Random Happenstance

I thought I might have read this before, but this was new to me! From 1988, Marvel Fanfare #38, "Whatever Happened to the Podunk Slam?" Written by Jo Duffy, pencils by Judith Hunt, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz.

At a girls' home, late at night, one girl seemingly disappears, and a disheveled and confused old woman might have got her. But Moon Knight isn't on the case yet, since as Marc Spector, he's getting a sales pitch from an art curator, who's trying to sell him a remarkably ugly and probably cursed mask. Even with the curse, Marc isn't sold, and doesn't have time for that anyway, since Frenchie has set up a charitable excursion at a local girls' home...taking them to boy-band sensation, Podunk Slam! The girls, and Frenchie, love it; Marc is again unsold. But, he later has another vision from the priests of Khonshu, involving old people that claim they shouldn't be old (join the club!) and the "cursed" mask and Podunk Slam? What connects those three? As usual, it's left for Marc to figure it out.

Moon Knight eavesdrops on the Podunk Slam, who aren't thrilled with the terms of their contract but are pretty locked in. He also visits the girls' home, to consult with a cop (sadly not his usual guy, Detective Flint) who explains kids have been disappearing all over and a ton of senile old folks have been found in their place...feels like there might be a connection they aren't seeing, doesn't it? Moon Knight gets the mask, then confronts Podunk Slam, one member of which was feeling guilty over what was happening: the curse of the mask kept them young and loved, by sucking youth and love out of their fans, and they didn't even make the big bucks, their promoter did! Not wanting to give up his meal ticket, the promoter announces to a packed stadium of young girls that Moon Knight was going to try and hurt the band, and only they could save them!

Swamped by the girls, Moon Knight is going to be torn to pieces, and Podunk Slam has to figure they were probably next, so it's not completely unselfish for them to smash the mask, breaking the spell and turning back into old men, while all the kids that had been aged are turned back to normal. The crowd of girls is less keen to defend, or even listen to, the now old and gross Podunk Slam; but Moon Knight figures they probably wouldn't have been able to do a full set, anyway.  Still, pound for pound, a small horde of 13-year-old girls may be your best defense against Moon Knight; so plan accordingly.

This was from the "Fist of Khonshu" era, but I'm not sure Frenchie appeared in the six issues of that series; or if this story was maybe meant for there but ended up here. Also, didn't the Fist-era costume have an ankh on the chest instead of the moon symbol here? Did that change when he went to the West Coast Avengers? I forget. I also need to keep an eye out for Marvel Fanfare #30, which appears to be from earlier, with the classic costume.