Crescent Dart:
The new Down South arc brings Moon Knight full circle and superbly kicks off the beginning of what looks to be a fantastic journey for fans of Moon Knight. [singlepic id=17 w=250 h=375 float=right]

Waxing:

• Fantastic dialogue merges with perfectly tailored art
• Kicks off a new beginning for Moon Knight in a masterful way
• The Punisher factors into the story intriguingly

Waning:

• You’ll see Moon Knight’s costume, but not in the way you might want to

Full:

After staging his own death while battling Bullseye, at the end of issue 25, Moon Knight did away with his only publicly known persona, Marc Spector, and steered Jake Lockley out of his fractured sense of self and back into the fold. While the death of Marc Spector helps take him off the grid in a world that is trying to contain him, the resurgence of Lockley is more than just a thematic turning point for the series.

Since Charlie Huston’s relaunch of the series in 2006, Marc Spector has been trying to find his identity in the world. He’s doubted his stability and ability while burying his split personalities. He’s been on a journey that has seen him attempt to piece together the validity of his existence from his friends, from his enemies and from pills. He’s questioned, dismissed, pleaded with, abandoned and been abandoned by the god he deems himself the avatar of. And he’s gone through all this while clinging tightly to his given Marc Spector and adopted Moon Knight identities, seemingly almost fearful that any recognition of any of his other multiple personalities would be too much to handle in his identity quest.

This is why the death of Marc Spector was such a big deal. While mentally, Marc Spector was a safe zone for Moon Knight, it was becoming hazardous to hold on to this identity in the real world. Too many people wanted to see him and everyone around him destroyed.  To paraphrase Frenchie, in order for Moon Knight to live, Marc Spector must die.

This puts extra pressure on this new arc. Sure killing off a character or having a character go into hiding under a different guise is commonplace in comics (see Clint Barton/Hawkeye/Ronin, Captain America/Nomad or pretty much the entire premise of Marvel’s Civil War) but having that character’s other guises being ingrained in their psyche and history requires that an extra layer of care be taken lest you lose the essence of the character itself.

Well, Mike Benson hogties, skewers and tenderly slow cooks every delicious morsel of Moon Knight’s new world in this issue. It’s fucking awesome.

In a way this is the origin story we haven’t has a chance to see in the recent arcs. Followers of Moon Knight know that Marc Spector was a mercenary and a prize fighter before he was a hero, and becoming the cabbie Jake Lockley was his way of gathering information once he became Moon Knight. He’s back to all of those basics in this issue. [singlepic id=20 w=250 h=375 float=right]

The dialogue is masterfully written. There’s a feeling that Moon Knight is in his comfort zone and you gain insights into his command of situations and mercenary skill sets not by being told about them, but by seeing it unfold via dialogue and action. Whether Khonshu allows him to stay in that zone remains to be seen. Writer, Mike Benson, has hit his stride. While Charlie Huston deconstructed Moon Knight into his current place in the Marvel Universe, Mike Benson has expertly kicked off the reconstruction of Moon Knight. It’s been a slow burn, but the payoff is evident and ongoing.

And a big part of why Benson’s story comes across so well in this issue is Jefte Palo’s art. It’s perfect for the tone and the dialogue. I was apprehensive at first about how it would come out, as I wasn’t a fan of his work in the 2007 Moon Knight annual. But his art works really well with Benson’s script throughout both action and dialogue sequences. Each panel is framed in a way that allows the central focus to shine through. It’s night and day compared to Mark Texeira’s seemingly rushed and sloppy art in the last arc.

It will be interesting to see if sacrificing Marc Spector stabilizes or desecrates Moon Knight’s persona in the long run. If this first issue of Down South is a sign of things to come, then finding out is gonna be a hell of ride. Maybe not a mustache ride, but hopefully that comes through as well!