“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.