January Marvel Previews |
Moon Knight #13
Writer - Charlie Huston
Art - Tomm Coker
Colorist - Dean White
Reviewed by Perry Taliaferro
With the lateness that had plagued Moon Knight, over the past couple of months, ruining the feel and flow that had previously been built to perfection, I was a little hesitant about reading this latest issue. Let’s face it, what began as a great run (issues 1-10), had started to bog down recently and I blame that on the late shipping. This book needed to be on time. Too much time between issues had hurt the mood and cohesion of what was, before, a great read. Huston’s writing just seemed hard to swallow. Like getting a crescent dart stuck in your throat.
Don’t get me wrong, I can see why some comic fans were not high on Huston’s Moon Knight from the beginning. His non-linear approach to writing (that reads fantastic in his novels) can get a little confusing in this panel filled, image heavy form. Your eyes try to read one way, while your mind tries to go another direction. At times, it can be a little perplexing. However, for those of us that were able to follow and enjoy his prose, the last few issues were a letdown, to put it mildly.
Now while some can say that it was Huston’s writing that had tapered off, I (being both a huge Charlie Huston and Moon Knight fan) still place blame on the irregularity of the comic. The organized, chaotic structure that had worked so well in the first ten issues, became muddled in the last three, producing what can only be described as an anticlimactic ending. It took too long to arrive.
So I sat at my desk, staring at the cover of Moon Knight #13, wondering if Huston was going to return the feeling of joy that I had experienced in his earlier issues. Will he bring Moon Knight back to the top of my reading pile? I turned the cover with trepidation and began to read.
Later, as the last page of this oversized issue was flipped, showing me a preview of January’s issue 14, I asked myself, did Charlie Huston match the work he had done in the earlier issues of Moon Knight? The only answer I could arrive at was – No.
No, he did not match his earlier work … he blew it out of the water.
The basic premise of this issue is the registering of Moon Knight in the SHRA (Super-Hero Registration Act, for those just now crawling out from underneath their rock). Not anything spectacular in that, but this is not your typical registration. It is the “how and why” that make this particular act of registering so damn fun to read. We are given some answers, but are left with so many beautiful questions. The main one being, what will this do to the SHRA? Trust me, this has implications.
But registration aside, what I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that Huston takes this stand alone issue and bores the very fiber of Moon Knight into your brain. Never before has a character been so alive, so fleshed out in a single issue. From the first page, where we see “Iron Man” (wink) and Marc having a conversation on a roof top, you begin to see the insane world that our hero is trapped within. Huston forces you to not only admire our hero, but to pity him as well.
Huston, like all great writers, is also aware that a great story revolves around more than just the main character. Sure our hero has some … issues to deal with, but his actions (or lack of action) can also effect others. While Marc Spector in the guise of Moon Knight has no affiliation, there is a team dynamic to this book. Marlene, Frenchie, Flint, all have stake in Marc’s life, as disjointed as it is. Huston shows us the other side of the “Hero” moniker. How the actions of one can have consequences on others. How do you start life over after years of living a certain way? How do you forgive past wrongs and do you try?
Another treat in this issue was the art by Tomm Coker. While the look is very reminiscent of a certain book featuring a “blind attorney”, it not only fits the mood of this book, it enhances the story perfectly. Now while I am looking forward to the new creative team starting next issue (Huston is staying on to plot) and from what I have seen, the art looks nice, I would not be unhappy if Coker returns in the near future. His dark style and panel layouts just scream to be on a title as brooding as this.
Add in the heavy use of brown, grey and maroons by the Colorist - Dean White, and you have an exceptional looking book that captures the feel and propels you, with glee, into the dark world of Moon Knight.
Bottom line, you walk away from this book, not only knowing the character, but excited about what he will (could) do next. Regardless of the “Batman rip-off” that Moon Knight was originally labeled, Moon Knight is like no other character. He is, in the eyes of Huston, crazy, and you would be crazy not to buy this issue.
9 out of 10 split-personalities
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