The Boys Are Back In Town — Reviewing ‘Marc Spector: Moon Knight’ #6

Marc Spector’s whole world has shifted. Those he cares about are in the clutches of a transdimensional living house. Rushing straight into the house didn’t work out, so what is a moon-themed vigilante to do instead?

Easy, turn to a friend and summon a team that’s not a team to deal with fantastical threats. The Midnight Sons are reborn as Jed MacKay, Devmalya Pramanik, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Cory Petit gather the squad in Marc Spector: Moon Knight #6.

Putting together the team issues can often be a bit boring. It’s a lot of exposition and situational development to bring all these often disparate personalities into one space. Under the correct storytelling hands, though, they can be something more than that and end up being beyond good reading. As you likely guessed, this issue would fit that particular type of bill.

Oh my gosh, the artwork that Pramanik delivers time and time again is just so damn good. It gives this book such the right dark, rough, moody, and epic vibe that it deserves. We’re all over the place in this issue as Spector gathers this group and each space, while still dark, feels so vast yet confined and atmospherically perfect. Multiple characters are in spots of action as their scenes begin and none of that action feels similar or routine. These characters share a darkness in their past or present but they are very different in every respect and we feel that in how they appear, interact, and are introduced.

Paneling is beyond spectacular here. It shifts into various shapes, sizes, and configurations to utilize page space nominally as the scenes demand it. As noted, we’re in confined spaces such as the Midnight Mansion, an office space, a bluff overlooking LA, and an alleyway in Hell’s Kitchen for the most part. All of it keeps us right in the thick of it, with the backdrops being far away and often murky or blurry, but still feeling like an immense part of the overall being.

Moody darkness swirls through all of these spaces under Rosenberg’s deft hands. Every space is laden with heavier black and blues and grays that fit the overall darker tone of this story and the whole series. Contrasting in a complimentary way are the stark white of Moon Knight, and then the more vibrant span of colors depicting magic, sunlight, powers, and other fantastical elements. This makes those elements stand out even more because the darkness gives them more of the spotlight, letting them almost glow.

I am especially a fan of the almost ethereal white energy that radiates off Moon Knight, keeping this stark white wearing vigilante beyond visible in any situation. He’s wearing all white, as part of the Moon Knight mythos but also because he wants you to see him coming.

Petit gets to play with a lot of characters on the regular vocally, since Moon Knight has an ensemble. Here he gets to play with some other toys, some that he’s played with before. He nails their differing ways of speaking, their energies, and their emotional spirits. Different modifiers and shifts drop in with expert ease to give the moment a bigger volume, tonal change, or powerful punch.

It’s been five years since MacKay began this Moon Knight journey and the story. No matter the different title names, has never slowed down. As energetic, and powerful as the day it debuted. What has changed is the scope and character development for the title character and others. Marc Spector is different now than when we saw him at that spot five years ago, and we feel that even more here.

Not only does MacKay do character work great, he’s a noted master of tying past canon into the present without it feeling forced or like an anchor. We get a ton of references, and requisite editor notes, to events that happened between Moon Knight and some of the gathered Midnight Sons or things that happened to those characters in the past. From the “Age of Khonshu” event that Ghost Rider and Blade were part of to the Blood Hunt event where Moon Knight played a major part. Hell, we even get a reference to the 2010’s Shadowland Daredevil centric event. All of it flows naturally, and plays into the character dynamics perfectly.

Small note; thank you to MacKay for bringing back Robbie Reyes. I’ve missed that dude so much. I was a massive fan of the Marvel NOW era and the new characters and legacies that were at the forefront of that endeavor. Once upon a time, Marvel embraced more diversity and change, and hopefully with the recent news about the company a new version of that era is on the way.

Marc Spector: Moon Knight #6 is now available from Marvel Comics.