E.R. Cruz had done about a bazillion horror stories at DC, but I hadn't seen any Marvel work from him before. But the opening is right in his wheelhouse, as a accidentally-unmedicated Morpheus returns, immediately attacking a hapless (and very Cruz) nurse with his shadow-powers. (The regular nurses may have been on strike, scab nurses may have not filled his prescription correctly!) Offended at being stuck in the psych ward--he felt he had a firm grip on reality--Morpheus transforms some of the more-disturbed patients into his 'priests,' giving them some of his abilities.
Marlene, as Marc notes while biking, has left him "rather than accept the strain and dangers" of his Moon Knight life. Still, he's her first call with this Morpheus situation, especially since the villain had killed her brother in an earlier appearance; then she is captured for use as a sacrifice later. Marc considers this might be a chance to win her back, which gets him a visit from the disembodied giant heads of the priests of Khonshu--they were the middle-management bosses in this series, and may have been retconned later. With a bit of pain to underline their point, they help Marc realize his love life can't be Moon Knight's concern. At the hospital, Moon Knight has a check-in with his usual police contact, Lt. Flint; then has to run the gauntlet through Morpheus's priests, who really take to their new jobs. Flint also serves in the "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this" role, as he gives MK a tear-gas grenade, which he has to use before getting to the final boss.
Moon Knight drugs some of his random bulls--er, I mean, weapons of Khonshu to try and knock Morpheus out; but his enhanced strength was working against him here, since he wasn't sure about the balance or how hard he needed to throw them. Still, he manages to hit Morpheus with one, and it takes a moment but knocks him out. Later, Marc enjoys a nice dinner with Marlene, or at least probably enjoys it up to the point she says she's going back to her ex-husband Eric! Who I actually have no recollection of; but it also seems kind of off, since she had been with Marc for a fair amount of time.
This might have been the first time she left Marc, though, but it didn't stick; so I have to wonder if their current estrangement will stick, either.
Man, Idk about you, but I miss art that looked realistic like this compared to a lot of the current art that looks so cartoonish and stuff. Maybe that's me, but I miss that style of comic art.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the more I see this, the more I kinda want to see ML figure of this costume. Idk why, just different enough to work I guess.
Guess her ex husband Eric got killed off later then right, because I've never heard of him until now & I don't think he's ever popped up again since.