's SUPPOSED to be following isn't a God of Vengeance. . .He's a God of Justice!

Whoops!

We end the issue with Moon Knight and Punisher both doing their victorious (yet weary) hero pose and getting ready to go find where Shadowknight ran off to.

To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

Okay.  I gave this story the benefit of the doubt.  I liked the more superheroic direction, even though the story prop of Randall Spector's return was a pretty shaky one.  BUT. . .I didn't realize just HOW shaky until this issue, where everything just goes to exposition Hell.

At the heart of things, this is one of those comic book battles where the combatants shout explanations at each other between blows.  Terry Kavanagh has to jump through so many hoops to retcon Randall Spector's death that the whole story structure becomes a laughably flimsy house of cards built on a loose foundation of coincidence.

As you can probably tell by my summary, the more I read of this issue, the less respect I had for it.  It's just. . .well. . .it's ridiculous.  There's really no other way to put it.  And worse, there's STILL another issue left in the story!  





Overall, there was way too much effort to retcon Randall Spector's death from twelve years ago.  Under the weight of coincidence the narrative pretty much just collapses.  The sudden reveal that Marc Spector has been following the wrong Khonshu is like a rotten cherry on top, because it spits in the face of every single previous Moon Knight series.  The best thing about this story is the "Concluded Next Issue" tag on the last page.

NEXT!

ISSUE THIRTY-EIGHT

BLOOD BROTHERS PART FOUR:
THE AVATAR OF KHONSHU

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh
PENCILS: Ron Garney
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Ron Garney

THE STORY:

We pick up the story from last issue six weeks later.  Punisher has managed to track Randall Spector, who has resumed his habit of serial killing nurses (Even though SUPPOSEDLY the "serial killer Randall Spector" was actually an imposter, so the problems start on page one!)  to the sewers.  As Randall and Punisher fight, Punisher realizes his weapons can't pierce Randall's skin, so he rescues the nurse and makes his escape.

IN THE MEANTIME. . .While Punisher has been pursuing Marc Spector's sorta-superhuman serial killin' brother, Marc has been busy. . .building himself a new headquarters, since his mansion went up in flames.  To be fair, it IS a pretty sweet setup.  He's taken all the old buildings in a city block, gutted them, and replaced the insides with a high-tech superhero hangout he calls "The Shadowkeep".

We see Moon Knight conferring with his new network of assistants (AKA The Shadow Cabinet) to try and pin down Randall's whereabouts.  I guess Moon Knight doesn't consider Punisher in the network because he doesn't realize Punisher has already done the legwork while he's been busy looking at color swatches for his new living quarters, BUT I DIGRESS!

Speaking of the Punisher, unknown to Moon Knight, he's disguised as a hospital worker and keeping an eye on Marlene and Frenchie, who are still recovering from Randall's attack that destroyed Marc's mansion.  One would THINK Moon Knight would be doing this, but hey. . .I don't write these, I just read 'em.  During this short scene, we also learn that Frenchie is in a wheelchair and might not walk again. . .you know, just sort of a throwaway thing that hasn't been mentioned yet about Moon Knight's best friend.  It's a good thing the Punisher cares.

Moon Knight finally figures out that Randall plans on attacking the hospital where Marlene is at in order to finish the job he failed at more than ten years ago. . .even though the writer has already established that was another guy, but let's just try to get to the end of this.  He rushes to the hospital in his shiny new armor.  That's right. . .it's time for Moon Knight to get his "X-Treme" 90's makeover!

The power goes out at the hospital and Punisher ditches his disguise because it's time to get down to business!  Randall begins killing his way toward Marlene's room, with Punisher one step behind him.  Realizing he's being pursued, Randall goes to the roof of the hospital, where Moon Knight attacks him!

The two brothers fight on the rooftop until Moon Knight gets knocked over the edge.  Lucky for him, he's got an awesome new set of glider wings!  He crashes back into the hospital through a window and sees that Randall has taken Frenchie hostage.  Punisher joins the fun at about that time, and Randall throws Frenchie out a window as a distraction.  Moon Knight jumps out after him.

Since Moon Knight is out of the room and unable to tamp the Punisher down with his silly notions of not killing people, Punisher lets Randall have everything he's got.  One of the bullets finds the crack in Randall's skin that Moon Knight made with his adamantium weapon during their fight last issue, and Randall falls out the window.  Between the gunshot and what looks like about a ten story fall, Randall dies. 

Later, we see Marc at the coroner, making a positive I.D. on his brother.  Hopefully he's got it right this time.  Wait?  What?  Randall somehow shows up again fifteen years later in THE THREE ISSUE SHADOWLAND: MOON KNIGHT MINI?  (Click the link for a review of a GOOD Moon Knight comic) Well, okay then.  See ya later, Randall.

At the end of things, Marc takes Frenchie back to the new HQ after discovering that Marlene checked herself out of the hospital and left Marc a "Don't look for me, maybe I'll come back when the time is right" message.  Meanwhile, at Spectorcorp an executive meeting is interrupted by none other than Doctor Doom, demanding to know where Marc Spector is!

The End.  To be continued. . .

THE REVIEW:

I'm having another one of those "Thank God it's over" moments as I type this.  I wanted Moon Knight to get back to his two-fisted adventures, but not like this. *shakes clenched fist*  NOT LIKE THIS!  This whole storyline was nothing more than a flimsy framework to hang two things on:  

The first is the return of Randall Spector. . .which the writer went to a lot of trouble trying to bring back a character that wouldn't be used again for fifteen years!  This was a bad idea that pretty much sunk this whole story under the weight of everything required for it to happen.

The second is a swerve toward Moon Knight being more of a mainstream Marvel superhero by giving him a high-tech headquarters, adamantium weaponry, and an expanded supporting cast (with his new Shadow Cabinet group of contacts and informants).  And let's not forget Moonie's shiny new ARMOR!

Let's talk about the armor. . .

Check out the cover of this issue and the page scan below for a look. Yep. . .it was the 90's and a lot of characters got the "Let's give him some awesome armor!" treatment.  Heck, even Daredevil and Spider-Man got some armor during this time. . .two characters that seem like armor would be the LAST thing they would need.   Moon Knight got his very own 90's armor makeover starting right here!

To tell the truth, I don't mind Moon Knight's armor.  I like the way it looks and it actually seems like more of a natural evolution than with some characters from the 90's whose armor makeover can be charitably described as. . .unfortunate.  After all, he DOES have "Knight" right there in his name.  In any case, good or bad, it's just something that screams "This comic is from the 90's!" more than anything else.  

BUT I DIGRESS!

The swerve toward a more mainstream Moon Knight is still something that I haven't seen enough of to make my mind up about yet.  The story this "New" Moon Knight was introduced in was sort of a mess, full of retcons, plot holes, and things thrown at the reader out of nowhere (Frenchie's in a wheelchair now? ) that make it hard to judge the new direction of the character himself.  Maybe now we're past Kavanagh's initial stage-setting, we can get a better look at things going forward.  Or at least I hope so.


Overall, this is a pretty sloppy finish to the "Blood Brothers" story.  It has the benefit of not having nearly as much retcon shenanigans as the previous issue, but not much more than that going for it.  I do like the way Moon Knight's 90's armor makeover looks, but the new, more "Mainstream Marvel" superhero version of Moon Knight needs a better story to prove himself.  Will we get it?  Let's find out!

NEXT!


ISSUE THIRTY-NINE
Looka-that SHINY new 90's armor!

IMPENDING DOOM

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh & Ron Garney
PENCILS: Gary Kwapisz
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Gary Kwapisz

THE STORY:

We begin our tale with Doctor Doom at Spectorcorp insisting that Marc Spector meet with him the following night at an event being held at the Latverian embassy.  We change scenes and see the reason Doom was kept waiting beyond his limit of patience is because Marc and Frenchie are putting the new Moon Knight armor through its paces in a virtual combat training simulator. . .okay, let's just agree to call it a Danger Room from now on, shall we?  We shall!

THE NEXT DAY. . .After Marc does some research on Doctor Doom and learns the layout of the embassy building (Courtesy of his new "Shadow Cabinet" group of contacts), Marc Spector attends the lavish event.  Shortly after Doom introduces himself to Spector, the party is attacked by a team of cybernetically-enhanced terrorists!

Marc manages to escape and get to his car so he can suit up as Moon Knight and take down the terrorists, who call themselves "The Sensor Squad" as they are shouting what their various abilities are during the fight.  Doctor Doom easily defeats two of the cyber-terrorists, while Moon Knight takes down the other two.  

Moon Knight returns to Doom as Marc Spector, where he learns that the terrorists were targeting Spector.  It turns out that they are part of a hardcore Latverian nationalist group that have discovered that Spectorcorp has come into possession of some Latverian artifacts (found while excavating for a new property they've recently purchased just across the Latverian border) that are precious to their movement.

Doom offers to take the artifacts off of Spectorcorps' hands and deal with the terrorists, but Marc declines and leaves.  At the end of it all, we see The Sensor Squad coming to meet with Doom.  He was the one behind the attack, and he expects better results in the future.

To be continued. . .  

THE REVIEW:

Before we begin, I'd like to mention the cover on this issue.  The cape is a little extreme. . .or is it X-TREME! this IS the 90's, right? But other than that, it's a great showcase portrait of Moon Knight in his new armor!  I like it a lot and I'll be finding a place for it on my office "Wall O' Covers" eventually.

MOVING ALONG. . .

So the cover is nice.  The rest of the issue. . .not so much.  Right off the top, we get a rip-off X-Men Danger Room.  After that, the comic turns into a pretty typical superhero punch-fest against a team of villains that are SO 90's that the 90's are like, "Hey, buddy. . .tone it down".  Big guns, spiky hair, pouches, open-face head "masks" (THIS, in case I'm being too vague because I really don't know what to call it).


So on and so forth.  The "Sensor Squad" wins 90's comic trope bingo in both the visual AND dialogue categories.  They have names like "Soundbyte" and "Impact", and yell about their powers while fighting.  Moon Knight himself is constantly quipping like a discount Spider-Man as he punches the bad guys. It's nostalgic in a way, but at the same time, it's also pretty weak looking back on it from this far down the road. And when I see that this same writer is going to be with us until the end, I start to get a bad feeling about what's to come.


Overall, this is a comic that is SO full of the 90's that it's a little too much.  With twenty-one more issues to go, the full on swerve to mainstream Marvel superhero is looking like it needs to find a middle ground pretty quickly before this series goes completely off the rails.

NEXT!

ISSUE FORTY

ENDGAME

SCRIPT: Terry Kavanagh & Ron Garney
PENCILS: Gary Kwapisz
INKS: Tom Palmer
COVER: Gary Kwapisz

THE STORY:

We begin at night, in Spectorcorp headquarters, where Doctor Doom's cybernetically-enhanced mercenary team, The Sensor Squad, are breaking into a safe in Marc Spector's private office.  But it's a trap set by Moon Knight, who shows up and takes them down, using their own powers (that he learned last issue while they were shouting them out during their first meeting) against them.

Now that the Sensor Squad are out of the picture, Marc uses his Shadow Cabinet contacts to plan an assault on Doctor Doom in the Latverian Embassy.  He also enlists the aid of Reed Richards (AKA Mr. Fantastic, of the Fantastic Four) to modify a cybernetic eye that Moon Knight pulled from one of the Sensor Squad. . .enabling it to be used to bypass Doom's security measures.

Once he is fully prepared, Moon Knight enters the Embassy, fighting his way past the remaining automatic security traps he can't use they cyber-eye to pass.  He finally makes his way to Doom's inner sanctum, where he confronts the villain using a hologram to disguise himself as Reed Richards, enraging the tyrant.

A brutal fight between Moon Knight and Doctor Doom begins, with the two fighting over one of the artifacts that Doom has been trying to steal from Spector. . .a locket with a picture of his father in it.  During the battle, Doom reveals that he has scanned Moon Knight and that he has a medical condition he is willing to help with, in exchange for the locket.

Moon Knight gives up the locket after realizing that it actually belongs to Doom and has caused enough trouble, but refuses Doom's offer of medical aid.  Later, back at the Shadowkeep, Frenchie and Marc are both horrified to see that Marc's flesh seems to be rotting off his body!  Marc thinks maybe he should have taken Doom up on his offer.

The End.

THE REVIEW:

First off, another great cover!  A very nice showcase of Moon Knight's new 90's makeover armor, with the menacing presence of Doctor Doom!  I really like the contrast and colors on this cover. Another one definitely going up onto the "Wall O' Covers" one day.

Basically this comic is two fight scenes with a bit of high-tech battle preparation in between.  I like the simplicity of the story, but it's brought down again by the X-TREME 90's of Doom's cybernetic supervillain squad (that are never heard from again after this issue).  The back half of the issue, with the fight between Doctor Doom and Moon Knight, is better. 

I like that Moon Knight takes the loss because it's the right thing to do.  I'm not sure I'm sold on the "WHOA! MY SKIN BE ROTTIN' OFF!" cliffhanger (Spoiler: it was caused during Moon Knight's fight with Hobgoblin back in issue 33), but I'll admit I'm interested.

I haven't talked about the art on this series in a while. . .mainly because Ron Garney was doing a fine job and I had no complaints.  That said, despite getting a couple of nice covers, new regular artist Gary Kwapisz isn't quite cutting it for me.  

Generally speaking, his art is "okay", but nothing spectacular.  But every now and then it gets down into "pretty bad" territory (Look at Marc Spector's face on the page scan below for an example).  To me, good art can sometimes carry a bad story (and the other way around as well). Here, the writing and art just sort of limp along together, neither one really able to hold the other up.


Overall, we have an issue that's an improvement over the last.  But the bar was a pretty low one to hurdle, so that's not saying much.  I'm interested in where the story will be going (after the big crossover issues coming up, that is), and have a bit of hope that Terry Kavanagh will be able to find a middle ground for his mainstream superhero version of Moon Knight and be able to just tell some decent stories going forward.  As for now, he seems to be trying a little TOO hard.

CONCLUSION

And there you have it.  Issues 31 - 40 of Marc Spector: Moon Knight.  I have to say, it was a pretty mixed bag, but taken as a whole, beyond a few moments, there wasn't anything to be found that climbed up past "Pretty Good". 

I liked Terry Kavanagh's taking Moon Knight back into his two-fisted adventuring mode.  Unfortunately, he fails to recapture the simple and straightforward nature that Dixon brought to the character.  Kavanagh tried to put his own stamp on the character by molding Moon Knight into a mainstream marvel superhero, but ultimately wastes the potential of the "New" Moon Knight on some pretty bad storylines.

With the last issue, I saw some improvement, but there's still PLENTY of room for more.

Up Next. . .

We're two-thirds or the way through, but we ain't done yet!
My epic journey through Marc Spector: Moon Knight continues with issues 41 - 50.

Moon Knight crosses over with just about every hero in the Marvel Universe as he plays a part in one of Marvel's most ambitious and massive crossover events they've ever done. . .It's INFINITY WAR!

Be there or be square.