Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Moon Knight #6
Marvel Comics
Ellis, Shalvey & Bellaire
The final issue of Ellis and Shalvey's short Moon Knight run is as great as the first five. The premise here is that a jealous street cop is looking to take down Moon Knight and basically replace him. The comic does all the same storytelling tactics as the first five issues that work so well: brief dialogue, deliberate pencils, stark colors, gadgets and action. This comic hits the character from a slightly different angle but it works just as well as the other takes. Fantastic issue.
The book opens with an investigation. The detective overseeing decides it's a case for Moon Knight. A disgruntled cop questions the decision and the detective basically tells him to get out of the way and let the master handle it.
At this point we could easily launch into Moon Knight in action, tracking down and dealing with the criminal. Instead, we watch the cop go home and complain to his significant other. The cop then begins his own investigation, but into Moon Knight.
The cop tracks down some of the characters that might typically interface with Moon Knight and finds some interesting information about the character and his past. The cop then formulates a plan to find Moon Knight, trap him, kill him and replace him. It's a grizzly little plan.
The comic book reads so well. It's as if the characters are well known and this is the payoff issue for some twelve-issue run. This comic manages to create a character, establish motive and enact a plan all within a single issue. This, with limited words no less.
The comic also takes a look at Moon Knight and some of his supporting cast with a magnifying glass. This really helps to round out the character and make some sense of his crazy history. This is a welcome addition to the individual issue.
The artwork shines once again. The book takes a good look at the cop's investigation the artwork really adds tone and suspense to the careful steps taken by the cop. The action is tremendously rendered as well as the art takes the reader through step by step, panel by panel as the book builds towards its conclusion. The comic book hits on every cylinder with the artwork.
Moon Knight is an interesting character with a lot of incarnations and a complicated history. This six issue run is classic. This particular issue is a great look at the character from an unknown nobody. The comic punctuates the run nicely. I highly recommend checking this out.
4.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles
