Moon Knight #20 – Review

By Mike Benson (Writer), Mike Deodato Jr. (Artist), and Rain Beredo (Colorist)

This book is actually good. I certainly didn’t expect it to be. Let’s face it, Moon Knight is a B-lister. He’s always been a rip-off of Batman, and he always will be, except when he’s ripping off Daredevil. And he’s always been a bit of a disappointment. Even at their best, Moon Knight stories only disguise mediocre plots with beautiful art by Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Finch, or in this case, Mike Deodato. (And make no mistake, the art here is great.)

The story this time is sort of a return to Moon Knight’s roots, squaring him up against the Werewolf by Night. Jack Russell (yes, that’s the Werewolf’s real name…yes, like the terrier…) has been kidnapped by some shady characters who keep taking samples of his blood. Without giving too much away, a serum is created from his blood that has something to do with mutilated corpses found around the city, as well as a form of entertainment that takes the concept of “Ultimate Fighting” to a whole new level. Naturally, it’s up to Moon Knight to figure out what’s going on before more people are killed, and wouldn’t you know it there’s a full moon coming up, so the next event is going to be extra-special…

The plot doesn’t make perfect sense (after all the detective work, Moon Knight’s cabbie personality just happens to pick up two guys that just happen to be going the place Moon Knight needs to go?), and it’s full of clichés (the superhero scares confession out of the stoolie, the cynical, chain-smoking detective gives him a hand, etc.), but the mood is perfect and the dialogue is clever (like when the detective keeps referring to “wild dogs” instead of werewolves because he has to “report to a NYPD shrink couple times a year.”)

So will this be the issue that turns things around for Moon Knight? I doubt it. No matter how well he’s written, he’s still a derivative character with a dull supporting cast and a lousy rogues gallery. But this issue, at least, is worth picking up. (Grade: B+)

– Andrew C. Murphy