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Moon Knight Primer, part 5

Punisher Annual 2, Marc Spector: Moon Knight (1989) #1-60, Spectacular Spiderman #353 – 358

The PAIN people, the PAIN.

Can you imagine a Moon Knight run without ANY mention to the Alters, the System, Khonshu, or any of the supporting cast with the exception of Frenchie and Marlene? Because that’s what we got here.

The first problem is the writer. While Chuck Dixon has a long, long list of previous works that prove that the man knows how to write a comic, he is also self-described as “Slightly Right from Ghengis Khan” so in his 24 issue run? He pretty much disregards EVERYTHING about Moon Knight as a social warrior who fights for those who are left behind by society and instead puts him fighting against black terrorists, Muslims, and Latin American cartels. Also, we never find out if he even cared to read the old issues of Moon Knight as there’s literally not a single mention of the System in any of the 24 issues. Not even a “well, I created these identities to help me and I went a bit insane”.

So I am going to do a fast run on what was good and bad of the series, especially once Dixon left and we had some more capable (And less fascist) writers on deck. Although there was not much good here.

Oh, we started with the Punisher Annual as part of a crossover named Atlantis Attack? But it was nothing to write home about as since it was a Punisher book, we don’t even get to see who fronted at the time. I assumed Marc because, well, Marc pretty much fronted the whole time because the writers even forgot that at times Moon Knight was a separate alter.

It is THAT bad.

I mean, just for starters? Frenchie wants to kill people and think Marc not wanting to kill people is Marc going soft. Because there are people who deserve getting killed. Marlene is back, as Marc’s girlfriend, and her ex-husband is never ever mentioned again because Dixon didn’t read Fist of Khonshu. And we get the origin again because of course, Bushman has to be the first villain. And it took literally 19 pages of the first issue for Marlene to get back on the “BUT WHY do you have to be Moon Knight and help people?!” train. 19 pages. And here she is a gold digger who only gets placated when Marc gives her his gold card so she can buy herself whaever she wants.

Chuck Dixon, writer of great women… NOT.

We also begin the… I want to say “heroification”, of Marc Spector begins. I mean, previously, no writer shied away from the fact that yes, Marc had been a mercenary, and he had killed innocents only for money and thus, a lot of his work as Moon Knight was a sort of atonement. But here, Marlene, of ALL PEOPLE, tell Marc that sure, he was a merc, but neither he nor Frenchie were “doing it for the money” but usually worked “for the losing side” because it was a ”more noble battle” than what Marc is doing as Moon Knight.

YES, that is how far right Chuck Dixon is: Killing innocents for money is more noble than helping people escape gang life. (Oh, and Black African countries were sub-civilized and black rulers decided just to kill AIDS patients because they’re evil and that was the cure )

Now, I am not going to spend more on this than what I need to for the basics so, quick points: In 60 issues? We get TWO, yes, TWO mentions of the Alters. BOTH during nightmareish moments were Moon Knight is losing his humanity and becoming a demon, both around the end of the run. Other than that? Not a single peep. And they only speak in ONE of the nightmare moments. So in the sense of representation? This is probably the worst Moon Knight run. (I mean, it IS the worst Moon Knight run in general, but at least it doesn’t go the “evil” alter controls Moon Knight route?)

At some point, because Dixon forgot he was writing Moon Knight and not Batman, he introduces Anton Mogart (Midnight)’s son, Jeff Wilde, who is obsessed with being Moon Knight’s Sidekick and Tim Drake was popular. Unfortunately, Jeff is no Tim Drake, and after being annoying for 10 issues, he gets kidnapped, experimented on and turned into a cyborg by the evil Secret Empire and…. That particular Arc gets resolved in Spectacular Spider-man 353-358 because absolutely no one who followed Dixon’s run cared any about Midnight II. Although it’s funny to see Marc claiming that Moon Knight works solo… In front of Frenchie. And ignores Crawley, Gena, Gena’s kids and Marlene. Oh, and the fact that in a few issues after Dixon is gone? We’ll get introduced to the Shadow Cabinet, a group of about 10 people who now do Jake Lockley’s job of getting information for Moon Knight (which costs Marc a pretty penny when it’d be a lot cheaper to pay Crawley and get into a cab)

Dixon ignores Marc’s strength growing with the moon, and thus no writer that followed him remembered so we have NO idea how he lost that power since that came BEFORE Khonshu possessed him in West Coast Avengers.

Khonshu finally gets a mention in issue eleven, as “the Moldy Egypcian God” who resurrected Marc, and a little later Moon Knight is called Khonshu by African natives because “their priestess saw a vision” and it is very telling how Dixon only allows black people to believe in pagan gods. It isn’t until AFTER Dixon leaves when Marc starts praying to Khonshu again, and we get something interesting done with the God, even if he is still not back on Earth. Around issue 23, Marc seemed to remember his faith on Khonshu and started saying that the god found his enemies lacking but… it feels a lot like lip service after so many bad issues.

But when Dixon leaves, Howard Mackie comes in for a bit and introduces the very interesting concept of the Knights of Khonshu, a modern sect that follows the god and hates Moon Knight as they see him as a fake, an impostor and some, one who must die in the name of the True Avatar of the God. This is at first a one issue, interrupted by the very good but incredibly weird J.M. De Matteis run that deals with the now telepathic and pyrokinetic Stained Glass Scarlet, but it makes Marc start doubting if Khonshu is really a good God, given that the cult are quite extremists and tend to work with terrorists.

And here is where the ONLY interesting thing that the Marc Spector: Moon Knight series did with the character happens: On one hand we have the retcon that Marc wasn’t always at odds with Rabbi Spector. In fact, we’re now told that he WANTED to be a Rabbi like his dad when he was younger (This is on the De Matteis run, that has a LOT, and I mean a LOT of images where Khonshu turns into Rabbi Spector and vice versa). On the other… Randall Spector is back, as part of the Knights of Khonshu.

Because see, the crazy Hatchet was NOT Randall, but a vagrant brainwashed and made to look like Randall, in order to test Marc since Randall HAD been at the Seti tomb at the same time as Marc because he had been at the camp where Bushman and Marc had their first fight, and was convinced that Marc wanted to kill him, as, again, they were both mercenaries because, get this, Marc was following on Randall’s footsteps! Yep, good ol’ Randall was the one who convinced Marc to become a mercenary. Once in the tomb, he saw Marc’s resurrection, and went to the statue to beg for a chance to redeem himself, but was ignored by Khonshu. Thus, he stole a papyri and hooked up with the head priestess of the cult of Khonshu who told him that, if he killed Marc, then he’d be the real Moon Knight as long as the killing was done under a full moon and a very specific star configuration. Oh, and he gets made immune to pain, and calls himself Shadow Knight. During the fight, Randall hits Marc on the chest, and thus, gives him a moon crescent scar.

Also, it is weird to see them fighting “for the power of Khonshu” as at that moment? Marc has absolutely no superpowers. Like, none at all.

Of course, Marc wins, and Randall dies, AGAIN. But here’s the really interesting part: Once he beats Randall, Marc suddenly gains the (never used again) ability to read hyerogliphics as if they were English. And so, grabbing the papyr that Randall stole, he realizes that all this time, he’s been wrong: Khonshu is not the god of Vengance. He is the god of Justice. And thus, he decides to continue fighting for his god, under a new mission.

And then everything else in the series gets into a very bad case of the nineties so it’s a pain to read. I mean, Frenchie happens to be the last descendant of a Templar family who can bring on his ancestors into his body to fight for him. Marc first gets infected by the Demogoblin (the hobgoblin most demonic face created during Inferno) and turned into a demon, then cured with mystic surgery courtesy of Reed Richards and Dr. Strange, then discovers he IS half demon, descendant from a man who happens to look just like him, but calls himself Seth the Immortal. And TEN issues after that reveal? Marc dies killing Seth, and I am convinced he committed suicide just to get out of this horrible mess of a series (I mean, the art alone? Would make even Rob Liefeld weep)

Seriously, the only worthwhile thing in 60 issues is “Khonshu is not the god of Vengance, he is the god of Justice”.