What’s going on, Pulp peeps? Hope you’re all having a swell day. I know I am – at the time of writing this, the new Star Wars trailer has gone live, so I’m in nerd heaven right now. Speaking of nerd heaven – don’t forget that Halloween Comicfest (a.k.a. October’s Free Comic Book Day) is coming up on the 31st- make sure you swing by Gifts for the Geek and snag yourselves some awesome free stuff!
This time around – after a mad, last minute dash to All Star Comics after uni – I’ve picked up a trade I’d been hoping to talk about for a while now – Warren Ellis’ (Transmetropolitan, Hellblazer) run on Moon Knight. Now, I’m a little unfamiliar with the character, but the first volume (part of Marvel NOW!), From the Dead, is essentially the perfect jumping on point for both new readers like myself and established readers continuing on from previous runs. Ellis gives you a rundown of the character, then dives headlong into the story, but not in a way that leaves you without any background. He might be brief, but he covers all the bases – striking the perfect balance for both types of reader.
When it comes down to actual story, From the Dead jumps around a bit – there doesn’t seem to be an overarching storyline driving the plot; it’s more a series of vignettes that see Moon Knight (and/or Mr Knight, depending on a, who’s driving the body and b, who he’s talking to) battling supernatural dream creatures, punching ghosts(!) and rescuing kidnapped schoolgirls. While Moon Knight’s significant mental issues are mentioned – it’s theorised that he has dissociative identity disorder, among other things – they don’t come to the forefront just yet, so you get to see MK pull off a bunch of awesome stuff, like fighting his way through an apartment block like a goddamn Terminator. Moon Knight is equal parts weird, trippy and just plain awesome, and a lot of that appeal comes from artist Declan Shalvey (Hero Killers, Deadpool).
While Ellis’ writing provides a lot of thrills (I say that even as an unabashed Ellis fanboy), it’s Shalvey’s art that is probably the standout of the trade. While it starts out as fairly standard – if dark – superhero fare, once the supernatural elements of the story kick in, you’re treated to a mind-bending spread of an alien dream world that’s on par with the kind of legendary artwork you’d see in Sandman: Overture. Seeing MK smash his way through a horde of armed goons is really, really fun too; Shalvey and Ellis make the fights brutal, visceral and oh so enjoyable. Moon Knight, like Daredevil, is the kind of hero that is used to taking punches, and he takes more than a few in his quest for justice. While he might appear to be a Marvel take on Batman from afar, his motivations are quite different – he strives for redemption, not justice, and rather than striking from the shadows, he prefers his targets to see him coming and essentially piss their pants. While Ellis’ run on the title was brief – he left after the first trade – he definitely made a mark on the series, and his work with Shalvey made the book the success it is today. All in all, Moon Knight is a fun, if tragic, character, and as soon as my bank account recovers I’m going to dive in to the rest.
Written by Alastair McGibbon