Over the years, Moon Knight has had a slew of baddies, an ever-rotating cast of supporting characters, and a wildly vacillating tone; for years, it felt that no one knew what to do with the character, or who exactly he was. The modern era, largely under the pen of writer Jed MacKay, has finally landed on something compelling and fresh, turning the character away from some of his lamer or stodgier trappings of decades past and entrenching him firmly in the dark. Horror-adjacent, bloody, and no-nonsense, the modern Moon Knight is a character who suffers no crisis of identity – even though the character has several.
The new series, Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu, may have rebooted the title, but it retained that sense of self and purpose. It didn’t dispose of any supporting characters or redirect Moon Knight’s focus. Instead, the new title came with a new villain, a new series of conflicts, and a new status quo.
Marvel
It also happens to have brought Marc Spector back to life, clearly, but even in death, Marc’s story continued forward under the watch of his fantastic new supporting cast. You know that a book is strong if it can survive without its titular character until rebirth.
Rebirth did Spector no favors; Subterranean Jungle sees the character and his “team” displaced and under constant attack. The series’ big bad, an Asgardian crime kingpin running a magical drug ring, has set an array of forces against our heroes; this volume sees the turning of the tide as Moon Knight and crew take the fight to the foes.
Marvel
Even with two different artists on the book – Domenico Carbone and Devmalya Pramanik – the book feels stylistically unified, the visual quality never skipping a beat. A large reason for that is the consistently beautiful work by the ever-talented colorist, Rachelle Rosenberg, who steeps the book in its trademark gloom and the blinding, lens-flared vestments of its hero.
Subterranean Jungle doesn’t feel revolutionary – aside from a few blistering narrative beats, its action is pretty straightforward and its race toward conclusion is just this side of predictable – but it speaks volumes that the book still feels utterly vital, incredibly cool, even when it’s rumbling along in low gear.
Which doesn’t mean there aren’t incredible moments. Issue #8 sees Moon Knight take on an enchanted sword, pitting a dragon against Khonshu himself. The vibes are impeccably cool and moody, and even jokey moments have a sense of serious edge to them.
All in all, Fist of Khonshu is a book that looks and feels unlike anything else the publisher is putting out. It walks a tightrope of darkness without falling too far into the edgelordy or the gruesome for gruesome sake. It makes Moon Knight feel solid, less disposable than he can sometimes feel. Subterranean Jungle maintains the strongest heading the character has had in decades, and it feels relieving to be in such good hands.
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