Moon Knight must face his demons, but even with all his personalities, he’s still outnumbered. Your Major Spoilers review of Moon Knight #200 awaits!
MOON KNIGHT #200
Writer: Max Bemis
Artist: Paul Davidson/Jacen Burrows/Jeff Lemire/Bill Sienkiewicz
Colorist: Matt Milla with Jeff Lemire
Letterer: VCs Cory Petit
Editor: Jake Thomas
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: October 24, 2018
Previously in Moon Knight: Years ago, mercenary Marc Spector was left to die in an Egyptian tomb. But an interaction with a lost god named Khonshu brought him back to life with a new mission: Punish the evil in Khonshu’s name! It’s been a good run, but now Marc’s demons have come home to roost and neither he nor Moon Knight nor the other personalities in his head may survive!
THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY… IS ANOTHER ENEMY?
Things open in a really weird place, as Moon Knight remembers his torture by a former N*zi named Ernst, alongside the Sun King, whose pyrokinetic powers made him even more dangerous than Marc Spector himself. The extended flashback ends in the present, with Moon Knight and Sun King teaming up to take down the last legacy of Ernst, a third person tortured by the old man, a psychic called Truth. Together, Spector and Sun King head for safe ground, heading home to where he lives with his girlfriend Marlene and their daughter, at which point Marlene maces Sun King right in the face. The various voices in his head argue with him, but Moon Knight is determined to team up with his most dangerous enemy to save the world. Their battle gets reaaaaaally trippy along the way, but the combination of not-Batman skills and tricks with “firing flame out of his palms” takes them all the way to Truth, and their combined insanity, along with Marc’s multiple personalities, finally takes Truth down. As Moon Knight #200 ends, Sun King agrees to go back to a mental health facility to get treatment for his own illnesses, while Moon Knight returns to the night…
A LITTLE BIT DISTURBING
There’s been a strange undertone to the Bemis run as regards mental illness and Moon Knight’s multiple personality disorder, and this issue really brings it to the forefront, as both Spector and Sun King loudly declare that they’re insane and happy about it. Add in a couple of arguments about who is more Jewish and this issue has some really unpleasant dialogue moments. Ultimately, though, if those moments don’t alienate you as a reader, it works as a story and a possible ending to the book (this is definitely the last issue of Bemis & Davidson’s run, but it’s unclear as to whether Moon Knight is actually cancelled or not.) The visuals time around are pretty remarkable, especially a couple of fight sequence that I think are the work of Jacen Burrows, and the facial expressions and body language are wonderful throughout the issue, even though I’m also disturbed by how many times the characters look the reader directly in the eye. The final page is really beautiful, too, though it does make me wonder if things would have been better had Sienkiewicz done the whole issue.
BOTTOM LINE: IS THIS THE LAST ISSUE?
In short, this issue has a number of things that bothered me, but the central narrative worked pretty well and gave us an unusual take on superhero activity. Moon Knight #200 makes for an appropriate ending to this arc and era of his adventures, with creative art and a fast-moving story that isn’t completely shut down by some unpleasant dialogue and unfortunate implications, earning 2.5 out of 5 stars overall. It has all the earmarks of a final issue, even if it hasn’t officially been announced as such.
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MOON KNIGHT #200
Well-drawn, with a wonderful artistic cameo from Sienkiewicz, but a confusing story and some tone-deaf dialogue moments detract from the story somewhat...
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Writing4
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Art6
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Coloring6
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