Review: ‘Devil’s Reign: Moon Knight’ Is A Twist On The Expected
by Tony Thornley
You might pick up Devil’s Reign: Moon Knight thinking that it’s just another event tie-in. But it’s something more than that, all while subverting some common fiction tropes.
In the wake of the events of Devil’s Reign, Marc Spector is sitting in prison. Jed MacKay, Federico Sabbatini, Lee Loughridge, and Cory Petit tell the tale of Moon Knight’s extremely unconventional prison time. (Also, look at that cover! Holy $#!* can we please get more Rod Reis Moon Knight covers?!)
Heroes are criminals in Wilson Fisk’s New York City. That may work to Marc Spector’s advantage though. As Moon Knight, he protects those who travel by night, and that includes those who come to him for help. In this case, it’s the ex-wife of a supervillain. A supervillain who is now locked in prison with the Moon Knight.
MacKay starts the story in one place and completely goes a different direction than what I thought. Spector at first just seems bored, or he wants prove himself as a threat by taking down the biggest guy in the prison. As it builds, we start to see an emotional payoff to why Spector is doing what he’s doing. It’s smart, a huge twist on prison violence tropes, and it’s chilling when Moon Knight makes the final blow.
Petit takes the script and makes it just as much a part of the art as Sabbatini and Loughridge’s work as well. He’s able to blend in while still enhancing the reading experience.
Sabbatini’s work is a bit more cartoonish than I expected out of this type of story. He’s heavily manga influenced, which means the characters are extremely expressive, and dynamic. Unfortunately, his Marc Spector is way off model, which threw me in the few times he showed up unmasked. His style makes the violence stand out though, as it’s a lot to take in with these expressive and cartoonish characters. Loughridge’s colors sets the mood through the prison scenes, building up to the fight club scenes which changes the palette to create a feeling of tension as Moon Knight brawls through the prison population.
Moon Knight made a splash when it premiered, and its seems to be flying under readers’ radars now. I hope to see it regain its prestige position soon.
Devil’s Reign: Moon Knight is available now from Marvel Comics.
Overview
Moon Knight takes the cliche of “they’re locked in here with me” to an intense and frightening extreme. It largely works, outside of a few character models that are overly cartoonish.
