The Revolution always looks forward to the newest issue of Moon Knight. It looks like we are in store for a showdown between Moon Knight and the Punisher. It should certainly be entertaining watching two of Marvel’s biggest nutjobs cross paths. I’m sure that Moon Knight #10 is going to be another quality read. Let’s hit this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Charlie Huston
Artist: Mico Suayan
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Moon Knight watching Punisher blow away a bunch of criminals. Khonshu is a huge fan of the Punisher and loves his style and grace in the Punisher’s wholesale slaughter without a trace of regret. Khonshu say that Punisher serves another and wears his lord’s banner across his chest. And the Punisher appeases his master’s appetite unlike some others that Khonshu could mention.
Moon Knight retorts that he does plenty for Khonshu. Khonshu responds that there is always more need for vengeance. Punisher then yells out if Moon Knight is going to hide and talk to himself all night or join the party. Punisher asks Moon Knight if Stark or Rogers has asked Moon Knight to join their respective sides. Moon Knight responds that neither side wants him. Just like they don’t want Punisher. Punisher tells Moon Knight now to get caught on the wrong side.
Moon Knight asks Punisher if he ever thinks about what he does. How it is as bad as what the criminals do. If the Punisher worries about what he could become. If the Punisher deserves to live anymore than the criminals he kills.
Punisher comments that he knows here he stands and he doesn’t worry about it. That when they are all dead and the war is over that there will still be one bullet left. To clear all accounts. Punisher comments that Moon Knight is still on the fence and is trying to have it both ways.
Moon Knight responds that he still has forgotten that Punisher killed Moon Knight’s brother. Punisher answers that it only happened that way because Punisher got to Moon Knight’s brother first, or else Moon Knight would have killed his own brother.
Moon Knight then leaves the scene and gets back in his Moon Copter. Ray is geeking out at the sight of the Punisher. Ray tells Moon Knight how the soldiers in Iraq are all huge fans of the Punisher. Moon Knight tells Ray to fly back to the estate.
We cut to the next day. We see the Profiler approaching a girl in a seedy bar. The Profiler tells the girl that she is pathetically lonely and desperate. That she has no self-esteem. That she is just his type. We see that the girl has a scar on her face. She asks the Profiler for another drink.
We see Crawley leading Marc to the bathroom of the same bar where the Profiler is taking a leak. Crawley tells Marc that the Profiler is inside. Marc enter the bathroom and threatens to force the Profiler to look at himself in the bathroom mirror. The Profiler begs for Marc to hurt him but not to make him look at himself in the mirror. Marc begins to smack around the Profiler for a bit. The Profiler says that he knows that Marc is here to get the Profiler to look for information on an old enemy Moon Knight is trying to track down.
Marc grabs the Profiler and asks him how close he is to digging out one of the Profiler’s eyes out with his thumb. The Profiler answers pretty close until the girl distracts Marc and makes him feel bad for beating up on a helpless geek like the Profiler. Suddenly, the girl with the scar yells at Marc to leave the Profiler alone.
The Profiler comments that he just finished belittling the girl and that she equates emotional abuse with affection. The girl calls the Profiler a dick. The Profiler agrees with her statement. The Profiler takes the information Marc has on his former sidekick, Jeff Wilde. The Profiler tells Marc to meet him here tomorrow. Marc says he won’t meet him at this location. The Profiler responds that Marc has bad memories about this location. That is why the Profiler came here hoping it would keep Marc away.
The Profiler then tells Marc about the bartender inside the bar who uses his belt to whip his wife on a nightly basis. Just so Marc doesn’t end up directing all that pent-up rage at someone who doesn’t deserve it. Then the Profiler looks at Crawley and tells him that he knows how Crawly thinks about how he abandoned his family and his wife died along and his son became a serial killer. The Profiler then adds that Crawley is right. It is all Crawley’s fault.
We then cut to Marc going back inside the bar and grabbing the bartender’s belt and then beating the bartender with it. We then see that Jeff Wilde and some equally decaying woman next to him watching the entire scene between Marc and the Profiler from a nearby sewer drain. The woman tells Jeff that soon Moon Knight will take Jeff seriously. That soon he will take both of them seriously and before it’s over, they will both get what they want from Moon Knight. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Moon Knight #10 was a damn well written issue. Huston is doing a truly excellent job on this title. Huston’s dialogue and character work is phenomenal. Huston has made Moon Knight one of Marvel’s strongest reads with some of the best writing you are going to find on the market.
I enjoyed how Huston used the scene between the Punisher and Moon Knight to play up how disappointed Khonshu is with his servant, Moon Knight. That the Punisher can really dish out the vengeance. It is neat that the Punisher is already serving his own lord: Death. It was interesting to see that Moon Knight actually seemed jealous when Khonshu fondly compliments the Punisher for his skills and openly wishes that Moon Knight was more like Punisher.
Huston does a good job getting across the fact that as much as it seems that Moon Knight doesn’t like Khonshu, that Moon Knight is still Khonshu’s servant and there is still that sense of loyalty and respect and the desire to be commended for a good job as Khonshu’s fist.
I love how Huston writes the Punisher. Huston gives the Punisher plenty of depth and texture. Seriously, if Marvel cannot keep Huston on Moon Knight then I would completely psyched if Marvel could get Huston to write Punisher: War Journal. In just this short scene, Huston displays a wonderful sense of Punisher’ character and does so in an enjoyable fashion.
I dig Huston’s take on how the Punisher rationalizes killing criminals when such actions make Punisher a criminal himself. Punisher’s responds to that question by stating that when his war with crime is over then he will have one more bullet for himself to settle up the debts and transgressions he has committed during his war. That is perfect. The Punisher should have that type of view of himself.
I also like that Huston avoided the hackneyed and predictable hero versus hero battle due to a conflict of crime fighting tactics. Instead, Huston uses the cerebral approach to this meeting. And that is most definitely a surprise since Moon Knight and Punisher are two of the least cerebral super heroes. And that is what made this scene even cooler.
The scene with Marc Spector and the Profiler was incredibly intense and extremely well done. The dialogue was just sick. Huston can always be counted on to supply plenty of quality dialogue, but the dialogue in this scene was just wonderfully done. The chemistry between Marc and the Profiler was perfect. The back and forth dialogue was just right. This scene had excellent flow and grabbed the reader’s attention from the very beginning and didn’t let go until the very end.
The Profiler shifts from his usual know-it-all and cocky attitude to being a scared little dork when confronted by a pissed off Marc Spector. However, once the Profiler realizes that Marc needs his help, suddenly, the Profiler shifts back to being his typical cocky self at the end of the scene. Huston writes such naturally acting characters and it shows in this scene. Real people change their attitudes based on the situation as it unfolds around them.
Profiler ruthlessly skewering Crawley with the comments about Crawley being at fault for his wife’s death and his son becoming a serial killer was just vicious and cold. I love the detail that Huston puts in every character, even minor supporting characters like Crawley.
Huston delivers a solid ending. We see Jeff Wilde and a woman that I don’t recognize. I don’t know if this is the nurse who has been taking care of Jeff or if this is Jeff’s mother. At any rate, you know that Huston is going to deliver a wild finish when Moon Knight and Jeff clash.
The Bad: Moon Knight #10 was a slowly paced issue. This issue read like filler. As much as I enjoyed how Huston handled the Punisher’s character, that entire scene was a throwaway scene. It didn’t advance any current plotlines nor did it create any new plotlines of any importance. It was really unnecessary and it took up half of this issue. It really held back the flow and progress of this story arc. It also felt disjointed and shoehorned into the story arc.
Overall: Moon Knight #10 was another solid issue. Yeah, it was filler and it certainly broke the flow that Huston had created on this story arc. However, a filler issue from Huston on Moon Knight is still better than most regular issues on other titles.