Moon Knight is celebrating its 25th milestone issue this week with an extra-sized story featuring multiple artists. Considering superhero comics rarely get more than five to ten issues, let alone 25, reaching this many issues is a huge achievement. It’s also a huge achievement that Jed MacKay doesn’t disappoint with the writing on this special issue which features mind-blowing art by Alessandro Vitti, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Partha Pratim.
If you’ve been trade-waiting, or only dabbling with Moon Knight, Moon Knight #25 is a fairly easy issue to jump into. Its main goal is to set up the Black Spectre, Moon Knight’s new ultimate foe, while also dabbling in the past before Marc Spector was ever busting vampire and supervillain heads. Because of these elements running tandem, this issue feels like a celebration of what came before and what is ahead for the hero.
Broken up into easily digestible chapters, the issue is fairly straightforward and easy to read. It opens with a prologue establishing the villain, cuts to Moon Knight doing investigative work in a cemetery, and moves on to prison. The location changes help keep the pace up while Moon Knight fights threats, steals boats, and realizes allies are enemies.
The mystical nature of Moon Knight continues to be a highlight of the series, with Cappuccio’s art style — and Rachelle Rosenberg’s great colors — giving Moon Knight an otherworldly vibe. He’s cast in shadow yet glowing a bit with blue hues. Meanwhile, the flashbacks to when Mark was a soldier/government agent have a gritty realism suited for the espionage angle of the story. Those are by Alessandro Vitti and are reminiscent of 100 Bullets in their styling. Partha Pratim draws most of the prison scenes, maximizing the final moment’s drama and a tense interrogation scene with Moon Knight. All in all, the visual aesthetic of the modern Moon Knight is beautiful and eerie in the best way.
The art is equal parts pretty and gothic!
Credit: Marvel
That eerie nature allows Moon Knight to fight anything from drones to what is basically a demon. Seeing this story take such a big swing is quite cool. Still, if you haven’t been following along, some of the characters that Moon Knight battles leading somehow to demons might go over your head.
Fans of this character will also delight in seeing more adult violence and themes at work across this issue. Seeing Mark gun down baddies is fairly uncommon, for instance, and the fight scene where Moon Knight gets a beating is hard felt.
Already teased by Marvel, Layla El-Faouly also appears, although she’s more of a supporting character here. Instead of a big splashy appearance or role, she’s tucked into a flashback, which feels modern and adult. Sure, getting a flashy moment or two would be nice, but that’s what the upcoming upcoming miniseries is for. The final few pages of this special also act as a bridge to the next chapter, and while it’s only an epilogue, it does feel a little padded out.
Closing out the special is a reprint of Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz’s “A Long Way To Dawn.” You can see how this classic tale inspired the darker tone of this series, and it’s fun to see the older style at work. Sienkiewicz is a master, and it shows in spades across this backup.
Fans of the ongoing run of Moon Knight will love this issue as it plays with new and old themes expertly. There isn’t a superhero comic as dark and macabre as Moon Knight, and this milestone issue proves that in droves. A compelling character over the years, it’s quite clear that Moon Knight has never been this weird and awesome at the same time.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.