Moon Knight: City Of The Dead #2 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT: CITY OF THE DEAD No. 2, October 2023

Revelling in a series of somewhat surprising and horrific revelations, David Pepose’s script for Issue Two of “Moon Knight: City Of The Dead” should certainly have kept its audience completely captivated. Indeed, every time a reader probably felt they finally had a grip on Marc Spector’s bizarre adventures down in the Egyptian-flavoured afterlife, the American author throws them a wicked curveball - Whether it be the terrifying reason behind why the Jackals are killing runaways in the real world, or just how much the titular character can actually trust his now deceased lover Layla El-Faouly.

To begin with however, the “award-winning writer of Punisher” provides an instant hook by showing the “Lunar Legionnaire” and Scarlet Scarab ransacking a rather anachronistic night club packed full of tommy-gun toting ushabti bodyguards. This marvellously manic punch-up not only shows just how determined the former U.S. Marine is in locating the lost soul of young runaway Khalil Nasser. But also allows them to demonstrate just what transformational powers his “unlikely source for aid” wields as protector of the grisly metropolis.

Intriguing though, having shown just how formidable the pair can be when fighting back-to-back, such a scintillating action sequence additionally makes El-Faouly’s subsequent shocking betrayal all the more impactive. In fact, despite the Fist of Khonshu encountering an entire “murderers’ row of dead super villains who he helped put in the ground”, there still seems to be every chance that Spector will survive the deadly ambush as long as Layla has his back; “I wish I could have saved you too. Turns out you were right. This really was like Damascus after all.”

Standing right alongside Pepose with such intense storytelling, and adding plenty of “Kroom”, “Brakka” and “Whudd” for your buck whilst he’s at it, is Marcelo Ferreira. The Brazilian penciler definitely brings his ‘A-game’ to this twenty-page periodical, to the point where some onlookers may well actually be able to hear the sound of bullets winging past Moon Knight’s constantly moving form, or feel their surroundings shake as a modern-day truck somehow comes crashing straight through one of the walls of the City Of The Dead, and sends all the combatants flying for cover.

Writer: David Pepose, Penciler: Marcelo Ferreira, Inker Jay Leisten, and Color Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg