Piece By Piece — Reviewing ‘Moon Knight: Fist Of Khonshu’ #8

Generally, those with a knightly title tend to fight with swords rather than fighting against a soul-sucking sword of another. Then again, it’s not like Moon Knight has ever done anything that tends to be in the realm of normalcy.

A rejuvenated Knight continues chipping away at Asgardian crime-lord Fairchild’s empire, by taking on the aforementioned sword-wielding Carver. Jed MacKay, Devmalya Pramanik, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Cory Petit turn up the heat with Moon Knight: Fist Of Khonshu #8.

**SPOILERS FOLLOW**

On the surface, this is a pretty straightforward issue.

Moon Knight and Carver battle it out. Moon Knight gets stabbed and converses with a living sword. Daddy Khonshu gets involved, helping put the sword on a leash. Moon Knight has a sword and a new knowledge fountain in the now free Carver.

Time, though, gets a fun little play-with as the issue unfolds from the stabbing/death point, before piecing backward. MacKay has had such fun with this character and his slice of the universe and it shows. Despite having read and reviewed the previous issue, I actually thought I missed an issue because of this opening sequence. It was like “Wait, he’s fighting Carver and died…again…what!”

Tip of the cap right there. With how hard it is to keep things secretive and quiet in this day and age of media, pulling off such things is always cool. I like to have some surprise and unexpected beats in the media I choose to pursue.

Not only is it clever, but it continues to just be a true visual delight. No matter who they tap to draw this series, they give it their all to really cut loose creatively.

It’s nice to see Pramanik back after two issues off. He dips right into the sweet mix of rough and light that his work tends to embody, giving it that gritty street feeling when needed but also the more outlandish beyond our selves feeling at other times. This issue needs both of those in heavy doses which is good news.

One can’t forget the epic grand feeling that comes from these scenes. Sure it’s a street level series with a supernatural lead, but the setting lends itself to grandness as well. Just damn, that shot of Carver stabbing Moon Knight with his cape billowing as the buildings loom beyond them under the bright moon. I’d insert a chef kiss gif right here if I could. Alas, my words will have to suffice unless you’ve looked at the issue yourself already.

Check out those panels, though. Just creative, engaging, and outside of the box, in order to best convey the scene energy. Gotta love a really creative use of the overall space including the gutter or negative space.

Aiding in all the above are the continued inspired color choices by Rosenberg. She meshes the whites, shadows, midline colors, and the vibrant colors into one balanced medley. Each sequence space has a distinct personality as the shadows and colors dance around each other. Even the stark black death space feels vibrant, with the white of Moon Knight and then once the dragon spirt from of Ginnarr the Hoarding Blade comes into play.

An enigmatic vigilante. An ancient hungry sword being. A vengeful patron God. Such a variety of voices playing off one another here. Petit, as he always does, captures each of their unique sounds and energies on the page, shifting the various lettering to match their voice as we must hear them in our minds. Providing the right push to get it all focused and accessible amongst the overall flow of the pages.

Moon Knight: Fist Of Khonshu #8 is now available from Marvel Comics.