MOON KNIGHT #17
Momar Van Der Camp

 


 

Published by Marvel Comics
Written by Mike Benson (with Charlie Huston)
Art by Mark Texeria and Javier Saltares

Plot:
Moon Knight (Marc Spector) recently received his Superhero Registration card, and SHIELD wants to revoke his privileges. That, and there is a copycat going across New York City, killing people and pinning it on Spector. Will this lead to Skrulls?

Commentary:
This book has almost lost all focus. Benson does an admirable job trying to make Moon Knight his own character, but it seems every other issue with this book is a miss. There are strong issues (issue 16 where things start to pick up and we catch a glimpse of Marc's continuingly fragiled psyche) and then not so  strong issues, where the characters just seem to be going through beats to finish the story-arc.
 

This is the latter, unfortunately. Not much happens. Marc and Marlene talk at a coffee shop and he learns that she's recently spoke to the villain of the story, Carson Knowles (the Black Spectre) and Marc acts completely stalker-wife-beater on Marlene almost forcing her to tell him what's going on and what they spoke of. The god, Khonshu (still in the form of Bushman) doesn't do hardly anything this issue, and everything comes to a head at the end with SHIELD finding another dead body killed by the copycat and finally, FINALLY, Inept Man (Iron Man) decides to show up for the party.

But if only Tony Stark had listened to the ONE BEAT COP who knew it was a copycat because HE JUST KNEW Moon Knight wouldn't do that. Couple that with strange opening page cameos from Condoleeza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld and Larry King and you get what this book is all about, clichés. It would do better off with quick shot story-arcs. One to two issue arcs, quick in and out. Or take a page from Garth Ennis' Punisher MAX series. Go balls to the wall. Make this Marvel's f-ed up version of Batman and just run with it.

As it is now, I sometimes feel ashamed of myself for buying this book. When things happen, it's great. But ever since Huston switched over to co-plotter, it's just circling the drain for the most part. He has the strong potential to be an amazingly well plotted character, a Batman-esque character that has multiple personality disorder, and yet he's just an arrogant freak with an anger problem half the time.

Take a page out of issue 1. Make him the hardass he should be. Get a more well-defined art team (I love Tex and Saltares, but I like them better on Ghost Rider or Dr. Strange). And get this book back on track. For Khonshu's sake.

 

 

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