Moon Knight is one of Marvel’s more low-profile titles, powering on despite the exit of “name” author Charlie Huston as writer. The title’s noir-ish tone places it alongside books like Daredevil, but the graphic violence suggests it might actually be more at home in the MAX line of titles where it could really cut loose. Whatever its place in Marvel’s repertoire, it’s managed to get to 20 issues, and that’s already a fairly respectable distance for such a low-key ongoing to travel.

This issue is a stand-alone story that spotlights Moon Knight’s old foe Jack Russell, Werewolf by Night, and an underground fighting ring that exploits his Werewolf powers to provide a super-powered alternative to illegal gamblers. Naturally, Moon Knight is on hand to bring things down the only way he knows how - with a number of heavy beatings.

There doesn’t appear to be much time given to any specific ongoing plot thread in this issue - the story takes place largely in flashback to 1994, and only makes a brief attempt to tie in with Moon Knight’s current status quo, in which he has quit as the avatar of Khonshu and decided to cease killing his enemies. While the general theme of the flashback ties in with that decision, it’s not likely to convince any regular readers that it’s an essential chapter in the story. 

Luckily, it’s not aimed at regular readers. Deodato’s artwork is fantastically atmospheric and his fight scenes brilliantly technical. A back-up story reprints Moon Knight’s first, 2-issue appearance in the pages of Werewolf by Night, adding a reasonable $1 onto the issue price as a result. Between a stand-alone story, a classic, hefty-sized reprint and an appearance from one of Marvel’s hotter artists, it’s clearly a package designed to bring in a few new readers to the series in-between arcs.

In that regard, it’s certainly a success, since it appealed to me and I’m not a Moon Knight fan - the problem, if anything, is that I’m not convinced I want to read the next issue after this. The framing sequence doesn’t adequately explain how the flashback ties in with the ongoing plot, and as a result I don’t feel compelled to pick up the next issue and see where it’s going. It’ll sit nicely as a Moon Knight story in anyone’s collection, especially with the reprints, but is it likely to translate those casual buyers into regular ones? Probably not.

Tags: Mike Benson, Mike Deodato, Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night
Publisher: Marvel