Moon Knight [2021] #5 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 5, January 2022

Whilst the revelation as to the actual identity of the person behind the titular character’s most recent exploits may well have occurred somewhat too soon for many of this ongoing series’ readers, it certainly provides Jed MacKay with an excellent opportunity to pen an exhilarating thrill-ride across the night-time rooftops of New York City. Indeed, despite Issue Five of “Moon Knight” containing a fair few dialogue-driven scenes, such as the Fist of Khonshu surprisingly sitting down to tea and cakes with Soldier’s aged mother or Doctor Andrea Sterman’s superhuman therapy sessions, there’s a palpable pace to this twenty-page periodical’s plot.

To begin with, presumably this comic’s entire audience are completely wrong-footed with the assumption that Marc Spector’s “new nemesis” is a former Hydra operative-turned-Manhattan tenant who has covertly managed to befriend the out-of-favour West Coast Avenger, and even previously ‘teamed-up’ with him on an earlier adventure against Leonard Hawley. This accusatory thread is subsequently made all the more convincing once the costumed crime-fighter has located his hidden enemy’s “other place” and discovered it be packed full of “parabolic and laser mics… all pointed at the Midnight Mission.”

What happens next though, is arguably quite unexpected and helps ramp up the tension within this publication’s already intriguing narrative by several notches. The mysterious Zodiac is not Soldier, and has simply set the former terrorist up. In addition, the enigmatic anarchist has manacled his badly battered Judas goat to a radiator inside a Midnight Mission which is absolutely crammed full of explosives, and half-expects Moon Knight to simply leave the man to die before the bomb’s fast running out timer expires; “You can admit that you’re a phony, and save yourself. I didn’t lock the door on my way out, so you’re free to go.”

Obviously, the “Lunar Legionnaire" decides to stay with his captive friend and attempts to cut through the hardened chain with a micro plasma torch. However, rather than depict a routine, play-by-numbers rescue mission, the super-tight panel layouts and wonderfully focused pencilling by Alessandro Cappuccio, as well as some almost blinding colours by Rachelle Rosenberg, very much put the vigilante’s valiant efforts in doubt right up until the moment when Marc's neighbourhood headquarters violently blows up.

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