Moon Knight #12
Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Greg Smallwood
Colorist: Jordie Diane Bellaire
Publisher: Marvel
This marks the end of Moon Knight’s second arc, and I have to say, I was expecting a bit more from the finale. That might be a little heavy handed for an introductory statement, but let me explain myself first:
Picking where our penultimate chapter dropped us (and Marc), the former Moon knight is in a race against time to end Dr. Warsame’s vicious plot to assassinate the nation of Akima’s allegedly ruthless dictator in retribution for her family and former nation. That being said, this chapter finally sheds light on the whole of Elisa’s circumstances, but not necessarily to the degree that I was hoping for. While this can be attributed to the fact that Dr. Warsame is a character that’s been established throughout the entirety of the series so far, I also was slightly rooting for Warsame as a “pseudo-Moon Knight,” and with the change of heart Khonshu started to show last chapter, there was a lot of room for development down the alley of Marc being separated from the Moon deity if only for a little longer; but that’s also where these short form arc structures may show a clear weakness. In any case, Marc is in fact reunited with Khonshu this issue, although I could’ve seen this issue delivering more on that element rather than just kind of “happening” in the fashion it did. If you couldn’t tell, I have a bit of a problem wit hthe pacing of this arc’s conclusion.
If anything my problems in reviewing this issue could be attributed solely to my own biases regarding the conclusion to the Ellis arc – it ended with such impact and potency that I supposed I was quite expecting Wood’s run to end on such a subtle note. Yes, it did explain and resolve some loose ends quite nicely and opened up the possilbilty to advancing the more supernatural plot elements within future issues in the run, but I still felt that Warsame’s character was ultimately “too” compromised as a result of the denouement, Khonshu’s return felt a bit rushed to me, and I was left feeling the ending as a whole carried far too little weight to it and ended in a bit of a cliché fashion as opposed to issue 6’s literally explosive resolution.
While I still feel issue #12 was overall anticlimactic (especially considering how hyped I was with this description), arc 2 actually was a lot better than I was expecting considering the shift in creative team. Wood and Smallwood delivered a surprising amount of coherence, dynamism, and more importantly actual plot development following Ellis and Shalvey’s departure, and that stands for something when undertaking a project of such ambition. Don’t get me wrong, I still favor arc 1 greatly at this point, but I was still quite surprised by how much they developed a seemingly minor character from the first arc and delivered a story that showed such interconnectedness and stake with respect to the episodic nature of the prior arc. So to that end I applaud Wood and Smallwood for a rather maginificent comedown, and can’t wait to see what arc 3 holds for us. This changing team direction Marvel has taken with Moon Knight is risky to say the least, but if the payoff is this maginificent in terms of exploring a story as multi-faceted as Marc Spector’s own fractured psyche, then I’m in for the long haul. Speaking of which, here’s your mild primer on what arc three will entail (link here for the uninitiated).
Artist: Greg Smallwood
Colorist: Jordie Diane Bellaire
Publisher: Marvel
This marks the end of Moon Knight’s second arc, and I have to say, I was expecting a bit more from the finale. That might be a little heavy handed for an introductory statement, but let me explain myself first:
Picking where our penultimate chapter dropped us (and Marc), the former Moon knight is in a race against time to end Dr. Warsame’s vicious plot to assassinate the nation of Akima’s allegedly ruthless dictator in retribution for her family and former nation. That being said, this chapter finally sheds light on the whole of Elisa’s circumstances, but not necessarily to the degree that I was hoping for. While this can be attributed to the fact that Dr. Warsame is a character that’s been established throughout the entirety of the series so far, I also was slightly rooting for Warsame as a “pseudo-Moon Knight,” and with the change of heart Khonshu started to show last chapter, there was a lot of room for development down the alley of Marc being separated from the Moon deity if only for a little longer; but that’s also where these short form arc structures may show a clear weakness. In any case, Marc is in fact reunited with Khonshu this issue, although I could’ve seen this issue delivering more on that element rather than just kind of “happening” in the fashion it did. If you couldn’t tell, I have a bit of a problem wit hthe pacing of this arc’s conclusion.
If anything my problems in reviewing this issue could be attributed solely to my own biases regarding the conclusion to the Ellis arc – it ended with such impact and potency that I supposed I was quite expecting Wood’s run to end on such a subtle note. Yes, it did explain and resolve some loose ends quite nicely and opened up the possilbilty to advancing the more supernatural plot elements within future issues in the run, but I still felt that Warsame’s character was ultimately “too” compromised as a result of the denouement, Khonshu’s return felt a bit rushed to me, and I was left feeling the ending as a whole carried far too little weight to it and ended in a bit of a cliché fashion as opposed to issue 6’s literally explosive resolution.
While I still feel issue #12 was overall anticlimactic (especially considering how hyped I was with this description), arc 2 actually was a lot better than I was expecting considering the shift in creative team. Wood and Smallwood delivered a surprising amount of coherence, dynamism, and more importantly actual plot development following Ellis and Shalvey’s departure, and that stands for something when undertaking a project of such ambition. Don’t get me wrong, I still favor arc 1 greatly at this point, but I was still quite surprised by how much they developed a seemingly minor character from the first arc and delivered a story that showed such interconnectedness and stake with respect to the episodic nature of the prior arc. So to that end I applaud Wood and Smallwood for a rather maginificent comedown, and can’t wait to see what arc 3 holds for us. This changing team direction Marvel has taken with Moon Knight is risky to say the least, but if the payoff is this maginificent in terms of exploring a story as multi-faceted as Marc Spector’s own fractured psyche, then I’m in for the long haul. Speaking of which, here’s your mild primer on what arc three will entail (link here for the uninitiated).
A Look Inside
