Comic Book Review: Moon Knight #6

Moon Knight is one of Marvel’s best titles currently on the market. Huston is doing an incredible job with the writing duties and Finch is supplying artwork that is tailor made for this title. There is no doubt in my mind that Moon Knight #6 is going to be another kick ass read. Let’s do this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Charlie Huston
Penciler: David Finch
Inker: Danny Miki

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: This issue begins with Moon Knight kicking butt on the Taskmaster. Moon Knight comments that in a fight it is never about your speed, slick moves or quick reflexes that make you a better fighter. It is all about who you can take. Moon Knight takes Taskmaster’s best shots and keeps coming. Moon Knight takes out Taskmaster and then finds the file that the Committee had on him and then leaves the building.

We shift to Marc finally getting a haircut and shaving. Marc then visits Marlene at the museum she works at. Marlene said that her life has changed and that she doesn’t want to go back to all the craziness from before. That she is no longer is girlfriend.

We cut to Marc visiting Frenchy at the hospital. We then shift to Marc meeting with his attorney. His lawyer tells him that Spector Corp. only has a few investments left, but one of them was just successfully patented. It is a process for sequencing any DNA quickly, efficiently and cheaply. That Marc will be a very rich man again when this product goes public this year.

We shift to Marc back home. Crawley comes and pays him a visit. Marc apologizes to Crawley for how he treated him the last time Crawley visited him. Marc thanked Crawley for getting him to meet with Frenchy. Crawley then tells Marc that he has no memory of ever arranging a meeting between Marc and Frenchy. Crawley just remembers Marc telling him to leave and then Crawley said he saw a shadowy figure from behind the statue of Khonshu.

Crawley leaves and we see Marc shifting through the contents of the file he stole from the Committee’s office. Khonshu’s spirit in the form of the faceless Bushmaster steps out from behind the statue. Khonshu says that Crawley must have seen him. Khonshu then tells Marc that he was way too “namby-pamby” with the Taskmaster and Marc should have handled him like he did the Bushmaster. Khonshu says that he requires more blood with his vengeance.

Marc yells that Khonshu used him. That Khonshu made Marc think that Khonshu had abandoned him. That Khonshu crippled him. That Khonshu drove away all of this friends. Marc starts hitting Khonshu’s statue with a sledgehammer. Khonshu responds that he is all in Marc’s head. Then Khonshu asks Marc what rhymes with “head.” Suddenly, Marc falls to the floor dead. Then Marc comes back to live. Khonshu tells Marc that this makes it the third time he has brought Marc back to life. That this is a reminder of how things work. Marc does something for Khonshu and then Khonshu does something for Marc.

Khonshu says that Marc let all of this happen to him. That Marc slowed down. That Marc let himself get dropped from the B-list to the D-list. That Marc let Khonshu fall off the radar. Khonshu asks Mark if he knows how it feels when people stop believing. When they don’t know you exist. The feeling of irrelevance. What was Khonshu supposed to do? Gracefully fade away? Khonshu says he is a God. He doesn’t fade. He fights. And he fights dirty.

Khonshu says he took advantage of the desire for vengeance in the New Committee and gave it shape and reaction. Vengeance is Khonshu’s milieu, of course. Khonshu knew that Marc would eventually start praying to him again and harder than ever before. Theta the who point was that Mac needed to be reminded just how much Marc needs Khonshu and how much Marc loves doing Khonshu’s work. Khonshu says that he knows both of them had a good time. Khonshu asks Marc if he likes having his friends around him, all of his money, a shot at getting Marlene back. Khonshu says that Marc can keep it all if he just shows the world what vengeance really is. Show them blood and they will love us for it.

Marc mumbles that he isn’t like that. That he isn’t like Khonshu. That he is a hero. Khonshu responds incredulously that Marc is just like him. Khonshu grabs a dictionary and shows Marc the definition for the word “avatar.” It reads “The descent of a god to Earth in incarnate form.” Khonshu says that Marc is him.

We then hear Khonshu’s laughter ring through the dark room and Marc lies on the floor clutching the feet of Khonshu’s statue.

We cut to the Profiler in his apartment. Moon Knight smashes through the window and grabs the Profiler and orders him to look at Moon Knight and tell him what the Profiler sees. The Profiler looks at Moon Knight and starts screaming “God, oh God. No. God, No. NONONONO!” (Heh, I guess Khonshu wasn’t kidding that Marc is him.)

We then shift to Moon Knight on the prowl. Moon Knight says that someone must do this. Someone has to do the fun stuff and his blade must praise its lord. We cut to Marc looking at Khonshu’s statue and thinking how people want to know how he can live like this. The blood he has spilled. The blood yet to be spilled. The answer is always the same. How could Marc live any other way?

We cut to a man beating a woman to death until her blood splatters a nearby clock. We then see the man using the woman’s blood to draw a clock around the woman’s body. We don’t see the man. And he is talking to someone else about how he needs closure and if he got closure he wouldn’t have to live like this. The man responds how could he live any other way? End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Damn. Moon Knight #6 was another incredible read. Huston is just tearing it up on this title. Each issue just totally blows me away. Huston creates yet another powerful story that hits the reader right in the gut. Moon Knight #6 was wonderfully paced. Huston is moving along at a very measured pace that is laying a very solid foundation and creating plenty of tension inside of the reader where you know that everything could erupt into a massive explosion at any moment. Huston also serves up plenty of quality dialogue. Huston also is the master of the inner monologue. All the scenes with Moon Knight in action accompanied by Marc’s monologue are perfect.

Huston flat out knows Moon Knight inside and out. It is as if Huston was born to write this title. I am stunned at what a complex and captivating character Huston has managed to make Marc Spector. Marc is such an incredibly textured and deep character. Huston has also done a brilliant job of portraying just how totally mentally unstable Marc is. Huston is able to show the chaos that is raging inside of Marc’s mind. Marc is truly a disturbed individual. There are clearly several different personalities inside Marc’s mind battling for control.

I also am enjoying Marc’s struggle between his wish that he was a typical standard hero and the fact that he is actually nothing more than a vicious tool for vengeance. That Marc does love the blood and violence no matter how much he may try and convince himself otherwise.

What adds to this multiple personality insanity that is going on in Marc’s mind is how Huston is handling Khonshu’s character. This is by far the best job any Moon Knight writer has ever done with Khonshu’s character. I love that the reader still doesn’t know if Khonshu is merely a figment of Marc’s imagination. Just another personality in his mind or if Khonshu really does exist.

We get hinted that Khonshu may be real with Crawley claiming to have seen something behind the statue and that he doesn’t remember telling Marc to see Frenchy. This leads the reader to believe that Khonshu is real and used his powers to possess Crawley into telling Marc to see Frenchy.

Plus, you have the neat twist of Khonshu killing Marc and then bringing him back to life again. You also have the convenient fact that Marc is suddenly going to be very rich again and has all of his friends back and Khonshu is taking credit for all of that. So, maybe Khonshu is real or maybe Marc is imagining it. At least Huston is blurring the line enough to make the reader question Khonshu’s existence.

Huston finally gives the reader the big explanation concerning the first five issues and the plans of the New Committee. It was a huge stunner that Khonshu revealed that he was behind all of it. That Khonshu did it just to get Marc back on track. I love how Huston handles Khonshu as a faded god who is willing to do anything to keep from being irrelevant. I really liked the twist of having Khonshu behind everything in an effort to get Marc to return to his job as Khonshu’s avatar and to do so with more passion than ever before.

I also thought the use of the Profiler to affirm what Khonshu told Marc about Marc being Khonshu was perfect. The Profiler clearly sees nothing but the God of Vengeance when he looks at Moon Knight’s face. This is radically different from how the Profiler reacts when he look at anyone else.

The entire scene between Khonshu and Marc was masterfully written and extremely powerful. I was riveted during the entire scene. It completely captivated my attention. The relationship between these two characters is delightfully intricate and charged with plenty of emotion. There are very few comics on the market that can match the raw emotion and intensity that Huston brings to Moon Knight.

Huston is just as concerned with the psychology of Moon Knight as he is the physical role of Moon Knight as an ass-kicker. That is what makes this comic book so much more than your average violent and grim super hero title. Of course, sweet action scenes are a must for this type of title and Huston provides for some of the sickest fight scenes you will see in comics. Moon Knight is nothing short of psychotic when he brawls.

Huston also treats us to a neat ending that introduces the next villain for our new story arc. Huston does a cool job of showing how Moon Knight and this next villain are just two sides of the same coin. I’m interested to learn more about this mysterious villain.

Finch’s artwork is perfect for Moon Knight. Finch’s style matches the dark and violent world of Moon Knight. Finch is also able to augment Huston’s feeling of chaos and emotional instability that courses through this title. I really couldn’t think of a better artist for Moon Knight than Finch. Finch really does a fantastic job bringing Huston’s story to life.

The Bad: No complaints at all.

Overall: Moon Knight #6 is another great read. Huston and Finch are in impressive team and then are cranking out a comic book that is consistently an incredible read each month. I hope that Huston decides to stick around on Moon Knight for longer than 12 issues. Marvel has hit a home run with Moon Knight. I definitely recommend this title. If you don’t mind the dark mood and the bloody violence, then you certainly won’t be disappointed.