Moon-Knight-6-featured Reviews 

“Moon Knight” #6

By | July 19th, 2019
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

In recent years, Moon Knight has been a recurring character at Marvel Comics, with different iterations of the character being frequent but short-lived. The most recent run of the series, by Max Bemis and Jacen Burrows, ended last October and the title has yet to be relaunched. For the next 12 weeks, in this summer plagued by a Moon Knight drought, I’ll be bringing you my thoughts on Bendis and Maleev’s run as part of our Summer Comics Binge.

Cover by Alex Maleev
“Moon Knight” #6
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Pencilled by Alex Maleev
Colored by Matthew Wilson
Lettered by VC’s Cory Petit

Moon Knight gets one step closer to the kingpin of Los Angeles and uses Ultron as bait. But in doing so he may have unleashed a hell the West Coast cannot survive.

Can you believe it?

That’s something I’ve asked myself many times reading “Moon Knight” so far. Can we believe what is in front of us? Is that character real? Would they behave like that? This week, I’m asking myself if I can believe that Mystery Power made an appearance. That’s right, the big bad who’s been looming over the series, actually made an appearance this week. Sure, we might not get much more information about him, but he turns up and makes a huge impact. First of all, the earlier confusion I had at the end of issue #2 regarding Mystery Monocle is clarified by this issue because Mystery Power and Mystery Monocle are the same person. It seemed most likely, but with the silhouetted appearance, there could have easily been two characters vying for control over L.A. Secondly, any doubts regarding how powerful Mystery Power is, if anyone had any, were squashed this week.

We saw the Night Shift reunited in a meeting with Snapdragon and, after their failure in issue #4, there had to be consequences. These consequences aren’t dealt by Snapdragon though. Instead, Mystery Power turns up and decimates them all, leaving a smoking pile of ash in the middle of the warehouse. Maleev gives the readers a huge panel reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with bolts of lightning/energy shooting from their eyes and mouths (So long, nameless ones!). Thanks to Maleev’s scratchy linework, these bolts have a sense of being uncontrollable and extremely powerful that gives the moment a real weight and makes the Mystery Power only seem greater in strength. There’s an intensity in the coloring of the panels too, the orange and red tones sear against the rest of the colors that are used throughout this issue and many of the other issues in the series so far.

Next up – can you believe it, the real Avengers are here! After the rest of the series giving them sporadic appearances that were overshadowed by Marc’s internal Avenger trio, the real ones turn up when Marc expects to hear from the imaginary ones. This moment of realisation that they’re not the ones in his head is a small twist, the kind that I expected more of throughout the series, but, Bendis has used them sparingly and to great effect. Their introduction, following an appearance by the Mystery Power gives the issue an impetus too, it feels like the larger story is building once again and culminates with the revelation that Marc’s plan is to use the Ultron head as bait for the kingpin of L.A.

The only problem I had with the real Avengers’s presence in the book, was that it still felt false. Captain America is incredibly concerned about Marc being in possession of the Ultron head, fearing for the Mystery Power’s intention with it, yet, by the closing page of the issue, it seems that he’s going to go along with Marc’s plan, despite him having clear doubts about him being able to handle it alone. As Cap says, a kingpin with an Ultron is an Avengers problem, not a Moon Knight one, but, I guess I’ll have to let that slide. This is “Moon Knight,” not “Avengers” after all.

Having said that though, in this issue, Moon Knight and Echo are officially teaming up. Maya arrives at Marc’s house and we get some follow-up on their relationship and Maya explains there is something going on between them, but Marc isn’t allowed to just try to seize any moment he feels like something could happen. Moreover, Maya opens up to Marc and explains how she doesn’t like the way she has been operating as Echo recently and so they’re relationship gets an increase in intimacy. Marc, on the other hand, hasn’t explained his situation to Maya and even questions whether she is real when he first wakes up and so, if their relationship is to continue, even on a super-hero level of professionalism, he’s going to have to tell her about the imaginary Avengers that are going to be helping him and her on their missions.

Overall – With this issue marking the halfway point of Bendis and Maleev’s run on “Moon Knight,” the focus of the story returns to the Mystery Power and the Ultron head and is all the better for it.


//TAGS | 2019 Summer Comics Binge

Luke Cornelius

Luke is an English and American Literature and Creative Writing graduate. He likes spending his time reading comics (obviously), going out on long walks and watching films/TV series.

EMAIL | ARTICLES


  • The Mighty Thor 351 featured Reviews
    “The Mighty Thor” #349-355

    By | Sep 26, 2019 | Reviews

    While Walter Simonson would continue to write “Thor” for another few years, this arc, this final arc, this arc that encompasses everything he had been building toward when he first took on the title, marks the end of his time as the primary writer and artist. Over half a year, he brought together all the […]

    MORE »
    Reviews
    “X-Men: Second Coming” and X-Force

    By | Sep 21, 2019 | Reviews

    “Second Coming” changed everything for the X-Men and that includes “X-Force” being brought into the light.Written by VariousIllustrated by VariousColored by VariousLettered by VariousThe 2010 story “Second Coming” was an all encompassing X-Men crossover, the culmination of threads that started back in 2007 with “Messiah Complex,” that hailed the rebirth of the X-Men and mutandum. […]

    MORE »

    -->