Moon Knight #189 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 189, January 2018

Shifting just 23,147 copies in November 2017, less than half of what its preceding instalment sold, Issue One Hundred And Eighty Nine of “Moon Knight” nonetheless arguably contains a script which demonstrates just why writer Max Bemis, “the lead singer of the band Say Anything” had “already made an impact at Marvel with X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever and Foolkiller” prior to penning the adventures of the Fist of Khonshu. Indeed, with the exception of a somewhat sedentary section dedicated to illuminating Steven Grant’s persona as a “wealthy… stylish investor and entrepreneur” this twenty-page periodical enthrallingly demonstrates just how physically violent “a fictional superhero” Marc Spector’s alter-ego can be when the occasion demands it; “You. Before I knock you out, tell me… Do you need to be called anyting?”

Foremost of these insights into the ex-mercenary’s brutally psychotic world has to be the titular character’s bloody confrontation with the primary composer’s ‘villain-of-the-piece’, The Truth. Towering over the “rabbi's wayward son”, his heavily muscled body adorned with cyan-coloured tattoos and hieroglyphs, this “giant pest” takes a real beating at the hands of the silver shrouded crime-fighter, and yet still manages to momentarily overpower his opponent long enough for his “Truth Touch” to make the mentally unstable protagonist “experience the pervert side of humanity.”

This ferocious fist-fight encompasses an entire third of the publication, and besides showing that Moon Knight isn’t afraid of getting ‘down and dirty’ when he has to, on this occasion first lacerating the giant killer’s forearm with a crescent-shaped blade before lethally hurling an additional pair straight through his foe’s eyes and into his brain, it also provides an enthralling understanding as to just how Bemis ‘sees’ Spector’s multiple personality disorder working within the comic book medium, with each separate persona cooperatively communicating with one another in order ‘to get the job done.’

Such individuality is further exaggerated by the excellent pencilling of Jacen Burrows, who does a great job of differentiating between the former United States Marine’s contrasting personality states whilst he is battling for his life beneath a cowl. Understandably, whenever Marc is ‘in charge’, then the West Coast Avenger is drawn fully ensconced inside his all-encompassing familiar-looking costume, but just as soon as Jake Lockley takes over, then the suddenly brutish hero removes his hood, rolls up his face mask to reveal a truly terrifying sadistic smile and confidently swaggers into the fray…

Writer: Max Bemis, Artist: Jacen Burrows, and Colorist: Mat Lopes