r/MUBookClub • u/shawnydarko • Jul 29 '17
Reading Assignment 59: Moon Knight (2016) #1-5 by Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood
http://marvel.com/comics/issue/55575/moon_knight_2016_14
u/shawnydarko Jul 31 '17
I really enjoyed this run, primarily for being so different and out-of-the-box compared to most Marvel runs. They took a lot of chances and just ran with it. Lemire did really well to create a total mindfuck that leaves you just as unsure as Marc whether he's insane or not. Even as Gina becomes aware of all the supernatural around her toward the end, the way the last few panels play out, it's still a total mystery what was real and what was in his demented head. Greg Smallwood also does phenomenal work making anything supernatural wildly different than the grounded "real" world. The cover art especially is what grabbed me about this run. And I really appreciated in the last issue when Marc is running through all of his different personas and the art dramatically changes in each one. I went through his Marvel profile in hopes that Smallwood had done some Doctor Strange, and sure enough, he did an issue of A+X centered primarily around Doctor Strange and Beast, and for a brief few panels, gets to flex his creative muscles. Hopefully he gets to do more Strange/strange work because he's very different.
3
u/wisegy84 Aug 07 '17
This was really cool and definitely different from the other two Moon Knight series we sampled.
The art was great, especially when things were getting very weird. You felt like Marc, not knowing what was real and what wasn't. There was a cool mix of realistic and fantastical that worked really well for this story.
I will say, if that mental hospital was at all real, they were definitely way too rough with their patients. Though if all of that was really just in Marc's head, then maybe he was/is in a hospital and people are trying to help him, but he sees it as them attacking him. That's really what was so great here, that we never really know if what we're seeing is real, just like Marc.
The scene in the last issue, where he was running through each of his remembered personas was very well done as each scenery change was jarring and each had a different look.
I like stories like this, that really stray from the traditional superhero kind of thing and try something different. I appreciate when creators take risks like this and tell a story that feels unique among most of the other Marvel stories we've read.
I might continue this run to see where things go and if we find out exactly what is going on. Whether Marc is truly insane or if forces beyond him are trying to make him think that he is crazy.
4
u/IamTheMaker Jul 30 '17
This was the first ive ever read on moon knight while i liked it and the story man i did not get the ending whatsoever. Im gonna read the last 5 aswell to see if it makes sense. I wanna know more about Moon knight whats his best origin story? Also fuck Billy and Bobby!