The likely unknown Marvel super-hero, Moon Knight, got his own little 12 issue run back in 2011-2012 written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Alex Maleev. The story comes out right before the big event "Age of Ultron" that saw the complete destruction of pretty much every super-hero and completely warped the universes thanks to good old Wolverine.
We aren't given much in terms of backstory into the comic outside of a blurb on the first page, explaining how Marc Spector once had three personalities stuck in his brain fighting for control, because he's crazy ya know? Well those died and only Spector rose up, but they were replaced by the personalities of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine (each, obviously, very unique and different). Moon Knight also moved out to L.A. and using his vast riches started his own TV show based on the events of his life as the vigilante, during his time as Jake Lockley.
The story itself isn't too involved, but it's mostly a character study about Marc Spector and how he deals with the personalities urging him on in his brain. We get tons of glimpses as to how he functions and how truly crazy this guy is throughout the book, mostly during the fight scenes. The plot, though, is about how Moon Knight stumbles across the delivery of an Ultron head, and freaks out, rightfully so. The mystery and story soon evolve into who would want this Ultron head and why.
I felt this was a clever way of tying Moon Knight into the events of "Age of Ultron" without having to overtly show an Ultron. It shows that something is afoot in the Marvel universe involving the manical machine and some of the super-villains are in on it. Sadly, the run ends after this, so it really does feel like build up to the event. It also would take two years for a new Moon Knight comic to come out, the current one (which is pretty awesome, by the way).
Outside of a few cameos I wouldn't say there are too many big name super-heroes in this story, or for that matter any super-villains. It doesn't take a die-hard fan to get into this comic but someone who is completely unfamiliar to the Marvel universe might be thrown off by who is who and why, since they don't really bother to explain it.
That being said, I'd like to say that there are some inconsistencies to the characters. Obviously Moon Knight is a great fighter and has some super-human ability, since he was brought back to life by Khonshu, but to go up against the big villain reveal in the final third of the story seems a bit of a stretch. Not only that, but he beats him once pretty badly--the confusion comes from the fact that Snapdragon, kind of a C-list super villain, manages to put up a decent fight against him as well.
The book does a good job of poking fun at the fact that barely anyone recognizes who these heroes or villains are, one of its bonuses. But it's difficult to look away from the fact that Bendis tries to make Moon Knight seem a lot tougher than he really is. By giving him certain tools and weaponry, Moon Knight is able to perform extraordinary tasks and while that adds something to the character, it does take away from the main focus of what Moon Knight is about. He's not necessarily supposed to be taking on all these super strong villains because he's a little incapable of doing so.
Now had they given him stronger back-up I think that would have helped. Instead we got Echo. I'm not going to complain too much about having Echo, since she was a pretty good foil for the crazed Marc Spector character, but still, she confused me a little. They barely explain who she is and if she even has any powers outside of the fact that she's deaf and was part of the Avengers before giving that up. She doesn't get very much development and is honestly not too memorable of a character.
Marc Spector shines as he should in his own series but I would like to have seen a few more memorable characters and moments. There are some things that stand out to me but really they're kind of little things that are sort of irrelevant, and those are the cameos by the other heroes.
Big moments that actually slowed the story down were the moments with Snapdragon. She wasn't interesting and when you found out that she was working for someone who was extremely powerful she became something of a stop sign for the story--having to wait to continue onward. The stuff with Spector became increasingly interesting as it seemed the personalities were beginning to loosen their grip on him as he focused more on the missions and began to realize what really needed to be done. However, it was ground to a halt whenever Snapdragon appeared. There was also some random sub-plot about the police that involved her that was overall kind of lame and didn't play a part in anything except for setting up where the final fight would take place--and even then, it hardly set that up.
The artwork in the series is pretty good most of the time, but whenever there's a fight scene it gets kind of clunky. You can't really tell who is trying to talk and who is throwing a fist because some of the colors sort of meld together. Sometimes it won't show who hit who in between panels and it's never really clarified as to what is going on. But as far as expressions and scenery the artwork is very good, showcasing how the characters are feeling and what's on their mind, as well as perfectly encapsulating emotion on their face when they really get into something.
Overall, I'd say this is a good 12-issue run. It does exactly what it needs to do in twelve issues, and you really get the feeling that there isn't very much more it could have done. I wish there would have been less Snapdragon toward the end of the run and more development for Echo as a character so she would stick with us more, but sadly we were given some pretty useless and dull villains. It sets up Moon Knight's potential role in "Age of Ultron" well while at the same time giving us an excellent look into his world as a crazy super-hero. I'd recommend it for any Moon Knight fan and for someone looking to read the build-up into "Age of Ultron," but if you're someone that likes the mainstream Marvel stuff (i.e. anyone in the MCU Avengers), then this is probably going to bore you a little. Still, I liked it.
Because Moon Knight is the bomb.
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