Comic Book Wednesday: Moon Knight "The Bottom"

In most comics, and especially with the Avengers, you never see the aftermath of a hero when they fall from grace, die, or retire. Most heroes have some kind of profound ending to their career or break from being a superhero. Unfortunately, Moon Knight isn't most heroes. Moon Knight was never the guy you'd call on if you wanted things done delicately. He isn't a surgeon with a scalpel or an artist with a fine paintbrush. Moon Knight is a demolitions specialist. When you want something destroyed and you don't want it to ever be repaired, you call a guy like him. But, he is still a hero. He fought evil and protected the innocent. But when you live the life of hero without so much as an accelerated healing factor, you're going to eventually get weaker, get broken physically and mentally , and eventually you will feel or become defeated. Moon Knight's fall from wasn't grace was not graceful by any means. In fact, he literally fell from a roof and hit every fire escape on the way down. Normally, after hero gets hurt really bad or has a collapse of sorts, they lean on their friends and former teammates before the downward spiral gets too far to come back from. During this spiral, Moon Knight pushed everyone away. His friends, family, and teammates all left him because of the disgruntle and surly person he became. This is the story of how Marc Spector (Moon Knight) rose back up to once again become the avatar of The Egyptian Moon God Khonshu.Marc Spector

had spent what seems like a year eating pain pills in a room by himself after he alienated his friends. When it looked like Spector could not get any lower, a company hires a mutant with the power to read people and their personalities to find out how to get to Marc Spector and kill him. One step was to have his former friend and pilot Frenchie attacked and put in a hospital. Unfortunately for them, one their overly ambitious board members set this plan into motion too soon. Marc Spector went after the guy who put his former friend in the hospital and proceeded to mutilate him for what he had done. This gave Spector a second wind of sorts. He had finally gotten up and stopped feeling sorry for himself and went back to doing what he was good at; Hurting people. Spector went home and to his statue of his god and put the bloody knife he used on Frenchie's attacker as an offering. From behnid the staue, Khonshu appears in the form of his dead former nemesis Bushman complete with the missing face that Moon Knight carved off. This moment sets in motion the return of the "Lunar Leginaire" Moon Knight.

"The Bottom" is a really gritty and violent story that is not recommended for people who are offended easy or don't like the sight of blood. This book shows the side of a hero that is not usually seen in Marvel comics. Not every hero leaves the game gets a parade, a meaningful death, or even a retrospective award ceremony from their colleagues. It's not the way it happens and it isn't realistic. Most heroes didn't like Moon Knight and think he is crazy. Ok, he is definitely crazy, but he isn't more or less of a hero than Wolverine or Spider-Man. What makes this comic so great is getting to see a man pick himself up after being down so long. This is a person who alienate every friend he had and still found a way to get them back up and begin to try and regain their trust again. This was a great way to begin a run of comics.

"People want to know. How can I live like this? The risks? The times I've descended into madness? The times I've died? How can I live like this? How could I live any other way?"-Moon Knight

Writing: 10

Very rarely will you see a post here about comics and it gets a ten, but when it happens, it's deserved. Charlie Huston worked wonders with a character a number of people just didn't give a crap about and turned him into an interesting vigilante that people could get behind. Sure he's rich, but he's not so rich that he hid in a mansion on the outskirts of the city (Like Bruce Wayne in "Dark Knight Rises"). We have all seen people (or been the person) who loses friends because they were jerks. This makes his story of redemption that much more relatable.

Art: 9

While the last time David Finch was reviewed in The New Avengers "Breakout", he was given a 7. This time around Finch's art work is a perfect for this story. Everything in Moon Knight's world is supposed to be dirty and grimy. Even Moon Knight's all white "vestments" got dirty. Which is something many artist don't do.

In Conclusion:

If you are looking for something that has different feel from the rest of the Marvel Universe but is still connected or new character and a place to start, Moon Knight "The Bottom" is a perfect book for you. If you need any more of reason, check out this article on why he'd also be a great member of the Avenger movie team.