Moon Knight 2, 1980 “The Slasher”

It has been almost two years since I spotlighted a Moon Knight comic! This cannot stand! I know my podcasting partner on Into the Weird is a huge fan of this character, and rightly so. For anybody that’s looking for a title to start collecting, if you’re into thrillers, horror, action, etc., this is the title for you.

In this specific issue, we see a serial killer loose in the city, and he’s murdering homeless people. But this is no ordinary case, and Moon Knight quickly gets on the killer’s trail. After using his disguise as a cab driver (Lockley) to get some info, he then proceeds to go home and make a gameplan. Meanwhile, a friend of his (a transient) named Crawley gets attacked but not killed. These killings aren’t random, and Moon Knight and Crawley are about to find out why!

Even in this early stage of the title, you can see the beginnings of brilliance from Doug Moench (writer), and Bill Sienkiewicz (interior pencils and cover). Their collaboration on the title lasted quite a long time, and only gets better as you go! With inks by Frank Springer, Carl Gafford colors, Annette Kawecki on letters, and edited by Denny O’Neil!

 

 

 

 

 

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Moon Knight Special Edition 3, 1984 “A Long Way to Dawn” and “”The Mind Thieves”

Every once and a while, you get a comic book that reflects society, sometimes the bad parts of society that previously no one else wanted to show. Sometimes writers and artists have a tendency to ram messages about societal problems down a readers throat, and that of course is not a good thing. I won’t give any examples but in the 1980’s, you have plenty of comics that were critical darlings that weren’t very subtle in delivering a point about social issues. There are however titles like this one, that do an excellent job of showing things as they are for some people, and enlighten the people from the other side of the tracks on just how bad things can be.

When Doug Moench (writer) and Bill Sienkiewicz (artist) took over the reigns of the character Moon Knight, they made comics that were thought-provoking, edgy, and they did it without being overt about their intentions. Too many writers nowadays fall into the trap of beating the readers over the head with their own agendas, without ever considering whether they’re even remotely right or who they may alienate. Can you even imagine what these guys would create together in this day and age? The scary part is that there isn’t anybody in mainstream comics with the cajonies these guys had back in 1980! Pimps, drunks, drug addicts, and thieves, you get them all in this book!

 

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