“Moon Knight” Omnibus, Vol. 2 by various authors and artists (Part 2 of 2)

(oversized hb; 2021: graphic novel. Collects Moon Knight #21-38; Iron Man #161; Power Man and Iron Fist #87; Marvel Team-Up #144; Moon Knight #1-6 [second run, 1985]; Marvel Fanfare #30, 38 and 39; Solo Avengers #3; and Marvel Superheroes #1.)

From the inside flap

“Moon Knight’s first solo series comes to a close, including the climax of Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz’s artwork continues to evolve before your eyes, he and Moench put their tortured hero through a series of trials—including the return of the waking nightmare that is Morpheus and the vigilante Stained Glass Scarlet, now wielding a crossbow as her weapon of choice. But while encounters with these and other deadly adversaries take their toll, they have nothing on the task of juggling the identities of mercenary Marc Spector, millionaire playboy Steven Grant and cabbie Jake Lockley—not least the strain that puts on his love life. And just as Marlene Alraune starts to doubt their romantic future, her brother gets caught up in the madness—and things go from bad to worse. When a mystery man is inspired to seek power by becoming Moon Knight’s dark nemesis, will the schemes of the Black Spectre drive a final wedge between Marc and Marlene—or perhaps destroy the silver-and-ebon-clad marauder once and for all? Though that task may fall to Moon Knight’s very first foe, the Werewolf By Night—back and more ferocious than ever, as only Sienkiewicz could draw him.

“Other creators take Moon Knight in new directions as he fights killers, super villains and zuvembies—and shares adventures with Brother Voodoo, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Power Man and Iron Fist, the X-men, the Fantastic Four, and more. But as he falls further under the influence of a certain Egyptian god, he emerges stronger than ever—as the Fist of Khonshu! It’s the dawn of a new era for Marc Spector, but where does that leave Marlene?”

 

Overall review

Caveat: (possible) minor spoilers in this review. Part 2 of the review is here. Vol. 2 (Part 1) starts here.

The creative team behind Moon Knight really upped their game in these final Volume 1-run (1980-1984) issues. A lot changed, not just for Moon Knight, but its supporting characters (e.g., Gena, MK’s diner-owning friend and mother of two energetic teenage boys), and those wild changes made equally big waves in the storylines as well as Spector/Grant/MK’s bruising, who-am-I mindset and life. The first five issues of this omnibus wrap up the Volume 1 run, leaving MK (as well as his friends and family) in a good place.

The Volume 2 run (six issues, 1985) shatter MK’s quiet life—Spector/Grant had left his vigilante lifestyle behind—and compel him to don the jet and silver spandex again, this time without his usual supporting characters (e.g., Marlene Aulrane) always close by. Volume 2 issues also bring to the fore a more supernatural element in MK’s life (the Volume 1 creators had left the extent of MK’s mystical elements open for readers to decide), and the Volume 2 really run with those elements, connecting MK (now truly “the Fist of Khonshu”) with three immortal Thebes Valley priests who regularly unsettle Spector/MK’s peace of mind as they alert him to incidents of global malfeasance and terror. The Volume 2 run ends on a solid, entertaining note.

The five remaining non-Moon Knight issues in this hardback (and physically heavy) collection place MK in a guest role.  Some of them are strange (even for a MK read), as if any superhero could’ve been inserted into his role(s)/appearances, while others are entertaining in a general way.

The quality of Moon Knight’s (and associated titles) artwork varies with who’s doing the drawing, linework and coloring. Most of it’s good (in that gritty, experimental and pulpy series-true way). The rest embraces a new aesthetic, one that may or may not grab you, depending on when you came up reading comic books (and if you grew up reading them).

Ultimately, “Moon Knight” Omnibus, Vol. 2, with its complicated, often tormented and hallucinating title character, is as great a read as Vol. 1, worth owning (despite their not-for-the-casual reader priciness).

 

Review, issue by issue

Moon Knight: “Primal Scream”/”Scorecard” (#34)—“Primal Scream”: Gena , local diner owner and Moon Knight’s [MK] friend, is viciously attacked by a young man (Frank) exposed to a dangerous chemical (the result of a secret experiment, code name: “Project Primal”—an operation MK’s alter-ego, Marc Spector, once confronted). In the now, MK must track down Frank as well as locate the source of his poisonous infection, before it spreads to others.

Excellent issue, art-, character- and writing-wise, with its planetary environment-focused message, reminiscent of elements in Dan O’Bannon’s 1985 film The Return of the Living Dead. This issue is scripter Tony Isabella’s first work for MK.

 

“Scorecard”: This fun, experimental issue is narrated by a decrepit, macabre-humored host (the Scorekeeper) in a riff on the EC horror-esque works like Marvel’s The Vault of Evil (1973-1975).

In “Scorecard,” the Scorekeeper asks readers if MK’s anti-crime efforts are effective, actually help society at large. The answer is obvious, yes, shown in an overview of MK’s street encounters, including the trouncing of two thugs pretending to be werewolves while they prey on local (New York City) shopkeepers. This mini-story also continues the storyline of “Primal Scream,” with Gena making a post-Frank-attack, life-changing announcement to her adolescent sons (Ricky, Ray).

 

Moon Knight: “Second Wind” (#35, double-sized issue): Excellent issue!

A battle with a winged thief (The Fly) leaves MK seriously injured—possibly unable to walk for the rest of his life. As if that weren’t bad enough, a Soviet mutant (Bora), with her tornado-creating powers, is on a mission to hunt down and blow into oblivion those who defected ballet dancers who betrayed her and their country.

When MK (as Steven Grant) and Marlene Alraune cross paths with her, and he is unable to stop her, he enlists the aid of the Uncanny X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Can they stop Bora? Can MK/Grant regain his ability to walk? And what is it that Gena, MK’s diner-owning friend and anti-crime ally, feels the burning need to tell him?

There’s a lot happening in this issue, even for a Moon Knight comic book, all of it entertaining, tightly penned and risk-taking (series- and character-wise) in the best ways.

 

Moon Knight: “Ghosts” (#36): A Nubian demonic necromancer (Anmutef) from the twentieth century B.C. is accidentally resurrected by MK’S Khonshu-enhanced presence, threatening the world anew, and necessitating initially unwanted-by-MK assistance from Stephen Strange, master of the mystic arts. MK and Strange should remove Amutef from our earthly realm, but MK (who’s sworn off any belief in Khonshu’s supernatural intervention and powers in his life, must somehow rediscover his wonder about the albino-statue god.

Excellent game-changing issue in the Moon Knight series, one whose repercussions are likely to ring loud in future issues.

 

Moon Knight: “Red Sins” / “Crawley” (#37) – “Red Sins”: Elias Spector, Marc’s rabbi father, lies on his deathbed while Marc/MK processes that fact by pummeling neo-Nazi punks. Once MK comes back to himself, he and Marlene Alraune go to see his father just as a bizarre turn of events sets everything on its head. Excellent, with a cliffhanger finish to this.

 

“Crawley”: Bertrand “Jake” Crawley, one of MK’s key street informants and friends, recounts how he helped MK deal with a neighborhood mob of people. Fun, okay story.

 

Moon Knight: “Final Rest” (#38): In the cliffhanger conclusion to last issue’s first story (“Red Sins”), a curiously familiar red-robed and -masked magick practitioner (Zohar), who took Elias Spector’s corpse, is tracked by MK and Marlene Alraune. But Zohar has a few insidious tricks up his voluminous sleeves. This is a particularly dark and life-changing conflict for Marc Spector/MK, especially fun (for the reader) and intense.

This is the final issue of the original run of Moon Knight, a good send-off.

 

Marvel Team-Up: Spider-Man and Moon Knight — “My Sword I Lay Down!” (#144): The two heroes come together to battle The White Dragon, a white- and red-spandex clad villain who means to take over New York City’s Chinatown district after one of MK’s friends and Chinatown leader (Do Yang) dies. Good, entertaining issue.

 

Moon Knight: “Night of the Jackal” (#1, volume 2): In this first-issue, series reboot (and sequel series to the original run of Moon Knight), Steven Grant has sworn off his MK-related vigilante activities and is living a happy life with his longtime, live-in girlfriend (Marlene Alraune). Alraune, like Spector/Grant is thrilled; she no long has to worry about her lover’s safety.

It all comes to a crashing end when a new villain, a resurrected priest (“Araamses, brother to the pharaoh Seti” and “priest to the god Anubis, Slayer of souls and dweller of darkness”) threatens to destroy Khonshu, the moon god who resurrected MK. A reluctant Grant, after a visit to Thebes, the Valley of the Kings, is (again) compelled to by three seemingly immortal priests to become “the Fist of Khonshu,” even if it means losing those he loves in the process.

Entertaining going-back-to-MK’s-roots reboot, worth reading. This first Volume 2 issue kicks off a more supernatural take on MK’s adventures, a take that was absent the Volume 1 stories (Bill Sienkiewicz preferred MK’s world and adventures to be more real-world.)

 

Moon Knight: “Deadly Knowledge” (#2, volume 2): Northern Yucatan, Mexico. Still grieving over being dumped by his longtime love (Marlene Alraune), MK, with help from über-feminist scientist Dr. Victoria Grail, tries to stop a Nazi experiment-obsessed scientist (Dr. Arthur Harrow) from completing his jungle-secret mission—it’s an especially personal quest for Harrow, whose twisted-mouth visage, the result of his “trigeminal neuralgia, tic douloureux,” might be cured by the human suffering he’s causing.

Good, fun issue; it introduces not just one (possibly) recurring villain, but several—including those working for the imposing O.M.N.I.U.M., Harrow’s financial benefactors.

 

Moon Knight: “A Madness of Dreams!” (#3, volume 2): Morpheus, within the body of Peter Alraune (Marlene’s brother), awakens anew (Morpheus was last seen in Moon Knight, #22 volume 1). The dream demon escapes Seaview Research Hospital where he was interned, his violent rampage resulting in a hospital-hostage situation, a full-blown nightmare event that the police, cordoned outside, are helpless to end.

Can MK rescue the hospital-trapped Marlene Alraune and put down, again, the contagious insanity that is the ebon-energies-blasting Morpheus? This is another good issue that ties together Spector/MK’s personal life with that of his vigilante life. Lieutenant detective Flint, MK’s New York cop buddy, last seen in Moon Knight #30 volume 1, also makes an appearance!

 

Moon Knight: “Bluebeard’s Castle” (#4, volume 2): Female Fortune 500 executives—four so far—have been kidnapped and are being held for future execution by the misogynistic, seething Bluebeard, a new villain in MK’s gallery of foes. It looks like the modern-day pirate’s crime spree will continue unless the police stop it, something they’ve been unable to do. A desperate Detective Flint asks a reluctant MK to help stop the neuron-ray-blasting, newspaper- and cop-taunting kidnapper, a request Spector/Grant struggles with.

Fun, solid issue. It’s not difficult to figure out who Bluebeard really is, but considering it’s a comic book it’s a non-issue, at least in this case.

 

Moon Knight: “Debts and Balances” (#5, volume 2): Khonshu’s three mystical priests from Thebes (specifically the Valley of the Kings), first seen in “Night of the Jackal” (#1, volume 2), compel MK to leave New York City to go to Chicago, IL to save sacrificial children from the immortality-seeking White Cobra Cult and (possibly) three black-clad assassins, who are somehow linked to the cult. Good, entertaining work.

 

Moon Knight: “The Last. . . White Knight” (#6, volume 2): An unspecified South Caribbean island. MK, with help from a junkie US Customs Special Agent (Lynora Goode), sets out to take down a heroin-dealing gang . Led by fierce and imposing Mama White, a priestess and “keeper of the old faith, protector of ancient rites,” the gang also kidnaps children for a mysterious “Sacrament” ritual—one which MK might be forced to take part in!

Solid, entertaining finale to the Volume 2 run of Moon Knight.

 

Marvel Fanfare: “Real to Reel” (#30): MK and Marlene Alraune (who was not with Steven Grant/MK in the Volume 2 run of Moon Knight), hanging out in a small backwoods town, are drawn into a crazy-weird situation where a cinema verité filmmaker draws the wrath of locals and a spectral bodied Mother Nature—the latter partially born of a once-in-a-lifetime planetary alignment, a “Syzygy Quadrature.” The filmmaker has accomplished this massive piss-everyone-off event by killing a herd of deer for a scene in a film shoot, then leaving their corpses to rot, waste away.

This one-off issue is a disconnected-from-Moon-Knight-Volume-2 work, a forgettable, weird and bland trifle of a Moon Knight tale (it could almost be applied to any superhero, with MK’s name filling in the character-blanks. It also has a ridiculous Marlene/MK-argument subplot, one that belongs in a teen romance work, not worthy of Moon Knight.

 

Solo Avengers #3: Hawkeye and Moon Knight—“Tower of Shadows”: MK, seeking leads on a criminal (Cornelius Van Lunt), is given a late-night address to visit by his former-foe-turned-friend Jack Russell (aka Werewolf By Night)—but when MK has to run a gauntlet of death traps as well as fight a blue-cowled and -caped phantom of sorts (The Shroud), MK questions whether or not he’s being “set up” and: is there more to this situation than he initially thought?

This issue, like the MK-visiting Marvel Fanfare: “Real to Reel” (#30) issue, feels off as a MK-centric work. When MK, frustrated by the “Tower of Shadows” traps and attacks by The Shroud, begins questioning Jack Russell’s loyalty to MK—something that Russell has repeatedly proven during the original runs of Werewolf By Night and Moon Knight—it just reads wrong. Sub-par writing as a MK-centric work.

 

Marvel Fanfare: “Whatever Happened to the Podunk Slam?” (#38): At an all-female orphanage (Danielle Clarke Home for Lost and Friendless Girls), young girls begin disappearing just as old women begin appearing in their place and a boy band (pop quintette Podunk Slam) is in town. MK, ditching his Steven Grant persona (and merged its millionaire status with his birth name, Marc Spector), investigates this strange situation, with help from his right-hand man and copter pilot (Frenchie) and his art-collection advisor (Spence).

 

“Podunk” is an especially fun and wild-for-a-comic-book issue, one that recalls some of more enjoyable Volume 1 Moon Knight entries.

 

Marvel Fanfare: “#*@%&c” (#39): Relatively light entry in the Moon Knight series where MK fights off terrorists. Fun, offbeat read.

 

Marvel Super-Heroes: “Old Business” (#1): Houston, Texas. Marc Spector, visits an old friend—Gena, former owner of Gena’s Diner (and one of MK’s “Baker Street Irregulars”) in Moon Knight Volume 1 run, now the co-owner and manager of a fancy restaurant. His visit is interrupted when he must don MK’s silver-and-jet outfit to stop a jewel thief (The Raptor).

While The Raptor feels like a lightweight villain, it’s entertaining, and the scenes where Gena and Spector are talking are heartwarming, a nice capper to the just-after-Volume 2 Moon Knight run.

“Moon Knight” Omnibus Vol. 2 by various artists and writers (Part 1 of 2)

 

(oversized hb; 2021: graphic novel. Collects Moon Knight #21-38; Iron Man #161; Power Man and Iron Fist #87; Marvel Team-UP #144; Moon Knight #1-6 [second run, 1985]; Marvel Fanfare #30, 38 and 39; Solo Avengers #3; and Marvel Superheroes #1.)

From the inside flap

“Moon Knight’s first solo series comes to a close, including the climax of Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz’s artwork continues to evolve before your eyes, he and Moench put their tortured hero through a series of trials—including the return of the waking nightmare that is Morpheus and the vigilante Stained Glass Scarlet, now wielding a crossbow as her weapon of choice. But while encounters with these and other deadly adversaries take their toll, they have nothing on the task of juggling the identities of mercenary Marc Spector, millionaire playboy Steven Grant and cabbie Jake Lockley—not least the strain that puts on his love life. And just as Marlene Alraune starts to doubt their romantic future, her brother gets caught up in the madness—and things go from bad to worse. When a mystery man is inspired to seek power by becoming Moon Knight’s dark nemesis, will the schemes of the Black Spectre drive a final wedge between Marc and Marlene—or perhaps destroy the silver-and-ebon-clad marauder once and for all? Though that task may fall to Moon Knight’s very first foe, the Werewolf By Night—back and more ferocious than ever, as only Sienkiewicz could draw him.

“Other creators take Moon Knight in new directions as he fights killers, super villains and zuvembies—and shares adventures with Brother Voodoo, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Power Man and Iron Fist, the X-men, the Fantastic Four, and more. But as he falls further under the influence of a certain Egyptian god, he emerges stronger than ever—as the Fist of Khonshu! It’s the dawn of a new era for Marc Spector, but where does that leave Marlene?”

 

Overall review

Caveat: (possible) minor spoilers in this review. Part 2 of the review is here. Vol. 1 starts here.

Vol. 2 continues in the dark, pulpy, socially relevant and unsettling dissociative-lead vein of its previous omnibus, with its mostly gritty New York City settings, morally gray characters (some of them returning from earlier issues), making for another t(w)een-friendly read, with its experimental tones, storylines, and other elements. Moon Knight is one of Marvel’s more iconoclastic characters and comic book runs. This is an excellent collection, one worth reading if you’re a lover of pulp, 1980s vibes and artwork, and a seriously disturbed protagonist.

Moon Knight’s original run went from 1975 to 1984; his second run went from 1985 to 1990.

 

Review, issue by issue

Moon Knight: “The Master of Night Earth” (#21): Mirebalais, Haiti. Moon Knight [henceforth to be called MK] and Jericho Drum (aka Brother Voodoo) track the revolutionary soldiers in service of coup leader “Grand Bois, leader of the Unholy Trinity, Lord of the Crossroads and Demons. . . the Master of Earth and Night Forests.” While tracking the speedboating soldiers, with help from Daniel (spirit brother of Drum) they encounter violent zuvembies (zombies) and other spooky horrors.

Entertaining, good issue, atmospheric. Always a pleasure to see Jericho and Daniel—they also appeared in Werewolf By Night (issue 39).

Also included in this issue: another “Tales of Khonshu” story, titled “Murder By Moonlight.” In “Murder,” a cop-killer (Herb Russell) flees a crime scene and takes desperate refuge in the Brooklyn Museum, where Khonshu’s statue, along with mummies, is on display. Fun, EC Horror-esque morality work.

 

Moon Knight: “The Dream Demon” (#22): Morpheus—last seen in Moon Knight issue 12—terrorizes his former dream-study doctor (Peter Alraune) through nightmares, whose repercussions spill into waking life. Morpheus has been sedated and treated with a new drug to siphon off his mind-blast “ebon energy” (which allows him to create waking-life nightmares), it seems he’s getting more powerful, his black energy infecting others (MK included).

Meanwhile, MK, Frenchie and Marlene Alraune (Peter’s sister, MK’s girlfriend) must also fend off Morpheus’s attacks, psychic and corporeal. Cliffhanger finish.

Also included in this issue: “Khonshu Tales: Moon Over Alamein”: October 1942. Alamein, Egypt. Two American soldiers (Ezzie O’Gourke and Davie Wadler) accidentally discover Khonshu’s alabaster statue in a cave. They leave everything as they find it, and the next day—no suprise—Khonshu’s influence is felt (anew) by O’Gourke, Wadler, and others. Another enjoyable Khonshu-in-another-place-and-time mini-story.

 

Moon Knight: “Perchance to Scream” (#23): Morpheus (aka Robert Markham), escaped from his energized dream-sleep and his asylum-prison, follows MK, Marlene Alraune and her brother (Peter) and Frenchie to Steven Grant’s (aka MK) country cottage with violent and tragic results. Good, intense issue.

 

The Invincible Iron Man: “If the Moonman Should Fail!” (#161): Members of a subversive technologist group (A.I.M., Advanced Idea Mechanics) trap Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), Steven Grant (aka MK, etc.) and several other people in an ocean-submerged “experimental power generating facility” (Project Neptune), to hold them for ransom. Fortunately, Iron Man and MK are there to deal with the situation. Fun read.

 

Power Man and Iron Fist: “Heatwave” (#87): MK is trapped in an empty water tank during a heatwave while Power Man and Iron Fist track and battle thugs of Commodore Planet, a weapons smuggler, to rescue the missing-for-days MK. Solid, good issue.

 

Moon Knight: “Scarlet in Moonlight” (#24): Scarlet Fasinera’s crossbow crusade against the mobsters responsible for her son’s death continues. This time she’s targeting upper echelon mafioso. MK is torn between helping and stopping her. (Scarlet was last seen in Moon Knight issue 14). Excellent, moody and emotionally relatable issue, with superb artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz and Christie Scheele.

 

Moon Knight: “Black Spectre” (#25, double-sized issue): A Vietnam vet with PTSD (Carson Knowles) sets out to become MK’s opposite-number villain—namely Black Spectre, a medieval-armor-wearing and grudge-bearing agent of sudden violence, wielding a pike and political influence. Another anything-could-happen, exciting issue.

 

Moon Knight: “Hit It!”/”The Cabbie Killer” (#26) –

“Hit It”: A jazz-beat sets the citywide tone and narrative percussion, in which MK must stop a grief-crazed man (Joe) from assaulting everyone around him.

“The Cabbie Killer”: Someone has hired a behemoth of a man in military garb (Commodore Donny Planet) to blow up New York cabbies, and MK means to find out who, one fist fight at a time. Fun story.

Commodore Donny Planet and MK previously crossed paths in Power Man and Iron Fist, issue 87, also in this omnibus edition).

 

Moon Knight: “Cop Killer” (#27): MK investigates a spate of murders where the victims were cops, leading him down some unexpectedly character-twisted avenues. Good issue, featuring an appearance by the Kingpin (aka Wilson Fisk). Good issue.

 

Moon Knight: “Spirits in the Sand” (#28): In this especially atmospheric, often spooky and possibly supernatural issue, MK—traveling as Steven Grant—and Marlene Alraune return to the desert tomb where Khonshu (might’ve) resurrected Marc Spector/MK/etc., and where they must survive grave robbers intent on finding Khonshu’s rumored hidden treasure. Excellent, return-to-MK’s-roots work, one of my all-time favorite MK issues, between its stellar writing and art.

 

Moon Knight: “Morning Star”/”Colloquy” (#29)—“Morning Star”: Desperate to hang onto power, a high priest (Schuyler Belial, aka Morning Star) of a comic-book diabolical satanic cult has his followers hunt Jack Russell (aka Werewolf By Night), so Belial can use Russell as a sacrifice to raise a devil. When one of one of MK’s cop buddies (Detective Flint) and MK get involved, things become more complicated. First part of a two-part tale, good story. (Jack Russell’s last appearance in MK was issue 4.)

“Colloquy”: Steven Grant is revisited by a ghost of his mercenary self (Marc Spector). Solid reiteration of one of MK’s themes.

 

Moon Knight: “The Moon-Wraith, Three Sixes, and a Beast” (#30): Schuyler Belial’s satanic cult members—first seen in MK issue 29 (“Morning Star”)—continue to hunt Jack Russell, aka Werewolf By Night. Meanwhile, MK and Detective Flint try to forcibly surcease the black-robed, pointy-head-hooded cult’s pursuit of Russell, also MK’s friend.  Above-average, especially pulpy issue, even for the clad-in-white MK.

 

Moon Knight: “A Box of Music for Savage Studs”/”Fly the Friendly Skies” (#31)—“Fly the Friendly Skies”: On Dough Row—a stretch of an especially impoverished New York tenements—a youthful gang of toughs (Studs), led by the merchant-predatory and loathsome Shank, run violent and wild.

Meanwhile, one of the Studs (Lenny) struggles with his conscience after two of their crimes directly impact his home life, and MK steps in to end the Studs’ reign of intimidation.

 

“Fly the Friendly Skies”: Eco-terrorists seek to hijack an airship—their leader (Douglas Brenner) means to end mankind’s pollution of the Earth by ending mankind! Of course, MK can’t allow this, so he does his vigilante thing, even after Brenner has him temporarily blinded. Fun, James Bond-ish issue, with its group-of-female-terrorists storyline.

This issue marks Kevin Nowland’s debut as a MK penciller, taking over for the consistently excellent Bill Sienkiewicz.

 

Moon Knight: “When the Music Stops”/“Cancer” (#32)—“When the Music Stops”: Conclusion of the two-part story that began with “A Box of Music for Savage Studs” (MK, issue 31). Lenny, “war chief” for vicious gang leader Shank, sees his personal struggle intensify after one of the strongarmed and potentially vigilante shop owners (Lewis) fights back against the Studs (led by Shank). This story ends on a note of momentary hope, grace, making its two-part arc especially impressive for a comic book.

“Cancer”: The jaded attitude of a brilliant-but-cold doctor (Dr. Steele) prompts the brother of a dying cancer victim (Joseph Fixler) to take drastic actions, actions that draw the attention of Steven Grant/MK. Sad, grim (it almost feels MK-writer reactionary) tone throughout this issue.

 

Moon Knight: “Exploding Myths” (#33): The social-ills/moralistic (and still timely) tone of “Cancer” (MK, issue 32) carries over into this issue, with an overly ambitious reporter (Joy Mercado) pushing a small-time criminal (Druid Walsh, a Vietnam vet) to a big-scale extreme, forcing MK and the fanged skull-inked behemoth (Walsh) into a fiery conflict atop the Twin Towers. Good story, eerie end-image.

“Moon Knight” Omnibus Vol. 1 by various artists and writers (Part 2 of 2)

 

(oversized hb; 2020: graphic novel. Collects Werewolf By Night #32-33, Marvel Spotlight #28-29, Defenders #47-50, Spectacular Spider-Man #22-23, Marvel Two-in-One #52, Moon Knight #1-20, and material from Defenders #51, Hulk! magazine #11-15, 17-18 and 20, Marvel Preview #21 and Amazing Spider-Man #220.)

 

From the inside flap

“Soldier of fortune Marc Spector. Millionaire playboy Steven Grant. Taxi driver Jake Lockley. All three are aspects of the same man; together, they are Moon Knight! Spector’s fighting skills, Grant’s resources and Lockley’s street smarts combine in the form of Marvel’s strangest vigilante—aided by his loyal pilot, Frenchie, and Marlene [Alraune], the woman with whom he shares all his lives.

“Meet him in the pages of Werewolf By Night, where he is hired by the shadowy Committee to hunt the lycanthropic Jack Russell. His crescent cape soon glides him across the Marvel Universe as he fights alongside the dynamic Defenders, tussles with the Thing and shares the first of many encounters with Spider-Man. But Moon Knight is no ordinary costumed crimefighter, and his co-creator Doug Moench showed exactly why in the Hulk! magazine, of all places—beginning a character-defining collaboration with superstar-in-the-making Bill Sienkowicz.

“Moench and Sienkowicz began building the strangest rogues’ gallery in comics, pitting their silver-clad vigilante against lethal threats, including Lupinar the Wolf, the Cobra and the haunting Hatchet Man. Then, as Moench and Sienkowicz continued the adventures in the first Moon Knight title, they explored Spector’s past to reveal his true origin, his bitter rivalry with the bloodthirsty Bushman and his uncanny connection with Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon! From there, they continued to mix super-heroics with the supernatural, plunging Moon Knight deep into New York’s darkest corners and introducing evermore bizarre adversaries, such Arsenal, the one-man army; the nightmarish Morpheus and Stained Class Scarlet, the nun with a crossbow!”

 

Overall review

Caveat: (possible) minor spoilers in review. Part 1 of review is here. Vol. 2 is here.

Moon Knight is one of the stranger comic book anti-heroes with his dissociative disorder as well as his often out-there villains, creepy and street-gritty, torn-from-the-headlines plots and settings (usually New York City), and overall unsettling feel and endings—the overall feel is one of somewhere between for mature audiences and teen friendly comics (if they’re into dark stuff), leaning more toward pulpy for mature audiences fare. On occasion, this grittiness lent itself to insensitive language (the rare use of the words “pansy” and “slut”), but given the context of their usage, it makes sense. This series was an excellent and crazy-in-tone expansion on his character and the characters (and the resulting situations) surrounding him.

Moon Knight’s original run went from 1975 to 1984; his second run went from 1985 to 1990.

Worth owning, this, if you like your super-heroics gritty, provocative, and sometimes hallucinogenic.

 

Review, issue by issue

Moon Knight: “The Macabre Moon Knight!” (#1): Marc Spector’s mercenary past explodes his vigilante present when his former, steel-fanged employer (Bushman) reappears in New York City to violently take over gambling and other criminal enterprises.

Spector’s Khonshu-resurrected vigilante/millionaire persona (Moon Knight/Steven Grant) must stop the implacable, relentless Bushman—whose renewed presence may not be accidental—before he destroys everything Spector/Moon Knight holds true.

 

Moon Knight: “The Slasher” (#2): A serial killer (The Skid Row Slasher) stalks derelicts—including Bertrand “Jake” Crawley, Moon Knight/Lockley’s (cab driver persona) informant—drawing Moon Knight/Lockley (Spector’s cab driving persona) into the violent mix.

This is one of my favorite Moon Knight issues. In it, a life-changing chunk of Crawley’s past is shown, Moon Knight/Lockley reveals his true identity/alter egos to those close to him, and another wildly disturbed killer is confronted, ending in a weird-healing, tragic form—neo-pulp/pulp at its comic book best, despite, or because of, its melodramatic courtroom finish.

 

Moon Knight: “Midnight Means Murder!” (#3): Marc Spector/Moon Knight [MK] sets out to catch the Midnight Man, an elusive art thief, but is it a trap for MK?

Fun issue, despite an instance of brief, casual sexism (a slap on a woman’s butt) that might read as shocking for modern readers.

 

Moon Knight: “A Committee of Five” (#4): The Committee, a criminal group reorganized after MK and Jack Russell (aka Werewolf By Night, lycanthropic target of the Committee) busted it apart, wants revenge on MK—after all, he was hired to capture Russell, but turned on them and took their money.

To get their revenge, they hire five specialized, top-notch assassins to kill him. Can MK survive this seemingly endless circle of violence?

This MK issue, solidly clever, reconciles the original-now-called “fake” origin of MK in Werewolf By Night (issues 32-33), with the wildly different origin story in Moon Knight #1. 

 

Moon Knight: “Ghost Story” (#5): Brambles, New York. MK stalks two bank robbers (John Creach, Frankie Parkins) who seek their erstwhile partner in crime (Edward Redditch) in a spooky house. Seems Redditch inherited a lot of money in his mother’s will, and it’s time for Redditch—or his partners—to collect it.

Impressive, effective use of multiple flashbacks in this issue, leading up to the atmospheric haunted house portion of the story, adding a welcome complexity and twists to it.

 

Moon Knight: “White Angels” (#6): When Joshua Mendossi, Marc Spector’s close friend and Director of Police in St. Lucien, asks Spector/MK for help, MK—as Spector—flies there with his usual crime-fighting entourage: Frenchie, Marlene Alraune, Gena, her two adolescent sons (Ray and Ricky) and Crawley to the impoverished, voodoun-superstitious island which is dominated by a white plantation owner (Norman Vidal). It seems a lot of poor young black villagers have been disappearing and reappearing as zuvembies (resurrected dead men loyal to a voodoun houngan, Le Ange Blanc [or “the White Angel of Death”]).

Once on St. Lucien, Spector/MK and his friends encounter a grimmer situation than expected. The themes in this issue (like a lot of MK issues) are especially dark and somewhat mature—though still age-appropriate for a Marvel/kids’ comic book; this is to the series’s credit, as is the especially pulpy and creepy feel of this gravitas-infused storyline.

 

Moon Knight: “The Moon Knights” (#7): A group of terrorists with ransom in mind release a mind-altering drug in Chicago’s water supply, causing much of the city’s denizens to go violently insane—with MK, Marlene Alraune, Crawley, and Frenchie in the middle of it. Cliffhanger finish.

 

Moon Knight: “Night of the Wolves” (#8): MK and company’s city-wise/Chicago nightmare continues as MK—dazed and wounded—tries to stop the terrorists from poisoning the water supply (this time with a fatal drug), rescue Marlene Alraune (who has most likely gone mad) and try not to pass out before accomplishing these first two feats.

 

Moon Knight: “Vengeance in Reprise” (#9): The Bushman, defeated by MK in Moon Knight issue 1, escapes from prison. MK tears through the criminal underworld looking for him, while a threatening presence stalks Frenchie and Marlene Alraune. Is the Bushman or someone else?

Cliffhanger ending to this especially suspenseful, tightly edited issue. For Spector/MK’s character, this is a milestone situation/issue.

 

Moon Knight: “Too Many Midnights” (#10): Marc Spector/MK’s four-persona tension/crisis comes to a (possibly) disastrous head after the Bushman escapes what he intended to be MK’s watery tomb (a fate Frenchie and Anton Morgart, aka the Midnight Man, last seen in issue 3, are meant to share).

Post-sewer escape, Spector/MK is as broken as his residential Khonshu statue that “resurrected” him in Africa, while his friends and lover (Marlene Alraune) search for him—even as the Bushman and his crew embark on a vicious, effective crime spree.

Melodramatic scenes—in an intentionally funny, Shakespearean way—make up part of this issue, as well as those of Spector/MK’s rebound. Like the issue before it, this is an especially comic book-y, excellent milestone issue for Spector/MK.

 

Moon Knight: “To Catch a Killer” (#11): Their new copter operational—the previous one was wrecked beyond repair in issue 7—MK, Marlene Alraune and Frenchie head down to New Orleans to find the drug-dealing murderer of Frenchie’s on-the-lam (and recently returned) ex-lover, Isabelle Kristel.

Creed, a behemoth of a mohawk-sporting man, is a formidable and relatively less bizarre villain, but a good palate-cleanser character (considering how many mind-frakkers MK goes up against). Good, heartbreaking glimpse of Frenchie’s past and thwarted future in this issue.

 

Moon Knight: “The Nightmare of Morpheus” (#12): A mutated, gone-psychotic sleeping-experiment patient, Robert Markham (aka Morpheus), seeks revenge on the doctor (Peter Alraune) who accidentally made him that way.

MK gets involved when Marlene, Peter’s sister, is informed of Markham/Morpheus’s attacks on Peter, who’s fleeing his monstrous ex-patient’s “ebon energy” (black beams of freezing nightmare-inducing energy). MK gets unexpected help from a cop, Detective Flint.

 

Marvel Team-Up Annual: “Power Play!” (#4): MK, Iron Fist, Power Man and Daredevil are thrown into a crazy situation when Killgrave the Purple Man, whose uttered suggestions spread madness and chaos, works with Wilson Fisk (aka The Kingpin) to physically turn the entire city against the four heroes.

Fun, well-written and -illustrated hero/villain mashup, with a bit of 1981 sexism (courtesy of Power Man) in the mix.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man: “A Coffin for Spider-Man!” (#220): In this plot-twisty issue MK begins pulling high-profile robberies for the Directorate, a committee of syndicate crooks; it seems MK is gunning for a position on their board—and Spider-Man is there to stop him, once he’s figured out MK’s game.

 

Moon Knight: “The Cream of the Jest” (#13): Two cellmate-felons (Ace Taggart; Jonathan Powers, aka the Jester) waste no time in going after those who put them in prison: MK (for Taggart) and Daredevil (for Powers). Meanwhile, MK and Daredevil—initially solo, later teaming up—seek out the paroled, revenge- and robbery-minded criminals. Fun, relatively light issue.

 

Moon Knight: “Stained Glass Scarlet” (#14): A vicious gunman (Joe Fasinera) escapes from a life sentence in prison and goes on a city-wide shooting spree. MK and the mysterious Stained Glass Scarlet (a beautiful, melancholic woman in a red dress) separately seek out the mad-dog Fascinera.

A palpable sense of grief suffuses this issue with its explicit mention of John Lennon’s then-recent murder. This is an especially timely issue, not only dealing with gun violence, Lennon’s death, but beautifully illustrating its themes of retribution and failed salvation.

 

Moon Knight: “Ruling the World from His Basement” (#15): An Asian ambassador is stalked by a racist, rodent-costumed freak (Xenos). The police (including Detective Flint, last seen in Moon Knight 12) think it’s probably MK. Xenos is a fun, over-the-top new foe, whose psychological underpinnings make this another standout issue in the Moon Knight series.

 

Moon Knight: “Shadows on the Moon!” (#16): A hyper-focused and resilient muscleman (Blacksmith), who’s studied MK’s fighting style, is hired by a rich industrialist and terrorist (Alexander Latimer) to kill MK. The Thing (aka Ben Grimm) from the Fantastic Four makes an appearance in this complex-for-a-comic-book story, with impressive reader-immersive callbacks to MK’s history.

 

Moon Knight: “Master Sniper’s Legacy!” (#17): Benjamin Abramov, Marc Spector’s friend and Mossad agent, pays Spector an unexpected visit, telling the former mercenary he wants Spector to take a coded microdot to a contact (Streglov) in Lausane, Switzerland. When Abramov is killed by a hitman (Master Sniper), in the employ of a terrorist dictator (Nimrod Strange), MK—as Marc Spector—sets out to deliver Abramov’s microdot. Of course, revenge is also on Spector/MK’s mind as he travels to Switzerland, even as Master Sniper tracks him, Marlene Alraune, and Frenchie there.

This exciting, fast-paced and well-drawn (hello, Bill Sienkiewicz and artistic company!) issue has a cliffhanger-ish ending, so be prepared to (want to) read the next issue immediately.

Issue 17 also includes a solid and somewhat humorous bonus short tale, “The Worship of False Idols,” a tale of Marc Spector’s mercenary past.

 

Moon Knight:  “The Slayers Elite” (#18): In Jerusalem, MK battles three of Nimrod Strange’s “Slayers Elite”—gun-specialist Jou-Jouka; Kareesh-Bek, with his acid-filled knives; and the giant Sumaro, master strangler and garrote expert. MK engages with them to prevent the Slayers Elite from murdering Marlene Alraune and Anna Abramov (Benjamin’s widow, briefly seen in issue 17 after her husband was shot by Master Sniper at Strange’s behest).

This issue, a direct-story continuation of the previous one, is just as thrilling (on all levels) as issue 17.

 

Moon Knight: “Assault on Island Strange” (#19): MK (as Marc Spector), Marlene Alraune and Frenchie find themselves in an Enter the Dragon-esque situation as they infiltrate Nimrod Strange’s terrorist-stronghold island, with offshore support from Streglov and his men—introduced in issue 17, Streglov is the man that Benjamin Abramov, prior to his death, wanted Spector to deliver a coded microdot to; said microdot contained information about Strange’s terrorist activities, past and alarming future.

Meanwhile, Strange has armed himself with a new weapons-loaded outfit and is calling himself Arsenal, making him even more formidable. Cliffhanger finish.

 

Moon Knight: “Cut Adrift Off the Coast of America” (#20): Nimrod Strange (aka Arsenal), having escaped the destruction of his Third World Army and his island base in the last issue, threatens Manhattan, NY, with oil-based fires that would kill “ninety-seven percent” of its denizens.

Fortunately, MK, Streglov and Marlene Alraune—the last of these heroes undercover as one of Strange’s three female bodyguards—are around to stop him before his black-smoke nightmare is unleashed on Manhattan.

This is an especially dark issue for MK and Marlene because there’s the acknowledged implication that Marlene, calling herself “Mary Sands,” likely had to sleep with Strange (along with her fanatical, fellow bodyguards, Yumi and Asigi)—off-camera, of course. This lends a more-emotional-than-usual tone to the story, at least for Marlene and MK.

Great, emotionally potent wrap-up to MK’s latest, thrilling story arc, and equally excellent capper for the first Moon Knight omnibus. Followed by Moon Knight” Omnibus Vol. 2 (by various artists and writers).

“Moon Knight” Omnibus Vol. 1 by various artists and writers (Part 1 of 2)

 

(oversized hb; 2020: graphic novel. Collects Werewolf By Night #32-33, Marvel Spotlight #28-29, Defenders #47-50, Spectacular Spider-Mani #22-23, Marvel Two-in-One #52, Moon Knight #1-20, and material from Defenders #51, Hulk! magazine #11-15, 17-18 and 20, Marvel Preview #21 and Amazing Spider-Man #220.)

 

From the inside flap

“Soldier of fortune Marc Spector. Millionaire playboy Steven Grant. Taxi driver Jake Lockley. All three are aspects of the same man; together, they are Moon Knight! Spector’s fighting skills, Grant’s resources and Lockley’s street smarts combine in the form of Marvel’s strangest vigilante—aided by his loyal pilot, Frenchie, and Marlene, the woman with whom he shares all his lives.

“Meet him in the pages of Werewolf By Night, where he is hired by the shadowy Committee to hunt the lycanthropic Jack Russell. His crescent cape soon glides him across the Marvel Universe as he fights alongside the dynamic Defenders, tussles with the Thing and shares the first of many encounters with Spider-Man. But Moon Knight is no ordinary costumed crimefighter, and his co-creator Doug Moench showed exactly why in the Hulk! magazine, of all places—beginning a character-defining collaboration with superstar-in-the-making Bill Sienkowicz.

“Moench and Sienkowicz began building the strangest rogues’ gallery in comics, pitting their silver-clad vigilante against lethal threats, including Lupinar the Wolf, the Cobra and the haunting Hatchet Man. Then, as Moench and Sienkowicz continued the adventures in the first Moon Knight title, they explored Spector’s past to reveal his true origin, his bitter rivalry with the bloodthirsty Bushman and his uncanny connection with Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon! From there, they continued to mix super-heroics with the supernatural, plunging Moon Knight deep into New York’s darkest corners and introducing evermore bizarre adversaries, such Arsenal, the one-man army; the nightmarish Morpheus and Stained Class Scarlet, the nun with a crossbow!”

 

Overall review

Caveat: (possible) minor spoilers in review. Part 2 of review is here.

Moon Knight is one of the stranger comic book anti-heroes with his dissociative disorder as well as his often out-there villains, creepy and street-gritty storylines and settings (usually New York City), and overall unsettling feel and endings—the overall feel is one of somewhere between for mature audiences and teen friendly comics (if they are into dark stuff), leaning more toward pulpy for mature audiences fare. On occasion, this grittiness lent itself to insensitive language (the rare use of the words “pansy” and “slut”), but given the context of their usage, it makes sense. His guest appearances are good introductions to Moon Knight [MK], and the series was an excellent and crazy-in-tone expansion on his character and the characters surrounding him.

Moon Knight’s original run went from 1975 to 1984; his second run went from 1985 to 1990.

Worth owning, this, if you like your super-heroics gritty, dark, disturbing and sometimes hallucinogenic.

 

Review, issue by issue

Werewolf By Night: “The Stalker Called Moon Knight” (#32): While Buck Cowan—seriously injured in issue 31 of Werewolf—fights for his life in a L.A. hospital, Jack Russell, moon-transformed, fights for his life after The Committee hires a mercenary (Marc Spector, aka Moon Knight) to bring Jack Russell, in werewolf form, to them. In Haiti, Raymond Coker (last issue seen in issue 21) gets bad news from “Jeesal of de thousand years”.

 

Werewolf By Night: “Wolf-Beast vs. Moon Knight” (#33): Jack Russell’s full-moon battle with Moon Knight continues. L.A. detective Vic Northrup lands in Haiti, continuing his search for Raymond Coker, who tells “Jeesela of de thousand years” about an undead threat that killed his aunt and uncle “in a small village north of Mirebalais” and terrorized his seven-year-old cousin (Banita).

 

Marvel Spotlight: “The Crushing Conquer-Lord!” (#28): After foiling a Watergate-style break-in, Moon Knight [MK] tangles with theft architect (Mr. Quinn, aka Conquer-Lord, a pointy-headed, orange-and-blue spandex-wearing villain). Cliffhanger finish to this issue.

 

Marvel Spotlight: “The Deadly Gambit of Conquer-Lord!” (#29): MK, as Steven Grant, discovers that his new valet (the effeminate Merkins), is Quinn/Conquer-Lord’s spy. MK engages in a bizarre, deadly chess match to save Marlene (Grant’s live-in girlfriend) from being eaten by crocodiles, while the mayor, shot by Conquer-Lord in the previous issue, is rushed to the hospital.

Caveat: Some readers, especially sensitive to sexual preference slurs—remember, this issue came out in August 1976, before political correctness—might take offense to Grant/M.K.’s use of the word “pansy”.

 

The Defenders: “Night Moves!” (#47): Misperceptions between key characters (MK, Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.) occur when Fury tries to kidnap Frank Norriss, a man with vital information.

One of the Defenders, Hellcat, visits the Avengers’ headquarters, where Wonder Man—no longer an Avenger—searches their database for vital information. Hellcat and Wonder Man briefly fight. Other notable characters in this issue: Valkyrie, The Hulk, and Nighthawk.

 

The Defenders: “Who Remembers Scorpio? Part One: Sinister Savior!” (#48): Wonder Man, Valkyrie, Hellcat and Moon Knight turn Jack Norriss over to Nick Fury, unaware that Fury is under the sway of Scorpio.

Scorpio, within his “Zodiac Chamber, the Theater of Genetic”—a wild-looking lab—hopes to punish mankind and cleanse the natural world. Meanwhile, MK, trapped in Scorpio’s drowning pit, must find a way out. Effective twist-finish in this issue.

 

The Defenders: “Who Remembers Scorpio? Part Two: Rampage” (#49): In order to draw a recalcitrant Hulk to Scorpio’s lab in New Jersey, where they hope to stop Scorpio’s lab-created army, Valkyrie, Hellcat and MK engage in skirmish-and-run tactics.

In his lab, Scorpio tells Jack Norriss about Scorpio’s relationship with brother (Nick Fury), whom he hates. All the while, Scorpio preps to unleash havoc on mankind.

 

The Defenders: “Who Remembers Scorpio? Part Three: Scorpio Must Die!” (#50): The gathered Defenders and MK wage all-out war with Scorpio and his lab-created Zodiac army.

Scorpio is a quirky-weird character, obsessed with beer (Schlitz) and hanging out with is super-human fighters; he’s also obsessed with his ambivalent relationship with his brother, Nick Fury LMD. This is an above-average, especially fun issue.

 

Spectacular Spider-Man: “By the Light of the Silvery Moon!” (#22): The “revitalized” (according to MK) Maggia gangsters target him—they know his secret identity, thanks to their access to Conquer Lord’s file (Marvel Premiere #28 and 29). While MK thwarts a Maggia trap and Gena’s diner (The Other Place), Spider-Man—mistaking MK’s intentions—fights him. Surprise, to-be-continued ending to this one, with fun, multiple-character foreshadowing and development in this tightly penned issue.

 

Spectacular Spider-Man: “Guess Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb!” (#23): Cyclone, an assassin with the ability to create man-sized, hurricane-force wind, is hired by the Maggia to kill MK and Spider-Man. (Cyclone, seeking revenge on Spider-Man, was recently sprung from prison by his boss (“the big M”) after the events of Amazing Spider-Man issues #143-44, whose crimes in those issues landed him there in the first place.

 

Marvel Two-in-One: “A Little Knight Music!” (#52): A red-costumed, ex-CIA brainwasher (Crossfire, aka William Cross) tries to use his foul talents on The Thing (aka Ben Grimm), with MK also caught up in Crossfire’s violent scheme: to end the spread—and lives of—superheroes.

 

The Hulk!: “Graven Image of Death” (#11): MK’s investigation into a series of street murders draws him and Marlene Grant into a mystery involving a key, possibly erstwhile murderers and greed. Cliff hanger finish to this one.

 

The Hulk!: “Embassy of Fear!” (#12): Continuation of The Hulk #11. MK, also utilizing his Steve Grant/millionaire persona, and Marlene (his personal secretary-lover) take on a murderous, foul-mouthed museum curator (Fenton Crane), a Chilean U.N. ambassador (Alfonse Leroux) and their security forces—all of whom are looking for a priceless jade statuette of Horus.

 

The Hulk!: “The Big Blackmail!” (#13): Informed by Conquer Lord’s in-depth file on MK and his various personas, a wealthy swordsman “Lupinar. . . the Wolf!” (crime lord) and one of his info men (Smelt) prepare to battle MK.

Meanwhile, MK’s investigation of recent murders—begun with reporter Jim Poulhaus’s violent demise in The Hulk! #11—twists into a thwart-a-nuclear-capable-terrorist situation, forcing MK to resurrect his Marc Spector, merc-for-hire persona.

Artwork in this issue is uneven, distracts from the story.

 

The Hulk!: “Countdown to Dark” (#14): The story arc begun in The Hulk! #11 concludes.

Marc Spector (aka MK) battles an impostor MK during a plutonium/terrorist heist while Lupinar, afflicted with “hypertrichosis—the ‘hirsute disease,’” and mastermind of the heist (as well as a nuclear ransom-threat to NYC), preps for his meeting with the real MK.

Frenchie tries to contact N.E.S.T. (Nuclear Emergency Research Team) about the location of the about-to-blow terrorist nuke. Marlene shows a lot of skin (again), more than usual.

As with the previous issue, the artwork is spotty, distracting in a bad way. Aside from that nit, solid issue.

 

The Hulk!: “An Eclipse, Waxing”/”An Eclipse, Waning” (#15): MK and the Hulk, in passing, tangle with three bungling criminals during a full moon on an eccentric millionaire’s (name: Jase) estate. Fun, standalone issue.

 

The Hulk!: “Nights Born Ten years Gone—Part I” (#17): A nurse-slaughtering, Halloween mask-wearing madman (The Hatchet-Man) prowls benighted NYC—could he be Marc Spector’s traitorous, gone-insane ex-merc partner, Rand, from a decade ago?

MK and Marlene, the latter nurse uniform-clad bait for Hatchet-Man, set a trap for the killer, with tragic results.There’s some seriously specious/circumstantial logic going on in this first-chapter story, especially on Steven Grant/MK’s part—not one of the better Hulk!/MK stories thus far.

 

The Hulk!: “Shadows in the City—Part II” (#18): With Marlene seriously injured by the Hatchet-Man (previous issue), MK continues stalking and fighting the increasingly dangerous madman, revealed to be Randall (“Rand”) Spector, Marc’s merc-serial killer brother. This issue, story-wise, is an improvement on the previous issue.

 

The Hulk!: “A Long Way to Dawn” (#20): MK, still reeling from the events of the past night*^—Marlene getting shot and stabbed, battling his now-dead brother (Randall Spector, aka Hatchet-Man)—waits through the metropolis-prowling night to see if Marlene will pull through at the hospital. Effectively pensive, tender, and memorable finish to the tri-part Hatchet-Man story arc.

          [*^shown in Hulk! issues 17 and 18]

 

Marvel Preview: “Moon Knight—The Mind Thieves”/”Vipers” (#21): The corpse of Amos Lardner, a former CIA colleague, is delivered to Steven Grant’s mansion, sending Grant/Spector/MK on a mission to find out what’s going on and to stop a mind control experiment (“Operation: Cobra”), their aim to create remote control assassins.

Accompanying MK are his sexy secretary/lover (Marlene, often seen with little clothes or mostly nude) and Frenchy, his right-hand man/helicopter pilot.

The artwork (racy when Marlene is present) and themes are a bit mature for children, but it’s entertaining and intriguing—that is to say, good.