I Reads You Review: MOON KNIGHT #1

MOON KNIGHT (2014) #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER: Warren Ellis
ARTIST/COVER: Declan Shalvey
COLORS: Jordie Bellaire
LETTERS: Chris Eliopoulos
VARIANT COVERS: Adi Granov; Bill Sienkiewicz; Skottie Young; Katie Cook; Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (May 2014)

Moon Knight is a Marvel Comics superhero character.  Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, Moon Knight first appeared in Werewolf by Night #32 (cover dated: August 1975).

Moon Knight is Marc Spector an American-born mercenary who dies in Egypt, under the statue of Khonshu, an ancient Egyptian moon god.  Khonshu appears to Spector and offers him a second chance at life.  After he awakens, Spector wraps himself with the silver shroud that covers Khonshu’s statue, turning it into a silver cloaked costume, becoming the Moon Knight.  A superb athlete and master of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, Spector is also a skilled acrobat, gymnast, detective, marksman, and is an aviator who uses traditional and sophisticated weaponry.  In short, Moon Knight is Marvel Comics’ version of Batman.

It is easy to lose track of all the iterations of a Moon Knight comic book series that Marvel has published over the last four decades.  The latest Moon Knight title is part of Marvel Comics’ “All-New Marvel NOW!” initiative.  This 2014 launch of Moon Knight is written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Declan Shalvey with colors by Jordie Bellaire.

Moon Knight #1 finds Moon Knight back in New York City.  He apparently lost his mind, and perhaps, he is back to being normal – whatever that may be for Marc Spector-Moon Knight (MK for short).  The policeman, Detective Flint, who wants MK’s help, calls him “Mister Knight,” to keep MK from being associated with the dangerous vigilante he was.  MK or Mister Knight: by any name, can he stop a slasher killer who is good, albeit somewhat clumsy, at what he does?

I just read Moon Knight #1.  Interesting is one word that I can use to describe what I just read.  I’m curious, but it is hard to pass judgment on a new series in which the writer decompresses a short story about a not particularly interesting serial killer and kooky costumed hero into a full-length story about a not particularly interesting serial killer and kooky costumed hero.

I have heard rumblings of Warren Ellis’ Moon Knight being similar to Warren Ellis’ Planetary.  If you scratch hard enough, you may be able to pretend that Moon Knight is a scratch-and-sniff comic book ever so slightly oozing the leftover essence of the great Planetary… maybe.

Declan Shalvey is supposed to be some up and coming hotshot artist; oh, really?  And Jordie Bellaire has done better work.  About this new Moon Knight:  we’ll see.

B-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 9 2013

MARVEL COMICS

AUG130857 ASTONISHING X-MEN #68 $3.99
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I Reads You Review: HAWKEYE #1

"Hawkeye: Year One?"
HAWKEYE #1
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: Matt Fraction
ARTIST: David Aja
COLORS: Matt Hollingsworth
LETTERS: Chris Eliopoulos
COVER: David Aja with Matt Hollingsworth; variant cover by Adi Granov; Pasqual Ferry with Matt Hollingsworth
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Hawkeye is a Marvel Comics superhero character and the Marvel Universe’s most prominent archer, marksman, and sharpshooter. Created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, Hawkeye, whose civilian identity is Clint Barton, first appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 (September 1964 cover date). He first appeared as a member of the Avengers in Avengers #16 (May 1965 issue).

Marvel’s The Avengers movie is a shocking worldwide box office success. With the appearance in the film of a spiffy-looking Hawkeye, it was a no-brainer that Marvel Comics would try out the character in his own new comic book series. Hawkeye (2012) is written by Matt Fraction, drawn by David Aja, and colored by Matt Hollingsworth.

Hawkeye #1 opens in New York City and finds Hawkeye/Clint Barton having some serious health issues. After healing, Clint returns to his apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy), where he finds the real trouble. His Russian landlord is bringing pressure on Clint and the other tenants. When Clint tries to save the day and to make a deal with these Russian heavies, things get bad – for our Avenger and a cute dog.

If Hawkeye #1 seems familiar, it’s the highly-stylized riff on Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli’s Batman: Year One that plucked your memory. Hawkeye even comes across as being similar to Bullseye from Miller’s famous run on Marvel’s Daredevil comic book series in the early 1980s. That aside, this first issue of Hawkeye is more a Clint Barton story than a Hawkeye comic book, and that’s fine. I like how Fraction depicts Barton as a sort of laconic everyman who only turns on the extra-powers when he has to do so. Here, he does it just to balance the scales for the little guys and gals. Notice, I said, extra-powers, in this story, Clint doesn’t come across as a superhero.

As for Aja’s art, which is a scratchy imitation of Mazzuchelli on Batman: Year One, it’s nice, but not great. The storytelling is good; by drawing so many small panels, Aja creates a pace and rhythm that serves this story quite well. The only problem is that Fraction’s script is non-linear, jumping back and forth as if Fraction were trying to write a Quentin Tarantino movie. Thus, just as Aja’s graphical storytelling is moving briskly on a particular sequence, it moves to another set piece, which is jarring, especially when the previous sequence was going so well.

Still, I like this enough to read future issues. It’s both different and entertaining enough to warrant more attention.

B+