Going to try to do these more often in the future. Whether it produces complex discussion or not, I figure it will be fun to share my thoughts on the comics I read.
Since this is the third arc of Jed MacKay's Moon Knight run, I feel like I should establish my thoughts on the first two just so we're on the same page. I thought The Midnight Mission was a character-defining arc, and is one of my new favorite modern Moon Knight stories. I could go on a whole other tangent about how much I loved it, but I'll save that for if I re-read it so that it's fresh in my mind. I would put it at a 10/10. I thought Too Tough to Die was still good and wrapped up the story the last volume set up nicely, but I don't think it was as good as volume one. Probably an 8/10 or an 8.5 depending on my mood.
This volume was one I was curious about, as this is the first arc after the first overarching story concluded, and that's always a tricky period for an ongoing run. But luckily this was still up to par with the quality of the series up to this point. MacKay continues to make a very interesting analysis of Moon Knight as a character and how his strange and inconsistent history informs his actions today. Starting with this arc, we start to explore Marc's alters, who had been largely overlooked up to this point. (though it's clear with this arc that was an intentional decision as opposed to an oversight) And maybe it is retreading old ground a little bit by having Marc learn to work in conjunction with Steven and Jake again, but it's executed well enough that I don't really care.
Before I get into more of the story I need to talk about Alessandro Cappuccio's art.
It is fantastic. It's so dynamic and stylized while not sacrificing the grounded tone. (Rachelle Rosenberg's colors definitely help with this too) I can think of several issues where the book was significantly enhanced by the art. Federico Sabbatini has been doing a good job in the issues he's drawing too, but there's something about Cappuccio's art that I just click with.
The villain was a little silly, (what with it being a vampire pyramid scheme) but I don't think that really takes a lot from the quality of the story. The Tutor is still a threatening villain, there's just also a joke about MLMs and similar get-rich-quick schemes thrown in there for good measure. That being said, I do think that the various assassins sent to kill Moon Knight and his supporting characters were a little too action figure-y. I would have liked to see them have stronger characterization than what we got.
The supporting cast has an interesting role in this book. Andrea Sterman kind of fills the typical "psychiatrist character" role, but I don't think it's unoriginal enough to be uninteresting. Reese plays a bigger role in this arc, both as her connection with Marc develops as they explore his DID and due to her vampiric origins connecting to the story of the arc. Soldier had a bit of a reduced role in comparison to the first two volumes, but after how satisfying and complete his story was in those I can't really complain. I just hope he doesn't become a character with nowhere to go after that. I do kind of wish that they had kept more of his normal supporting cast, but I understand why they didn't, even if I did want to see them. (Though the story in the annual with Jack Russell incorporated Marlene and Diatrice very well, in my opinion)
Now, let's talk about the other spandex types in the book.
Tigra has been a welcome addition. I like that this run has been doing something with Moon Knight's connection to "normal" superhero things like the West Coast Avengers and trying to reconcile that with the darker aspects of the character. And I think that between Tigra, the non-costume characters, the WBN story, and the new character Hunter's Moon, they're doing a great job representing different aspects of his history through his supporting cast.
I would probably give this volume a 9/10. It's not perfect, but I still really enjoyed it in spite of its flaws.
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think of it?