We saw the
last issue and
#4 previously, and today's issue appears to hit a lot of the same beats: from 1985,
Fist of Khonshu: Moon Knight #5, "Debts and Balances" Plot and layouts by Chris Warner, script by Jo Duffy, finishes by Alan Kupperberg.
Three assassins are dispatched, to deliver "
death to the worshippers of the White Cobra!" Marc Spector is likewise put on the task, by the ghostly three priests of Khonshu that keep appearing to him in this series: Marc is not loving that arrangement, and is also still pining over Marlene. In Chicago, the assassins attack the law firm of Morgan and Morgan, which seems to have a lot of guards; but while two of the assassins are killed, they get one of the Morgans. The assassins were women, in far more conservative outfits than usual for then or now...
Moon Knight tracks down and confronts the third assassin, who tries to play off as a defenseless woman, but he doesn't buy it. She gets away and fights her way to the remaining Morgan, killing a lot of guards, but Morgan was no innocent: he was sacrificing children to maintain his own life. Moon Knight stops the assassin from killing Morgan, who then ages into a skeleton at the stroke of midnight. Dismayed over all the death, the assassin kills herself, with Moon Knight left wondering what good that served.
If I had to say something nice about this one, the layouts and backgrounds seem very strong? There's a scene in a hotel room that seemed to have quite a sense of place. Story-wise this one's a bit of a mess: Moon Knight doesn't seem to accomplish much, and it doesn't help that neither the moon priest thing nor Marlene would be resolved this series, although they seem to come up every issue. I want to say the priests were explained away in
West Coast Avengers, but that wasn't a particularly satisfying explanation, either. Also this issue: the USPS Statement of Ownership: Total Number Copies Printed (net press run): Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 325,502. Single issue nearest to filing date: 63,669.
I actually read this entire series last year and it was definitely worth it. Felt like a darker, grittier, more realistic MK series. Wouldn't minded more MK stories by this writer in the same vein as these.
ReplyDeleteWell, somebody's not getting their deposit back. What a waste of an assassin, though any assassin that kills themselves over deaths like that isn't really going to be high on anybody's list. Good way to kill a weekend I suppose, if you'll pardon the pun.
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