Written by Cullen Bunn
Pencils by Ron Ackins; Inks by Tom Palmer, Walden Wong, & Victor Olazaba
Colors by Dan Brown
Published by Marvel Comics
A latest “arc” of Moon Knight begins with the new creative team of Cullen Bunn and Ron Ackins. The title is quite a strange one. Given the majority of the big two’s output is overpopulated with comics deliberately written to fit into a six issue trade paperbacks a regular series from Marvel comprised of self-contained stories and only the barest of inter-issue continuity is nearly alien. While trying to follow up from the excellent run by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey is quite the Herculean feat but it’s safe to say the team is more than qualified for the task.
Bunn does a masterful job to match the haunting howling mood set the previous writers but also makes it his own. The issue falls into line with his special brand of technology meets the supernatural seen in the recent Hellbreak. The story follows the deranged Marc Spector as his home is invested with wandering spirits. It falls upon the Moon Knight to locate the reason for the undead’s despair and what follows is a disturbing tale of violence and suffering. Though the evil doers are defeated, Moon Knight is still left wandering and lost. There is the problem that little character development happens over the course of the story, but this issue proves how a comic can succeed from simple action and environment.
Speaking thereof, Ron Ackins is a great pleasure to be had. He’s a relative new comer the comic book world, but walks onto this book like a pro. The central fight scene of this book is a feast for the eyes as Moon Knight descends from above. The moment is made by Dan Brown’s great use of colors. It’s difficult to explain, but Spector arrives, appearing as a beast from another realm, so nightmarish he’s even taken for a ghost himself. His high contrast colors have him stand out from the dressed down goons. As the fight goes on, Moon Knight is covered head to toe in blood and the hapless fools how crossed him learn he’s a man born of their darkest dreams. It’s an amazing fight scene that says so much about a character with only some inks and colors.
Moon Knight is always a strange book. It’s very much an acquired taste as the surreal noir atmosphere is not what everyone would be led to expect from a Marvel title. Cullen Bunn sets up shop and though he sticks to the style that Ellis started, he gives his own twist for the demented Marc Spector. Ron Ackins has the making of a fantastic regular artist with a great vision for Moon Knight, even if some of his faces for secondary characters comes off very strange.