Moon Knight [2021] #24 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 24, August 2023

There should probably be little argument that Jed MacKay’s storyline for Issue Twenty-Four of “Moon Knight” is somewhat different from the norm, considering that it quite neatly intermixes a number of hallucinogenic visions with the former West Coast Avenger’s exploration of a multi-storey building in the real world. But sadly, when the central premise of a book is to have the Fist of Khonshu basically just climb up a few stairs and then find a dying “old enemy” curled up in a dark corner, these psychedelic trips can debatably be seen as being nothing more than mere padding to help fill out the twenty-page publication; “You’re insane, you know that? How about this? Endless violence. Does that make you happy?”

Indeed, by the time Marc Spector’s alter-ego encounters a nightclub in which a surprisingly happy Jake Lockley is holding a big party, the more critical minded members of this comic’s audience may well be thinking that the Canadian author had already run out of ideas for Morpheus’ day-dreams, and was simply throwing notions against a wall to see what successfully stuck. Certainly, there appears to be little rhyme or reason to some of the subsequent visualisations, such as when the “Lunar Legionnaire” savagely smacks Captain America straight in the mouth following the First Avenger illogically welcoming him back to the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Perhaps therefore the most fun to be had out of “Ill Met By Moonlight” comes with the zany, tongue-in-cheek interlude featuring the Mighty Mail-Man and his short-wearing sidekick, the Precocious Postie. Apparently determined to deliver the post through a demon-infested, post-apocalyptic landscape, this mirage would surely have made a much more fascinating, pulse-pounding plot than the numerous hollow intermissions which surround it, had it been given much more sheet space.

Bringing a little Anime-like animation to parts of this comic’s layouts is Federico Sabbatini, who seemingly does the best he can with what little the script provides. The Italian illustrator definitely delivers an eye-catching Moon Knight, resplendent in his white cape and cowl. However, a lot of his backgrounds, such as the sequence staged at Grant Manor are rather bland and lack-lustre, and do little to hold the attention as the panels progress.

Writer: Jed MacKay, Artist: Federico Sabbatini, and Color Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg