It's never a great day when that card shows up, is it?

Well, maybe it will be for us? Here's hoping. From 2007, Moon Knight #13, "The Uses of Restraint" Written by Charlie Huston, pencils by Tomm Coker, 3-D models by Don Cameron. (That's a credit I don't think we've seen here before!)

This feels a bit like a connecting issue between storylines, as it opens with Khonshu, appearing as the face-removed Bushmaster in an Iron Man suit, browbeating Marc into doing his job. To Marc, that's avenging and protecting the innocent, but to Khonshu right now it appears to be spreading the gospel through the ol' ultra-violence. That's illustrated by longtime MK supporting character Detective Flint, who is given the freak beat, and has to kick loose a child abuser for lack of evidence. He does take a picture of the crescent moon carved in the perp's skull for evidence, and advises that was basically a friendly warning, Moon Knight would check back with him, and next time...things would get serious. (Not unlike Marc at the start of this series, Flint is beat down and exhausted here; possibly by having seen too much horrible crap over the years; but aside from maybe the hassle of paperwork, I don't think Flint gives a crap about Marc repeatedly violating sex criminals' civil rights and/or bodily integrity.) Likewise, Marc's old friends Marlene and Frenchie both have lovers convinced they're bored with them, and that they want to get back with the more thrilling Marc. Maybe for Marlene: while Frenchie's relationship seemed sincere, Marlene's panties almost literally drop at the sight of Marc back in action in Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1. That was much later, of course: here, Marlene and her guy are mugged, and she adminsters a Khonshu-worthy beating on her assailant.

Next, as part of the post-Civil War Initiative, Marc has a psych eval with smug manipulator Dr. Depford, who seemingly tries to provoke a response from him, and is curious why he hasn't registered his super-powers. Marc demurs, that he hasn't had full-on powers for years, and that they were...overrated, and made you cocky. In response, Depford raises a shade, exposing Marc to the moon, then asks if he could speak with Mr. "Lockely" and Mr. Grant. Marc again defers: Grant and Lockley weren't real, they had merely been aliases. Of course, Lockley and Grant then speak with Depford, who had already considered Marc unstable and unfit, before Khonshu speaks through Marc. Even though I sometimes refer to him as Marc's boss, Khonshu was a god, and could turn it on as needed: he sees right through Depford, calling him a jealous tattletale, like he could view every sin of the man's life. Depford kneels, completely broken to Khonshu's will, and while Marc is still seemingly unconscious, Moon Knight is quickly ratified and verified as a licensed, card-carrying super-hero. (Unless of course, you still believed 'Khonshu' was just another of Marc's personalities, albeit a forceful one; but that ship has kinda sailed.)

After a brief chat with the Profile, who had given him intel on Depford, Marc suits up, and goes to town on a criminal that avoided extradition; as an interview with then-S.H.I.E.L.D. director Tony Stark plays on the radio. While paying lip service to the notion that "anyone" could apply to be a hero, Stark mentions "that said, we're not going to be passing out licenses to any whacko who stumbles in off the street." "Whacko" might be telling there; that was an occasional nickname for West Coast Avengers, like Tony and Marc! Moon Knight apparently kills--or at least savagely beats--three criminals, leaving them with crescents carved on their foreheads, and one with MK's registration paperwork shoved in his mouth.

While Marlene returns to Marc, Frenchie helps with the move of some of Marc's gear, which appears to culminate in burning down Spector's mansion. Frenchie ruminates, that Marc is unable to give up the past, or leave the field of battle gracefully; while Marlene already seems to be regreting her choice...This was the last issue for Charlie Huston, who really got Moon Knight started again. The next issue would be three months later, but somewhat surprisingly, not another #1.