Moon Knight #1

Warren Ellis - Writer

Declan Shalvey - Artist

Jordie Bellaire -  Colorist

Chris Eliopoulos - Letterer

 

Warren Ellis’ Moon Knight #1 had my brain running in a number of different directions. It is also ultimately disrespectful to the source material that has come before, yet it is still a wildly good issue. In fact, a good portion of this issue is devoted to negating the Brian Michael Bendis run of the series, which featured a perfectly logical leap to explain that Marc Spector is insane. While everything done in this tale just makes Spector’s character increasingly more convoluted, that is exactly who he is and what makes him different than any other traditional Marvel super hero. However, we have to be given a reason to see the world the way that he does in order to sympathize with him. Saying that he is crazy and not giving anymore context is certainly amusing, but at a certain point there needs to be showing instead of telling.

 

The actual plot of this issue is engaging, as we are given a peek into Marc Spector’s new frame of mind. There are a couple of lines of dialogue that are just downright hilarious, the idea of laughing in a Moon Knight book is a pretty high concept ideal. Serial killers, dark alleys, and white limousines are the few genre conventions of noir that make this title so amusing to read. Author Warren Ellis promised readers weird crime, and while this issue does contain a slightly amusing crime fictions elements, it does not fully deliver in those departments. Hopefully, this will be explored later on in further detail. There are a lot of elements that we are supposed to take for granted in this issue, once again Ellis needs to show and not tell going forward. The last page finally shows off something greater, which proves that this issue could have benefited from being longer and revealing the entire premise.

 

While Ellis definitely turns in an interesting script here, the real star of this title is Jordie Bellaire and Declan Shalvey. The audience gets the sense that the two artists are collaborating a lot in order to get their work just right. Bellaire handles the colors in a manner that will shock readers. Shades of white around Moon Knight, make him stand out in each and every panel, which works incredibly well in the context of the issue. Since the colors so perfectly bleed into the story and artwork of this issue, they end up feeling essential instead of being a gimmick. Shalvey delivers such incredibly precise artwork, that anybody not aware of the artist by the end of this issue, will have his name burned into their mind. He knows how to perfectly manipulate each and every page, and also knows when to let the panel bleed all the way over to the page or vice versa.

Warren Ellis still has a long way to go in order to sell his take on Moon Knight with me, but this is still a very entertaining first issue. Shalvey and Bellaire prove that they are forces to be reckoned with in these pages. Hopefully this chapter in Marc Spector’s life will be more fully developed in the coming issues.