Moon Knight 1: Lunatic

Comic Info

Moon Knight (7) #4

Reprints Moon Knight (7) #1-5 (June 2016-October 2016).  Marc Spector is insane…or is he the only sane one?  Marc knows that he is Moon Knight and although he and his friends Gina, Frenchie, Crawley, and Marc’s love Marlene are trapped in an asylum in New York City, Marc can tell that it is all an illusion of Seth who has taken over the city.  Khonshu has given Marc strength and Marc must summon that strength if he hopes to break Seth’s control of reality…or is Marc insane?

Written by Jeff Lemire, Moon Knight Volume 1:  Lunatic is the seventh relaunch of the Moon Knight title.  The comic features the art of Greg Smallwood with additional art by Wilfredo Torres, Francsco Francavilla, and James Stokoe and collections the “Welcome to New Egypt” storyline.

Moon Knight has always been a really hard character.  Is he a mystical character like Doctor Strange?  Is he a mercenary like the Punisher?  Is he a typical superhero like Spider-Man?  Each writer has to decide what path to take with the character and the series are often as strong as the writer makes them due to range of the character’s role.

Over the recent years, Moon Knight’s insanity has been the push of the comic, and Jeff Lemire follows suit to the max.  Here, you don’t know what the status of Moon Knight’s sanity is.  He could be in a totally insane world or a world where he’s conquered the insanity to realize the truth of his situation…and the collection doesn’t give you much of an answer at the end by raising new questions.

Moon Knight (7) #5

This is both interesting and problematic for the character.  I always have loved Moon Knight’s design and basic Batman-esque weapon-based powers.  He’s a brawler and a fighter.  He never has had a very good rogue gallery (Bushman is about it…and he just looks like Yaphet Kotto’s Baron Samedi from Live and Let Die).  Without supervillains, Moon Knight just comes off as a Punisher character, and totally investing in his sanity doesn’t create new directions for the comic at this point…it just kind of feels like more of the same in a way.  Is Marc Spector insane?  I’m starting not to care.

Fortunately, it is well written and it also features strong art.  The suit-and-tie Moon Knight was introduced in Warren Ellis’ run and adds a different feel to the comic (though I still love the traditional costume).  Smallwood gives the comic depth and feel with his art.

Moon Knight 1:  Lunatic is a good restart to a series that feels like it has been redone multiple times.  I wish Moon Knight would land on something and really focus on it.  I’m kind of getting over Marc’s insanity.  Yes, I know that his mental problems are something that can be magically cured like Barbara Gordon being able to walk again in DC’s New 52, but I also recognize that people aren’t defined by their illness and I’d like his sanity to take a backseat for a few adventures.  Moon Knight 1:  Lunatic is followed by Moon Knight 2:  Reincarnations.