Moon Knight [2021] #17 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 17, January 2023

Depicting Marc Spector’s white-hooded alter-ego at arguably the height of his power, Jed MacKay’s storyline for Issue Seventeen of “Moon Knight” must surely have caused many a fan of the millionaire entrepreneur to shout in triumph as he brutally batters the super-assassins Grand Mal and the Nemean. Indeed, despite having opened with the disconcerting scene of Tigra declaring that the titular character’s comrade-in-arms Doctor Badr is dead, this comic’s plot persistently then projects a series of successes which climaxes with the two West Coast Avengers confidently striding into the Structure’s vampire conclave; “It’s customary to show up to a party with presents -- and this is a party, isn’t it?”  

Admittedly, many of the Fist of Khonshu’s achievements do debatably belong at the feet of the masked vigilante’s “entity from another dimension”, which has more recently taken up residence as the Midnight Mission. However, that doesn’t necessarily detract from the hero’s ability to quite literally drag the “killers who beat him once already” straight into the House of Shadows’ very belly first. Furthermore, before the pair succumb to the psychological tortures of the ‘magical office space’ they are given a darn good thrashing by the Egyptian Moon God’s favoured son, courtesy of some hand-batons.

Intriguingly though, this twenty-page periodical’s plot isn’t just about portraying Moon Knight, and later a resurrected Hunter’s Moon, exacting their revenge upon their blood-drinking opponents either. But also dedicates the final fifth of the book to showing just how dominate the various vampire organisations across the world actually are, and just how insanely ambitious the Tutor has become. This disconcerting sense of global sovereignty becomes especially palpable once it becomes clear that with the sole exception of Count Dracula himself declining Kenneth’s invitation, the leader of New York City’s “massive cult-like Ponzi scheme” appears to have the attention of every Nosferatu leader on the planet.

Helping to make this comic as sensational-looking as the Midnight Mission’s shadow-filled corridors are spine-chillingly scary, at least for Grand Mal and the Nemean, are Alessandro Cappuccio’s layouts. The Italian artist does a prodigious job pencilling all the flesh-crawling horrors to befall Tutor’s minions, as well as noticeably adding some extra swagger to Spector and Tigra as they almost nonchalantly walk in upon the Structure’s grand ceremony wearing the very finest in formal attire.

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