9 Days of Reviewin' #2: Arsehole in a mask

Moon Knight Saga
By loads of people who should know better

The local comic shop keeps putting these free promotion things in with my regular comics and I can’t stop reading them. But something is wrong here, because they really, really don’t make me want to try out the comics they’re promoting. The most recent one I got is called the Moon Knight Saga and seems designed to actively discourage me from ever reading the regular comic.

Some of them aren’t too bad, especially the ones that just showcase the art. Odd, 16-page sketchbooks are always worth a look, and there was a fairly decent Spider-Man one a few weeks back. That one has some really nice art in there, even if Black Cat cheesecake doesn’t impress me any more, because my balls dropped fucking decades ago.

But when they lay on the text, it all goes wrong. A recent attempt to explain Wolverine’s history wasn’t just incomprehensible, it was a charmless and gormless work that mistook endless plot repetition for a story.

And this Moon Knight Saga thing that came out a few weeks ago? It’s not just awful, it’s almost offensive. There is no wit, or style, or enjoyment to be found in these 32 pages of dreck.

It didn’t have to be this way. I was willing to give it a go. Moon Knight might have one of the most ridiculous outfits in the history of the Marvel universe (and there have been some rotten ones), but interesting creators had done interesting things with him in the past and a new series was starting up soon. I’m always keen to get some new, smart superhero comic into me and had no ill-will toward the character.

And then I read this thing and any interest I had in the comic, it’s concept or its creators shriveled up like fish that was left out in the sun.

Beneath Alan Davis’ dullest cover ever, Moon Knight Saga runs through the history of the character, covering all the big moments in his life and the allies and villains that are there.
That would be fine, if it was left like that. But somebody along the way decided it would be much, much better to have Moon Knight offer a running commentary on his own life. He’s a bit sarcastic and a bit ironic and a bit shit.

From this narration, Moon Knight isn’t edgy or interesting, he’s just a fucking jerk. And I know enough jerks in real life, I don’t need to read about them. Fictional jerks can be interesting, but most of the time they’re just fuckin’ jerks. Fuck that.

Hearing Moon Knight sneer “whatever” and make fun of the West Coast Avengers with all the wit and charm of an eleven year old is just tedious, but joking about ripping of somebody’s face is just tasteless.

Or there is this little gem of wisdom, from a man who faced his own mortality head on and died a fiery death: “Yeah, dying sucks.”

Okay, so he’s supposed to be unhinged and genuinely psychotic, I get that, but he just sounds like an arsehole instead.

Fuck Moon Knight. And fuck the people who thought this was a genuine attempt to bring in new readers. This has put me off Moon Knight for life. He’s just too stupid, too irritating and too damn boring to follow. Maybe that 11-year-old who fills his caption boxes will get a kick out of this idiocy, but I’m not interested.

It’s the best piece of anti-promotion I’ve seen in comics in months.

Nice one, Marvel!