Under a Silver Moon: Reviewing the Recent Moon Knight Series
It’s Wednesday again, which means new comics. And to coordinate with the release of the first Moon Knight trailer, I decided to write about Marvel’s recent Moon Knight series written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Issues 1–6) and Federico Sabbatini (Issue 7), along with Rachelle Rosenberg as colorist and Corey Petit as the letterer. I love this series, and I cannot wait to talk more about it.
Moon Knight, also known as Marc Spector, is the son of a rabbi who became a mercenary and died in Egypt. However, he was resurrected by Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon, and decided to return to New York to fight crime as Moon Knight. In addition, Marc lives with a form of Dissociative Identity Order and takes on three other identities: Steven Grant, a billionaire, Jake Lockley, a taxicab driver, and Mr. Knight, a sharply dressed detective. The other aspect of the character is whether or not this is because of himself or due to Khonshu.
The series starts after Moon Knight helps Khonshu take over New York in Avengers (not essential) and as Mr. Knight has opened up the Midnight Mission where he protects those who travel at night. The comic brings attention to the character’s original origins in horror comics, where he takes out a group of multi-level marketing vampires who are transporting some newly turned vampires. The comic book only gets weirder and stranger from here, including panels where he fights zombies with a chainsaw and he arm wrestles Frankenstein’s Monster and an issue where an apartment building janitor controls its old residents with his saliva. The series never forgets the weird horror aspect of the character.
After his work on Black Cat, Jed MacKay has slowly become one of my favorite writers at Marvel. Much like other writers in the past, the character of Moon Knight is a Rorschach test of sorts for examining the different facets of his character. MacKay is more focused on the religious nature, with Marc being the fist of Khonshu and what that means when he might not be the only servant of his god. Similarly, Marc, the son of a rabbi, is brought up regularly. The series does not ignore the Jewish aspect of his character. MacKay is focused on the complex and contradictory nature of Moon Knight. The pacing strikes a good balance and brings in new characters like Reese, a vampire secretary for the Midnight Mission, and Dr. Badr, the Hunter’s Moon and another worshiper of Khonshu.
Aside from the writing, Alessandro Cappuccio’s and Federico Sabbatini’s art is perfect. Their art helps solidify the right tone of the series. New York feels eerie, creepy, and quiet. A real standout moment is in issue two, where Marc’s mind is visualized as a glowing white orb where a more cerebral and monstrous representation of himself crawls out of it and traps the enemy as a mummy in his mind. The book is gorgeous, and the clean line style of the art suits the series well. The writing and art are perfectly aligned with each other.
I have to praise Rosenberg’s coloring and Petit’s lettering. The coloring of the comic has a haunting quality for the city’s nighttime streets. The lighting adds to the atmosphere of the story. My favorite detail is how Moon Knight glows a bit compared to everyone else. Fine silver and white aura surround him, which calls to mind the moon. The lettering is also phenomenal. Petit is doing great work and suits the comic well. The designs with the lettering for specific characters are solid. All of these elements produce such a strong series.
While zombies, vampires, mind-controlling saliva, and mutant creatures exist, the true horror comes from identity. Who is Marc Spector, and what does Khonshu want? There is an existential horror with how much Khonshu impacted and changed Marc. Khonshu caused him to betray the Avengers and try to take over the world. He has no one else except for Khonshu. Without him, Marc would still be dead in Egypt. Along those lines is how much Hunter’s Moon impacts Moon Knight since he is no longer the sole priest and fist of Khonshu. There are no easy questions with how to answer this. The weird horror draws you in, but the real horror lies beneath the surface. No matter how much Marc resists and tries to make friends or a new life, he will always be the fist of Khonshu.
Thanks again for reading my thoughts on the new Moon Knight series. Be on the lookout for the next post. All I can say is that it is a movie that deserves a lot more love, and it was produced/co-written by one of my favorite directors.
