Moon Knight #1 - A Review

Sadly I don't know very much about the Marvel Comics character Moon Knight. I've picked up issues here and there for years but never bothered to learn about the hero's backstory. So here I am having read the new Moon Knight #1.

Unlike most comic-reading folk I know, I don't go crazy for artist/writer team ups. I'm not incredibly impressed by that many popular, fan-favorite talents in the industry. For example, Bendis and Maleev were the headliners for this issue. I have never quite understood the fanboy's love of Bendis and I still don't. Alex Maleev had some incredible work on Daredevil, but this time around I felt his work lacked what I enjoyed during his run with The Man Without Fear. So I'm not going to go any further with throwing creator names around while I review the book.

I appreciate the way the issue opened and how that opening set the scene for this run of the character's story. It both set the reader up with an idea of who this man was and who he has become. There's also an Avengers connection early on in the issue that seems typical for any book in Marvel. Take any Marvel title and have it's main character meet up with the Avengers on a rooftop somewhere exchanging witty banter. From what I gather this has become a rather common occurrence, especially for stories written by this title's writer. It's only after the action of this story plays out that you realize there's nothing typical about this book at all.

I won't spoil anything about the story, the character, or the approach the creative team seems to have taken with this new run. All I'll say is that nothing is as it seems and that last page leaves you either wondering or, if you're perceptive enough (having taken a good look at the cover), it leaves you with a chill. It was that final bit that made the issue worth picking up. The rest I found to be blah. There are better ways to pull readers into a new run. This seems like a half-hearted approach. There's too much of that to be any good for the current comic industry. I'm giving Moon Knight #1 a 3 out of 5.