Moon Knight Volume 2

This book is full of great writing by Moench, and great art from a couple of burgeoning artists. In MK Vol.2, we get to experience the beginning of Bill Sienkiewicz's career. After a few episodes, they really hit their stride. The storytelling gets really good both from an artwork perspective and through Moench's writing. (I will admit, though, that some of the dialog is a little stilted, but I kind of chalk that up to the teen target audience and early eighties superhero genre, because Moench's other work on Tales of the Zombie, Werewolf by Night, etc. tends to be less so.) Here is something that I learned that I did not realize. Frank Miller has a handful of covers during this run. Yes, he was working at marvel at the time, as many of you reading this probably know. Why is this interesting? Miller would one day reinvent Batman, and Doug Moench would go on to spend a significant amount of his career as well to write stories of the caped crusader. In the early eighties, when these Moon Knight comics were running, Batman's more mature image wasn't fully developed. This is interesting, because I have read so many reviews, blogs, etc. that talk about MK as "Marvel's Batman." But, could it be that in this run of the MK series, we are actually seeing the seeds to what would later become the Dark Knight as many of us know him? Could the reincarnation of Batman be modeled off of Moon Knight? (Dark Knight/Moon Knight) I realize I may not be very popular for saying this, but it seems highly plausible and maybe even likely since Batman's "modern age" didn't really start until 1986. Pick up this MK essentials and tell me if it is possible.

For fans of Moon Knight.... revel in the Lunar Crusader is at his best. For people who haven't heard of, or haven't read, Moon Knight before you should like it. It shows why Moon Knight is Marvel Comics' Batman. An excellent read and safe for children seven years old and up. Moon Knight has been one of my favorite characters since I was a child. So, if you want to see how great comic characters are made great read this and Volume number one.

Its been a little more than a year since volume 1 came out, and I've found that volume 2 is as good or even better than the first one. The art continues to improve, and being in black and white just adds to the mysterious feel of Moon Knight. This volume contains issues 11-30 of the first run of Moon Knight comics, first published in the 1980's. It continues Moon Knights battles with the stranger, grittier villains that the other heroes rarely deal with. Morpheus, Stained Glass Scarlet, Werewolf-by-Night, and Jester are just a few of the odd characters that make appearances. Yet this series is about more than just Moon Knight. Its a team book as much as Fantastic Four, Avengers, and the X-Men. What makes this team different is that none of major players have costumes (except Moon Knight). Gena, Crawley, Marlene, Frenchie, and even Detective Flint are major characters in their own right, and Moon Knight could not function without them. They help to characterize Moon Knight, and play an important role in many of the stories. The main character is a team all by himself. Marc Spector, Jake Lockley, Steven Grant and Moon Knight are all different fawcets of one character. Some say that they represent different aspects of the moon: Moon Knight is the full moon, Marc Spector is the new moon, Seven Grant is the waxing moon, and Jake Lockley is the waning moon. It is differently a series worth reading, and collecting. Definetly worth the five stars!!

Although some of the stories in this volume have not aged all that well, the series really peaked with the last several of the Doug Moench/Bill Sienkewicz issues. When they were on a roll, it was one of the best titles Marvel was publishing at that time. Although the black-and-white reprints lose some of the magic these stories originally had in color, the Essential series is a cheap way to read them all in one volume.