Moon Knight [2021] #2 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 2, October 2021

For those readers familiar with the 1993–1994 Batman story arc “Knightfall”, Jed MacKay’s script for Issue Two of “Moon Knight” probably contained a few perplexing parallels with its premise being based upon a mysterious foe “watching it all from the shadows” whilst their super-powered henchmen attempt to “break” Marc Spector’s alter-ego. Happily however, such similarities arguably stop right there as the Canadian writer’s plot to “Strings” also contains plenty of its own innovative ideas, ranging from Reese’s realisation that she can no longer tend other people’s gory injuries since being transformed into a vampire, through to a gang of cutlery-wielding “killer geriatrics” stalking the streets at night looking for hapless victims to attack.

Indeed, perhaps this twenty-page periodical’s biggest draw lies in the co-creation of the writer's villainous Leonard Hawley, who appears to have the highly disconcerting special ability to make people do what he wants them to should they get a taste of the janitor’s sweat. Such a repulsive aptitude is genuinely unsettling, especially when the possible mutant proudly boasts how he has been slowly “doping the building’s water supply” so as to ‘infect’ all the tenement’s residents with his diluted perspiration; “I’m gonna sic all these old, fragile folks on you… How many of these old-timers are you going to kill or cripple on your way out?”  

There’s also a lot to be said for the first appearance of Soldier, who initially accompanies Mister Knight back to his mother’s apartment after she tried to mysteriously murder the heavily-tattooed young man. This fiercely loyal character initially looks set to make an intriguing comrade-in-arms for the white-costumed crime-fighter throughout this book’s entire adventure until he too shockingly falls under Hawley’s mind-controlling spell, and helplessly places a pistol against the base of the hero’s skull.

Undeniably helping in this comic’s storytelling are Alessandro Cappuccio’s layouts, which allow MacKay’s tale to play out in an enjoyably straightforward fashion. Along with some brain-blowing depictions of the inner workings of Spector’s brain, the artist does an especially fine job of pencilling poor Reese swiftly succumbing to the “blood-stink” of Soldier’s injuries, as well as replicating the distortion seen from a one hundred and eighty degree internal security camera.

Writer: Jed MacKay, Artist: Alessandro Cappuccio, and Color Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg