WRITER: Jed Mackay
ARTIST: Alessandro Cappuccio
PUBLISHER: Marvel
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE DATE: February 9th, 2022
Due to the events of the Devil’s Reign Moon Knight is out of commission but someone else must continue the mission of protecting those that travel at night. Moon Knight #8 shines a spotlight on Moon Knight’s newest frenemy, Doctor Moon aka Hunter’s Moon.
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THOUGHTS
In a nice call back to the opening page on the first issue of this series “Doctor Moon” he has taken over the Midnight Mission and greets the reader as Mr. Knight did in issue one. Doctor Moon ends up fighting long-time Moon Knight villain Stained Glass Scarlet. Or does he? What starts as a simple investigation goes very supernatural and involves Scarlet as some form of new god. Hunter’s Moon of course calls upon his own god Khonshu to deal with her.
Going into this issue there was a lot going against it at first. I was concerned going in that taking the main character out of play due to a storyline in another book that this series isn’t even addressing is tricky. If the reader is not following Devil’s Reign they don’t have the details on what haven’t to Moon Knight. To be honest it’s not vital information needed for this issue. All you need to know is Moon Knight is not available and Hunter’s Moon is covering for him. Also, this series is quickly gaining critical acclaim and buzz in its short run. Slowing the momentum down by diverting from the main plot can hurt the overall story. Thankfully this issue doesn’t suffer from either problem.
Moon Knight #8 might as well be subtitled as a back door pilot for an eventual Hunter’s Moon series. As another “Fist of Khonshu,” he is different enough to not feel like a carbon copy of Moon Knight. What makes his character even more interesting is he seems to not have the inner conflict Moon Knight has. Hunter’s Moon is very confident in who he is and his abilities. He is devoted to his god in a way Moon Knight is not. That doesn’t make him better or worse of course. Just an interesting spin on Moon Knight history.
While I might have preferred a return of the traditional Stained glass Scarlet this version was a unique version of the character. Where this series excels at is balancing the street-level crime with the supernatural. The battle between Scarlet and Khonshu is a whirlwind to behold. Great use of commentary when it comes to how what “God” is related to what a “story” is. I’ve said this before but out of all the previous Moon Knight series the current series in tone and structure most closer compares to the volume begun by Warren Ellis back in 2014. While that series is great and worth checking out where this series improves upon is the supporting cast and the overall pacing.
While of course, Mackay deserves the praise he has been getting with this series (between this and his recently completed Death of Doctor Strange, Mackay is fast becoming Marvel’s next big writer), the art of Cappuccio continues to amaze. This issue in particular allows him to cut loose with gods fighting yet doesn’t forget To make to display the creepy tone that this book is known for. Especially in the first half of this issue. His version of Hunter Moon’s costume looks familiar yet different from Moon Knight’s.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Moon Knight #8 despite being a spotlight on someone other than Moon Knight still continues the great story building since issue one. It really is a great done-in-one issue that you don’t have to have read the previous 7 issues to follow. Especially if you want to read a story with a character that is still new and a little back story that you need to know before going in. Also, I want to call out my favorite line in the issue that actually made me chuckle: “MY GOD HAS NO ANGELS. ONLY FISTS”