Moon Knight has been one of those characters that has never quite found it’s footing and whose series has been cancelled and rebooted numerous times over the years. I have always liked the basic concept of Moon Knight, but with the exception of the few issues Dave Finch inked a couple years back, I have never been drawn to him. Now, Moon Knight is back once more with the amazing team of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev (Spider-Woman, Scarlet).
This debut issue starts out with two mercenaries fighting in the Egyptian desert. One is shot and left for dead as the other flees. The wounded merc makes his way into an ancient tomb to most likely die. But wait, another page turn and we discover that this has all been a pilot episode for a television series based on the life and produced by Moon Knight himself, Marc Spector. As the credits roll, Marc receives a call from someone telling him to go outside. Out on the balcony Marc meets up with Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine. The have come to give him a heads up. There is a “substantial migration of criminal activity” from the east coast to the west coast. Since Marc is based in L.A. and is an Avenger, they would like him to get to work immediately. As Cap and friends leave, Cap turns to let Spector know that if he needs help he is not alone, all he has to do is call.
Cut to … Moon Knight out on patrol at the piers. A boat pulls up to the dock where two suspicious thugs wait and something is going down, but it goes down all wrong. Moon Knight jumps into action and while on the boat discovers the criminal Mr. Hyde has plans to sell a broken Ultron. Moon Knight is eventually thrown overboard with the Ultron’s head in his hands and while underwater, the boat above him is destroyed. We next find Moon Knight in a room talking with Cap and friends about the Ultron situation and trying to figure out the who, what, why, and how. Spector looks up and states that solving this is going to take all of them. As we turn to the last page we are reminded of how bat shit crazy this character is. He is standing in the room alone.
Overall this issue did not disappoint. It made me want to start over from the first page. Was it really the Avengers he was talking to at the start of the story or was that all in his head too? This also made me appreciate the cover of this issue a whole lot more, go ahead, take another look at it. I look forward to the rest of Bendis’ run on this book and I hope that if he sticks around long enough he can rejuvenate this character a bit. Check it out.