by Brian LeTendre
The current Moon Knight series is a perfect example of everything that’s both right and wrong in comics today. The all-star team of Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire have crafted a book that is not only the best Moon Knight series yet, but easily one of marvel’s best series right now.
Ellis has adopted the “one and done” format for Moon Knight, with each issue being a stand alone story, while slowly revealing the status quo of Marc Spector in the current Marvel universe. So far, the stories have really delved into the supernatural side of the character, and the art team of Shalvey and Bellarie have given each story its own feel. Bellaire’s colors in particular are outstanding in creating an emotional palette for each story.
Issue #4 sees Moon Knight traveling into the twisted world of a dead man’s dreams. As Moon Knight gets sucked into the dream world, he’s trying to figure out what happened to the victim before he gets trapped in the dead man’s nightmares forever. It’s as creepy and trippy as you would imagine it to be, and its wonderful.
This book is unlike anything out there right now, and I would really like to see Marvel cultivate a supernatural corner of their universe the way DC has done with Constantine, Justice League Dark and other titles. You could have Moon Knight, Doctor Strange, Daimon Hellstrom, Man-Thing, Dracula and more. What a great supernatural/horror line that could be for Marvel.
I loved this issue and I’ve loved the series so far. So what am I complaining about? I’m complaining about the fact that both Ellis and Shalvey are off of the book after issue #6--they’re being replaced by Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood (Dream Thief).
Six issues. That’s what I’m complaining about. We’ve barely gotten a taste of this new Moon Knight and the creative team is turning over. If Jordie Bellaire wasn’t staying on, I’d be dropping this book altogether.
Now, Warren Ellis is known for doing short stints on Marvel books, so I’m sure this is just another example of that. BUT, I would argue that Marvel should have just released this as a six-issue miniseries, then. Because I don’t think it’s a stretch to predict that many will drop this book after issue six, no matter how good Wood and Smallwood are on the next few issues. And then when sales go down, it looks like Moon Knight can't carry his own title, and the book goes away,
I’ve said this before when it came to some of DC’s New 52 titles and their constant creative team shake-ups--you need to give a team twelve issues to get their vision across. Twelve issues of uninterrupted storytelling. No crossover, no team-ups, no creators coming and going. Both the publisher and the creative team should have to commit to twelve issues at a time.
In any case, I started this rant by saying how great the current Moon Knight is, and issue four is no exception. It’s fantastic, and you should go out and get it. I’ll be savoring issues five and six, and wondering what could have been. Here’s hoping Wood and Smallwood can build on the excellent foundation the series has established so far.
5 out of 5 Nightmares Come True
The current Moon Knight series is a perfect example of everything that’s both right and wrong in comics today. The all-star team of Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire have crafted a book that is not only the best Moon Knight series yet, but easily one of marvel’s best series right now.
Ellis has adopted the “one and done” format for Moon Knight, with each issue being a stand alone story, while slowly revealing the status quo of Marc Spector in the current Marvel universe. So far, the stories have really delved into the supernatural side of the character, and the art team of Shalvey and Bellarie have given each story its own feel. Bellaire’s colors in particular are outstanding in creating an emotional palette for each story.
Issue #4 sees Moon Knight traveling into the twisted world of a dead man’s dreams. As Moon Knight gets sucked into the dream world, he’s trying to figure out what happened to the victim before he gets trapped in the dead man’s nightmares forever. It’s as creepy and trippy as you would imagine it to be, and its wonderful.
This book is unlike anything out there right now, and I would really like to see Marvel cultivate a supernatural corner of their universe the way DC has done with Constantine, Justice League Dark and other titles. You could have Moon Knight, Doctor Strange, Daimon Hellstrom, Man-Thing, Dracula and more. What a great supernatural/horror line that could be for Marvel.
I loved this issue and I’ve loved the series so far. So what am I complaining about? I’m complaining about the fact that both Ellis and Shalvey are off of the book after issue #6--they’re being replaced by Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood (Dream Thief).
Six issues. That’s what I’m complaining about. We’ve barely gotten a taste of this new Moon Knight and the creative team is turning over. If Jordie Bellaire wasn’t staying on, I’d be dropping this book altogether.
Now, Warren Ellis is known for doing short stints on Marvel books, so I’m sure this is just another example of that. BUT, I would argue that Marvel should have just released this as a six-issue miniseries, then. Because I don’t think it’s a stretch to predict that many will drop this book after issue six, no matter how good Wood and Smallwood are on the next few issues. And then when sales go down, it looks like Moon Knight can't carry his own title, and the book goes away,
I’ve said this before when it came to some of DC’s New 52 titles and their constant creative team shake-ups--you need to give a team twelve issues to get their vision across. Twelve issues of uninterrupted storytelling. No crossover, no team-ups, no creators coming and going. Both the publisher and the creative team should have to commit to twelve issues at a time.
In any case, I started this rant by saying how great the current Moon Knight is, and issue four is no exception. It’s fantastic, and you should go out and get it. I’ll be savoring issues five and six, and wondering what could have been. Here’s hoping Wood and Smallwood can build on the excellent foundation the series has established so far.
5 out of 5 Nightmares Come True
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