(this is just a review of the Midnight Sun TPB that I wrote and want to share)
Midnight Sun continues the excellence that was provided in the first story arc, which is collected in Moon Knight: The Bottom. Just as in the first arc, Huston's story is engaging and Finch's artwork is superb. Only complaint regarding artwork in this trade is the change of artists starting at issue 13 (which is thankfully at the end, because Finch's work was way better and much more appealing). But don't let that little problem detract you from this excellent piece of work.
It's nice to see Moon Knight get to interact with so many other characters from the Marvel Universe: first Spider-Man (albeit briefly), then Captain America, The Punisher, and finally Tony Stark. The best of these encounters was undoubtedly his discussion with The Punisher. It's such a great scene because although Moon Knight is so brutal, even he wonders about The Punisher's total disregard for the lives of those unto which punishment is rendered.
Probably my favorite thing about this story arc was the large number of references made to previous Moon Knight stories. Most people wouldn't catch these or probably care even if they did, but for someone who is an extremely big Moon Knight fan like me and who has actually read every single comic book that was alluded to here, it was especially special. It just felt really cool being able to go, "Oh, I remember that story," or, "Hey, I read when that happened." Just so you can empathize with me a bit, here's a list of all of the references to older Moon Knight stuff that I caught:
Midnight using his father's sewer lair as a hideout
mentioning Moon Knight's moon-based powers he used to have
reference to Moon Knight's relationship with Tigra while he was on the West Coast Avengers
when The Punisher killed Randall Spector, Moon Knight's brother, in the Marc Spector: Moon Knight series
the Profile briefly mentioning Crawley's failings as a husband and father and how his son became a psychotic serial killer
Khonshu making a reference to when Moon Knight was put in a wheelchair by The Fly
Marlene mentioning her ex-husband and the deaths of her father and brother
flashback panel showing Morpheus
Seeing all that stuff made me really appreciate Charlie Huston's work on Moon Knight.
The choice of the villain was a good one, in my opinion. It was nice to see some pretty solid closure on the whole Midnight becoming a cyborg escapade. Also, at this point I'd like to note that the other reviewer incorrectly labelled Midnight as a new villain, when he actually was not. All that talk about him being a sidekick of Moon Knight and him being the son of an art thief all actually happened in previous Moon Knight comics.
Overall, a very good comic, for both a longtime Moon Knight fan and any newcomers as well. Huston really has all of these characters down, and his work is some of the best Moon Knight material.
Well, lately I have been working on reading the Marc Spector: Moon Knight series straight through. I've collected almost the entire series (I'm only missing like issues 53-58 out of the 60). Anyways, I just finished reading the Scarlet Redemption story arc (issues 25-31) by J.M. DeMatteis. The writing and tone felt markedly different than the first 23 issues that Chuck Dixon had wrote, which I really liked. So, at first I was a little disgruntled (just a little though), but then as I read it I was like, "Hmm, this actually feels a lot like Moench's original MK series." Another thing that made it feel more like Moench's work than what Dixon wrote (not to knock on Dixon's run, which I really enjoyed as I already said) was that DeMatteis brought back the supporting characters Gena and Bertrand Crawley, and he also revived an old "rogue" of MK, the Stained Glass Scarlet.
So, my mini "review" of the arc... Most of the communication in the story is through inner monologue, whether that of Scarlet or MK, rather than the normal dialogue among characters found in Dixon's run (and most other comics for that matter). At first, it was a bit annoying that there was rarely any talking going on among characters, but eventually the style grew on me. The artwork was fantastic. The layout of the panels during the issue where Moon Knight is drowning in the water was especially spectacular. Speaking of that issue, I was absolutely ecstatic when I got to see certain characters from MK's past such as his father and brother. It was a nice little recap of his dark past. As I said before, it was nice to see Stained Glass Scarlet make her return. Although she seemed a bit different than what I remember from the Moench series; but, I guess she was supposed to have changed, being driven over the edge and all that jazz. Overall, I was really looking forward to reading this story arc, and DeMatteis did not disappoint me. So, thank you to him and his fellow creative team.
Also, I'd love to hear reviews/opinions/thoughts from anyone else who read the story arc.
I guess I'll just start of by saying that I'm a fan of Hawkeye. I'm working on reading through his journey through the Marvel Universe over the many decades that the character has existed. I've already read from his first appearance in Iron Man (Tales of Suspense, but you know what I mean) and the subsequent appearances in that same magazine all the way up to the West Coast Avengers limited series. Next I'm gonna work on reading through the 1985 West Coast Avengers series through various means and then the subsequent Avengers West Coast series. After that though, I'm kind of at a loss for what to read next. I know of his newer stuff like Hawkeye: Blindspot, Hawkeye and Mockingbird, Widowmaker, Dark Reign: Hawkeye, and his current ongoing series, but I'm sort of at a loss as to where to go directly following Avengers West Coast and all the way up to the previously mentioned titles from the 2000s. Basically, if anyone could help me by enlightening me as to essential Hawkeye material from the 90s and 2000s, that would be very much appreciated. Thanks.
While looking through some old back issues at my comic book store, I came across something very interesting for a Moon Knight fan like myself. It was a Werewolf by Night issue from the 1970s series that featured Moon Knight on the cover, attacking Jack Russell in his werewolf form. Now, I (just as well as any true Moon Knight fan) know that MK made his comic book debut in a two-parter in Werewolf by Night #32-33, and since I (just as well as any true Moon Knight fan) already have those issues, I was tempted to put the issue aside and continue looking for other things. However, upon closer examination of the cover I noticed that there were other villains on the cover that I did not recall being in the issues of MK's debut and saw that the issue was #37. I quickly thought to myself, "I didn't know that MK made another appearance in this title, and it doesn't make a lot of sense that he'd be teaming up with other villains to attack Russell when just five issues ago he helped him put a beatdown on the Committee." I of course purchased the comic so that I could find out what exactly was going on. Come to find out, it wasn't the real Moon Knight, but rather some sort of magical construct created by the villain of the issue. To further add to my disappointment, there is a pretty nasty tear over an inch long through the top of the book (maybe the previous owner was upset that it wasn't the real Moon Knight, and began to take out his anger on the book by ripping it in half before realizing that he could sell it). Nevertheless, it was still well worth the 38 cents I paid for it. Here are some scans from the issue (I've done all the scenes where "MK" appears).
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