#You lay on that floor

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking Down The Comics: Under the Mask

Moon Knight, Issue 20: Cut Adrift off the Coast of America

LOOK AT THIS COVER. I laugh every time I see it. It reminds me of like, Night on Bald Mountain when the devil creature is over the city and about to do his evil things. I feel like the past two covers for this run are just the artist (Bill) going, “I don’t know… Moon Knight in various poses of angst?” For no reason! 

Anyways… Let’s finish this run! 

So we left off with Marc finding plans for Nimrod to attack Manhattan and Marlene being undercover as his personal bodyguard. 

Now, up to this point, Moon Knight has been abroad. This whole run has been him retracing steps and places Marc has worked. 

I've noticed that in the original comics, any time Moon Knight had to travel out of the country, Marc Spector is the one in charge. 

He is well traveled and he has contacts all over. If there's a country, Marc has most likely been there being paid to be a bad guy. 

Perhaps Jake doesn't feel comfortable traveling. His home is New York and always has been. He found his identity there and his friends. 

Steven will sometimes travel, if it involves luxury, but usually once they leave the hotel Marc takes over. 

Now, we are finally heading back to New York. 

Which, oddly enough, Marc never feels at home on American Soil. He'll show up for a fight or two, but perhaps he just doesn't feel like he has a home there. He did, after all, leave his home in a hurry after a fight with his father. America is something Marc left behind. 

ANYWAYS: 

We see Moon Knight with scuba gear on... and still wearing his cape I might add... trying to reassure his contact that "Spector and I will take care of it." 

He notes that while he has faith in the plan, "our real strong suit is playing it by ear." 

This is true. Moon Knight is amazing at winging it. When things go to shit, he just goes. Which is probably for the best because a lot of his plans tend to go to shit. He's...He's not good at thinking things through. (Especially Marc). 

Streglov (the government contact) mentions that he really doesn't like the fact that Marc is emotionally at risk in this mission. Not just for revenge, but also that Marlene is involved. 

Moon Knight quips that "I didn't like anything about this operation, Streglov, but we're stuck with it." 

Once in full scuba attire: 

(WHAT ARe YOU WEARING MOON KNIGHT. That cape can’t be easy to swim in. Is that breathing respirator OVER YOUR MASK?! Are you….wh…. The depths this man will go to to keep his mask on…) 

As Moon Knight goes for a swim at night in full outfit... 

"Sure cold down here this time of night. Gives me the chills... Chills to match the goose bumps I got when Streglov mentioned Spector. Didn't like his tone of voice. Almost as if he was embarrassed to refer to Spector as a separate man. Guess I'd better face the grim possibility --Streglov may be catching on that Spector and I are one in the same man." 

Hmmm... Now, in the last issue, we had no issues with identity. Marc was undercover and comfortable not being himself. Moon Knight was an easy guise to slip into. 

He is grappling with 'secret identity' right now. He doesn't like the idea that people know who is under the Moon Knight mask. 

But also, he doesn't like the idea that people see the man under the mask as Marc Spector. 

He's so uncomfortable being known as Marc that he would go to great lengths to keep the guise up that they are different people. 

Which, in this particular circumstance, it IS silly. They are on a boat. It's assumed Marc got on the boat and now Moon Knight is there going on the mission saying that Marc sent him to do it and to trust him. 

There's a certain level of self delusion going on in which he wants everyone to believe that Marc is still on the boat. Perhaps that he wants to believe that Marc is still on the boat. 

In Moon Knight's eyes, Marc has very little place on this mission and he would rather everyone just play along. 

So it looks like the terrorist plan is to put four oil tankers out in the water in key locations, purge the oil, letting the gas build up until a spark sets the whole thing off in an explosion. 

Nimrod is on one of the tankers. He plans to blow his tanker and send a signal to the others to blow their own. The pressurized explosion form the built up gas will be devastating and then the oil in the water will catch fire, encircling the island in a raging fire inferno. 

Moon Knight is to get on Nimrod’s tanker, cut a hole in the hull and release the gas to prevent the explosion. He will then stop Nimrod, preventing him from signaling the other tankers, giving other teams time to take them out. 

A convoluted plan on both ends. 

Would the ship blow up? Yes. Science has proven that this is what caused some famous explosion at some point (I'm not looking up which boat it was. It was in port and the built up gas caused a devastating explosion that wiped out the whole town, but if you know it then kudos to you). 

Are there better ways to do this? YES. JFC yes. Just put a bomb on the boat. Why is he going so over the top? Why is the only method of preventing the explosion cutting a hole to let the gas vent? What about all the oil in the water that is polluting and causing a fire hazard? And with that much gas build up, ANY spark could set off an explosion. What if it goes off before you’re ready?!

Convoluted plan aside... Moon Knight gets on the tanker, now in search of Nimrod himself. 

Moon Knight is now lamenting that he needs to keep control of his emotions. "I've got to control myself... Avoid hasty judgements... Keep myself from thinking about it..." 

Good luck with that buddy. Hasty judgments should be your middle name. 

Back with Nimrod, we see Marlene still playing bodyguard. 

Nimrod is doing his bad guy rant about how Moon Knight destroyed his base. He rants about how he's a one man army and will take down the city no matter what it takes. 

As Moon Knight makes his way through the tanker, taking out bad guys, he reminds himself that he's not doing this just because of Marlene. 

As Moon Knight busts into Nimrod's room, Nimrod shoves Marlene forward, demanding that she attack him. 

Luckily, the two other lady bodyguards jump in and attack first. 

Oh! And here we see our hero once more face on the floor in a helpless position. 

Back at Grant mansion: Hey! We haven't seen this place in a while! 

Frenchie has taken Jake's cab back to the mansion to GET TO THE CHOPPER. 

Back on the tanker, Moon Knight wakes up in a very Bond-like situation. 

I do appreciate that each time we look at Nimrod after this while Moon Knight is tied up, Nimrod is upside down. It’s a fun touch in perspective. 

Nimrod gloats a moment then moves to unmask Moon Knight. 

Back in the day, secret identities were pretty sacred. All heroes who wore masks kept their identity pretty tightly locked down (Notable exceptions to those that wore masks: Tony Stark who can't stop telling people who he is and Captain America who no longer has the ability to just be Steve Rogers). 

In current times, Moon Knight really stopped caring and ever since Civil War (don't get me started on that Marvel Event), the only one who really keeps his identity is Spider-Man. And that really depends on what Spider-verse you live in. 

So back in the day, Moon Knight kept his identity a secret unless you were in his close circle of friends. 

This really worked well for Steven Grant, who needed to maintain his social standing to get into high class crowds. It also helped Jake keep his own personal life and let him work the underground. 

When it came to Marc, it really didn't matter. Marc didn't really have a normal life anymore. 

Not to mention the only people that knew who Marc Spector even was were probably those that had come up against him as a Mercenary. 

So Nimrod is momentarily shocked then laughs about how he now has both his nemeses helplessly held captive. 

He leaves Moon Knight helpless and we get...this...view....

Um... Anyways... 

Moon Knight realizes that the crescent darts are still on his belt, being mistaken for decoration! 

So he wriggles around till one pops off and falls towards his restrained hands. He misses quite a few of them. 

Of course on the last dart, he finally catches it. 

Now he just has to saw through the rope restraints. 

Back up top, Nimrod is relaxing with his three bodyguards. They doze and Marlene finally gets a chance to slip away. 

Just as she is about to leave the room, one of the other bodyguards wakes up. 

Marlene assures her that she's just going out for fresh air, but the guard is suspicious She wakes up Nimrod. 

Marlene finds an escaped Moon Knight and they team up together to start taking out the guards. 

The hapless lackies all taken care of, they return to look for Nimrod, only to walk into a trap! 

Nimrod makes a run for the detonator to blow the other ships. Marlene tells Moon Knight to go. She'll deal with the other two ladies. 

We get several pages of Marlene in an out and out brawl with the other two ladies (all three are in bikini uniforms, but not drawn softly. Bill gave them good muscle definition for the time.) To the credit of the writing team/artist team, it's not a cat fight. They use martial arts, punch, and hit one another with chairs and things. 

Marlene makes nice work of the other two and wins the fight. 

Meanwhile, Moon Knight is up against Nimrod and his Arsenal of weaponry. 

Moon Knight is hit by a grenade and once again....

He sure does spend a lot of time down there. 

Dizzy from the hit, he stares down the barrol of a gun and remembers his friend being gunned down right in front of him. 

"A memory of Ben Abramov, his oldest friend, jerking from the impact of a sniper's bullet... Twisting slowly through pain towards a last fall into a darkness called death..." 

He acts and kicks the gun at the lat moment, causing it to discharge into Nimrod's face. 

"And another memory, also snarling... Nimrod Strange crushing Marlene to his chest, smearing his lips over hers..." 

Moon Knight jumps up, enraged. 

"You've killed my friend and soiled my woman, Madman!" 

He attacks the disoriented man, punching and coming at him head on despite bullet fire. 

When the fire becomes too intense, he falls back to get the high ground. 

Nimrod makes a last desperate run for the detonator and Moon Knight tackles him. 

Moon Knight takes a blow to the head that leaves him in his favorite position on the floor. 

We get a really nice page here and you really have to admire the art, the layout, and the tension. This is just a fantastic page! 

He knocks out Nimrod before he can push down on the detonator! 

And now we get a bit of our nit and gritty man showing his emotions. 

MK: Marlene...I...That last gesture...It was stupid. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me.

Marlene: Hush, Steven. If such a gesture can ever by earned, you did tonight.

He cuts the detonator and calls for Frenchie to be picked up. He leaves Nimrod on the boat and rushes to inform the agents waiting that the mission is a success. 

Moon Knight laments that Nimrod knows who he is and will most likely tell everyone who he really is. 

Just as he's about to confess to everyone that he and Marc Spector are the same person, Nimrod wakes up and manages to set off the bomb. 

His ship blows, taking out everyone still on it. 

Thankfully, the other ships have been disabled and taken out before they too can blow. 

"You were saying?" 

"Oh, nothing. Just that Spector and I are a good team. He does the undercover work and I'm the visible one up front." 

Hmmmm. Very true. Very visible. 

Epilogue: 

Back in Jerusalem... At the home of widow Anna Abramov, she receives a message. 

"Anna- Ben's work finished --Spector." 

She crumbles the letter and weeps silently. 

"Then she sips some tea and wraps herself against the chill, and for a time she is quiet, and she is still, and she is alone... An hour from now the tears will start again...and last until dawn." 

END ISSUE and end to Nimrod Strange. 

This was a long run of Just Marc Spector in his element. 

We got to see a lot of Marc’s skills and the things he did before Moon Knight and what gave him the ability to put on the mask and be as brutal and effective as he is. 

It also showcased Marlene in good light and we even got a lot of Frenchie action. 

As for the bad guy, he seemed like he was supposed to be bigger than he was. He boasted a LOT about his abilities, his firepower, and being unstoppable. But he just hit behind his goons for hire, his bodyguards, and his weaponry. He really just didn’t strike me as a big top tier villain. 

And maybe that was some of the point. A single guy with power and an idea that managed to gather people together to try to do terrible things and hurt a lot of people. 

This was a very run run, especially traveling to Israel and going against the elite three. The story and imagery in that one was amazing. 

Honestly, it was pretty amazing to just focus on Marc. So that makes up for the fact that the villain was just utterly detestable, and not in a fun hate the villain sort of way. 

We also got to see him be utterly pissed and petty, culminating in spitting on Nimrod, then instantly feeling shame that someone saw him. I think that sums up Marc pretty nicely. It isn't often he gets to spit on a terrorist who enjoys killing and hurting people. But then he feels shame that he let his emotions out. Oh Marc, stop being a bottle of suppressed emotions.

It ends in a way that a lot of Moon Knight comics tended to end back in the 80s: A sad and lonely note. Though they won and get to go home, there is still the Widow who is alone and will always be alone. 

Marc sends her the note, but Marc can slip back down into his safe mask of nothing and doesn’t have to think about her anymore. His friend is dead, and it’s another name added to his list of people he failed and watched die. 

What did you guys think of this run? Thumbs up or down for the bad guy? 

I think what’s really exciting after this and seeing Marc work, is knowing where it’s all culminating in at the end of the first big 1980s run of Moon Knight. 

[beyondplusultra]

It's like I blinked and "Haha I'm going to kill myself" became a funny joke to make again, or an alright thing to say ironically. You guys stop that. You'll feel better for not saying it, I promise.

[ewwww-what]

Floor time.

[demigods-posts]

think it'd be really cool if percy could teleport using water. just needing to be in direct contact with a water source to transfer from one puddle to the next. cornering monsters in damp alleyways like it's no one's business. foregoing the subway when the forecast calls for showers. crossing the ocean quicker that you can say pacific. quality content.

[dragondawdles]

this has taken me SO long. Hi. has youtube link aswell

[beetlejuicesgraveyardrevue]

nothing has ever been more important to me than this two second clip of ray toro

[agentark]

see you around, rvb

[nyxofdemons]

THE WAY THAT THEY INVENTED ROMANCE WITH THIS SONG???? HELLO?????

[carryoncastiel]

[yandere-romanticaa]

Aalto capturing you would be an absolute walk in the park for him. He would hold all sorts of things and information above your head, basically trapping keeping you trapped by your own volition.

What adds insult to injury is the fact that you basically walked right into his waiting arms without even thinking things through properly.

And that's where Aalto really shines like a star - deceiving people!

But don't call him out on that or even mention it because he will ignore you or just change the subject!!

So, you just live like that with your captor, following him around whenever he goes, perhaps even forcibly being his assistant at times. He smothers you in non stop kisses as he can't keep his hands to himself to save his own life. In fact, he can get so bad that it even wound up with the two of you getting banned from entering certain places. Public places in particular, ouch.

In due time however, you managed to find a way to exploit Aalto for the one weakness he had.

Ah, sweet, precious, innocent little Encore. Oh how useful she became to you. You see, how could her Uncle ever do something so awful? He's not letting you outside? Don't be silly, if Encore says you should play with her outside, of course he'll let you both!

Encore never understood why Aalto would seem to hover over you both whebever you were together. He was often sweating bullets for some reason, which made no sense. Encore was more than capable of keeping you safe!

And Aalto was just forcing a grin on his face as he watched you hug the pink haired girl, a wicked smile on your face.

As uncomfortable as the situation was for him, Aalto also could not help but to be impressed. You took advantage of the situation in its full capacity without a shred of mercy and for that, he had to congratulate you.

It was even kind of hot, dare he say.

... But, the entire thing is still a hassle for him, which means he will eventually figure out how to get past this situation.

[cupid-tune]

Big on the mind...

[rakiah]

SO 🙏 MUCH 🙏 FEELS 🙏 AND 🙏 YELLING 🙏

[watchyourbuck]

There’s a tiny moment right before Tommy kisses Buck when you can see him glance to the side, and it just hit me that he’s weighing the signs in his head, trying to decide whether what he’s picking up on is really what Buck wants – unconsciously. It’s a fraction of a second, but the mere fact that he arrives to the conclusion that yes, Evan Buckley wants to be kissed, and yes by a man, yes by him, is enough to make me cry.

[beefcakekinard]

oh god tommy really saw buck at his jealous mean angry worst and thought if this is the worst thing he can do and it's for the sake of feeling wanted, i can't wait to see what his best is like

[poposusz]

Finally got this out of my head and into reality. A little more violent version below the cut.

[onismdaydream]

tw for dubcon/bordering on noncon and cheating

roommate ryomen sukuna who finds you drunk at the apartment, all clingy and needy and perfect for him. your dress is slipping off your shoulder, your collarbone looking so tempting and ready to be marked up. makeup is all smudged, too. you're a mess as you pout and tell sukuna how your boyfriend stood you up again. he's only half listening, eyes glued to the way your breasts push against his arm as you hang off of him. you're so warm and soft.

you let out a yelp when he pushes you against the nearest wall, towering over you and breathing heavily.

"your little boyfriend just doesn't treat you right, does he?" sukuna whispers, voice low and deep, nipping at the shell of your ear. your hands weakly push at his big and broad chest and he chuckles. "don't deny it, princess."

one of his hands gropes at your tit, squeezing it roughly and making you whine. he's heard you at night and when you think you're alone. he knows you're faking every orgasm when you're with your pathetic excuse of a lover. he can't even go down on you properly and it makes sukuna seethe. how could you put up with that for so long?

"you gonna let me show you how a real man fucks?" it's not a question really, he's going to do it either way — not like you can put up much of a fight anyway. but he can see the way your pupils dilate, your tongue darting out to lick your plush lips. everything sukuna is doing is making your core ache, your thighs pressing together to try to relieve the pressure.

you want this.