#Moon Knight spooks a man by off screen teleporting to his location and staring at him

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #29: Dead Run!

February, 1988

MOON KNIGHT fights alone!

Dammit, Moon Knight! You forgot the buddy system! Your designated buddy is Tigra! Where is Tigra, Moon Knight!

I have to give him this though. He caught up to Taurus pretty quickly.

This is a pretty cool cover, I have to say. Very dynamic. A cover is supposed to make you want to buy the issue and a crashing plane makes the kids at the newsstand sit up and go ‘hah, he’s horny.’

Anyway.

Last time on West Coast Avengers on the West Coast: the crime organization Zodiac was destroyed by a group of robots called Zodiac, led by Nick Fury’s robot brother. Taurus of the first group of Zodiac went to get the Avengers’ help in destroying the second group of Zodiac. Using his astrology knowledge. Because the robots’ entire personalities were just based on astrology.

Moon Knight accepted Taurus’ aid but if and only if Taurus agreed to go straight and give up crime. Taurus agreed but escaped Avengers custody as soon as they and robot Zodiac were teleported to another dimension.

Moon Knight is feeling pretty betrayed that the guy did not honor a promise so in the name of the moon, he’s going to punish him.

Taurus actually goes to sometimes Avengers ally the Shroud (who pretends to be a criminal in order to secretly undermine crime) and tries to get him to sign on to be the new Pisces in the new Zodiac he’s building.

For all of Taurus’ astrological knowledge, this feels pretty arbitrary. Maybe Shroud was born between February 19 and March 20th. But he’s got shadow powers and is not really very fishy.

Shroud turns Taurus down because Pisces is a dumb name although its more that joining the Zodiac cartel would complicate his own mission to undermine the underworld.

And for another thing, if Taurus is claiming the Avengers are dead, then why is Moon Knight standing right behind him?

Taurus yells at Moon Knight, telling him he was dumb to believe an oath to the Moon but mostly just reacting to Moon Knight just standing silently and staring at him.

Just. Standing. And staring.

Moon Knight is no Batman except in all the ways he is and one of the ways is striking fear by just standing and staring.

Also, I have to laugh. As part of a monologue about how Taurus doesn’t know what he’s fucking with, Moon Knight thinks “He thinks I’m just a costumed hero! He doesn’t know I serve a god of Ancient Egypt...” which has the same energy as that meme with that guy wallflowering at a party.

Anyway, Taurus also decides that Shroud and him together can beat up Moon Knight.

Womp womp.

Yeah, Shroud is obviously going to take the first excuse to bow out of this situation.

I’m glad Shroud doesn’t have himself so tangled in lies that he would have to fight Moon Knight to maintain his cover. He can just be like hey I’m a criminal but this ain’t my problem, byeeeee.

Taurus gets pissed and whips out his Star-Blazer. Which I guess is a star-themed laser gun.

He also pulls it out of his collar and his costume is pretty skintight looking so I dunno how he hid it. Then again, out of costume Cornelius van Lunt isn’t so beefy so the costume probably fakes a physique. Plenty of room to hid a gun if so.

Glad I figured it out.

Taurus fires the Star-Blazer at Moon Knight who dodges behind a pile of boxes. Taurus blasts the boxes but Moon Knight has already, somehow, relocated to the opposite side of the room.

Where Shroud gives him an inspirational thumbs up.

He believes in him!

With the support of some random guy, Moon Knight tackles Taurus from behind and grabs the bull-man by the horns.

But, suddenly hearing

Khonshu: “I have complete faith in you, Marc Spector!”

in his head distracts Moon Knight and Taurus bucks him off and beats him up a little.

Taurus: “I didn’t create and rule the most successful crime cartel in the history of the world by being inept! When I say you die, you die!”

Marc isn’t really paying much attention to being told to die. He’s still waiting for Khonshu to say something else.

Marc’s other selves Steven Grant and Jake Lockley try to chime in but Marc pushes them back down.

And kicks the crap out of Taurus.

Taurus suddenly realizes, ‘actually, fuck this!’

Taurus: “Blast it! My goal’s recreating the Zodiac, not trading punches with an Avenger!”

Discretion, better part of valor, et cetera.

Taurus bolts out of the warehouse and absconds like a champ.

Moon Knight has a very dark reputation. He’s absolutely believed to have killed some dudes when he was a solo hero but Taurus is pretty sure he won’t kill now that he’s an Avenger.

Pretty sure. Not absolutely sure.

Taurus runs down an ally and climbs a ladder but

Moon Knight is waiting for him at the top.

Taurus: “How did he DO that? HOW?!!”

The astrology-themed crime boss yeets himself off the ladder and runs into the street to jack a car from some poor couple.

Taurus ditches his mask so the cops don’t pull him over for being a bull man driving a car and turns onto the Santa Monica Freeway to lose Moon Knight.

Then the cops try to pull him over anyway because his car is missing a door. Because he ripped the door off to steal it.

Taruus ain’t gonna get pinched for grand theft auto though so he dodges the cops by weaving through traffic.

But just as he escapes the cops, a shadow crosses over him.

ITS MOON KNIGHT!

The sky-cycle does explain how he off-panel teleported to that rooftop honestly.

Taurus panics and drives through the barricade separating lanes. Weaving around oncoming traffic, he takes an entrance ramp, knocks a dude off his motorcycle, and hits a traffic light because he’s swerving around so much.

Taurus: “Holy jumpin’ Joe!!”

Moon Knight keeps up his internal monologue during this chase, narrating to Khonshu.

Except Khonshu responds back.

Moon Knight: “I heard you! I know I heard --”

Khonshu: “Of course you did!”

Moon Knight: “But I don’t want voices in my head! You’ve never talked to me before! I’ve felt your presence, known your will, but the doctors say I’m Marc Spector -- no one else!”

Khonshu: “You need be no one else! You are strongest when well and truly concentrated, to strike well and truly as my fist!”

Except while Moon Knight is talking to his god in his head, Taurus pulls out the star-blazer and star-blasts Moon Knight’s sky-cycle.

It spirals out of control, hits the ground, and explodes.

Taurus is elated.

Taurus: “Ha! He follows like a vengeful ghost, but he’s not a ghost! He’s a man like anybody else, flying a real machine -- and they can be hit!”

Taurus is sure that nobody could survive that crash but when he goes to check, there’s no body.

(I mean, there’s also no seat-belt. Realistically, Moon Knight could have been thrown loose at any part of the crash.)

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH

Haha, just kidding. But it is back at the Rancho Palos Verdes, where the West Coast Avengers Compound is.

Shroud calls the West Coast Avengers under the assumption that Moon Knight was working on an Avengers mission to hound Taurus.

But Hawkeye is baffled to hear about it. The West Coast Avengers are trying to track down van Lunt but Moon Knight went off on his own.

Tigra speculates that Moon Knight’s god wouldn’t be happy that Taurus broke a promise on the Moon.

Hawkeye is just generally annoyed that he has to find out what his teammates are doing from an outsider instead of directly. He also proclaims “This is the Avengers, not the God Squad!”

Fun fact: God Squad does later become the name of a Marvel superhero team. Galactus was on it.

So the West Coast Avengers decide to find Moon Knight, Dr Pym tracking down the sky-cycle he took.

Taurus’ run through the woods takes him to an air field, with a plane revving up to go.

So obviously, he’s going to hijack that plane.

Just makes sense.

Moon Knight doesn’t his sky-cycle anymore so Taurus will escape by aiiiiir!

The pilot in the plane isn’t too intimidated by the guy waving around a toy-looking gun but he concedes once Taurus uses the Star-Blazer to blow a hole in a hangar roof.

Taurus refuses to give the guy a destination OR to listen when the pilot tries to tell him how much fuel the plane has. So the guy takes off. Taurus scans the airfield and the sky out the window as the plane takes off.

Taurus: “No sign of him on the ground -- ! Nothing in the sky, either, this time! And I’d see it, if there were! His stupid Moon works against him now, making everything as bright as day -- ! But I want every instrument you’ve got looking for anything approaching us! You hear me?”

But when he turns to look at the pilot for confirmation...

HI MOON KNIGHT!

Hey. So. I know Batman is the night. And also vengeance. And the symbol of fear that puts a frighten in superstitious and cowardly criminals.

But Moon Knight is putting in so much effort fucking with Taurus in this issue.

He’s off-panel teleporting just ahead of him. He’s doing the ‘there was no body’ when he seems to have been killed. AND HE DRESSED UP AS A PILOT just to lure Taurus into a plane and fuck with him more.

No doubt Batman is good at Batmanning. That’s why he’s called Batman.

But Moon Knight is doing the same thing dressed in all white.

Anyway.

After Moon Knight points out that firing the Star-Blazer inside a flying plane is a good way for the plane not to fly anymore, Taurus just throws it at the hero and then tackles him.

Moon Knight does a good job kicking the crap out of Taurus but all the roughhousing is making the plane tumble this way and that and Moon Knight winds up falling on his ass. Taurus takes full advantage.

Taurus: “You’re not a ghost! You fall just like I do! You’ll fall ALL THE WAY!”

And then he shoves him out the door.

But after closing the door behind Moon Knight, the plane starts banking. Taurus looks out the window and finds some THING on the WING!

Not a gremlin though, Moon Knight. He’s hanging on and his weight on the wing is causing the plane to turn. That’s how planes work.

Taurus declares that Moon Knight is a sitting duck and opens the door back up to take a shot at him with the Star-Blazer.

Taurus: “You’ve done your best, Avenger! You’ve done everything you could to get at me -- and you’ve made your point! I’m human! I’ve got my limits! But I’m also Taurus! The leader of the Zodiac! I built an empire once, and I will again! And you’re just a memory -- as of now!”

But Moon Knight lets go of the wing before Taurus can fire.

And the sudden shift in weight causes Taurus to lose balance and accidentally discharge the Star-Blazer through the roof of the plane. The sudden hole causes the plane to start crashing.

This is why it’s important to put a safety on your fantastical star-powered laser gun.

Taurus grabs for the controls but in his busy crime life, he never learned to fly a plane.

And as the plane starts spinning, he spots Moon Knight out the window. Gliding through the air.

Taurus: “NO!! Oh my god -- NOOOOOO”

Bye Taurus.

Hopefully no more Zodiac for a while.

As Moon Knight glides and watches the plane crash, he reflects. On whether this outcome was what Khonshu wanted, whether that makes van Lunt’s blood on Khonshu’s hands or on Moon Knight’s. And most importantly on what now.

Moon Knight’s cloak is only intended for short distance parachuting.

Moon Knight: “I did what was necessary to act as your fist -- but now I need your hand!”

But it’s Iron Man who swoops in and saves Moon Knight.

Iron Man brings Moon Knight into the Quinjet where Hawkeye has some words for him.

Hawkeye: “You’re on probationary status with us, Moon Knight! If ya work out, you’ll be an Avenger -- but workin’ out means workin’ as part of the team! You wanna chase your private enemies in your private career, fine -- but van Lunt was a team enemy, an’ ya don’t run him down without tellin’ us!”

Moon Knight apologizes if he stepped on toes by taking unilateral action on the van Lunt thing. But explains that while he wants to be an Avenger (and feels destined to be one), he is also “the Moon’s Knight of Vengeance” and he cannot change his methods.

Hawkeye objects on the grounds that Moon Knight’s spooky routine and van Lunt’s death will make the Avengers look bad, like Moon Knight intentionally hounded a criminal to death.

Hawkeye: “Just remember -- Avengers not only don’t kill, they can’t even look like they might!”

But Mockingbird chimes in here with some dissent.

She suggests that what with the West Coast Avengers being a new team in new circumstances, maybe they should be more flexible!

(Mockingbird: ‘Hey, crazy notion, maybe sometimes murder is good actually?’)

Tigra agrees. She attributes it maybe to the cat part of her soul, but also that the world is a darker, crueler world than it once was. Oh boy, just wait until you get to the 90s.

Iron Man objects that as a founding Avenger, he won’t let the ideals of the Avengers be tarnished. And Hank Pym, also founding Avenger, backs him up.

Wonder Man makes no statements at this time, just looks thoughtful. He’s probably wondering how doing a murder would affect his public image.

AND IN FAIRNESS, that is part of the discussion! Not Wonder Man’s image specifically. But the Avengers, West Coast or not, enjoy a level of public support and sometimes governmental support, due to their image. And part of that is the part where they do not do murders.

Moot point in current times, I guess. A lot of superheroes happily kill. Sometimes its because its aliens. Carol Danvers watched a Skrull slowly asphyxiate with a goddamn smile on her face. Geez. This is the same Carol Danvers who once demanded that she be court martialed to see whether her murder of the Master of the World was justified or not.

You think the late 80s are a crueler world, Tigra? It’ll get worse.

ANYWAY.

Hawkeye... well, he doesn’t concede the point. He just says he didn’t realize there was a split in opinion.

Hawkeye: “Well, we’ll talk about this, but I don’t think we’ll ever sanction killing -- !”

Moon Knight wonders to himself (and Khonshu) why Mockingbird stood up for him.

And down on the ground watching the Quinjet fly off, stands Phantom Rider. The ghost, maybe, of the man Mockingbird secretly did a manslaughter to.

A portent that Mockingbird’s secret will out sooner or later.

Oh, Mockingbird, if only you’d hadn’t solely confessed to a robot duplicate of your husband!

Just Comic Problems.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because the Great Lakes Avengers will eventually come out of this drama. Yes, the Great Lakes Avengers. I swear. They’re tied into the Mockingbird killed a cowboy in the past and then lied about it subplot. Ain’t it wild how things are connected sometimes? Anyway, like and reblog please.