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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 6 months

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Breaking down the Comics: Writing a legend, building a history.

Today we aren't reviewing an issue of Moon Knight. Today we are going to talk about something important.

So who wrote Moon Knight?

"Easy!", you might say. "Doug Moench!"

Sure. But you'd be surprised to find that it's not as much as you'd think.

Doug Moench wrote issues 1-15, 17-26, 28-33.

He returns in 1998 for a 4 issue mini seires Vol 3 "Resurrection Wars" which revives Marc Spector, who had been killed off in the previous volume.

He continues in 1999 with Vol 4, another 4 issue mini series "High Strangers/Strangeness" which won an award for favorite limited series.

He also wrote werewolf by Night, which gave us the first iteration of Moon Knight. An instantly popular character that made appearances in other comics like "The Hulk" before he was given his own comic.

He had time to work on the designs with Bill Sienkiewicz. They built up the weapons, the costume, the cab, and the copter.

He also built up the side characters of Gena, Gena's two boys, Crawley, Frenchie, Detective Flint, and Marlene.

He set the ground rules:

Moon Knight system is Jewish.

Marc, Jake, and Steven are a part of a system and are not one man pretending to be someone else

Jake is the one that is friendly and loves being with the people.

Steven is posh, collected, and takes care of things.

Marc is the one with experience, has the skills needed to get things done, and holds all the pain.

They are former Mercenaries who did terrible things and have deep guilt.

Khonshu resurrected them to act as Moon Knight

They strive to protect any who would come to them for help that perhaps might not get it elsewhere

I would even argue that he was building up to the fact that Moon Knight himself was his own form of alter but it has since been glossed over and replaced with the idea that Marc is most often the one under the mask.

Pretty simple rules to follow to make it a Moon Knight comics, but you'd be surprised what some writers have done with it.

These comics were written long before DID was acknowledged and the different forms of PTSD and Dissociation were defined.

And yet, here we stand with a traumazied man from Chicago slowly working through a freshly cognizant system and trying to figure out how three (four) people can work together towards not just a life, but life as a superhero who wants to help people.

Further more, an odd thing happened in this.

We had a comic that often focused more on mental health than on super powers, heroics, or villains.

More often than not, we watched Marc, Jake, and Steven struggle with themselves and one another. We watched stories unfold from the villain's point of view, often just being ordinary people pushed too far by a system that failed them.

More so, we watched Moon Knight sympathise with these villains.

How often he let them walk away or he let them kill their abusers, wondering if he was doing wrong himself.

How can he help when sometimes the help he offers is not what is needed?

We even watched him fail. We saw him lose his temper and cause damage. We saw him curl into a ball and break. We saw him get lost in his own nightmares and dissociative fuges.

Moench stepped forward and often handled current events with raw emotion. We saw his characters cry over the loss of public iconic figures. We watched people struggling as they returned from war. We saw child abuse and poverty. We watched economic struggles with classism and we watched people struggle to deal with grief.

We even watched them deal with antisemitism over and over again. How many times were the victims of his stories Jewish and trying to survive in America? What about the story that took place with the mass shooting in the Synagoug? We heard stories of Generational trauma as elders struggled with survival after the Holocaust.

Moon Knight was a unique comic unlike any other I've ever come across. For it's time and for it's topics at the time. What's more, this comic continued.

It was no 'special of the week' comic and spanned multiple years as they grew.

What do we know about Moench? Who did he write this comic for?

The Moon Knight in the Were Wolf by Night certainly didn't have all this depth. He was just a man dressed in silver, fighting a monster and ultimately choosing the side of the monster.

Moench himself was from Chicago. He knew what it was like to live in the city and see the fall of factories and hard times on the streets. We know he witnessed the times of Vietnam veterans being forgotten and abused. He witnessed a lot of changes happening in the world and the places he was writing about.

He wrote about what spoke to him and what he saw around him.

And in his stories, there often were no clear heroes, winners, or villains.

But there was one issue that he chose to add into this comic that was already filled with so many things that other comics avoided.

Moon Knight wasn't written as Jewish in that one shot cameo. He wasn't written with DID either, but I'll get to that.

There are interviews of Doug admitting that "I didn't say, 'I'm going to sit down and create a Jewish character.'"

In fact, he picked a name and later found out it was a Jewish name. This made him do research. Not just into Judaism, but into the areas that Marc Spector fought in and where his family came from.

Do you have any idea how many writers of that time and our current time simply slap the label of "Jewish" on a character and refuse to actually look into what makes them Jewish?

I can't say how much he researched and how much he got wrong or right, but I do know that when he did choose to dive into topics that touched on certain issues, he handled them with a grace that is often overlooked.

The writer that came after Moench? Alan Zelenetz, a former Jewish day school principal from Brooklyn.

Zelenetz had been acting as an editor for a bit before he took a look at Moench's early start.

And it was in Issue 37 and 38 where we get the real backstory of Marc Spector. A man running from his Rabbi father.

Marc now became the son of an Orthodox Rabbi who had been forced to flee Czechoslovakia after the Nazi invasion.

Here, we get the story of Marc running to the Marines. Running to the mercenaries, and running from home. Perhaps even, running from G-d.

Zelenetz wanted to lean into the Jewish past and Jewish story. He explored themes of using a holy book to create a villain while playing with Jewish myths. He also explored Antisemitism without toning it down or hiding it under comic bookish villainy. He portrayed Moon Knight facing white supremacist vandalizing a Jewish Cemetery. He showed Moon Knight saving the Torah from a Synagogue fire. He also showed a strained relationship and the question of Moon Knight finding his own relationship in what he does with his father's views.

Alan Zelenetz edited/wrote shorts for issues 18, 21–22, 27, 32, Then wrote the whole story for issues 36–38.

Zelenetz voiced that he was looking to add some Jewish representation into his workforce and perhaps into the comic industry at the time. Considering his background, perhaps he was the only one at the time that had the proper knowledge to play with things the way that he did in the story of Elias Spector's death and Marc Spector's pain.

He did not stick around with Moon Knight for long after. Though, he admits that he wanted to play with the fact that Khonshu was an Egyptian god and Marc was from such a Jewish background. I am sad we didn't get to see that story.

After that, Moon Knight's original 1980s run was finished. The question of what to do with Moon Knight, where to take him, and who would take up the mantle of writing him now lay in the hands of Marvel.

Many failed after this. They failed to keep the heart of what Moon Knight stood for and who Moon Knight was. His Jewishness was forgotten and his mental health became a joke.

Not to say all of them failed. There are a few shining stars that gleamed in the darkness and I like to think that it was these moments that kept Moon Knight going all these years.

Moench didn't set out to write a story about mental health, and yet his approach is the most real I've seen. Hardly a shining picture of perfect representation, there is still something there in watching the character almost seem to push back against the unintended desire to push him into a corner.

No matter how often Jake and Steven and Moon Knight were seen as Marc pretending to be someone else, there was always ALWAYS that correction. Always that push back.

Call it the writer's curse of characters misbehaving and taking on a life of their own, but perhaps there was something more there. Perhaps he felt the weight of time and cry of the suppressed and overlooked.

So many of his stories danced the line of "I can't say it because it will get edited out by the big wigs at Marvel, but if you would just look... Just look over here for just a moment..."

And years upon years later, a writer did see the whispers there and said "I see the story of pain. I see the cry of mental health." Lemire told the story that Moench couldn't and from that, we are still pushing forward with McKay.

And more, perhaps we will see the Jewish story that hides in all that also get a spotlight again.

In the era of big battles, cross-over events, explosions, and super villains cackling about domination... I still look back at Stained Glass Scarlet, The Druid, the Music Box, And Colloquy.

As I finish the original 1980s run, I brace myself to dive into what comes next.

I think I'm trying to find where and how the original run ventured so far into the dark and insulting territory it did and the journey back into a revival that now means so much to so many.

In a way, perhaps it mirrors a journey into our own mental health. How easy it is to become lost in what everyone around you tells you that you are and how you are supposed to be until your own doubt sets in to drown you. Perhaps it is the journey of Moon Knight's character emerging from this to find a path to healing that is what kept us here so long.

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Analyzing the comics #Marc Spector #Jake Lockley #Steven Grant #Doug Moench #Moon Knight is Jewish #Moon Knight has DID #A system of hope #I'm rambling again #But this is important to me

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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 4 months

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Breaking down the comics: A Good Man (Issue #1)

Here it is.

Moon Knight Issue #1: The Macabre Moon Knight.

Written by Doug Moench

Art by Bill Sienkiewicz

Published 1980

If you’ve been following me, I’ve covered the history, the development, the creation, and the evolution of Moon Knight. I’ve covered the writers, the artists, the drama, and the glory of the comic.

If you haven’t been following me and this is your first run in, please, go back and check out the other reviews. I’ve saved this one for last for a reason and with this one ends the official Moench run. Moench did write Moon Knight’s other appearances from 1975-1980, but they aren’t considered the OG run and while some of them are referenced a lot (See the death of Randall Spector), they had very little impact on the events of the main run from 1980 onward.

Moench later returns for two special events (mostly to fix a problem that another writer caused), and I may cover those later. But for now, I’m bidding a very emotional goodbye to the OG run and to Moench.

So… Let’s get this bread for the last time.

We open on the title page.

"At dawn, in the Sudan, the memory of the night's merciless cold lingers in the bones while the day's withering heat has already begun to sear the flesh.

It was at dawn that the mercenary commando squad under the command of the skull-faced terrorist-for-hire, Bushman, hits the rebel camp just south of the Egyptian border. At Bushman's side rode his second in command, Marc Spector.

Thus, Marc Spector begins this day as a soldier-for-hire. He is fated to end it as something else."

"The slaughter is swift--and soon..."

We see Bushman and Marc talking in the desert, surrounded by the fallen.

"An easy victory, Spector... And yet, you do not exult in it!"

"Maybe I'm remembering I'm a professional soldier--not a butcher! Or maybe It's just the heat."

"You are too good a man to go soft, Spector! You must be bloodthirsty...Ruthless to survive in our profession!

Fear is the key! You must strike total fear into the hearts of your enemies...And your followers as well! That is why I had my face tattooed into a mask of death! I have become an almost mythical figure of terror!"

"That's the role you choose to play. I don't!"

Marc throws his gun aside in a fit of anger. He has been working for the Bushman for a while now. Unclear if it is years, months, or weeks. But he is listed as his second in command. The Bushman recognized that Marc was very good at what he did. Anything that had to do with war, combat, weapons… Marc was the best. So the Bushman has decided to take Marc under his tutelage to try to turn him into a ruthless killing machine that will simply follow the next war and the next. For the Bushman, it isn’t about the money. It’s about the battle.

While Marc always describes his past as being bloody and himself as being a killer and nothing more, we see flashbacks in later issues that often depicted Marc as a man at war with his own soft heart. He often showed mercy and pity to those he came across when he was alone.

At that moment the chopper returns, Frenchy has brought them new orders.

“Good Morning, Frenchy!”

“Perhaps not so good, Marc… I have stolen a look at Bushman’s secret papers. It is clear to me now that we are fighting for the wrong side… No matter what the pay is.”

“Clear to both of us, Friend!”

“Perhaps we should plan a leave taking, eh?”

“Quiet! Here comes Bushman.”

Frenchy met Marc before they joined under Bushman. He very quickly allied himself as Marc’s only friend and followed him every since. It’s clear that while Frenchy is a highly skilled pilot and weapons expert, he is not as geared towards physical combat as Marc is. They became a team. Though we don’t get Frenchy’s story until much later. He has his own ghosts.

Bushman tells them that they are going to Selima.

The Selima Oasis is located in Sudan, west of the Nile and ancient site of Amara West. It sits along an ancient road that leads into Egypt.

This was a huge waypoint for travelers in ancient days, as it has easy access to fresh water.

Not a lot of archaeological work was done at Selima. Sudan has a rough history of war and the likes. Today, Selima sits as a military outpost.

Marc protests: "But... There are no rebels in that area."

"True! But rumor has it that an American archeologist found a pharaoh's tomb there! If a tomb has been found, there's gold to be had!"

What’s interesting here is that Marc protests that “No Egyptian tombs have ever been found so far south of Luxor… But anything’s possible.”

The fact that Marc knows this tells us a few things: 1. Marc knows his geography. 2. Marc knows the archeological history of the area. 3. Marc knows Egypt. It’s possible that Marc has been to dig sites before, and even more possible that he was interested in Egyptology at some point and read up on the tombs and pharaohs. It’s also possible that as he fought in that area a lot, he spoke to the local people and learned about the areas he was working in.

Marc asks Bushman if going hunting for treasure is worth the lives that are going to be lost in the process of taking Selima. When he’s dismissed, he angrily confides in Frenchy that he’s had it. They make plans to leave that night.

Next we find a small peaceful town that, as Marc has already pointed out, is not involved in their war. “When once again the crescent moon shines wanly across the desert, the raid begins–Hard, fast and deadly! The town’s small militia meets death in the darkened streets…”

In a house on the town square, we find a man and his daughter.

"Father, who can they be? What do they want?"

"It is...Bushman! I've heard the townspeople speak of him in frightened whispers!"

It's Marlene and her father!

Dr. Alraune knows that word of their discovery has leaked out and now Bushman and "his band of cutthroats" are there to take the treasures for themselves.

He decides to stop Bushman himself. Taking a dagger, he tells Marlene to wait in the house.

Outside, Bushman is telling his men to "Search every house! Gather all the civilians and line them up in the square!"

Yeah...Historically, when people are gathered by force and 'lined up', it hasn't ended well for them.

In this one moment, Marc lets his instincts take over and he stops Dr. Alraune from killing Bushman. This is the moment that will drive Marc Spector for years.

He watches Bushman brutally murder Dr. Alraune.

This is the moment Marc breaks away from what is expected of him. The moment he tries to do the right thing.

And here, he meets Marlene. It doesn’t go well. She calls him a killer and he tries to deny it but then… “Spector’s protest dies in his throat. If he hadn’t stopped the old man’s thrust, perhaps he would yet live.”

Marc can only see himself as a killer. In failing to save the old man, he views himself as having assisted in his murder.

“Yeah… I killed him! And I’ll kill you unless you get out fast, woman! Now beat it!”

“Is this how you ease your conscience, Pig? I pray that you die the death you deserve!”

Bushman tells Marc he's growing too soft. But the girl will leave a trail that they can follow and since Marc DID save his life, he deides to over look this one little issue.

Frenchy returns and Marc is eager to leave. "We've got to leave now... Before she gets too far!"

"She---? What are you talking about?"

"We've got to pick up a girl in the desert! I'll explain later! Let's go!"

"All right, Marc... But I think you are crazy! The copter is this way!"

But just then, Marc notices that Bushman has gathered up all the other villagers and archeologists and has a firing squad aimed at them, ready to gun them down.

"Wait! What's Bushman doing over there? Those are civilians! They can't be planning to-- They are! Got to stop them!"

"Marc! No! You can do nothing---"

Marc runs to try to stop Bushman but it's too late. The guns go off and the civilians fall.

"You... Gunned them down in cold blood! You filthy murderer! I should have let the old man kill you!"

Now, here’s where things mix with legend, lore, and myth.

In some retellings of the story, Marc is shot and left for dead. In others he’s beaten to a bloody pulp and left for dead. In both those renditions he wanders through the scorching desert. In Sudan, temperatures can reach up to 49.7 °C (121.5 °F). That is enough to kill a man of exposure (and Marc is not dressed for this. That bare chest and arms? Marc really? Protect yourself my friend…).

“Morning! Already the sun’s rays beat down mercilessly upon Spector as he begins what he knows will be a long walk to his grave. Already his throat is dry… His eyes burn… Noon. He is trapped in a bright, bursting nightmare… He staggers on. Night. Blindly, mindlessly, like a mechanical man he crawls onward, though the wind whips the sand into a stinging storm…”

"He does not remember standing, swaying--nor the shout--"

"Look! Against the moon!" Some men point as Marc lurches up over a sand dune.

He collapses and the men grab him, pulling him away from the raging sand storm.

"take him into the tomb! I will go to missy's tent and tell her!"

"Moments later, in the tomb of the Pharaoh Seti..." We see Marc being carried into the tomb where a familiar statue waits.

Marlene appears asking who he is.

One of the men, a local that was hired to help at the dig site, proclaims that Marc is dead.

"Him! Good--He's one of those who killed my father--He deserves to be dead!" Marlene angrily proclaims. "Leave him where he belongs--Rotting here in this tomb. Go back to the packing--We leave as soon as the storm dies."

Her anger leaves her. She can’t be glad that a man is dead. And Marc did save her from the same fate as her father. She wonders if this is what cost him his life. “He must have suffered horribly in the desert! He was…Handsome!”

I suppose now is as good as any to acknowledge that this stranger mercenary dead guy is handsome. Someone make sure they put that on Marc’s tombstone. “He was handsome”. He’ll appreciate that. (too soon?)

As Marc lays dead and Marlene at last allows herself to cry, the statue of Khonshu looms over them.

"Outside, the howling sandstorm scratches across the face of the crescent moon. Inside, the torches' flickering light dances upon the hoard or a long dead king. And the stony countenance of the dark god who stands guard over him..."

“Perhaps it is a natural phenomenon which causes Marc Spector’s heart to resume throbbing… Perhaps it is something else… Whatever the reason..”

And we don’t get to know the reason. Was he really dead? Had he just had a very weak pulse?

We already know Marc has knowledge about the tombs in the area. Is it too much to assume he also had knowledge about Egyptian mythology?

What have we learned about Moench up to this point? He had already picked the name Marc Spector back in 1975 when he was introduced in WBN. He had then learned that it was a Jewish name and he had decided to go with it. How much research he did is unclear, but the man also seemed to understand that he was not the best one to dive into deeply Jewish themes. (And yet, inadvertently, he still did and he carried them out in such a wonderful way). We ALSO know that he had taken an interest, like many others had in that time, in what was then known as Multiple Personality Disorder.

Marc Spector was introduced in 1975. In 1976, the movie "Sybil" came out. It was based on the book that came out in 1973. This was the first big public interest in this disorder and Hollywood ate it up. It’s hard to say WHEN Moench decided to add this into Marc Spector’s character. Perhaps when he first made him all those years ago if he read the book? Or perhaps not till this issue in 1980.

And as much as Moench was limited in how to properly depict the disorder, he somehow managed to do a damn fine job of it.

You see, in WBN we get to hear a bit about Marc Spector’s elusive past. To pick the paragraph from WBN: "We'll get to that in time, Mr. Spector. Right now, I find your dossier immensely interesting... Soldier of fortune, mercenary, veteran of THREE African wars, FIVE south American revolutions, Brief flirtation with the C.I.A., Weapons expert, versatile practitioner of virtually all the martial arts, ex-prizefighter, marine commando for Eight years prior to beating a Lieutenant within an inch of his life...Et cetera."

We get a picture of a hardened man and yet here in this first issue… We see a man in conflict with the brutality of what he is expected to do and what he deems as right and just.

So when Marc wakes up from his ‘death’, he declares "Where am I? WHO am I?"

And in this moment of panic, trauma, and confusion, he spots the statue of Khonshu. A statue of protection, vengeance, and power.

And in that moment, Marc settles in what he must do.

"Yes... One of the gods of the Moon--Known as the taker of vengeance... A figure of terror." (a figure of fear, much like how Bushman was trying to teach him and mold him to be).

…..Marc… What are you doing. You can’t just steal random ancient robes and declare it’s ‘yours now’ and run off with it.

"Mister... You're delirious! you must be! You don't know what you're doing!"

"Don't I? Don't the dead know what they're about? Because I did die, remember? I'm a ghost now... A Spectre of the moon... The Moon's Knight of vengeance--and I've got work to do."

I have wanted to analyze the heck out of this for AGES.

This is a common theme that Moench comes back to time and time and time again.

Marc believes he died. More than that, there is a possibility that Marc believes he is still dead.

A man at conflict with himself over his past, over what is expected of him, over what he himself wants to do vs what he always ends up doing. We find a man that wants to be on the good side. That wants to believe that maybe he's helping someone despite knowing that he is causing death and destruction.

This later turns into a man that despises himself. That thinks of himself as only a ruthless evil murderer that deserves bad things to happen to them. We see it get so bad that he becomes self destructive.

So here we see a man that 'died' and now thinks of himself as just a ghost of who he was.

Now, according to how Moench wrote Moon Knight (and no one else followed unfortunately), Moon Knight is also an alter. There are four people under that cape.

It is possible that in this moment, Moon Knight split off from Marc with his very....very poor trauma processing skills.

So in this moment, we literally do see the birth of Moon Knight. And with the way Moon Knight is written, more often than not, Moon Knight is co-conscious with one of the others, usually Marc. We don't actually see Moon Knight become aware of being his own person until much later on midway through Moench's run when he actually declares that he is no one but himself.

But Marc continues to struggle with his identity and the notion of being 'dead'. It becomes a problem later on during the breakdown. And honestly, this is a thing that continues writer to writer. He dies many times over the years and comes back leaving him with less and less of a feeling of existing. Each death results in him immediately coming back and he is the one that experiences it and wrestles with it.

Anyways, I just have always found that to be incredibly interesting in his character development.

Marc runs off in their jeep with his new cape billowing in the wind. Marlene runs to get the other jeep to go after him.

"Midnight...ANd an eerie figure stalks the rooftops of Selina..."

He looms over the watchmen. "Bushman--I want him! You'll stand aside--"

And in this moment we are about to actually see what Marc Spector can do. It's rare that we really see Marc pull out his tactician abilities.

He knows how to plan things. To create diversions, to utilize weapons of all sorts, and how to dismantle and break apart armies.

"Meanwhile, inside the village inn, Bushman's men amuse themselves. The women whose husbands' bodies lay in the square are forced into humiliation worse than death..."

We find Bushman forcing the women to dance for his men's amusement.

Suddenly outside...

Sending Bushman's army scattering, he slips out to face Bushman.

"Yeah, it's me, Bushman! But I've changed--Just like you, into a figure of fear. I've finally learned your lesson, Bushman... And you're gonna be sorry you ever taught me."

'changed.' Now under the guise of an Avatar of vengeance. He 100% is a new identity breaking off at this point. His years of trauma and self conflict are finally coming together.

Marlene arrives and watches from the shadows. As she watches, someone sneaks up on her and snatches her up.

Her cries distract Marc, allowing Bushman to make a run for it.

"With the speed of thought, the cloaked figure races towards the source of the scream. Momentarily forgotten, Bushman fades into the night."

He demands that Marlene be set free.

"Oui! At once! Anything you say, Marc!"

Frenchy!

"I caught this one sneaking up on you! I thought..."

He releases Marlene.

Marlene is surprised. "I can't believe it! You--You won...All by yourself!"

Oh Marlene, you don't even know this man.

"Yes... But Bushman got away! I wanted his blood.. For killing your father!"

"He killed--?"

She realizes that she's misjudged him.

“Not bad…for a dead man.”

I also love how Frenchy is just “I was pretty sure you were dead but now you’re back and wearing a cape. Who cares. Let’s go!” This man would follow Marc to hell and back (which he pretty much does later on and suffers horribly for it. It takes a lot before Frenchy finally decides he’s had enough and leaves.)

And here, we move on to exposition. We've seen Marc crawl through the desert and return as someone else.

It's time to meet the cast.

Narration: "He regains his health--ANd acquires three new identities. He is still Marc Spector, and he becomes Steven Grant, whose wall street wizardry parlays Spector's modest savings into a millionaire's fortune.

Then he adds Jake Lockley to his list of selves--Jake, a street-smart cabbie who hears everything!

Together with Marlene and Frenchy, they come to live in a Long Island mansion. Together they are...MOON KNIGHT... Continuing the mission begun in the Pharaoh's tomb!"

(LOOK AT THEIR FACES. Marc is so frowny. Jake is just a guy. Steven...What is that smirk?)

And this is where things really get exciting because we've met Marc. We saw what Marc can do and we saw him struggle with being a better man. We saw his...ability to deal with his trauma (nope)... And we saw the start of Moon Knight.

And what's good about this is that this WAS the beginning of Moon Knight.

Now we get to meet Steven and Jake. But we don't know when they started. We don't get to see them become themselves. Marlene assumes that when they came to New York and Marc started his new lifestyle that he was creating Jake and Steven for the first time. Just another identity to hide in.

But again... Marlene doesn't know this man. She assumes she does and after they leave Sudan, Marc is no longer the one she's interacting with.

Moench never officially shows it or discusses it. But there is a heavy implication that Steven has been around a LOT longer than just since they returned to New York. He acts the most self aware, is the most comfortable being himself, and knows a lot more about Marc and their past.

Jake, on the other hand, he feels a bit newer. It's hard to say how long Jake has been Jake. It's possible he is a newer alter that came about when they moved to New York, as New York becomes Jake's home and he becomes attached to it to the point of never actually leaving it (He never travels with them).

It's also possible that Jake was around BEFORE Marc left America. It's possible Jake was around in their youth, went dormant and then came back when the lifestyle changed again to better suit him.

Either way, the system was not aware of being a system. Marc is heavily in denial and while he was out fighting his wars, the others were quiet and he essentially became front show runner. Steven is the first one to realize that they have a problem and that he is not just Marc and he is the first one to start asserting himself. Jake comes next and then Moon Knight follows.

Marc is the only one that stays in denial until he flatout has a mental breakdown. ....Oh Marc...

ANYWAYS… BACK TO THE COMIC. (I could babble about this all day if you let me)

We first see Steven.

We see him talking into a recorder.

"Steven? Is someone with you? Oh. I heard you talking and--"

"No one's with me, Marlene--Just dictating a case history. Moon Knight hit some heroin pushers tonight..."

Yeah... just dictating huh?

One way for newly aware systems to communicate with one another in an effort to open communication or keep the others aware of what's going on is to record messages on their phone (in today's age).

We also don't really see them use the recorder again after this. Steven is trying.

He tells Marlene that he found something while taking down the drug dealers.

"Bushman!" Marlene is not happy.

"Yes, your father's killer--Here in New York now, out for MY blood. I'm going after him as Lockley."

He calls up Frenchy, who now lives on his roof I guess? He works on building a Moon chopper and other trinkets.

He asks Frenchy to follow the cab in case he needs him.

"Had a weird feeling about this, Marlene--Like I should tape Bushman's story before I left. But you stay behind, no matter what YOUR feelings are."

He leaves after pulling on Jake's outfit.

And here we see Jake. He always just calls Marlene "Lady."

Samules, the butler, has Jake's cab ready.

"Shall I expect you--That is, shall I expect Mr. Grant--back for dinner, sir?"

"Don't hold your breath, Samuels. Grant just checked out for the night. And me, I got a heavy date ahead."

Marlene remembers what happened to the last man in her life that faced Bushman. It's a loss that stays with her.

"It's going to be hard, Steven...Or Marc, Jake, Moon Knight... Whoever you really are... The last time I stayed behind when a man I loved went after Bushman...I...I lost my father. And now I don't think I could bear to lose you... All four of you..."

THIS IS THE ONLY TIME MARLENE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THEY ARE INDEED FOUR PEOPLE.

It also proves my theory that Moon Knight is his OWN person.

For Marlene, again… She doesn’t know Marc! He connected to her because he felt terrible about her father’s death, he wanted to save her, and she had no one else. She connected to him because… she had no one else and saw him as her protector/hero. He offered her comfort and a lifestyle she found agreeable. He also helped train her in how to take care of herself. He made sure she knew how to handle guns, karate, self defense… They became a team, but she wanted something more. In the early days, she acknowledged that there was something strange about him and played along. When she got to know Steven Grant, she recognized that HE was the one that could offer her the life she wanted now and she latched on with the hopes that he would stop being the other alters and just be happy with her as Steven.

This is a common thought with early dealings with “Multiple Personality Disorder” back in the day. That if they could just ‘fix them’ and give them a normal happy life, they could be the ‘good alter’ that was most adept at leading the ‘normal life’.

It’s basically the old trope of “I could fix him”.

And now... THE CREW!

Even from the start, Jake always just cares about his people. He always asks Gena about the kids.

And at this point, they only know Jake. They don’t know about his lifestyle, about the mansion, Marlene, Steven, or Marc. Later, Gena admits that they just assumed Jake was an undercover cop or something.

Crawley is Jake’s informant. A homeless man that has a gambling and drinking problem. We find out more about Crawley’s past in a later issue. Crawley also has a distinctive style of speaking that only Moench has been able to pull off, which, unfortunately, has led to other writers just eventually getting rid of him. :(

Anyways, Jake asks Crawley if he knows anything about Bushman. Turns out Bushman has taken over a lot of the drug and gambling action in the area. And he’s not being very private about it. “Almost as if he wants to be found.”

Yeah… He wants to be found alright.

Crawley gives him the address and Jake heads out, changing to Moon Knight. He calls up Frenchy and they head out.

Moon Knight refrains from telling Frenchy who they are after. He knows Frenchy will want in on the action too, but "This one's mine--Mine alone."

Unknown to Moon Knight, a fancy car has been tailing him and now continues to follow them as they head to Bushman's hideout.

And now we see our first Moon Knight swoop!

Moon Knight enters the night club and asks for the door to the back.

"Tell your boss I'm about to enter his trap." He ascends the stairs.

One of the chaps proclaims: "I know who that is! I even saw 'im once--Papers call 'im the Moon Knight."

Up stairs they find the gambling room. Moon Knight bursts in.

Those poses are completely unnecessary Moon Knight buddy… But you do you.

He takes out the bad guys without breaking a sweat.

He yells for Bushman to come face him.

A secret door opens.

"A trap... Just what I came here for."

He dives in dramatic style, only to find an empty room with a golden dagger on the desk. A dagger from the dig site.

"A memento, Mr. Spector... A memento of a fabulous treasure stolen from the grasp of antiquity... The ONLY memento I was able to keep--Thanks to you, Spector--Thanks to your treachery."

Bushman's just a little bitter.

Outside, the car that was following him comes to a stop and Marlene gets out. She wants revenge too.

Bushman pulls out a gun and orders Moon Knight to the back room.

"Forget it, Bushman! I've come for you. And nothing on this earth can stop me!"

"You're afraid, aren't you, Bushman? Afraid of the figure of terror before you The lesson took!"

"S-Stay back!"

Honestly, Bushman knows Marc's skills better than Marc does. And the fact that he essentially beat up this man and tossed him in the middle of the desert to die and then having Marc come back, blow up his camp, and then track him through New York while appearing in the visage of a ghost claiming to have come back from the dead... I'd be worried too.

At this point, Marlene bursts into the room behind Bushman.

"At the sight of her father's murderer, Marlene cannot restrain a gasp! Instinctively, the cloaked figure turns towards the source of the sound. Momentarily forgotten, Bushman takes the opportunity to fire, but..."

Moon Knight doges!

Yeah, he then turns and shoots at Marlene.

"Moon Knight lunges... But blind rage makes him careless."

Bushman knocks him down and goes in for the kill with his sharp steel teeth.

Moon Knight blocks with his truncheon! And then the anger and violence take over.

He can barely restrain himself. He doesn't understand why she would want to spare Bushman.

Her cries for Steven also go unheard. He isn't Steven. Steven is far far from present in this situation. It's no wonder he lets his rage take over and blocks out the rest.

"Finally, as a soft moan heard through glass rises to a keening shriek, the crimson haze fades... And the fist falters. Opens tremblingly..."

The police are on their way and they need to leave.

It takes him a moment to snap out of it. To come back to himself.

He and Marlene head up to the roof so that Frenchy can collect them.

"Guess I... Went a little crazy, Marlene... Remembering that at one point I was almost like him.. But why did you stop me? Your father-"

"I stopped you because I went crazy too at first--I wanted to kill him, but I knew I couldn't... We couldn't! In a way, he created Moon Knight... But you've been through a lot since then--We've both worked hard to shape Moon Knight into something better than he was at his creation."

They've all worked hard to set up Moon Knight to be what he is. To be the good man. To have access to what he needs to do what he does.

"And I just want you to stay that way. I didn't want Bushman to spoil what he started... What you've made into a legend. Behind that legend is a man. A good and powerful man. And no matter how many roles you play, false or true, you must never abuse your power...You must never forget who that man REALLY is."

And this brings our journey with Moench to an end.

Bushman was their first villain and the most personal. He created Moon Knight when he killed Marc. He was brutal, and antagonistic to Marc. As the man that murdered Marlene’s father, any time he showed up, it was a high stakes game. No one knew Marc like he did. That is to say, no one knew what Marc was capable of like he did.

As far as a threat, Bushman never actually was much of a threat. Though he was the leader of the mercenary group, it was always very clear that he got there through intimidation tactics, drastically brutal deeds, and back stabbing. When it actually came to abilities, Marc was always the top. What threat Bushman actually held was started above. Marc could have been Bushman.

Marc had the ability to become the most brutal and dangerous leader of mercenaries. He had a second in command follower at the ready, Frenchy, he had a knowledge of the politics and governmental ruling of a lot of areas, he spoke several languages, knew how to blend in, knew geography, and he could fight. Marc also has proven over the years (even in Moench’s run) that he had a lot of powerful connections in high governmental positions.

Yet Marc’s growing disagreements with the way Bushman worked eventually culminated in the literal death of that path. As much as Marc attempts to make himself seem no better than Bushman, he had a big heart. In this, Marlene was right. Bushman created Moon Knight. He killed the part of Marc that had any chance of branching off into that path. He started the legend and with the input of the good in his life, (Steven, Jake, Marlene) they were able to turn Moon Knight into a good man.

So when Bushman returns as a ‘recurring villain’, I don’t consider him on the same level as say, Morbius or Black Specter, or Mogart or any of that. The REAL threat that Bushman represents is one of internal conflict and past trauma. The threat of Marc’s internal monologue of his own horribleness rising up to a point of self destruction. That’s right, the REAL threat? Marc Spector.

Throughout Moench’s run we tangle with Marc over and over again. We see Marlene shun him. We see Steven fight him for control. We see Jake push him aside, and we even see Moon Knight himself struggle with his rage. Yet at the same time, we see flashbacks that show Marc being kind. Being merciful. Questioning his actions and deeds. Marc is his own worst enemy.

By the end of the original run with Zelenetz finishing it off, we see Marc finding a sort of understanding with who he is. Attempting to find resolution in his father’s death, and making a timid peace with Steven Grant.

When Ellis takes over after Bendis’ disastrous run, we find Marc in a very dark place struggling and drowning. Lemire picks him up and returns him back to the start. Back to Bushman and back to Steven and Jake. Then we have to skip across Aaron and Bemis (Hisss booo) before Marc finally lands with MacKay and we at last… at long last… We have healing. At last we have a Good Man.

I want to thank everyone that has followed me through this journey into the original comics. I hope you found joy in the old comics and that it inspires you to maybe go pick them up and give them a full read for yourselves. Maybe you disagree with me on some points, and I encourage you to come up with your own theories. Find your own way to love Moon Knight and the message of mental health that Meonch started.

As we bring 2023 to an end I look forward to getting into other Moon Knight comics in 2024. Some that I either haven’t read in years or that I may have missed all together! Currently I have no intention to continue to review every single comic. That's just... That's too much. But I hope to pick out a few special ones. But I've been wrong before. Let’s see where we go and what we find!

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Marc Spector #Steven Grant #Jake Lockley #Marlene Alraune #Bushman #doug moench #bill sienkiewicz #analyzing the comics #This is it guys #Thank you for all the love #I hope you've enjoyed the Moench run #I'm going to miss it

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