Moon Knight #2

By Jeff Lemire, Greg Smallwood, Jordie Bellaire, and Cory Petit.

Moon Knight #2 continues to unfold the bizarre story of the questioned sanity around our hero Marc Spector as he finds himself trapped in an insane asylum of sorts. This is our second issue into the five-part series of ‘New Egypt’ and, so far, this run has fulfilled and surpassed all expectations of even the most devout Moon Knight fan. This book has really left the reader wondering if Marc Spector is delusional and Moon Knight is just a creation of his mind or if this insane asylum was built specifically to keep Moon Knight and his allies distracted while something truly big and bad is about to happen. This issue takes the whole struggle a step forward as Marc finds a possible escape plan to leave the asylum once and for all.

It can be posited that if Jeff Lemire is behind a title, it is going to be great. This can be seen from his work around multiple publishers and writing of varied characters, both his own and corporate-owned.  When he took on Moon Knight, we as readers knew to expect the many layers of Moon Knight to be peeled back and examined, but Lemire has been doing a truly tremendous job weaving a story that questions not only Marc Spector’s sanity, but Moon Knight’s as well.  Moon Knight has been hinted at being delusional or having multiple personality disorder in recent runs and Lemire takes this idea and just fully explores it with this run. We are witnessing a true deconstruction of Marc Spector and Moon Knight.   In one sequence, we see Marc having a therapy session with Dr. Emmet as he is either suffering from a severe delusion or breakthrough by insisting on his identity as Moon Knight. In the very next sequence, we see Moon Knight facing questioning from Khonshu about his capability and loyalty after receiving electric shock therapy from the truly awful, loathsome twosome orderlies, Billy and Bobby. These two sequences back to back really help to reinforce the ‘is he or isn’t he’ crazy narrative that is the underlying question throughout the book.

Moon Knight #2 opens up with a two-page spread that is one of the best introductions into a comic in recent date. Big kudos go out to artist Greg Smallwood, color artist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer Cory Petit for this accomplishment. The book opens up on a notebook sketch done in a blue inked ballpoint pen. It appears to be the rambled sketches of a crazed Marc Spector as he is attempting to put together his life as Moon Knight to prove to himself it was not a dream. The sketches are of Moon Knight, and an inventory of his weapons, but are done so beautifully. The book continues to wow with great art, detailing, and panel layout throughout the issue. The art style varies and changes between clean lines, bold colors and great detail while Marc is in the asylum. During the sequence when Moon Knight is encountering Khonshu, the art changes. We receive a grittier, darker, blue, black, and grey color palette that is accented with heavy lines and shadowing that create a dreamlike quality. Great detailing is littered throughout the book, like the wings on the chair Khonshu is sitting on, and the eyes of Marc Spector having a slight redness to them.

Moon Knight is a great example of how Marvel can still have great offbeat stories about non-conventional super heroes. So, if you are not on the Moon Knight train, there is still time to get on board because the train has not fully left the station yet. This run is looking to be epic and one of the best Moon Knight runs of recent times thanks to the awesome creative team behind this book.