Best Moon Knight Comics
Due to his peculiar past, Moon Knight is one of the most intriguing Marvel superheroes. Like Wolverine and Punisher, Moon Knight started out as a minor villain in a book called Werewolf By Night.
The Moon Knight Series appeared on screens in March 2022. Although the series provided us with an intriguing perspective on the protagonist, there is no way that the six episodes could adequately convey the character’s depth and range of emotions (which is why we’re also optimistic that his story will continue in the MCU for years to come). Check out these comics to see all the different perspectives on the multifaceted hero.
15. Bad Moon Rising
The first solo Moon Knight series’ beginning is included in this compilation. It was first published in 1980 by author Doug Moench and illustrator Bill Sienkiewicz, and it marks a significant transformation in the character by revealing Marc Spector’s ancestry.
Here, Spector gets off to an intriguing and unorthodox start for a Marvel superhero. He is a henchman for a mercenary named Bushman, but a few issues in, as Bushman is going to kill innocent people and himself is struck down by his boss, he suddenly experiences a crisis of conscience. The Egyptian deity Khonshu brings him back, and he begins acting out the god’s vengeance as a superhero.
14. From The Dead
13. Werewolf by Night #32-33
In 1975’s Werewolf by Night #32-33, which was written by Doug Moench and illustrated by Don Perlin, Moon Knight made his debut. Moon Knight makes an appearance as a mercenary hired by a mysterious organization known as The Committee, charged with capturing the book’s lycanthrope protagonist, Jack Russell, in a two-part adventure that continues in Werewolf by Night #33.
Again, the Moon Knight is very much an anti-hero in this novel, a cynical rogue who battles for the great American dollar, despite having a change of heart toward the end and siding with Russell against The Committee.
12. The Macabre Moon Knight (Vol. 1 #1-5)
This issue tells the story of how the merciless Bushmaster killed Marc Spector. However, Spector transforms into the Moon Knight and exacts retribution on Bushmaster after being restored by the Egyptian deity Khonshu. In the subsequent issues, Spector assumes both his alternate Grant and Lockley personas as he battles both common criminals and fantastical creatures. A key character in the Disney+ series, Anton Mogart, also known as Midnight Man, is introduced by Moench and Sienkiewicz in Issue #3. Mogart is a master thief and a regular Moon Knight enemy.
11. When Ghosts Can Die, Even Gods Must Fear #41
Even though Moon Knight is more of a loner, sometimes, he teams up with other heroes. Later joining Captain America’s Secret Avengers, he first made a debut with the eccentric team The Defenders. However, he’s dispatched by his god to join the West Coast Avengers in the present after Hawkeye is sent back to ancient Egypt and encounters Khonshu.
MK spent 20 issues with the team, although he never quite blended in with the other superheroes. The other Avengers dismissed him as a religious fanatic because of his propensity to consult Khonshu, and when the primary Avengers instituted a “no murdering” policy, he even joined a renegade organization.
Although multiple different writers worked on the series during this time, some strange characterizations resulted even though Al Milgrom pencilled all of MK’s West Coast Avengers adventures. It is revealed on his final trip with the group that Khonshu took control of Moon Knight in order to have a better look at the Avengers. Satisfied, Khonshu releases Spector, and he permanently departs the team.
10. Hero For Hire #11-14
A few years later, the second significant Moon Knight team-up took place. Characters like Daredevil and the Punisher were relaunched by the imprint, giving them a tougher edge, and setting them apart from the rest of the Marvel Universe. These individuals were included in a fictional team with Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and the duo Cloak and Dagger in the Marvel Knights comic book series. Luke Cage was finally hired by Moon Knight, who joined the team much later to subsidize it and serve as a base.
9. Crazy Runs in The Family Issues #188-193
With a new antagonist that serves as a dark mirror to Spector after Lemire’s run on the character, writer Max Bemis and artists Jacen Burrows and Mat Lopes focus on the mental health angle. Moon Knight battles not just the conflict between his identities but also The Truth, a new adversary who has the power to see into other people’s minds and drive them insane. Writer Bemis treats the subject with greater consideration than some of the other books on this list, which leads to a moving story arc. Almost as impressively, Bemis orchestrates some major adjustments in Moon Knight’s life that give Spector new adventures.
8. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spiderman Vol. 1
Although Defenders #47 may be credited with the first Moon Knight team-up with the good guys, this arc is far less disorganized than that one. Despite being a rather standard “good person who doesn’t kill, battling a good guy who does murder” plot, which is typical with crime-fighting contemporaries like Daredevil and Punisher, the scenario successfully positions Moon Knight as Spider-more Man’s gritty counterpart despite his outrageous costume.
7. The Bottom Vol. 5 #1-6
Many of the original Moon Knight comic’s characters, such as Grant’s butler Samuel, Lockley’s homeless companion Crawley, Frenchy, and even Bushman and the Committee, return in the series. However, crime writer Charlie Huston gives the narrative a noir twist by using a noir lens to convey a tale about a mentally and physically damaged Marc Spector’s search for redemption in Khonshu’s eyes. The gore and brutality are ramped up by artist David Finch, inker Danny Miki, colorist Frank D’Armata, and letterer Joe Caramanga, with vivid blood splashes spilling against dramatic greys and blacks. Although not the world’s simplest read, this series offers the most accurate portrait of Moon Knight.
6. Moon Knight Vol. 6 #1-12 by Bendis and Maleev
While Bendis and Maleev’s tenure on Daredevil was characterized by their mastery of realistic crime drama, their work on Moon Knight is an extraordinarily fascinating approach to superhero fiction. Despite being completely immersed in the superhero genre and featuring cameos from Ultron and Bullseye, this iteration of Moon Knight seems to exist in a separate region of the Marvel Universe.
5. Welcome to Egypt. Vol. 8 #1-5
The eighth volume by Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood is the first in the series to completely embrace Moon Knight’s strangeness. After all, he’s always been a peculiar figure. Spector discovers in “Welcome to New Egypt” that he has been institutionalized alongside Marleen, Frenchy, Crowley, and Gena and is a patient at a mental hospital. It’s possible that all of his Moon Knight adventures, including those from the earlier series, were hallucinations.
The mental state of Moon Knight has served as a gimmick for most of his history, something to distinguish him from other superheroes. Lemire, however, uses the ailment as a plot device and a lens through which to examine the definition of heroism.
4. Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 18: Ultimate Knights
In 2005’s Ultimate Spider-Man #79, the Ultimate version of Moon Knight first made an appearance. At the time, he was Spider-joke and a crazy person with numerous personalities that annoyed other heroes.
But Bendis changed the course of the narrative with the “Ultimate Knights” arc. Spector created a new character, Wilson Fisk’s enforcer Ronin, as part of a group sent to take down the Kingpin of Crime. Bendis creates the Ultimate Moon Knight as more than simply a practice run for his subsequent work on Moon Knight Vol 6. He makes him the ideal double-life superhero. The Ultimate Moon Knight is superhero storytelling carried to its logical conclusion thanks to the classic superhero art from Mark Bagley, Drew Hennessy, and Justin Porter, as well as Cory Petit’s distinctive letters.
3. Avengers Vol. 7: The Age of Khonshu
In “The Age of Khonshu,” Khonshu dispatches Moon Knight to gather the Avengers’ essences out of fear that the demonic Mephisto will take over the Earth. The Egyptian god, however, determines that the only way to preserve the planet is to conquer it after Khonshu gains sufficient strength to kill Mephisto, which causes Moon Knight to lose faith.
2. The Midnight Mission
Jed Mackay, the author of the current ongoing Moon Knight series, successfully satisfies readers’ desires with mystery, intrigue, and a cast of memorable characters that includes Moon Knight, Mr. Knight, Marc, Jake, and Steven.
It’s a great starting point for anyone who wants to see the most recent iteration of the character, and it may also be a hint at what to expect from him in his live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration; different departments of Marvel Entertainment frequently communicate with one another and work behind the scenes to prepare audiences for the future.
1. The Fist of Khonshu
After the legendary run-on Daredevil, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev teamed up once more for a volume of Moon Knight that might interest followers of the television show. Marc Spector made the decision to relocate to Los Angeles in order to work as a producer on the TV show The Fist of Khonshu, which is based on his life as Moon Knight.
Because of Moon Knight’s condition, his different personalities changed, and during battle, Avengers incarnations of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine took the place of his earlier personas. This comic edition is a quick read for TV fans interested in trying out a new, dark take on a familiar character.
Are any of these Moon Knight comic book issues your favourites?
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