#don't read Bemis

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Thanks for doing these posts! You consistently articulate things so much better than I can. And informative!

As someone who was introduced to Moon Knight through the MCU, it's hard to know where to start with the comics. What comic runs would you recommend? (Sorry if you've answered this somewhere else and I missed it!)

Thank you for reading the posts! Makes me feel like I'm not just banging pots and pans together while screaming about Moon Knight.

As you may have found out, MCU Moon Knight is a bit different than Comics Moon Knight. Steven is not the sweet little English muffin and Marc is...Well Marc's the same.

I have a long winding answer in my blog somewhere on how to read the comics, but the short answer is to start with Moench. Re-reading the first run by creator Moench has given me a new appreciation for the original characters, themes, and overall plots that Moon Knight started out with. It also gives you an idea on the supporting cast.

Everyone says Lemire, but if you jump into Lemire, you aren't going to know who Gena and the boys are, Crawley, Marlene, or even Frenchie.

If you read through all of the original 1980 comics by Moench and Zelenetz then you will get a big appreciation for who they were. You'll see Marc Spector be angsty and silly. You'll see Steven be full of worry and drawn in very silly outfits/styles, Jake be the sweet loving and caring uncle, and even Moon Knight be a sopping wet kitten.

(Plus you'll see Bill Sienkiewicz!! Watching his art grow into a master piece one issue at a time is amazing).

After you finish the OG run....you can just...skip the 90s. They did very 90s things that aren't that important and I'll get to those much later... And the early 2000s...You should never just jump into those. They... They'll be covered later. They were fun, but they were a TRIP.

Then it's up to you if you want to jump into Ellis or skip right to Lemire. But what ever you do.... You MUST red Lemire Then...just...just skip everything after until you get to MacKay. The reasons are being posted under my "I'm reading it so you don't have to" run...

Hope this helps! You can find the OG run online for free!

[sinceileftyoublog]

Say Anything Interview: Intentional Is My Default

Photo by Nicole Mago

BY JORDAN MAINZER

I'm waiting back stage at Riot Fest for Say Anything's Max Bemis to finish a photoshoot, one that sees him lie in the grass in various positions that make it look like he's stretching after a tough workout. Despite the fact that he hasn't yet gotten his real workout in yet--his newly reformed band would go on stage in a few hours--and that this photoshoot is full of capital-p Poses, I'm taken by how at ease Bemis seems with everything. When we speak, he reveals to me that, yes, while he did in fact feel awkward during the photoshoot--most of us do--he's learning to lean into his feelings much more naturally.

Five years ago, the legendary emo band disbanded, with their 2019 album Oliver Appropriate billed as their final LP for the moment. A purported sequel to their beloved sophomore record ...Is A Real Boy, the album was publicized in conjunction with a nine-page letter from Bemis, in which came out as bisexual and admitted to struggles with drug use. (The frontman has long been open about his diagnosed bipolar disorder, previous self-medication through drugs, and manic episodes.) During the pandemic, Bemis stayed busy, performing livestreams of older material, but there was always lingering doubt the band's hiatus would become permanent.

It wasn't until late last year that Bemis dropped that the band would be reuniting for festivals in 2023. In typical nonchalant fashion, he shared that the reunion would include past members drummer Coby Linder and bassist Alex Kent by replying to someone's comment on a Facebook post. In April, the band released their first new material since Oliver Appropriate, the maximally stream-of-consciousness rant "Psyche!". The song sees Bemis laying out those same struggles for everyone to bear witness to, blaming himself for his personal, marital, and familial problems atop a bevy of references to the band's older material, Titanic, and Riot Fest itself. "By Riot Fest '24, I'll be coughing up corks if you supply the Malörk," he sings, a line that's instantly iconic and bound to be infamous for its satiric misspelling of Chicago's shot of choice. In August, the band followed it up with "Are You (In) There?", which also establishes itself within our emo universe, with mentions of Sunny Day Real Estate and mewithoutYou, but a more personal ode to Bemis' wife and the love they have for each other despite his past actions and shortcomings. And just this morning, Say Anything annouced ...Is Committed (Dine Alone), their new record, along with a single entitled "Carrie & Lowell & Cody (Pendent)", Bemis placing his "mommy issues" in conversation with those of indie folk luminary Sufjan Stevens. The song is musically heavier and more complex and full-throated, while also containing gorgeous choral harmonies from Bemis' wife, Sherri Dupree-Bemis.

At one point, the future of the band was a mystery to everyone, Bemis included. But with some newfound perspectives, the musical and personal influence of new band member Brian Warren of Weatherbox, and therapy, it seemed from just the short conversation I had with Bemis and Kent that they're in a good place, ready to embrace their new chapter. Read my interview below, conducted last month before I knew about their new album, edited for length and clarity. Catch the band three nights next week at The Regent Theater in LA and at When We Were Young in Las Vegas next weekend.

Photo courtesy of Say Anything

Since I Left You: How does it feel to be back?

Max Bemis: It feels great. I don't think I would have decided to write the songs again if I didn't aspire to how this feels now, which is very different than our experience as little kids being in a punk band, which was very intense and an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. But this is comfortable, and it feels like having the best job ever, in the words of Piebald. It could have been a stress fest, anxious, or bad, but the only reason I wanted to write again was to reach for this thing that we never got to settle into, being dads approaching 40. The bands we looked up to were doing it at that age and still making inventive music but still seeming to chill and not base their entire personas and aspirations around being in a band. I think I appreciate it more now that I'm not trying to be "a guy in a band" as hard as I was.

Alex Kent: Something we've been talking about since getting back up and running was the transition from utilizing it as an escape versus a form of healing. Because we've been through so much traumatic shit in our lives, most of the time Max and I talk, we talk about therapy. It's fucking weird going from 18 years old on a tour bus to having that self-awareness and reflection.

MB: I didn't need it like that for many years because our entire life cycle was keyed in to being on tour. I wasn't living a normal person life. I'm not saying I ever have really or ever will--I wrote comic books for five years. That's still weird. We're still weirdo guys. Having a family, coming out of that kind of circus, I feel more like my 14-year-old self who needed this music for that reason.

SILY: The new songs have a self-aware quality.

MB: More than ever.

SILY: How do you include the self-awareness in a set at a festival or concert, where you're literally referring to other songs you're playing in the setlist?

MB: We refer to Riot Fest itself!

SILY: And Malörk [sic]

MB: And Malörk. It's incredibly self-referential and ironic, but because the band started that way, it's come full circle and is no longer ironic at the same time. There's still a lot of exaggeration and bullshit, but it's closer to me saying actual things that are happening. As you age, everyone's life becomes a circus, more surreal. The world has been very surreal, with COVID and Trump. You kind of have to say your inner experience now. It's an emotional, crazy, surreal thing anyway. It's not like before, when I said, "I have to think about my ex-girlfriend, but I'm thinking about my wife, and what the fuck is this about?" Now, this is about being at Riot Fest. And I am at Riot Fest.

SILY: There is a song about your wife, though.

MB: Yes. Also quite literal. So many emotions are certainly exaggerated, but the sincerity isn't. The love for my wife is very real. But even there, if you're in any successful relationship, it goes through the most intense rebirths and reformations, and you're adjusting to each other, especially after having kids. It's more potent to me to say what's happening or what my emotions are than do what we did on In Defense of the Genre, where I was literally forcing drama into my life on a regular basis. Now, I have no room. I'm tired. I have children to look after. The drama just happens from kids, life, everything. It's real and heartfelt, but a seasoned emotion and not so adolescent. I still love those songs, and I relate to them, but they all speak to a certain side of me I can't live out anymore.

SILY: Do the new songs more than ever exemplify the idea that the more personal you are, the more universal the songs can be?

MB: Yeah. But probably by being a little too hyper-specific. That's why I fell in love with this kind of music. Saves The Day got me into wanting to be in a band. What wowed me was when he was talking about the names of the other band members in song, like, "Ted's drooling on his sleeve." He's just saying he's in this New Jersey bar and he misses his girlfriend. He's not cloaking anything. Our thing has been a kind of parody of that, but now I don't have to stretch anything for it to be a parody.

Photo by Ben Trivett

SILY: What do you think Brian Warren brings to the table on the new songs?

AK: I've known Brian since we were 9 years old. Our very first band, we were in together.

MB: I wouldn't know about Weatherbox if it wasn't for Alex.

AK: He brings this calming energy. Humble is a weird word to describe him.

MB: It's accurate.

AK: Weatherbox is fucking amazing.

MB: He has more impostor syndrome than even me.

AK: He can play everything, and he writes cool shit.

MB: He's a virtuoso. The cool thing about Brian is that there's always been a connection between our bands. It's similar to me playing music with [Chris] Conley [in Two Tongues] back in the day. It's surreal, but it makes so much sense that you don't have to think about where he fits into the sonic picture or personality picture because we're friends.

AK: It's very cool how much sense it makes.

SILY: Has your relationship changed to your old songs?

MB: I like them more. Over the break from the band, I would listen to Say Anything, with my kids or in my car, alone. The way I severed it was so intentional. I wasn't saying, "The band was over." I was saying, "We're probably going to get back together, but I have to sever this incarnation." I was listening to [old Say Anything songs] and thinking, "I like Alex's bass part. I like the production. I even like my voice." It was like listening to another band, because of the space. I've grown to like them. I definitely know people in bands that are not what they listen to, but Say Anything has always been a conglomeration of the type of thing we listen to. If I'm going to listen to The Get Up Kids, I might as well listen to Say Anything.

SILY: Moving forward, are you trying to continue to be more intentional, or do what feels best?

MB: Both. I know that's cliché to say, and it does and doesn't make sense. I find that intentional is my default, and before, I would second-guess myself constantly. Now, I allow myself to make mistakes, and I let other people give me advice that before were such cerebral trips. There was a lot that weighed on me. If the lyrics are super intentional and literal, I'm just going to do it. If I feel awkward in a photo shoot like right now, I'm just going to be awkward in the photo shoot. That is, of course, my safe and happy place in life.

[silverjetsystm]

New to Moon Kn.ight? Here's What to Know!

Gathering my usual onboarding to new mutuals. I promise, I'm friendly! This may be updated in the future. Feel free to ask questions to the blog, in DM, or in the comments.

Welcome to the Midnight Mission~

OOC:

Since tumblr is a chewing gum webbed site, I abbreviate Moon Kn.ight as "MK" and Mr. Kn.ight as "Mr K" in asks. Both are Marc At Work.

Comic reading list, if you're into that. TL;DR - Moon Kn.ight (2021) #1 is the best introduction for new readers and then I encourage going back to the 1980 series. If you want to get to the current current stuff, there's Moon Kn.ight Fist of Khon.shu (2024) #0, which summarizes MK 2021 and Vengeance 2024. I don't recommend skipping MK 2021 but also I'm not your boss or your parent.

If you don't want to be spoiled for current MK comic activity, please blacklist 'wednesday spoilers'

While I do not post current events on this blog, I may at times reblog historical/information posts related to antisemitism. This is because the system's history is heavily influenced by antisemitism. The tag is 'antisemitism cw'

Characterization:

616!Steven is a Wall Street financier/movie producer. He does not fight. He's in charge of taking care of the body's physical and the system's financial needs. Steven is the most assimilated but has strong Jewish ties to Tzedakah (philanthropy and charity). He's also the most stubborn and hates violence.

616!Jake is a down to earth cabbie. Other than a brief time as Moon Kn.ight, he also doesn't wear the vestments. Jake actively practices Judaism, keeps kosher, and is the emotional protector as well as gatekeeper. Protecting is usually when Marc gets bent out of shape about the more positive emotions.

I don't go into why/how the System developed DID. However, I will say I do not consider either the show's version nor Bemis' run to be canon.

Powers, Rumors, Currently

MK/Mr K has very little moon powers. A little bit of enhanced endurance, stamina, durability, strength so he doesn't go splat as often. Not much of a healing factor. Powers are tied to his faith in Khonshu, which has been waned for years. I also give him cool glowing eyes, night vision, and spooky voice.

The one thing most will hear if they're in M.arvel New York is that Moon Kn.ight ripped a guy's face off and went on a 'carve moons into bad guy's foreheads' spree. That was years ago. Marc doesn't do that now. But he's used to being treated with suspicion and fear over it. He's also used to people not believing him that Khonshu is real.

Currently, Marc runs The Midnight Mission in Midtown Manhattan. That's a lot of Ms. People go to him to ask for help and he brings the fear and pain to whatever's giving his people trouble. He's got two main assistants who are vampires, Reese and Soldier.

Hunters' M.oon/Dr. Badr is the other Fist of Khonshu.

The Midnight Mission's space is really the House of Shadows. It's sentient.

Avengers and street heroes will know that Marc Spe.ctor=MK and that Grant and Lockley are also part of MK. Many people do not. Secret identities and all that.

Marc will very likely not remove his mask for a long time around new and long-term friends. He doesn't enjoy being referred to as Marc when he's wearing the mask.

[therealraewest]

I don't really want to read the Bemis run but it's only 12 issues and then I can start the 2021 run again to cleanse the palate afterwards

[vtori73]

You know... I find myself thinking about some person I followed on twitter weird interpretation of the Twilight Zone episode, time enough at last, and how it just continues to ANGER me, lol!

I just... I won't argue it is a possible interpretation and maybe I need it explained to me like I'm 4 but it just seems like a rather poor take on the episode.

The criticism of the episode was that it's ableist because it is about the dangers of being reliant on tech and just... I'm sorry I just don't get that interpretation AT ALL. Like I get why someone would claim it's possible, I see that, but the idea is the thing we are meant to takeaway from the episode just seems a bit ridiculous. I would get it if they made it a point to emphasize the glasses, the tech, or show others making it a point that he is too reliant on tech versus them but it's actually the opposite everyone seems against him reading (because he refuses to participate in the world around him unless it is through his books), something that is definitely not tech, and tells him to grow up to move on to stop wasting his time on useless things. Then bombs were dropped and he was saved by tech, a bank vault, and was the only survivor. He was sad at first because everyone was gone but then it wasn't because now he had all the time in the world to read but then he didn't because his glasses broke.

Yes he is reliant on glasses, a tech (a VERY old tech) but the thing is... he is reliant on them regardless because that's how poor eyesight works. Everyone would know that, even the most able bodied person would know this, they wouldn't just magically be able to read without their glasses and picking glasses as warning on the reliance of tech is a rather poor choice, the point just doesn't land because even if he didn't rely on glasses... he wouldn't have been able to read the books regardless. Yes, he is reliant but that wasn't the point, he just happens to be a man who needed glasses to read.

Honestly, if you actually pay attention to the story the reason for him having glasses makes sense. He had all the time to do what he wanted something looked down upon by the people around him, something that you can do even after the world has been bombed that can easily be taken away from you by a simple action. Now, I can see why people would be upset if you tried doing this with a different disability aid but I also don't believe you COULD substitute just any aid in this situation because the aid in question wasn't the main focus, it was the hobby (does this even make sense, lol, I'm passing out so maybe not).

It's mainly a story of "be careful of what you wish for," he wanted to read but everyone else around him kept him from doing so and he put up with it then the world ended and he realized this was perfect because now he can read all he wanted but due to cruel fate he could no longer. Also, themes of solitude versus loneliness with how he wanted to be alone with his book, even fate is inevitable with foreshadowing of him being unable to read due to his glasses falling earlier in the episode.

Honestly, thinking about it and how Henry Bemis is portrayed in the episode his equivalent of today would be... a gamer. A lot of people feel sympathy for Bemis and some feel the exact opposite, and while I feel more in the middle about him I think it's interesting to think how the same people who feel sorry for Bemis in the episode would NOT feel the same way if he was a gamer instead of a bookworm even though there really isn't a difference between the two and we shouldn't just treat one better just because the hobby is considered intellectual.

In closing though, regardless of everything above I think jumping to assume ableism with this episode is a rather bold assessment to make and underestimates Rod Serling as a writer and person. I'm not going to say Serling couldn't have possibly been ableist/was perfect BUT... if you watch any other Twilight Zone episodes by him you come to realize how much of his work is about humans, humanity, and how people ALL people have value. And, you can tell he means it too with how much the sentiment is repeated, he even CREATED the Twilight Zone in response to the murder of Emit Till, originally it was supposed to be something else but he was censored and thus the Twilight Zone was born.

The core of his work was about caring for our fellow humans so knowing this it only makes sense that Bemis was always meant to be punished in the end. What is interesting or rather great about this too is that while some might take issue with that and think Rod is bullying bookworms/introverts he has had similar character of wanting to escape to fantasy world's, past, etc who actually do so and aren't made out to be bad guys for wanting and even doing so successfully and are shown understanding at times (example, the Santa episode, the actor episode of the guy who thinks he is the character he is playing, the lady who use to be a big star, the children with horrible parents who want a divorce, the guy who wanted to escape his job and home and go to a small town, the old people who wanted to be young again and probably many more) and there are PLENTY of examples of people being punished for not caring for their fellow humans too because again it's the beating heart of his work.

You can argue why Bemis, a disabled man (a very normalized disability but a disability nonetheless), was the one learning the lesson but again plenty of other non-disabled characters learned similar lessons because it was never about his glasses, it was about his quick disregard of his fellow humans.

[traveller-of-the-knight]

Those panels are amazing but the one that comes next??? Where we realised that Marc dissociated for probably a couple hours?? That was wow. I don't know because I haven't read the comics before the 2000s so for me this is the first time where it is 100% sure that he dissociated. At least I think. Idk just want the writers to show us more of his DID symptoms that don't revolve around having alters. (Ironically this is from the Bemis run lol)

moon knight (2016) #194

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: BEMIS. Part 4

READING THINGS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO! 

Part one is here. 

Part two is here. 

Part three is here. 

Issue #197.

Oh look! Burrows is back! …It’s a sad day when that makes me happy. Which means that this is going to start to get gore filled again. Yay. 

I'm going to be perfectly honest here... I didn't finish the Bemis run. When it first came out, I was so pissed off after a while that I stopped reading. 

I can't remember which one I stopped at, but I have a strong suspicion I know the point it was. 

So you guys? We're going to be surprised by the ending together! 

Anyways... 

Back to the moldy bread factory we go. 

We start with three cloaked guys (very cult looking) and five other guys. 

The five other guys all sit down at a stupidly long table. 

The leader welcomes them all. "Welcome to the Bi-Annual Feast of the Societe des Sadiques. You have been chosen--Selected--from a vast pool of candidates. Having proved your loyalty, your zeal, and your passion." 

Oh good... Let's see who we got this time. Bemis seems to like to put in strong stereotypes and then just make fun of them unfairly. 

We start with a photographer dude with thick glasses and a bit of a sad stubble face. 

Then we have a female drug lord and executive level madame. I have no idea what that is, but she's stressed up in a 'little black dress'. 

Then we have someone that is just listed as having 'a particular distinction, even in this group' and he's in a Guy Fieri flame shirt. 

Lastly we have a shirtless man with tattoos and piercings all over him and a green mohawk. "A tattoo artist, body piercer, and reality television mogul". 

So be prepared to have Bemis give them all incredibly dislikeable characteristics. You ready? 

Cause this is a group dedicated to "Sadism, in all its shapes and forms." 

We are going to get a look at what Bemis considers extreme sadism as well as people that find it not only enjoyable, but also get off on it sexually. 

And I will take the stance that I have nothing against consensual sadism. Every fetish has a time and place as long as everyone involved is enjoying themselves and also has safety in mind! 

Bemis isn't going to do that. He’s only going to show the bad side. And try to make it edgy. 

The leader asks the four others to tell them how they came to 'know and practice your fascination with the pain of others'. 

We start with the photographer named "Liberation". 

You see him as a teen getting into photography. Specifically the early 2000s in New York at the "coked-up rock shows". We see him taking pictures at a punk rock show, taking pictures of a couple making out in a dingy dirty corner of the club. Then we see him taking pictures of a passed out person in a toilet stall that has ODed on probably heroin cause there's a needle next to them. 

I'm not showing this. 

"I photographed my first cadaver in 2001." 

He talks about fashion photography that was run more like a frat party. How popular he got and how "brand" he was. 

Despite all this, he felt his true calling was in death photography and that he was sure that there would be people interested in "black market photography." 

"Snuff Couture". 

For those that don't know, Snuff films are films that feature people dying. Many of these films have been proven to be fake death films that are very violently acted and very real looking. On the dark web, there ARE real films out there. It's...Don't look this up. I grew up in the beginning of the internet and remember the unsafe place it used to be. I've seen things I shouldn't have seen. Don't look into this one. 

So he was killing people and taking pictures while he did it then selling it to other people that 'taste'. 

The group claps and they move on to the next person. The drug lord, Lyla. 

She talks about how the mafia isn't what it used to be and that the chinese economy and triad was edging them out of jobs. 

"What was going to be a straight-up assassination of the head of the Triads could have turned seriously messy when his wife and 2-month-old child turned out to be home at the time." 

You see a bunch of dead guys and a woman holding a baby. They shoot the woman and you see a happy baby covered in blood. The baby is Lyla, who apparently got adopted by the Mafia after they killed her parents. 

"See, it would have been some kind of weird fairy tale if I was brought up by the mafia don who ordered the hit. My life would have been a walk in the park. But when they stole me, they entrusted me to Daniel DeCriscio, also known as "the deathbringer" in the press for being, at the time of his death, the most prolific and brutal hitman of all time." 

Apparently he taught her exactly where she was from, made her fight on the streets for her food, and she wasn't allowed to sleep or eat till she trained with him. 

"I learned to kill before I wore my first bra. And so I did. Kill, that is. A lot. I think I was nearing triple digits by the time I was 20. I was good. I rose through the ranks." 

She eventually became his replacement assassin and murdered her 'father'. She became a 'Made Man' (not how it's done but that's a mafia lesson for a later time). She slowly killed off the leaders until she became the main leader. 

Badda bing badda boom. 

Next guy is "Sol". The Guy Fieri shirt guy. 

"Well, I started out by lobbing grenades in public places and running away. No particular motivation besides...throwing a cog in the machine. The weird thing is, they never caught me." 

This is called terrorism. 

"So, I went on to start murdering random women from 1999 'til the present." 

This is called misogyny. 

"They didn't catch me for that, either. I guess I made the cut because I'm the only living man who's been both a serial killer and a mass murderer." 

Not true. Not true at all. 

The group claps. 

Lastly, we have "Tilt" the tattoo guy. 

Wanna know how I know Bemis has no idea about tattoo culture? 

The way he depicts the tattoo parlor. 

You don't show up to 'watch people work'. And a topless lady? This would be done with a privacy screen and people wouldn't be gathered around like that taking pictures. 

Tattoo artists, PROPER ones are actually very protective of their work. If they designed it, it's their art. Doesn't matter if it's on your body, it's still their art. 

We see depictions of 'outrageous' piercings. Some of which are medically unsound. (A piercing that goes on the underside of an eyelid? Yeah, have fun with your corneal ulcer). 

Then he did a tattoo show. We aren't going to talk about the controversial tattoo show who I won't name here. Just know... It's not well thought of in a lot of circles. 

He got rich and "Being rich made it so I could have whatever I wanted. And all I ever really wanted....Was to pierce someone to death." 

Uh huh. 

So we see shadow images of bodies with outlandish piercings (Which, not all of them would actually cause death... I've seen people with some of these piercings). 

He brags about perfecting the art of 'hurt'. 

He then tosses in a completely unnecessary background. It's just not needed. He should have ended it with the images of the piercing. This is just over explanation of things and bad writing. 

"See, I came from nothing. Grew up in pretty horrible circumstances. I was already mad then. And once I had money, they started treating me different. Like now I was finally worth something. That made me even madder. So now... I get even." 

Why is he shirtless here? Why when you have a heavily tattooed and pierced man do you always have them be shirtless? Is it a macho thing? Wear a shirt! You have to protect your tattoo from the sun! They're going to fade and get shitty! 

Anyways, the group claps. 

One of the hooded figures sits down with the group. 

"Woo-Hoo! Another classic. I love how not dark this whole thing is!" 

Lyla is offended by the hooded guy sitting next to her. 

"What do you think you're doing? Do you know who we are? You're barely fit to serve us booze." 

"It was pretty good, though, right? I heard this wine pairs well with psychopathology." 

"Get out of that seat, trash." 

"Well, the thing is, Lyla, you charming flatterer... I'm actually here for the induction ceremony. I'd like to throw my hat in the ring." 

He takes off his hood and....

I hate this art. I hate so much about this. 

A sadist. Making Moon Knight into a sadist. Specifically Marc. 

Marc is not a sadist. Marc hates how violent he is. He hates his anger issues. He had issues in other runs with…murdering the bad guys… But I don’t think Bemis knows what makes a sadist. 

A Sadist is NOT someone out to watch others be murdered, be out for revenge, or tossing grenades and running away. 

According to the dictionary… “Sadist: A person who derives pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from inflicting pain or humiliation on others. “

They bask in other’s pain. They cause pain and enjoy witnessing the pain they are causing. 

So... Moon Knight assures them that "No, no! I'm not $%#& with you! I really am! I mean, yeah, I got into what I do to save people's lives. I'm a good guy. But I was messed up as a child and ended up with Dossociatve Identity Disorder. LIke, there are other people living in my head. People cope with mental illness in different ways. 

Rather than become a bad person myself, I decided to start professionally beating the snow out of evil criminals. It's basically my job. And you have to start enjoying your work or...what's the point? 

That broken part of me is made of bleak, pitch-black fury. So, the blood-spray and bone breaking... I won't lie, I enjoy it. I look forward to it, sometimes. Hard to admit, but it's true." 

I HAVE SO MANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS. 

He is implying that mentally ill people are inherently violent. 'rather than become a bad person'. He says that he has people living in his head (as if he is the house owner and they are paying rent!?) and rather than become bad, he had to chose to fight crime. 

That his trauma, his illness, his everything means he was going to fall down the same path of evil. 

DID DOES NOT MAKE A PERSON EVIL! I know so many systems and they are all such kind and wonderful people. They are traumatized. They are in pain. They are doing what they can with their lives and NONE of them are bad people or violent or evil! 

Marc carries on. "So, I'm going to hurt every one of you. Hurt you badly, if you don't cooperate. And yeah... I'm going to kind of really, really enjoy it. Did I make the cut?" 

The other henchmen open fire on him. 

Just as things are about to turn into a brawl, someone else enters, telling them to stop. 

"The masked man is not to be harmed. At least...Not yet. I knew this day would come. In the exclusive circles I run in... The threat of your existence, as well as your true identity, are a known quantity." 

He's not exactly ever been good at hiding his identity, but Bemis keeps saying "my exclusive circles know you well!" Who the hell are these circles? Is there a MK watch group out there? I wouldn't be surprised.

Oh good. They're playing coy banter. 

"And I knew you'd know And that one day I'd find you. Why do you think I'm here?"

And the new mystery figure tells him that he's arrived in time for the ritual. 

Then he gives Moon Knight a hug that no one is happy about. 

"[...] You've earned a personal invitation...courtesy of your Uncle Ernst." 

Oh good. The Nazi is back. 

And that ends this absolute trash of an issue. Nothing happened in this episode. We got people doing their best to be VAGUELY scary or menacing then had them immediately be upstaged and then an old Nazi showed up that looked weird and gave Moon Knight a hug. 

ISSUE #198. 

Alright, intro! Oh look, the blurb has updated. 

Why is the society of sadists in French? French doesn't automatically make things authentic or fancy. 

The Societe des Sadiques. "A secret group of uber-sadists" is meeting up for some biannual feast for their new inductees. Moon Knight shows up, on the hunt for their 'mysterious leader-Ernst, the Nazi who Marc witnessed torturing a man in his synagogue as a child, the traumatic event thta fed into Marc's dissociative identity disorder." 

I hate that I had to type that sentence. It was long and badly worked and also just... I feel so dirty. 

"Now Ernst can follow through on his ultimate plan..." 

Oh for cry out loud... 

I don't even know where to start. 

So... We have Ernst addressing his audience, made to look like he's talking to the reader. He's got a little Moon Knight toy and he's wearing what looks like a purple jester collar. 

I'll show you in a second because I want you to appreciate this. 

He's gonna monologue for a solid minute or two. 

"And so our drama begins, dear audience. In which a flawed hero is tested. His already dubious moral standing called into question Is he man, or is he dragon? Today, the societe des Sadiques will tease out the essence of his core." 

So are we supposed to forget the fact that he's an ACTUAL Nazi? 

Here's the problem. Now Bemis is going to try to turn him into a modern day villain that's worse than the Nazi he was. 

And you can't do that. You can't take an original Nazi that admitted to atrocious crimes against Jewish people and then put him in America as the head of some murderous sadistic cult. That doesn't make him worse. He was already as bad as he can get. This feels like a step backwards and almost like you're apologizing for him being a Nazi in the first place and trying to explain it away. 

If Bemis tries to make it about Ernst having a terrible childhood to explain his sadistic needs to be a jew torturing/murdering Nazi I swear I'm going to lose it. 

"I confess...There's a part of me that wants to see him escape this spiritually unscathed. But this is our GAUNTLET. Where the contenders for entrance into our society are made to discover just how truly merciless they are. 

In the end, they'll face one another, and if they can live up to that...Then we shall bless them." 

What on earth is he talking about and why should we care. Bemis sure loves his long pointless exposition babble. 

"As for our Little "Surprise" guest...I can only say his arrival has been anticipated. Call him a Pet Project. 

If I were a betting man... I'd bet that what we are about to witness...Is the birth of a monster." 

Uh huh. That's disgusting. Why was this needed? Ew. 

And now we have Moon Knight on some sort of light runway with people in masks all around clapping. 

Why is this all so bad? 

Oh no. Here we go. Here it is people! What you've ALL been waiting for. 

You've heard us talk about it in passing. "Don't read Bemis. Rabid Dolphins". 

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. 

And now here we are. 

I give you... Rabid Dolphin: 

As someone who has spent an upsetting amount of time studying Rabies… I have a LOT of questions. But I’m just going to move on. I don’t want to give this more brain power than I need to. Because what’s about to happen is upsetting enough. I’m just going to apologize for making you witness the rabid dolphin incident. 

In this next part it's called "Second trial Man vs. Inhumanity. 

I don't even know what is happening here. YOu've got some sort of paper mache room? There are animals in statue paper mache and some big guy that's covered in paper so only his head is visible. 

Marc walks into the room and finds a newspaper article on the wall. The paper man yells at him and tells him not to read the paper. He's pissed that he's there and swears up and down that he knows people that can make his life a living hell.

Marc reads the paper. "Sickening 'torture farm' raided by FBI. Jess Ebidiah, 38, implicated in what may be the worst case of animal cruelty in the history of California." 

Uh huh. 

Marc takes out a moon crescent and it just says "Trial passed." 

Third Trial: "Man vs Himself". 

This is where I just get angry. The dolphin hurt my head and made me tired. Now I'm seething. 

So you see a guy in a weird outfit that looks like a cross between the punisher, a luchadore, and a gimp outfit. 

He introduces himself "Greg Salinger, AKA Foolkiller." 

He's a crime fighter that is also a licensed Shrink. 

What does that mean? Is he a therapist? A psychologist? A Psychiatrist? What the hell does 'SHRINK' make him? What credentials does he have? Not all 'shrinks' are trained in how to handle all problems. Some specialize in PTSD, dissociative states, or other things. Not all are equiped to handle D.I.D. 

The man addresses Marc by name and tells him that the cultists are forcing him to do this under threat that his family be killed if he doesn't 'assess' Marc. 

Marc takes a seat at the couch and the shrink asks what Marc did to the man in the last room. 

We don't get to hear the story, but in the next panel "Three minutes later" we see the therapist trying not to vomit (that's professional). Even the cultist guy with the gun on them looks shocked. 

This is a cope out. Bemis wants us to think it's some unfathomable horror that can even make the therapist vomit. 

"Marc, it's my opinion that you suffer from certain...OTHER chemical--and Personality-based--Disorders outside your clinical diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder. See, I know what it's like to want to stop criminals from hurting people, but...The sort of actions you describe suggest a pathology that...Marc, has anyone ever spoken with you about Bipolar II? Or the spectrum of Personality Disorders relating to Borderline thinking?" 

PAUSE. MAJOR PAUSE. 

As I noted off the bat in part 1. Bemis is Bipolar. Self diagnosed or professionally, I'm not here to question it. If he says he is Bipolar, then he's Bipolar. 

He's attempting to Move Marc into a position he can self identify with. Which, unfortunately, moves him away from DID and into a different area that Bemis can claim to now be an expert on and therefore no one can question him. 

There's a major problem with this. It DOES take him away from the spectrum of DID that exists and forces him into another one and also putting all these negative traits he's given to Marc onto Bi Polar people, making the audience start to associate all these terrible and dangerous things with them. 

It ALSO is taking away from something called System Accountability. 

This is something that is learned in systems and it does take time to trust in the system for it to work. It also involves a heavy amount of intersystem communication. 

It means that if someone in your system is an asshole, the WHOLE system is responsible for making sure that this asshole gets help as well as attempts to NOT be an asshole. 

It means that no one is out there beating their spouse and claiming it was 'the bad alter'. 

Even deeper, it means that they have developed a fail safe to protect the body. If someone is hurting the body or putting it at risk, the rest of the system can take charge and make sure that person is no longer given access to the body until they are able to get help. 

You only get one body and you have to share it. This takes time and trust, but it is something I've seen done. 

We've seen it done in the MacKay run when Steven forced control away from Marc so as not to cause them further trauma. 

UGH. 

UNPAUSE...

"All very common. These things don't ever make you a mean person. On their own they in no way imply... But the MIX... You've got a heady mix, there, champ. And it's pretty apparent someone hurt you very badly at some point. The thing about it is...

I think you need to admit to yourself that your need to hurt people may go beyond just wanting to protect others. An addiction to sadism isn't anything to scoff at...Or frame with a pretty costume and make disappear. I'm sorry, Marc. You have to start thinking of it like...A nearly incurable disease." 

NO. NOPE. Not even remotely… This is SUCH a cope out. And why in each run does Bemis have an ‘epiphany’ moment with Marc realizing that he’s a terrible person and having to go on some inner journey down some path where he realizes the bad guy is right? 

The therapist babbling about some sort of ‘mix of personality’ issues… ANd ‘incurable diseases’. Ableist shit. 

What Marc has is trauma. Extreme trauma coming from more than one person or place in his past timeline. He hasn’t learned how to handle his trauma or how to connect with people. He views himself as deserving of his trauma. Thus, he views himself as a bad person or thing that deserved what happened to him. He’s also incredibly angry about it and dealing with generational trauma being placed on top of everything else! 

This is a fact. This is coming from the Moench/Zelenitz run. In the Lemire run he takes it a step further and deals with Marc’s fear of attachment and abandonment issues. As well as his uncomfortable realization and acceptance that he has DID and he has to learn to communicate and talk to Steven and Jake and they have to work as a team. 

Putting ALL this on MARC alone is not okay. Treating it as some sort of horrible disease and blaming his violent tendencies and ‘insanity’ on a chemical imbalance and on his DID is just… I want to beat Bemis with a DSM book. 

"Third Trial completed. The Hero is crowned a Prince of Death." And we see him being dressed in cult robes by guys in moon knight like masks. I don't even know anymore. 

Even though we see them clearly fitting him and measuring him in PURPLE, in the next scene he's in a fully new and fixed up white Moon Knight suit. Who knows. 

….I don’t remember this next part. I honestly think I stopped reading the run at the dolphin bit. Oh no. I thought I got further than this. There’s still two issues left. Oh no…. Did I skim the rest out of frustrated rage? You and me, dear reader…We’re going to get through this together. We got this. 

Fourth Trial time. "Fun with Morpheus, Dream Eater." 

YOU. HAVE.GOT.TO.BE.KIDDING ME. 

I'm gonna... I'm going to punch something. 

That's not Morpheus. And Marc knows how to handle Morpheus. This isn't what Morpheus DOES. 

"That's for that time with the thing." 

BEMIS DOESN"T EVEN KNOW WHO MORPHEUS IS OR WHAT HAPPENED. He's just throwing him in because he thinks he can mess with Marc's mind! 

Morpheus is a DREAM maker! He attacks with 'dream waves' because he himself can't sleep or dream. 

So we go to the inner world where we see the boys all in gladiator and medieval armor in ruins. 

Steven: "I thought he said he wanted to handle this himself." 

Khonshu: "He is holding onto a grip that is...Tenuous, to say the least." 

This is bullshit. 

This is not how his system works. 

this is not how they work. 

See current MacKay run to see how they work together when they are attacked psychically. 

He also went ahead and gave them 'roles'. 

Steven is "The Mind", Jake is "The Robust Undercarriage". Khonshu is "The Spirit". 

Then we see a fourth blank space, probably reserved for Marc?

So... Fifth Trial. "Royale"? 

We see him just fighting the four other guys from earlier. 

His outfit looks purple here. Maybe it was supposed to be purple in the other image and they got the shading wrong. I don't know. I hate this art. 

Moon Knight has zero trouble dealing with these 'sadists'. "Trial? Nah. Spanking" it says. 

You see, these guys aren't fighters. I don't know why they think they are or Bemis thinks they should fight MK. 

They are sadists that enjoy picking on the innocent and incapacitating their victims to torture them and kill them. The only one that knows how to fight is the assassin, and all she does is stand there with a gun shooting him till he punches her out. 

Marc stands over the bludgeoned members of the cult and yells at a camera. "Ernst. I get the damn point. I'm ready and I'm yours. I've always been %#^& YOURS!" 

I would like to remind you that Ernst is a Nazi. 

Steven in the background says "I...I can't do it anymore..." 

Khonshu tells him to "Let him go, Steven. He will not let our traits serve him now. That duty falls to...the other." 

Ernst calls him 'my son' and invites him in. 

"Trial 666." clever. 

"The entire society, though not present tonight, has been anticipating this moment for a long time. I knew eventually when you were ready, you'd track me down. I knew the seeds I planted would bear fruit, my little...First-round pick." 

Bull shit. Marc was not supposed to find out about Ernst. He told Marc not to go to his office till much later and he wasn't expecting Marc to find his hidden place in the basement. Then he ran off and didn't confront Marc again. This wasn't 'all according to plan!' I HATE when the bad guys do that. There was no plan. It cheapens the value of the surprise of the hero finding out in the first place! 

We see a very TIRED and broken down Marc as he follows Ernst into the back room. 

"All it took was the careful manipulation of your...Friend...Jake Lockley's undesirable "sources". I always saw something in you. Now you must see it in yourself." 

Are you kidding me. Is he going to blame this all on Jake? 

Jake the Most Jewish Part of his System?! The one that speaks Yiddish and openly presents himself as Jewish?! 

Ernst walks Moon Knight down a long badly designed hallway with pictures of members. You see some guys in Nazi uniforms from WWII and various other guys that we don't get close up pictures of. Because Bemis lacks imagination...or Historical knowledge. 

"Choice one. You fight us. ALl of us, our full might, focused soley on you. You almost assuredly, will not make it back to see your daughter alive, nor save her from me. Two. You abstain. I eliminate your child. It would take a wave of my hand. Only your value to me has prevented this so far. Or THREE. Complete the ritual. Become what you were MEANT to be, beside me, forever." And he gives Marc a picture of Diatrice. 

Oh. Oh wait. No. I remember this now. Fuck. I had completely blocked it out of my memory. Fuck. I have regrets. 

I’m going to need a minute and I advise that you all take a minute too. 

This…This is worse than I thought it was. Worse than I thought it could be. 

EXTREME TRIGGER WARNING: Racism. Nazi idealization. Race wars. Implied child harm. 

This is bad. I can’t stress this enough. We’re about to talk about some really fucked up things. 

I am going to… very carefully…sensor this. It needs to be talked about. This didn’t age well. Especially with the way things have been going for the past several years. 

So please… tread carefully and take care of yourself. If you need to nope out, I respect that. If you have had enough and need to just stop and go “Yeah. Bemis was bad. I’m glad I didn’t read that” then do it. If you need to know, then let’s continue. 

***************EXTREME TRIGGER AHEAD*****************

So Marc turns to the door after he's locked in a room with his choice on what he has to do. 

Fight them all (which I don't get how this is a choice because we know what Marc can do. But the threat of him losing and them going after his daughter is there.) Surrendering and losing his daughter. Or becoming one of them and doing 'what needs to be done'. 

He turns around to find out what his next task is. 

I don't want to draw this out. I really don't. Bemis does. It does it because he wants the impact of what his choice is to hit you hard in the stomach. 

And it does. It hits VERY hard. But not in the way Bemis wants it to. He thinks he's being clever. He thinks that he's set it up so that Marc has been pushed too hard and realized like he did with the Sun King that the villain is right and he has to do it. 

So he wants the reader to think the hero has given in and might actually do it. 

This is BAD writing. 

Instead, the way it comes across is scary. It's fucking scary because of the current climate. Because of all the things that happened in 2020. Because of all the things happening now. 

I'm so angry right now. I'm angry and hurt. 

I'm going to just TELL YOU what the choice is then I'm going to back track and show you the lead up to it. Okay? 

*****He wants Marc to murder a little black girl*****

Backing up. Let’s…Let’s just take this a panel at a time. 

Marc sees the 'choice' before him and he reacts with disgust. 

And we finally see Jake speak up. He's been pretty quiet this issue besides lurking in the background. 

And knowing what Bemis does with Jake and what he obviously thinks of Jake... You're about to see why. And Bemis probably feels like he's being so clever and doing some sort of redeemed character arch. Only the character he tarnished himself and now is trying to make better? 

"Being your dark side" 

I'm so angry. 

I don't even have the energy to explain it. I've been explaining it. If I haven't gotten through to you yet... 

"And now you won't even...To save her life? Sometimes horrible decisions have to be made when Nazis get involved." 

This is how the holocaust got started. 

This is why no one stood up against them when they saw and then denied and refused to acknowledge what was happening. 

"You think I want this to have to be my call?!" Jake is yelling at Marc. 

Marc shuts down and curls up in a little ball on the floor. 

"I don't wanna. I don't wanna. Ah God... Dad... Dad, where are you? He made me... I saw..." 

So we see Bemis' version of a PTSD type of flashback shut down. 

I can't say if this is accurate or not because everyone is different. I've had shut downs before. Both silent and a few with some sort of pleading similar to this but never to anyone in particular.  So sure. Close enough I guess. 

In this shut down, we see Steven, Khonshu, and Jake standing there watching. 

None of them move to comfort Marc. 

Jake "take that as 'feel free to take over until I grow a set of STONES, Jake'" 

I'm frowning so hard. 

Jake pops up in the body, complete with full mustache. I guess it was in his pocket? Even though he is wearing a whole new outfit? 

"Hi, my name is Jake. Don't worry about anything. Just be...Just be very still." 

The 'choice' pleads with him not to hurt her. 

"God in heaven, I'm sorry. I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this!" 

Yeah... Ignoring all the other issues... There's also a major flaw in the religious talk here too. 

Jake stops and drops his crescent dart. "I don't want to do this." 

Ernst is displeased. He thought for sure Marc would do it and join him. Because...I don't know. I have no idea. I just... Maybe I'm not filled with enough self righteous rage to be able to think like a Nazi? 

He tells his people to "Clean up and move out. This is over". 

And we get our first look at the girl. I'll let you judge how she's portrayed. 

It’s pretty clear that he asked for the most innocent young looking version of a black girl he could get. Even gave her the pigtails. 

Before he can do anything, the room opens up to show them in the middle of a forest clearing surrounded by cloaked guys. 

A large airship shows up. Moon Knight prepares to fight all these guys. 

We get TWO quotes. 

Now... Keep in mind that this run has been about Nazis. 

So do we get a quote from that time period? Or a quote about the evils in the world? 

Nope. 

"The Killing was a means to an end. That was the least satisfactory part." -Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer. 

The serial killer, Dahmer. The one that was a sex offender who killed and dismembered a whole lot of young men. He then ate and performed necrophilia on them. As well as turning parts of them into things like lamp shades and thing... 

Dahmer was diagnosed with Borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and psychotic disorder. 

I'm sensing Bemis is trying to make a parallel. 

Next quote? 

"A psychoneurosis must be understood, ultimately, as the suffering of a soul which has not discovered its meaning." -Carl Gustav Jung. 

Back to quoting JUNG. I have a lot of issues with JUNG's philosophy Especially when it comes to his views on the nature of personality and roles and how they can often be wrongly attributed to D.I.D. I’m nog going to get into it, but at lot of people jump to Jung in an effort to sound smart and like they know what they’re talking about even though they only ever read maybe ONE thing on Jung or heard a quote by him once and went “there’s a smart guy!” 

Anyways. This issue is over. 

Two more to go. Just two more… Then we never have to look at this bread again. 

ISSUE #199. 

Oh look. We got a new artist. Davidson. Ah fuck it's Paul Davidson again. 

Becky Cloonan did the cover. Which is why it looks so nice and lures you into a false sense of security. 

Can we skip this one? Like…. Legit… Is it needed? It is the most garbage filled issue. You thought the last Davidson issue was bad with Mr. Butterflyman and the collective? 

So... We open with Ernst in a cafe with Marc. 

Ernst is yelling at him about how there "No such thing as Multiple Personality DIsorder or whatever your legion of soft, pliable brats choose to call it these days." 

Uh huh. 

"Your trio of imaginary friends are merely extensions of your own whim. 'Mental illness'? 'Social Awareness'? Do not even get me started on the proliferated fallacies of 'queer' and 'multiethnic'. 'Me too! Me too!' SHEEP. You choose to dwell among sheep!" 

This is hate speech. I've heard it in person. I've heard a lot of these EXACT things said in person. 

He's attempting to caricature the people who make these speeches, but he's doing a piss poor job of it and it makes them come off as being 'in the right'. 

He tells Marc, who looks sad and pitiful here in this style., that he has been 'whisked away from your punching circus and shot with drugs'. 

This is what we call a cop out. He didn't want to have to write or lay out or have them draw the HUGE brawl that he lined up for us at the end of the last issue. 

So he's taken it away and put us somewhere else so we can listen to this guy MONOLOGUE for an ENTIRE ISSUE about the bad things in today's society. 

See why I want to skip it? 

He also says "What happened to the little girl? [....] is irrelevant. Fill in the blanks yourself. Hehe. he." 

Yeah... I don't like what that implies. 

He tells Marc that this is his last chance. If he doesn't comprehend what Ernst is trying to do in this last test then Diatrice dies. 

Marc starts to see a weird Cthulu thing walking by. Ernst tells him not to be distracted. 

He calls him weak and crazy. 

"I stole your heart in your youth...But this is not your Ghetto. Here I can grip it tight and squeeze." 

I take serious displeasure in the fact that he talks about Marc's Ghetto. We know Marc grew up well off in a proper home. And a Nazi using the term Ghetto to describe his growing up conditions is just poor taste. 

"Ask yourself....Did I break your mind? Or did we break your genes?" 

Uh huh. 

"We're friends, Marc. And I have seen your power. I am in need of an heir. And a young, able fist." 

Ew. 

"See. I was never a true anti-semite. I was and am a REALIST."

Are you fucking kidding me right now

"I realist offers fame, money, and power consolidated. Bargain bin vigilantes. You do not belong among them. Besides, soon none of you or your kind will matter. Du schwein." 

This is disgusting. 

You see why this is wrong, right? 

He's now backtracking from the Nazi plot line. Saying "Oh fuck. I should have just made him a cult leader from the start. But I had to use some way to traumatize his past so his being Jewish was the problem the whole time!" 

So now Marc is tripping pretty hard on the drugs and seeing monsters and demons and things. 

You can see why I’m not posting much art from this issue.

Between the art (I hate this so much) and that LONG meaningless hate speech there, there is literally nothing of merit to this issue. 

He goes on and on like this. 

I have no idea what he's talking about. He's just saying things that sound meaningful and metaphorical at this point. 

Blah blah blah "Here we can hear the fait, weak sounds of self-knowledge as our dark idea literally comes to life. Here, we taught it how to both love and despise itself. Perhaps what we created can think at this point? Like a child. AN IDIOT GOLEM who fancies itself some kind of philosopher." 

The not so subtle use of anti-semetic language is not lost on me. 

And you know what else we need more of? That’s right. Racism. 

Marc protests he won't hurt these people. 

Ernst yells at him to do it. "Make them hurt like you want the world to hurt, Marc!" 

They are now in some druggy's house. He tells Marc to look at the man deeper and see the monsters inside him. 

Marc yells out for Khonshu, Steven, and even Jake, asking for help. 

And we see them trapped in some sort of Egyptian bubble thing under Ra's eye. 

Marc rebells and Ernst kicks him in the balls. I kid you not. 

Then tells him to "Say you're nothing but an errant SLAVE." 

ANd Marc is on his knees crying and says he's his slave. 

"Say I'm the first man you ever loved." 

"You're not my dad. YOu're not my dad!" 

"Join me or she dies!" 

"I...You're the first man I ever..." 

"Ha! You are like clay! Now. Say these words. 'I am no hero. I don't deserve my own infinity. ANd today is the day I finally give up." 

NOPE. NOPE NOPE NOPE. 

This here? This is anti-semitism propaganda. 

They believe that the jewish people think they are uppity and holier than thou and will be the rulers of the earth and afterlife. 

This is incorrect. This is Messianich teachings. And Bemis slipped it in. Didn't think we'd notice, but we did. 

Marc refuses to say it and he fights back. We see Khonshu and Jake and Steven break free and start to fight the monsters and Marc hits him in the gut. 

"Because I would rather my daughter DIE than grow up in your sick fable."

Marc tells him that he doesn't think his daughter is in danger because once the cultists saw Marc fighting back, they abandoned Ernst. 

Ernst begs him. "Stop. you don't know what it was like, Marc. In Germany. For a man like me." 

"I can imagine. My grandparents were Czech, remember?" 

It's like Bemis can't decide what to do with the story line he already set down with Ernst killing Marc's Grandfather and fleeing Europe. 

Even the art is inconsistent. 

And he heads back out to the streets and it's still covered in demons and angels and cherubs and devils and so on... 

And then he runs into "The Sun King". 

Who Bemis probably thinks is the best villain ever because he made him. What a twist. 

He doesn’t look like Jesus anymore. Why does he look like Rasputin now? Ra Ra Rasputin… LOL It’s a pun. And now that song is stuck in my head. 

You know what REALLY upsets me? 

The fact that BEMIS got a huge milestone…

ISSUE #200.

Art back to Jacen Burrows. Cover by Becky Cloonan. 

This is an oversized anniversary issue. LAST ISSUE EVERYONE. I can see the end of this endless torture and bread factory. 

Oh, Jesus is back. 

Thanks Burrows. 

Also… I have ZERO memory of this issue. I legit don’t think I read this issue so getting to the end will be a surprise to me. 

We get a flashback to them all leaving the island. 

Marc is talking to Sun King. 

"I mean it! It's a Quasi-Max asylum run by the government, and they'll put you down if you even try to escape, but...I belive you can be redeemed. Maybe. In all seriousness, you need help." 

Truth, remember him?, asks if he can go too. 

Truth legit wants to be helped. 

Ra is pretty pissy at the whole ordeal. 

We get to hear a lot of psycho babble as Truth and Ra are analyzed. 

I'm not typing all that up. 

WOW. They just attacked Asecuality too! They're just adding to the list aren't they? 

"The Truth's Asexuality a normal reaction due to being socially abandoned." 

I lied. Here's more that boils my blood. 

"...Mental Illness being both a difficult and challenging trait and a beautiful gift to be shared with others when utilized in a positive, giving way, as referred to in Dr. Lemire's seminal thesis, 'Healing, or: How to be okay with being you.'" 

At least he's getting CLOSER to what Lemire was getting at. 

We see Sun King starting to heal and also get his fire powers back. He is happy to have been paired with the Truth. They're bonding. 

Then we see Ernst bust in with his cult. He spouts things about old money buying them out and tells them to come get one more shot at Moon Knight. 

Now we are back to present times and Sun King looks weird again???

Marc tackles him in the street and threatens him. Truth tells him to stop and listen to him for a second but Marc isn't listening. So Ra attacks and burns up the cult followers around them.

Where is this going? Am I the only one that doesn’t understand where this is going now? With Ernst ‘gone’ and Sun king on his side for now and Truth doing his own thing… How are there so many pages left? 

Sun King tells Marc that Ra can go to hell because Moon Knight is a good man while he himself is not. But he was born with fire powers so he's going to "Prevent the creation of 'monsters' like me. For the rest of my life. Or I will die, trying to eradicate that dead Nazi's legacy." 

Marc tells Sun King that he needs his crew. 

Oh look. It's the army of random regular people that Marc recruited from the island. 

They all head to Marlene's house. 

Marc tells Marlene that a crazy group of Nazi sadists are coming after them so he hired the Sun King and his goons to come help protect them. 

Marlene Maces the Sun King despite being told not to. 

Marlene starts to yell at Marc about his 'weirdness' and problems and that she can take care of herself. 

Marc, Jake, Steven, and Khonshu gather with Marelne to form a plan. 

Marlene points out that she can't see or hear Jake, Steven, and Khonshu and that Marc is just standing there in silence. 

In the background we get a cameo with Dr. Emmett yelling about making Sun King Believe. 

whoopie doo. Chaos. Fun. everyone's crazy. wheeee.

Diatrice interrupts (and she is drawn very poorly and kinda looks like a frog face with pink hair. I hate this art. 

She drew a comic of them all saving the world. 

Marc is in good spirits now so he and Sun King run off to...I don't know. Things. 

And we find Moon Knight and Sun King facing the giant hover craft after it catches fire and crashes. 

The dialogue here is... It's bad. 

They fight more cultists. 

And there's a big battle scene of Marc's army fighting cultists and things are on fire and Moon Knight and Sun King are fighting... 

It's a mess of just like.... 2 giant spreads of just chaotic fighting. 

Glad they are using this 200 issue anniversary well. 

Sun King tells Marc that "you're pathologically violent but you, almost literally, wouldn't hurt a fly." 

Then we...get Sun King's LONG back story that includes things like "My past is spotty, but I know I'm from the southern states and that I was born a Christian." 

Who even asked? 

"We 'Play for the same team'. Christians come from Jews who come from...It goes on." 

It literally doesn't go on. It literally doesn't. But history. Can't be bothered, right? 

He starts talking about Atheists, magicians, witches, and beautiful people all fighting for the right to believe in anything. 

Then he goes on about "our fixation with the beauty of the Egyptian spirituality' and 'reconciling our peoples' ancient struggle and the uselessness of bigotry." 

Whhhhhhyyyyy is he still going on about this?! NO ONE ASKED. 

"Now imagine a mentally Ill "Power" whose ability was to take his own inner devastation and then force the world to believe it." 

Almost sounds like you're saying DID isn't a real thing but just a construct of the mind that is being forced on others... Careful there, Bemis. You might give yourself away. 

He tells Marc that there is a new leader to the cult. The real enermy is "The False Truth". 

And we see Truth attached to some sort of weird machine thing. Ernst brain washed him to do his dirty work. 

The Truth attacks and forces Ernst's knowledge on them. 

Here we go...Ready? 

"1935. Ernst is imbued by one of Hiler's mystical artifacts with what we will refer to as 'the blue corruption'." It infects people with 'self-created thought virus, or Meme." 

fuuuuuuuuuuuu-

"1936 Jose Mengele creates an unseen subsect of Jewish people 'Infected' by the artifact under Ernst's supervision, using his brain as a conduit." 

-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

"This plan is unsuccessful, but the altered children remain and disperse into the post-holocaust diaspora. 

There are images here. I'm not showing you those. They aren't good. 

1938....(the war ended in 1945. Why is he...FINE. Let's go with it...) Something about comic books with 'corrupted ink' and preserving the medium's integrity. 

1944 the war is closing. Erst is the only Nazi officer who has the corruption. His psychological devastation and personal history cause the corruption to turn into a sort of Venom? 

Marc concludes that this all can't be true because then he can change what happened too and still have all his friends and be married to Marlene and have been there for their baby's birth.... 

This is false logic and I have no idea what he's talking about. 

Marc tells him that he's too crazy to fall for Ernst's memories and truth. 

They tell truth that the blue goo Ernst was injecting into him is making him crazy and aggressive. 

Truth attacks them Moon Knight and Sun King again. 

Things are said... Bad things. 

They argue back and forth in an attempt for Truth to get them fighting. ...I'm not going to waste my time on what they said. Just know that it's poorly informed crap and more stuff about Jews being slaves to Egypt. 

Then....Jake... sorta takes over? He attacks truth, smashes up the machine. He yells that he's "a Jew too." Then Khonshu attacks him too.... 

Then Moon Knight declares he is "No Man's Slave" and breaks his arm. 

Marlene shows up? She yells at Sun King for a bit. Threatens to mace him if he ever goes near her kid again. 

Sun King sticks up for Truth and notes that "allowed himself to have his mind warped by abusers." He offers his friendship to Marc. 

Marc and Marlene agree...as long as he goes to a mental health facility first. 

The orderlies offer to take Marc in for help too. He tells them he's fine and leaves. 

Marc calls up Marlene to tell her he's coming home. 

And we get at long last... WTF am I looking at? 

I…I’m exhausted. It’s 3am Christmas Eve and I’m exhausted. 

Why did I read this. Why did I put myself through this? Why did Marvel let this happen? Why did Bemis get away with this crime? 

How did Moon Knight survive this run?! 

Why did this run follow one of the best written runs ever? 

I had plans to type up a big breakdown on why this whole two trade run was so bad… But if you made it this far with me (Thank you. Thank you so much. And I’m sorry), you know why it’s bad. You saw it. 

I’ll be real… I lost steam here. This was like a 10+ psych hit attack and I’m just baffled now. That ending was so convoluted and trash. The plot didn’t know where it was going. The characters were so rushed. The pace had issues. The bad guy didn’t know he was a bad guy till he suddenly needed a bad guy. The main bad guy couldn’t decide on why he was the main bad guy… And the good guy kept having existential moments of “Maybe I’m the villain?” 

It’s safe to say that EVERYTHING Bemis set up in these comics all faded away and were never touched again. With good reason. 

It’s like he set up a whole world ready for people to use and patted himself on the back and thought he’d done a really good job and done everyone a favor and then the world had time to process what he did. And the smart people? They took one look and went “No. No no nononono.” And closed that door again. 

Keep it closed. Lock it tight. Don’t let any of it sneak out. I beg you. 

We don’t need this racist, anti-semetic, homophobic, ableist shit in this fandom. If you know someone that is a Bemis fan and cites it as ‘an amazing run’ or ‘one of the best runs’, I encourage you to REALLY look at that person. They’re probably not healthy to be around. 

So… This was Bemis. Thank you for taking this journey with me. I need to go… go do anything that isn’t this. Expect some Moench soon. I need to not have this taste in my brain anymore. Questions and comments are welcome. Hate and bigotry are not. Feel free to discuss this run. But remember, Friends don’t let Friends read Bemis.

[visionmarred-archive]

last night I was watching that infamous episode of The Twilight Zone. y’know, the one people parody constantly about the guy with the glasses

but years of parodies couldn’t harden my heart enough to it I guess bc that guy in that episode was one of the sweetest, nicest guys ever gsdfhdd so I had to turn off my episode before the end bc I just. couldn’t watch that happen to him rip

[stxleslyds]

MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1

Alright, here are my thoughts on this beautifully written issue.

When I saw that Marlene was back I knew this was going to be a blast. Her being being back under the absolute brilliance of MacKay is one of the most amazing things and something that I have waited for ever since I picked up this run.

Knowing how Bemis' treated Marlene in the last run, I was expectant for MacKay to shed some very necessary light on how was the situation with Marlene and the Moonies.

In case you don't know, Bemis, the last writer that actually had Marlene as a *real* character on his run, did her quite dirty. But here I will mention that when she first appeared in that run she had done so after a new villain looked her up, with the help of an old villain, in order to hurt Marc (and the Moonies) further, knowing very well how much Marlene means to all of them. A surprise to Marc was that Marlene had a child and it was Jake's daughter, although in the comics Jake is referred to as an uncle and Marc as the actual father.

With Marlene keeping away from Marc for 5 years, she still never talked shit about Marc, as Diatrice, her daughter, said that her mom had told her that her dad was a superhero. Even more so, Marlene had never distanced Jake and Di, we know this because there is a panel in which a picture is depicted with Marlene, Jake and Di sharing a moment.

It seemed that after Bemis' run all was well for Marlene and Marc but then came Age of Khonshu which made Marlene take the decision to take Di away from Marc and Khonshu. That was a decision that was expressed in MacKay's run and to me, it seemed a very reasonable one. After all, Marlene's priority was and is her daughter's safety and she knows that Moon Knight's life comes with various dangers that have had repercussions for the people around the Moonies (and that is a fact), but now she needed to come back to Marc and ask for help because once again Marc and Khonshu became the reason as to why her daughter was in danger once more.

Anyway, back to the issue. Marlene's entrance is absolutely fantastic, she like Frenchie is a very straight to the point person and usually keeps the dramatics on a low setting (drama is for the Moonies), but her straightforwardness and the simple surprise of her being in the Midnight Mission causes a switch. So, right after the initial surprised Marc look we have Jake.

And here is the fun thing. Marlene's face is like night and day with Marc and Jake. With Marc her features are harsh, she is all straight lines and body tight, she was drawn like that, and it seems to me that tightness comes from the complex relationship she has with Marc but with the alters switching so does her whole presence.

She knows from the get go that the person who is in front of her was not Marc, and when Jake announces himself she visibly softens herself. Sabbatini did a wonderful job in showing just how much Marlene changes her posture once she realises it is Jake. This woman is twirling her hair and looks soft... she has a completely different reaction to him but sadly, she cannot spend time with Jake and it took me two readings to understand how urgently she needed to talk to Marc. She didn't want to dismiss Jake, but Di was in danger and she is their daughter and a kid, so, she is the priority. All Marlene does is place Moon Knight's business on Marc alone.

And that is something that has been a trend for quite some time. Marc IS Moon Knight AND Marc is Mr. Knight. Before this run I thought there was a possibility of Mr. Knight being an alter in the same way that Moon Knight used to be "a personality" in the 80s (I don't know about calling that version of MK and alter due to how it was written back in the day), but now... Moon Knight is definitely Marc's job, the mask that he uses to get the work done on the field. Mr. Knight, on the other hand, is Marc's mask for everyday business. Mr. Knight is a safety blanket for Marc and I would dare say that Mr. Knight is a mask that belongs to Marc only and is in no way related to Khonshu... But maybe that's a thought for another day...

The point here is that Mr. Knight being a safety blanket for Marc makes sense because when he is told, so urgently, to come back he does so but immediately covers his face, which is SO IMPORTANT because Jake took that mask off so fast.

I believe that Jake took it off not only because he wanted to have direct eye to eye contact with Marlene but because that mask is not his. It is something that he doesn't need, it is Marc's.

And all of this dept and insight on these characters can be shown with two characters... Frenchie and (most importantly) Marlene. Because believe it or not, Marlene has had relationships with all the alters throughout runs and the years. Marlene is a device to explore more of the dynamic that the Moonies have with people outside the system.

Going back to the issue, Marc putting the mask on back again and delivering the "Welcome" speech, not only made me sad but also made me believe that Marc was acting distant with Marlene in the same way that she was doing it with him and he did it because there is a lot going on. He never stopped loving her but he is so scared of her being back just to lose her again.

Now, the mask also serves the purpose of putting Marlene in a "client" position but here is the thing. Marlene is not here for it because she is not his client she is the mother of his daughter and she is in danger because someone that has a connection to HIM abducted his daughter for "Khonshu reasons". Marlene doesn't want to talk to the mask, she wants the father of her daughter.

In these panels I absolutely love the contrast between how Marlene previously directed herself at Marc and Reese directs herself to Mr. Knight, which is also so telling of the differences in relationships. Marlene has been through a lot with the Moonies and Reese has been through some stuff with Marc (Mr. Knight), so the clear difference is much appreciated and only reflects the genius that is Mr. MacKay.

How unfortunate, no? Marlene coming back to the US for something completely unrelated to Marc but getting stuck there because of him and Khonshu.

It is unfortunate but also really quite poetic that Marlene is once again back in the game for the reason that she left, the reason being Khonshu. This goes beyond Marc but Marc's connection to Khonshu and the actions of the past (Age of Khonshu) have become way too much for Marlene to just look past them.

I don't necessarily believe that Marlene places all the fault on Marc (Marc does) but I guess it must be tiring for her and anyone (Frenchie and Gena) to always get caught up on Khonshu's problems that ends up with them or their loved ones (Di, Rob, Ricky, Ray) in serious danger.

And that pain and suffering is something that Reese hasn't been in touch with (for long, Soldier did die) in the way that Marlene has. And MacKay has such a way to demonstrate it through this chat between them.

Reese, despite the different connection that she has with Marc, resembles the initial relationship that Marlene had with both Marc when she just met him and Steven when the Moon Knight thing began.

Marlene was in the Moonies' corner, she was for many years, she helped them all in various ways, she was there for Steven and Moon Knight and later on for Marc and Jake. She, along Frenchie and the Moonies built the hero that was Moon Knight. And now she sees herself in Reese and the fact that she is also in Mr. Knight and the Mission's corner. I would even say that Marlene is scared or feeling protective of Reese because she knows how much the Moon Knight environment makes you crave violence, she knows it because she has felt it AND let's not forget that it has affected Reese too when Soldier was killed.

I don't think Marlene in in the wrong, maybe she is being too harsh but in the end she is not saying a single lie. BUT most importantly she gives her side of the story without saying a single bad word in regards to Marc or any of the Moonies. She actually says that they are all likeable and that she gets it which leads me to two things, the first being that Marlene saying that connects directly to Marc saying in a previous issue something like "why would people like me when Steven and Jake exist", well babes, here you go, Marlene likes all three of you. And second, once again we are given the impression that despite her feeling a type of way towards Marc she never talks bad about HIM to people around them.

I mean, Marlene doesn't necessarily despise the "violent" part of Moon Knight, she has a pretty gray morality, sometimes she even seemed darker than the Moonies back in the day. She is not afraid of violence BUT her daughter is her priority, her safety is everything to her and Di being involved in this life is something that she does not want. And I think that she is absolutely right. No child should be put under this situation, it is not the place for a child to be involved in a violent environment. And the violence doesn't only come from Marc and Marlene, it comes from Khonshu himself. So... yeah. Marlene is right.

And I think that is further proved when you see these panels of Di being in direct contact with all this violence (again) and Khonshu's request to have Diatrice killed.

Marlene is not talking about non-existent problems, she is not lying, she is seeing the truth from her perspective but that perspective is, so far, only seen by her. Reese doesn't have this perspective and neither does Di. They both have this innocence or naive perspective on the world on itself that is Moon Knight and Khonshu.

That naivety is shown from Di in these panels above. She is a child, she sees the world in a purer way, she was abducted and almost killed and yet, there she is, cool as a cucumber and ready to give the man that took her a second chance.

How would Marlene not fear this? Marlene has been in this position many times and I bet that she would see it with different eyes if there wasn't a child involved. Marlene used to get herself in the middle of difficult situation to help the Moonies, she would do deep undercover work for him while most vulnerable. Marlene is not there to throw Marc under the bus or to be like "I have the moral high ground" she is there to protect her daughter from things that she can't handle (I think werewolves is fair) and not to be that person but by how her clothing was drawn at times, she definitely put up a fight. She only came to Marc because they took Di and because she was taken because of Moon Knight juju.

Well, after all that here comes the part that I knew was coming... after Marc was back and Di was finally safe MacKay didn't hesitate to give us the Marc/Marlene angst. Of course he did that... he gave us adorable Jake/Marlene in the beginning so why would he just not make me sad at the end?

But before the angst... Marc knew where Marlene was, she didn't keep that information away from him and Marlene knew exactly where Marc was, so I like to tell myself that there is a level of contact between these two behind the scenes.

Now, the angst. How nice of Mr. MacKay to have Marc say that he "would protect them both" when Marlene has been saying that she kept away to protect her daughter for Moon Knight's business, that really hurt, it was not nice and I would like to give it back.

And, to be fair, Marlene did not want to hear that either because she is honest, she loves Marc but she needs to be honest as much as she can. Which is both a shame and a hint.

A shame because her not being able to stay means that the Moonies won't have her back (yet) and a hint because Marlene is honest but she is also a good liar. I saw you girl, you hesitated! But she is not allowing herself that hesitation because she believes that Di is better off away from Moon Knight... but... I wonder, does Marlene believe that keeping Di and herself away from Marc, Jake and Steven is good? I think not.

I think that she loves them and what they do as heroes, she loves that Marc is re-building himself. And understands that the Midnight Mission is something for himself and not Khonshu and that's why she is so ready to say no when he tells her that he would leave all of it behind FOR HER. Marlene knows the Moonies the most, she knows the ins and outs and that she and what they "have now" is not what Marc needs at the moment.

She knows he and the others LOVE her and Di but she will not be the person that makes him leave everything he has been building behind. She is not a bad person, she was not a bad girlfriend and you bet you butt that she is not a bad mother.

She wants Marc in her and Di's life but she can't take him as he is now. But Marc is Marc and Jake and Steven aren't Marc... So... I could see in a near future Marlene coming back to spend time with Jake or Steven.

But for now, only ice cream as a family would do, which once again lets me know that Marlene lets her daughter know that her fathers are her family and that spending time with them is good and can happen.

Anyway, I love Marlene, I am happy that she is back and I am hoping that we get some Jake/Marlene content in the future because there is something really cute there and I am in need for a fix-it for them. Bemis did them beyond dirty but I am sure that MacKay, the man that had Jake's headspace be a strip club with dancers that looked like Marlene, will give us a part two to the absolutely adorable duo that Jake and Marlene could become.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

ALRIGHT. I made the mistake of reading and not interacting but then two antisemites came at me tonight and then I got name dropped (favorably) so here I am.

@fdelopera already did a fantastic job (as always) in bringing it in with the bits from the current run and the run by Zelenetz (who may in fact be the only real Jewish person to ever write Moon Knight as far as I am aware).

I've said it once and I'll say it again and again.

You have no right reading a comic about a Jewish character and then complaining when they are Jewish.

Judaism is not just a religion and it is far more complicated than can be properly explained with cliffnotes but the gist is: You can be Jewish and not follow Judaism as a religion.

Marc was raised by an orthodox rabbi (comic writer varies, on the Rabbi vs just a Jewish family, but I follow the OG and Elias was a Rabbi) and every part of his life growing up most likely revolved around being Jewish.

We do not know Marc's trauma (Bemis can go eat a can of nails). We don't know what caused his D.I.D.

What we DO know is that Marc grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust as a second generation immigrant and son of a Rabbi that fled the Holocaust.

We know that he grew up in Chicago and he was surrounded by people that were deeply traumatized and that he experienced a lot of antisemitism directed at him and his family.

Marc's path of violence, running away, and rejection of his father (and in turn rejecting how he was raised) put him at odds with how he thought of his religion.

A big part of Judaism is learning to ask questions, learning to argue with everything, and learning to accept what it all means to YOU.

When you read the comics in the correct batches (No Bemis), it paints a beautiful picture of Marc on a journey with learning to find peace with who Marc Spector really is.

And anyone that says he Worships Khonshu is NOT PAYING ATTENTION.

In Moench's run, Khonshu is more or less, just a statue. At best, a mysterious force that might have some sway in things, but it is never clear on if Marc actually died and was brought back by an old Egyptian god or not.

Keeping in mind that the Marvel universe takes place in a world where "gods" exist openly, like Thor and Loki… It is not unlikely that Khonshu is seen as a sort of celestial being that comes across as 'god-like' in that universe and in Marc's eyes.

This does not mean that Marc sees him as HIS God.

And we see Marc reject Khonshu over and over again in various runs.

In MacKay's run, this is the first time in AGES where Marc has discussed how being raised Jewish affects him.

Despite all his big talk and show, Marc still sees himself as being Jewish.

And when he died, saying the Shema prayer was a huge "Fuck You" to Khonshu. And a huge move of growth on Marc's part.

We finally got to see that Marc is no longer running. Marc understands who he is and this is HIS path, not Khonshu's path.

Incidentally, we see Jake and Steven very little in this run, but having them accept Marc's decision in this shows how much THEY have grown too. And perhaps, the Shema was also Marc's olive branch to them too. Jake, who has always been the most Jewish of the three and Steven who acknowledged his Jewish values in giving to charities and trying to live a peaceful life.

"Gentlemen, Light the candles" - Steven, possibly referring to Yarzeit candles, which are lit in memory of the departed.

So don't come in here saying that Moon Knight isn't Jewish.

The whole system is Jewish. Always has been, always will be.

And a little secret? Comic books were started by Jews. Without Jews, you wouldn't have comics as we know them today. We wouldn't have superheros.

legit got told by a hamasnik “moon knight’s not jewish” like babe did we watch the same show??? did you read the comics????

OHHHHH

I know why it's because he serves a pagan god and is therefore religiously pagan (he is some runs) but buddy he's still ethnically Jewish. Magneto is atheist so he "also doesn't count"

antisemites believe we are "just a religion" and therefore not Jewish if we don't practice

and he is religiously Jewish in the only three good runs of Moon Knight: Moench-Zelentz, Lemire and McKay

In Moench's run he's an ex-mossad spy who knows Hebrew and Yiddish and is VERY angry at Neo-nazis as if it affects him personally in Zelentz he's a Rabbi's son and is nearly late to his dad's funeral because he's putting out fires in other synagogues and saving people from pogroms, in Lemire he is a good Jewish boy TM and Khonshu's abuse of him is shown as cult abuse and forced conversion and by the end Khonshu is dead and he can be his authentic self, this is followed up with McKay where this is brought up in a therapy session where he tackles his cognitive dissonance of serving a pagan god but being Jewish. When his therapist says he can't be both he shuts her down

these people deny Jews are an ethnicity and then say we aren't religious enough to count

Imagine if they tried that sort of thing with Nightcrawler or Kamala Khan

[ragnell]

I just reblogged this, which you should all go read, on Judaism and how Moon Knight the show actually handled it and I've got to just comment on the point about Bemis' origin storyline.

Mainly I'm REALLY surprised how many professed Moon Knight comic fans are hugely attached to his "origin" retcon, where he establishes there's a serial killer in Marc's past. Because it's not a classic origin. Marc's classic origin DOES tie into his witnessing antisemitism and a philosophical disagreement with his father on how to respond to it, but this whole thing about a hate crime and an immortal serial killer having infiltrated the Jewish community is like 5 years old, at most.

And the run has a character called the Truth who convinces people to change their belief systems, that the immortal villain Ernst is using somehow to try and rewrite the past so I don't really understand why it wasn't just considered retconned out right at the end of the storyarc.

Especially since everyone seems willing to disregard the Bemis run based on all the out-of-fucking-nowhere Jake-bashing that occurs in it anyway. Bemis resets the system in an ID-Ego-Superego setup with a heavy amount of moral dumping on the ID, poor Jake, in the dialogue.

So why people were like, ATTACHED to that story I don't quite get. It's basically like thinking Flashpoint is a classic Flash storyline, or that Wonder Woman has always been Zeus' daughter. This is like, a new thing, not a thing that's core to the character. I mean, everyone agrees the BEST Moon Knight run was Lemire and that was the YEAR BEFORE this.

[fencesandfrogs]

Hey, so Doctor Harrow seemed to be partially aware / sentient towards the end there, and so I was wondering what you think of the theory that he’s a factive alter based on Harrow? Moon Knight has been depicted as having plenty of those in the comics in the past, from a Khonshu alter who thinks he’s Khonshu, to an Echo alter (the deaf girl from Hawkeye) who believes she’s deaf — they would be interesting to address.

[note: we still haven't seen ep 6 (might watch it today, i need to find a content warning for it and decide if it's okay to watch or if i should save it for the weekend), so if there's any additional context in ep 6 that i don't have, feel free to resend this ask with a note saying so, and i'll save it for after.]

i think it would make sense for them to introject harrow. obviously, they're under a lot of stress, so it would be reasonable for them to split. i haven't confirmed this, but i have heard that systems will occasionally split after discovery because of the stress, and obviously everything they've been through is pretty traumatic.

i've only read a VERY select portion of the comics (i.e., i've read the lemire run, and i'm working on the bemis run, and comic people i'm still learning your language so forgive me if i said this weirdly), so i can't use very much of that for context, but i do think i saw on wikipedia that on the past, moon knight has...something something other superheroes. (it gets messy because moon knight hasn't always been intentionally DID, etc.)

i think the scene where harrow is disparaging them? and the brain decides he's trying to help them, somehow? steven already had the idea of "going somewhere" to get help suggested when he got fired. so, yeah, i think there's groundwork there. i think this makes sense.

we don't have any introjects, so i can't comment from personal experience. anyone with more experience and/or sources and/or just thoughts is welcome to jump in.

(and as always, i am not an expert, please don't take my word as more than, "social media blogger.")

<3

[naivesilver]

*reads promises of new Pinocchio media* —-> *head explodes* ahahah ahahah yes, YES, if one good thing will come out of this horrible endless heatwave it shall be this... MUHAHAHAHAAHHAHA😈 Lots of love Sere! Jojo Ps: tbh the limits of my knowledge of our lil field are due to the language barrier (mainly English and Italian, possibly French or Spanish) and the internet availability🤣 (ohhh btw do you know “the wooden prince” and “lord of monsters” by Bemis John Claude? Try ‘em, trust me😉)

Listen, anything with a title like WOODEN PRINCE is bound to draw my attention akshskhskshs also, I trust you, so I will give it a peek 👀

I was about to oppose your choice to thank the heatwave for any fic happening, but honestly? You're right. Now that I don't have to study the only thing I want to do is sit in a room with AC and write about people in chiller environments than mine (Camelot excluded because I had the marvelous idea to set Eyeteeth in winter and now it's a bit difficult to picture, hence why I don't seem to be able to update lmao)

Drink lots of water and support small businesses by downing granita, cinquestellesammontanalatuaestateitaliana and other amenities like that. Ily, beware of any falling governments 💕✌

[littleforestbat]

I generally don’t read comic books but I’m enamoured with Moon Knight…. Is there a good place to start? Or like most marvel comics, do I need a pin board and red string to figure out the beginning? ;_;

Aha just with all comics it is a ROUGH one out there tbh. Though, luckily, with moon knight you do kindaaa get a nice linear line.

I went so far overboard and read every comic I could get my hands on, but my actual recommendations are the Lemire and Smallwood run (2016) - beautiful art, themes of mental health and SPECIFICALLY DID which is what I'm absolutely here for, and a really good story that messes with your own perception of it - and the currently ongoing MacKay run (2021) which has a great story that is currently playing with the ideas of fully introducing the DID sections, but absolutely touches on marcs personal problems which are. So many lmao. [EDIT: fun fact time - it's been an exact YEAR since mackay run was released which means it is my birthday twin 🎉 and you have impeccable timing asker]

The original 1980s runs are FUN more than anything and while I don't generally vibe with comics from that era, my love of moon knight pulls through. Moon knight first appears in a Werewolf by Night book - if you can, get your hands on the Moon Knight Marvel verseline book, it's got some og runissues inside.

Otherwise, stay away from the Bendis run and the Bemis run - both are regarded as the weakest links of canon, and some parts are just badly though out and ableist.

(i also read some early 2000s runs and MAN. The edge hurts. But I loved them in there own stupid ways aha).

thank you for letting me talk about my specialist boy and I hopeee there's something here for you! Tldr if all else fails read lemire and mackay. good luck!

[musesfromthefifthdimension-a]

"One condition?"

Bemis froze. Even the hairs of his mustache seemed to become perfectly still despite his panicked, quick breaths.

"Why, I— I wouldn't know; I'm not a ghost— t-t-that is, I hope that term does not cause any offense to you, Madam! It's just — just that — I haven't a clue what you could possibly desire that I have. I don't intend to sell myself short, but, why, j-just about the only thing I treasure is books. They're not rare things, and they're not priceless printings, but... they mean so much to me. Perhaps I could read you something?"

@musesfromthefifthdimension asked: "Excuse me, miss—" Mr. Bemis hoped that was the right form of address for a specter, "Now— now, now, now— I don't mind the company, um— but— you aren't going to possess me, are you?" He would very much like to finish his book backlog first, if he was going to be possessed. Perhaps she'd give him a few days' leeway.

A smirk graced Ophelia’s features— oh, what a silly man to think she could possess him! Perhaps she very well could, but if so, she hadn’t discovered that trick just yet. Despite this, he looked to be too easy to toy with, so she found herself unable to pass up such an opportunity that presented itself upon a silver platter.

“Ooooh, but I was, though! What a conundrum we have reached, an impasse even!”

She played a pout and thought long and hard, her finger tapped against her chin as she purred out a hum of concentration— her feet kicked back and forth as she sat on air.

“I suppose I could be convinced not to, under one condition though…” Ophelia drawled— what could that one condition be? She wasn’t too sure herself. 

“What do you think the condition should be, hm?”

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: BENDIS. PART 1. 

READING THINGS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO! 

ALRIGHT EVERYONE IT'S TIME. 

It's 12 issues long. 

When this came out, I thought "This is the worst thing ever." and was so disappointed and angry. I refused to purchase the trade and frowned at it real hard any time it was mentioned. 

If I could go back in time and tell little me that there were far...FAR...worse things ahead I'm not sure I'd have believed me. 

Lucky for me, something spectacular and wondrous and amazing was also ahead. 

But we'll get to that later. 

Moon Knight: (2011) 

publication date: July 2011-June 2012. 

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Alex Maleev 

Editor: Jeff Youngquist 

TIME LINE TIME! 

Let's start off with a little bit of Comic History! 

Moon Knight started in 1975. Moench and Zelenetz took it to 1990. 

We hit the 90s and it was a rough go for our pal. I'll cover the 90s later. 

Moon Knight then faded into obscurity and only the die hard fans that remembered our friend in white clung to every fleeting background appearance or mention. 

He then returned to us in 2006. 

The series of runs from 2006-2009 revived the series into a new glorious age of Marvel comics. The comics were far from perfect, the characterization was often WAY off, but it was better than nothing and a lot of good did come out of that age. 

2009-2010 brought us Vengeance of Moon Knight, which was also pretty good. 

Moon Knight was trucking along. 

It was roughly in this age that I became aware of Moon Knight and started reading the old stuff. 

Then 2011 they announced a new writer taking over Moon Knight. 

I actually went to a convention and remember this announcement. 

Marvel editor and Chief Joe Quesada was heading the panel and was super excited. He professed to love Moon Knight and was super enthused to see him not only be continued, but to also be in the hands of such an esteemed writer as Bendis AND joining a west coast team. (I'll get to that). 

So from 2011-2012 we got...THIS.... 

Moon Knight was then swiftly canceled. 

It was a disaster and did NOT do well on sales or reviews. (gee. Wonder why). 

And in TRUE Marvel fashion, they quietly swept it under the rug. They claimed that interest in Moon Knight had died and they would not continue to write for a comic no one would read. 

He had a few small background parts now and then, and fans continued to ask if they were going to bring him back. 

It wasn't till 2014 under "Marvel Now" (a new age under Marvel) that he was brought back under Ellis. 

Now, a LOT of people hate on Ellis. But they have to understand what Ellis had to work with. Where Ellis was coming from with Moon Knight, and WHY he had to do it so subtly like he did. 

So let me show you WHY my appreciation for Ellis runs so deep. 

You may have noticed something. I called Bendis an "esteemed writer". 

So who is Brian Michael Bendis? 

This is the man that is KNOWN for his work in the Avengers. 

He was the man that relaunched the Avengers franchise in 2000. Marvel was NOT doing well in the late 90s. DC was on the rise and kicking ass. 

I'm not saying this man saved Marvel comics... But he certainly brought the comic fans back in. 

Secret War, House of M, Secret Invasion, Siege, Age of Ultron, Avengers Disassembled...

These are BIG name runs that he wrote storylines for and was in charge of. These are big name events! 

You all know by now I hate events and tie-in cross-overs (There are two notable exceptions, but those are not Moon Knight related), but I have to appreciate them when they actually do make the comics thrive. 

Also, it takes a LOT to keep these events organized. And it takes a good writer to write for large groups like the Avengers. 

This man also created some very well known comic characters. Riri Williams, Jessica Jones, and...MILES MORALES. 

THAT'S RIGHT. This man gave us MILES! 

He's won five Eisner Awards. 

He is GOOD at what he does. He's god at writing teams. He keeps the dialogue smooth and flowing. He keeps track of all the characters. 

But... You'll notice something.... 

All those incredibly big name events and series? They are teams. They are groups. They are big hitters. They are mostly super powered and work well in teams. 

This brings me to a very big point. 

Just because you are good at one thing, does not make you good at all things. 

And that's where Marvel messed up. 

They happily put Moon Knight into the hands of someone who was used to writing for Captain America and Iron Man. 

You all know by now, or you will soon, Moon Knight is a VERY different sort of hero. 

He has no powers. He has no armor. He’s not super smart and he isn’t a leader. He's just a man. A man with severe trauma. A man with a past. Oh...And he's actually Three men in a white cape pretending to be one fully functioning normal guy and failing at it miserably. In fact, he’s been offered to lead teams MANY times and every time he turned it down. He doesn’t play well with others. Every time he meets up with another character, they start with a fight before they calm down and introduce themselves (one exception was Hilariously the Punisher who happily shook his hand and invited him into his chopper). 

So I can’t be angry at Bendis. Bendis even admitted that he didn’t know who Moon Knight was when he was given the comic. He had to do some quick catching up. 

The pressure was on, he didn’t understand the character, and there was a PUSH to introduce Moon Knight to the wider Marvel universe. 

So I can’t 100% fault Bendis for the trash heap he gave us. He certainly isn’t Bemis, who is just an overall terrible person. 

But I CAN fault him for not doing his research and not treating the major themes that tend to historically follow Moon Knight with respect. The biggest one being: Mental Health. 

So if Aaron was a disaster of religious failure, Bemis was a disaster of hate crimes and racism, then Bendis is a disaster of the mind. 

Without further rambling, let’s get into it!! 

Issue #1 (same image as up top). 

Title page as the standard blurb on who the character is. 

"Left to die outside an Egyptian temple, mentally unstable mercenary Marc Spector believes himself to have been resurrected by the ancient deity Khonshu to be his supernatural avatar on Earth. When night falls, Spector dons the mantle of Khonshu and fights the darkness as Moon KNight." 

Not a great start people. 'dons the mantle of Khonshu'. This is literally all Bendis knew about Moon Knight going in. If this is the only description you have to go on, you are not going to have a good time. 

We open with a very Kirk Russel looking version of Marc Spector out in the desert with a dramatic retelling of his fight with Bushman. 

What's interesting is that Bushman calls him "Lockley". 

They have their shoot out, Marc is shot and Bushman leaves him saying "You were the best there ever was." 

Doing his usual, Marc crawls through the desert to the Moon Temple. 

He goes to the body of the dead Professor (Marlene's father) and wishes to make it up to him despite dying. He then goes to the Khonshu statue and begs before dying. 

Marlene sobs over him, calling him "Jake". 

The scene ends and it's to be continued. 

Fade to black. Executive Producer Marc Spector. 

Yeah... Marc went to Hollywood and made a show about Moon Knight. 

You see, up to this point, no one realy knew what Steven was doing to make them money. In the 80s he gave to charities, set up entertainment things like Ballet and museums and things, and played the stocks a bit. 

Later he became a producer. 

Then, when the writers all decided they didn't want to write Steven anymore because he was 'boring' he turned into Marc and Marc headed the financial aspect of things and became the producer of the shows. 

So here we see Marc making the show about himself and using the name Lockley so no one knows it's about him. 

He...He's trying. 

So the name of the show is "Legend of the Khonshu". 

This is the pilot episode and they are at a launch party. 

We see Marc hanging with a pretty blond that is NOT Marlene. At this point she’s left him. 

"Is it true that you were a really for real mercenary?"

"Well, let's just say... I have learned I'm not the first person in the world to transition their career into Hollywood after a...Less than honorable start." 

He gets a call and the person asks if he can go outside. 

This is odd. And it should have been my first clue something was wrong. 

But we'll get there. 

We've got Captain America, Spider-man, and Wolverine asking for Moon Knight. 

And while Moon Knight has been an Avenger off and on and off and on at this point, he also has never been well trusted or liked by the big guys like Cap and Iron man. 

Cap tells him that "SHIELD's still tryig to gather formal intel, but there's been a rather substantial migration of criminal activity from the East coast to here. Right here in your new backyard. We need you to go to work." 

(this was the reason for the West Coast Avengers, but that's a different run). 

"Substatial Migration of criminal activity?" 

"Maybe if you weren't so busy making crap TV--" Wolverine gets uppity. 

"Have you seen the show, Wolverine? It's actually pretty good." 

"Yeah, that's what I got time for, watching you sell your soul entirely." 

"Good news, though, I'm getting paid a fortune for it." 

Cap breaks up the banter and Marc asks for details. 

Spider-Man explains that too many super heros lived on the east coast and too many villains were trying to be the kingpin of New York. So now they figure they can go to L.A. 

"But now we have you here." "Me?" "You made L.A. your territory." "By living here?" 

This has always been an issue. Ever since it became known that Moon Knight had mental issues, all the Avengers have always treated him like “the crazy one”. Especially since he’s the ONLY superhero that is publicly open about his mental health issues. 

He’s even come out to the Avengers as having D.I.D and introduced Jake and Steven to them (see Spider-man encounters that was mostly used for LOLs). What’s interesting is seeing which heroes react in what ways. 

I could do a whole breakdown on the response of each Avenger to those with mental health issues. From Captain America’s don’t ask don’t tell attitude that stems from being brought up in the 30s-40s to Punisher who takes it in stride and doesn’t care. 

So they came all the way out to LA from NY to put him to work. Brings to mind the old meme: This could have been an email.

Cap reminds him that he's an Avender now and part of a team. "If things get to be too much...You send for us. Give the call. We're here for you. That's what being an Avender means. You're not alone." 

Problems with that: 1. The Avengers are in NY. He's in LA. That's a few hours away even by Helicarrier. 2. To quote Sassy Steven Grant from MCU "Yeah that's sort of like the problem, innit?" 

But ignore that. Look at this ART. 

We head over to a warf where two criminal looking thugs are waiting by a van. 

They're having some friendly banter about their job and their boss. 

"Ask yourself this: This job you have--Who do you think had it before you? Where is that person now? Exactly how dead are they? And which one of the, I don't know, X-Men do you think maybe killed them?" 

"I see your point. I just don't agree with it. I want to do the job we were hired to do and then I want to go home." 

I do love some good hench men banter. 

While they banter, Moon Knight sneaks around up top to watch as a ship comes in. 

A very large man gets off the ship and demands to know which one of them has "Mr. Hyde's Money?" 

They don't have money. They were just ordered to pick up what's on the boat. The man demands money for the thing on the boat. 

He threatens to crush them to death, they threaten to shoot him. 

The giant man lifts them up and smashes their heads together. 

Alright, time for Moon Knight to swing into action. He first gets his attention with a crescent dart that cuts his cheek. 

Just gonna put this right here….

Our buddy Moony has fought many giant strong men before. He's good at holding his own but he's also REAL good at getting utterly annihilated. 

He gets in a few good hits but then gets thrown in the harbor. 

Then a truck is chucked at him. 

His cape gets caught on the front wheels and the truck drags him down into the harbor. (He ends up in the water so much)

One of the thugs from earlier is still alive and he chooses this time to shoot the giant in the arm. 

Unfortunately this upsets the giant who comes over and crushes his skull. 

Disturbing. But the it's done well with the art style. You see him place his boot then a black frame that says "CRUNCH". This is how you censor but imply the violence. Unlike in Bemis' run that just shows you all the gore in the worst way. 

It's amazing how much better I can look at this in comparison. 

But an aside: I enjoyed this run until it got to a VERY specific point. We'll get there together, friends. Until we get to that point, we're going to enjoy the art and have fun with our buddy Moony. 

Big guy gets ack on the boat and starts to drive away. Suddenly he's whacked in the head by a fire extinguisher. 

We see a cloakless/hoodless/maskless Moon Knight wailing on him. 

Marc heads down into the cabin thing while the giant is dstunned. He wants to know what the cargo is. 

Ohhh hey.... Okay. 

So… There are some of you reading this that know exactly what that is. And there are a LOT of you that don’t know other comics or movies and have no idea what that is. 

That’s an Ultron. Tony Stark did Tony Stark things and created a super power AI system called Ultron. And in classic AI comic book fashion, it immediately took over EVERYTHING and set out to destroy the world. They eventually defeated it, but it keeps popping up. You’ll find hidden saved files in old computers, SHIELD helicarriers often find ultron files in their systems. Sometimes you find one of the mass produced robots that still carry the potential to boot up and spread the virus around again. 

Marc picks up the Ultron skull, wondering why they have a dead Ultron. 

It's at this point that he realizes he just knocked out the only one on the boat that was driving. 

He's doing fine. 

He gets knocked off the boat again and clings to a rope hanging off it. At this point the boat is illuminated by something from above. 

Giant man wakes up and yells at the sky about "you better have my money!!" 

"You should have thought about that before you killed my employees." 

The boat blows up and Marc manages to swim away with the Ultron head. 

Back at his place, he calls the Avengers to give them an update. 

Again, I want to remind everyone that the Avengers are based out of New York and Marc is in LA. Are they going to fly out there to look at an Ultron head? It's a 5 and a half hour non stop flight on a regular airline. 

So...This is another clue that something is wrong here. 

They debate on why someone wants an Ultron head. 

It IS made out of adamantium alloy, which is very valuable. 

I also want to say that I love how they draw Marc here. 

So Marc, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine stand around staring at the Ultron head for a minute. 

"You got a good look at the mystery power?" 

"Nope. Not from lack of trying, though." 

"Hey, Man, you went toe-to-toe with Mr. Hyde." 

"Barely." 

"That's pretty impressive, my friend." 

"I think I broke a rib." 

In trying to figure out who the new power player is, he decides that they at least have one up. 

"Which means he's looking for me like we're looking for him. I'm glad you guys are here. We have our work cut out for us. This is going to take more than just Moon Knight." 

This is heart breaking to hear once you actually know where this run is going. And he isn't alone. Where are Jake and Steven? Why are they banished? 

I know that Jake doesn't travel. Jake never leaves New York. I've never really explored why that is. But in Moench's OG run, Jake NEVER left New York. 

And writers always leave Steven out. No one since Moench has been able to handle him to this point. 

So here we are, Marc Spector making home in a new place and Jake and Steven aren’t there. Then the Avengers show up randomly and tell him to start being Moon Knight again and that he is needed. 

And then we are left with this image, which is our biggest reveal that maybe… Maybe something isn’t right here… 

So what do we know in the first issue? We can’t trust Marc’s perception of things. 

We also have yet to actually address Marc’s D.I.D. They’ve only casually mentioned him being ‘mentally disturbed’. He’s built up what looks like a nice comfortable life for himself in LA and here the Avengers come in (supposedly) and put him back into position to ruin this life. 

We know Marlene left him. And his head-mates are being pretty quiet. We can only speculate that we are meant to believe that the ‘Avengers’ are only in his head. 

There’s more going on here than Ultron. And in issue one, I’m optimistic. I love the art, Moon Knight is being Moon Knight. But you do get the sense that something is brewing and all you can do is hope that it’s not bad. We have no REASON to think it will be bad at this point. We’ve not had an atrociously bad run yet. We’ve only had mismanagement. 

Issue #2. 

DAMN fine art, Maleev. Look at the white! The face is a little creepy, but look at that cape! 

Title page has the usual blurb and a recap. 

"Marc Spector has resurfaced in Los Angeles as the creator and producer of the wildly successful TV show 'Legends of the Khonshu'. As Moon Knight, he intercepts an illegal delivery of an Ultron robot body. The mastermind behind it is unknown, but the battle is fierce and Moon Knight barely escapes. 

Guiding him through this new mystery, Moon Knight is supported by his new multiple Personalities in the guises of Spider-man, Wolverine and Captain America." 

YEP. There it is everyone! 

2011. WAY past the point of DSM defining things and research absolutely could have been done. 

But it wasn't done. They had zero interest in informing or teaching the audience about mental health. All they wanted was a gimik to lure you in and say "Look how crazy he is!" And now he's got "NEW" personalities that are also well known super heros! 

*SIGH* Issue one was so hopeful. They could have gone so many other routes. 

As I mentioned above, Marc has set himself up to be alone. When has Marc Spector ever done well when left alone to his own devises? 

Marc has set himself up for massive failure and is on his way for another break down. 

But they could have left him alone. Shown him being alone. Shown him struggling alone. They could have then re-introduced Steven and Jake and well....LEMIRE. 

Anyways, let's see what happens in issue 2. 

We open with Moon Knight, Spider-man, Wolverine, and Captain America overlooking the city.

I love when they get carried away with his cape. It’s like his cape is an entity of itself. Look at that majesty. 

Marc has intel and they are deciding on who gets to go investigate. 'Wolverine' decides to go in. 

Marc tells him no. "This is my city now. That's the whole point. I'll go." 

"I think you should go in undercover first. Stake it out. Lock your target" -Captain America. 

"You WOULD think that. I say dive in and tear the place up. That's the only language they understand. It's the only language they respect." - Wolverine. 

Cap just wants to shut down the operation. 

"A grenade can shut that place down. We're aiming higher. We're aiming for the person who thinks this city is up for grabs and thinks they need an ultron." 

'Spider-man' volunteers. No one would expect him. 

Moon Knight notes that "It's not like I can stop him." 

We head to a sort of strip club sort of thing. The manager woman is in charge of info. A lot of powerful men come to her club/bar and these men often let slip information to the girls that help them 'relax.' She pays the girls for collected information. 

She finishes her little speech and Spider-man interrupts. 

"Did I miss the audition? I have a dream, you know. A dream to dance!" 

"Get out of here or I'll kill you." 

"I'm sorry, I don't care for the way you're speaking to me--I'd like to speak to the manager." 

So they way they have it, the “Spider-Man personality” is in charge and the others watch and let him act. He has the mouthiness of the REAL spider-man, but he also lacks the strength and acrobatics. This puts him at a disadvantage, as he’s expected to do the same things, but can’t. This honestly is going to go for Wolverine and Captain America too. Three people that distinctly have super powers and skills that Moon Knight and MARC do not have! 

An interesting solution is that Spider-man uses web shooters. 

And THIS 'Spider-man has hidden Moon Knight's truncheons in the shooters so they get hit by the web and also whacked pretty hard too. 

What is so frustrating is that I'd just rather watch Moon Knight fight the bad guys and not 'fake spider-man'. 

And the boss lady gets hit by the web shooters with the hidden truncheons inside. She instantly knows "That's not Spider-man." 

She starts to fight back, asking who he is. 

"Who are you?" 

"Who am I? I? Me? People have heard of me! The big question today is how far down the criminal food chain are you?" 

She starts to kick his ass. 

She puts him in a choke hold demanding to know who he is and who sent him. 

Marc and Wolverine start to argue inside the head space. Wolverine wants to step in but Moon Knight wants to give Spider-man a chance. 

The mask is ripped off and they start to black out. Wolverine steps in. 

The webshoots extend out the retractable claws. 

Just as he gets the upper hand, one of the stripper girls tasers him, knocking him down. 

He fights through it. The taser doesn't really affect him. 

He webs her and the main boss lady picks up the fight. 

Captain America is not impressed with the fight. "You're not learning anything and you've made your point. Wrap it up." 

Just as he starts to get the upper hand, one of the bounces shoots them in the shoulder. 

He doesn't heal like Wolverine would. 

He blacks out. 

See, my issue is that the writing team doesn’t know anything about Moon Knight. In fact, they know so little that they think he’s boring. So they bring in familiar characters in an effort to ‘make him interesting’. But Moon Knight is NOT those characters. So you end up with a cluster of a whole bunch of mischaracterization on BOTH sides. You got Wrong Moon Knight and you got Wrong Spider-man. 

Boss lady tells the other girls to go home and not to talk about anything that just happened. 

She says that their BOSS will want to talk to this guy and find out who he is. 

They go to move Marc and suddenly one of the stripper girls attacks. 

She knocks out the bouncer then knocks out the boss lady. 

Marc wakes up much later, patched up in a bed. 

Mystery lady tells him "You ruined my cover, Moon Knight." 

She tells him that they have mutual friends like Steve Rogers and Matt Murdock. 

Her name? Maya Lopez. Hey! It's Echo! 

"I was an Avenger for all of 44 seconds." 

I...I've never read anything with Echo. I actually have a comic of her team up with Dare Devil waiting in my stack of comics to read. 

She was supposed to get her own MCU show on Disney Plus. 

I also know that when Greer met up with Marc in the MacKay run, Echo was the one that warned her about what it was like to be with Marc Spector. 

I ALSO know that they call her Echo because she's deaf. 

That is the extent of what I know about Echo. 

Let's learn together! 

She tells Marc to look at her when he talks. He figures out it's because she's reading lips.

"You're deaf?" 

"I know what's wrong with me. What exactly is wrong with you?" She asks as she holds up the Spider-man mask. 

Back with boss lady, we see her talking to her own boss. 

She explains that she once fought the Black Widow and Captain America. 

"This guy--This guy tonight knows how to fight. I know when someone has been trained. This guy--" 

They talk about how they looked up Spiderman and found him still in New York. They also figured out that the one they were fighting was "Moon Knight dressed as Spider-man." 

"And acting like a crazy animal." 

"Moon Knight." 

"Or a crazy guy who thinks he's both. In this world...Never underestimate a good crazy." 

The big mystery boss knows Moon Knight. He's faced him rescently apparently. 

"He has something of mine and I need it back."

He approves her to hire a team and hunt Moon Knight down. 

END ISSUE. 

Ya'll...There's so much going on here. My mantra? "At least it isn't BEMIS.'' That's not a good plug. 'Better than Bemis'. That bar is so low that it's buried six feet under. 

Also the introduction of Echo is going to get messy. She’s there to be the ‘voice of reason’ to his ‘insanity’, but she’s also there to potentially be a love interest. 

Lemme do a little google search real quick. 

Okay... She's Native American of the Cheyenne nation. Created in 1999. She first appeared as Ronin in 2005 by Brian Michael Bendis. (That explains why she's in this). 

After Kingpin killed her father, he adopted her. Fisk pitted her against Daredevil. She also had a relationship with Matt Murdock cause of course she did. (Everyone has slept with Murdock. EVERYONE.) 

Her abilities are photographic reflexes, much like that of Taskmaster. Meaning she can learn people's fighting styles. 

Okay. She's interesting. 

Makes me sad that she’s just going to be used in this comic to give the reader a point of stability and also a love interest. 

Issue #3. 

I like the soft colors in the art. And at first glance you get excited because “Bullseye!” And I love a good Bullseye run. But then you notice that jaw line looks very familiar and also he’s holding a familiar looking crescent and you realize what’s about to happen and you’re just disappointed again….. 

ALRIGHT. We open on Marc driving a car and making a call to Maya (Echo). 

"Hi Maya...This is Marc Spector." 

"I'm sorry?" 

"From last night." 

"What do you want?" 

"You believe it's me...Cool." 

He spoke to their 'mutual' friends who vouched for her. (I bet Murdock vouched for her). 

"If you're not still mad at me for blowing your cover and maybe ruining your life, I thought mabe we could get together and discuss, um, strategy." 

Sure. Sure Marc... Strategy. 

He invites her to eat. She turns him down. 

"I think you might be insane, and I have had enough insane men in my life to last me." 

[....]

"I think you're thinking that last night was indicative of my overall behavior and personality." 

"It wasn't?" 

"It probably was, but I don't think that--" 

"I'm hanging up." 

"I need help, Maya. And you do too." 

We have some serious discrimination going on. The constant use of outdated language to lesson Marc's credibility and constant second guessing him. 

Marc gets to the studio to find his assistant there waiting with a list of issues. 

The usual studio stuff. 

Props have issues, there's calls, and "they still haven't cast the French Guy." 

"Not French." 

"I thought--"

"He doesn't HAVE to be French. I said he was based on a French person." 

(Does this mean that I cacn still dream of Pedro Pascal as Frenchie?) 

Anyways... He heads in to a tech person named Buck. 

Marc hands him the Ultron head. He asks him to take a peak at it and let him know if it's legit. 

We head back to three months ago when Marc was setting up the show and casting people. 

Marc had asked for a list of "soldier of fortune consultants". 

Marc starts to look through the files. 

Honestly, considering his past and connections, he probably knows most of the old timers personally. 

He finds one that makes him pause and he tells his assistant that he wants an interview. 

Turns out Buck was that guy. 

Marc asks Buck how long he's been an Agent of SHIELD. 

He recognized the name of a company that Buck listed as work history on his resume. 

A company owned by SHIELD and stationed in Latveria (Home of Dr. Doom). 

Buck denies it. It's all classified, after all. 

Marc tells Buck that "I need a guy who knows weapons and armory. I need a guy who thinks outside the box and knows not to ask questions. I need someone I can trust with my life." 

Of course Buck is cagey. Wants to know how Marc got access to the files and what not. 

"Do you know your super heroes?" 

"Uh...Sure." 

Marc tells him. We don't hear what he says. 

"I...I, uh... Never heard of you." 

"Are you serious?" 

"Just messing with you." 

Yeah, there was a long time when NO ONE knew who Moon Knight was. Somehow all the bad guys and street people knew him, but NONE of the heros knew him. Just called him "that crazy moon guy." 

Marc hires the man as his 'weapons expert' for the show. He also asks the man to work on making special tools and weapons for his 'special needs'. 

Here’s Buck at home relaxing. 

Oh hey! Bullseye! 

So we see "Bullseye" threaten to torture and cut up Buck if he doesn't tell him who Marc Spector is. 

Buck refuses to talk. 

Bullseye threatens him again and Buck figures it out. "Mister Spector? Is that---Are you--?" 

Firstly, where did Marc even get that outfit? And the spike dagger. Bullseye got the spike daggers when he killed Electra (Daredevil comics my old beloved dumpster fire that you were). 

Marc apologizes and Buck punches him. He beats on him a moment, pretty pissed off. 

"You know I could disarm you and end this in a second, right?" 

"You never touch me!" 

"Come on. Compared to what they did when you joined SHIELD this was nothing." 

"I don't care if you think I--"

"You know I had to." 

[....] 

"Man, how crazy are you?" 

There it is again. And having Marc dress up and mimic Bullseye's manners and expressions is an interesting choice when we already know that he's dealing with being Spider-man, Wolverine, and Captain America too. He's plaing with fire and I can see where Bendis is going to take this and I don't like it. 

And this brings us to the present with Buck analyzing the Ultron head. 

Turns out to be a real Ultron head. 

"The head of the most powerful artificial intelligence known to man cut off from its regenerating power source--" 

Buck asks if they should take it to Tony Stark. 

Marc doesn't like Tony Stark. This is fair. Tony has never exactly been fair to Marc. 

Apparently Hank Pym also had a hand in creating Ultron. That hangs together. (I am not a fan of comics hank pym. He's not a good person). 

Marc tells Buck he's going to give it to Steve Rogers when they are done with it. 

Buck keeps telling him to get rid of it. WHoever the LA kingpin is, he's going to come looking for it either for parts, the dangerous tech, or to plug it back in and sick it on the world again. 

Marc keeps brushing him off. 

"Meaning that you should get rid of it immediately...Was my point...That you completely missed. Because you're crazy." 

So we head back to boss lady, AKA "Snapdragon". She's talking to a group of assassins for hire. A group called "Night Shift". 

Her boss wants to have a chat with Moon Knight and she wants to know who he is. 

END ISSUE. 

Yeah, you guys can see the growing motif of this run, can’t you? “Wow look how crazy he is!” And it’s going to get worse. 

If Aaron was a problem because of the lack of religious sensitivity and research, then Bendis is a problem because of how he handles the topic of Mental Health. (Bemis was just a problem. Every problem forever. Too many to name.) 

So let’s head into Issue #4. 

Maleev did all his own covers for the runs. Not a common thing to do. I just love how all the covers have such striking colors and how the cape and cowl are always just so BRIGHT white. It’s pretty, okay? 

Alright, we open up on Avengers Mansion somewhere in New York. Carol Daners answers the phone (Captain Marvel). 

Maya Lopez (Echo) is calling them. 

She's doing a check in to find out what the Avengers think of Moon Knight. 

Which, fine. If you're going to work with a guy or potentially be interested in them, you check in with your friends that know them. 

But ALSO...The Avengers have always been very discriminatory against Moon Knight. 

They don't trust him because they think he's dangerous because they think he's insane. 

They don't ever make ANY effort to understand what his illness/problems are. They never look into his disorder. They never look into Marc's PTSD. They never take the time to talk him through things. 

Much like they never really accept or try to deal with the Punisher's PTSD. He's always just an evil murdering man. 

Maybe this is why Marc and Frank have always gotten along. 

Spiderman sometimes is kind to him and works with him, but there is always the background joke about Moon Knight being "Loony". 

The only one that really gets on with Moon Knight is Ben "The Thing" from FF4. And that's because they're both Jewish and Ben needs more Jewish friends. 

ANYWAYS. She asks about Moon Knight. 

"I'm asking--How crazy is he on a scale of one to...crazy?"

Oh! This brings me to the well known panel that you should all recognize!!!! 

Now you have the context for that panel! 

Speaking of discrimination...

Echo calls people all the time. And each time, the person on the other side will go "Wait, how are you using the phone if you're deaf?" 

She has a speech to text function that puts their words on her computer screen. 

But no one thinks of things that are meant to help those with hearing disabilities. They instantly just think "She's deaf. She can't use the phone! She must not be deaf!" 

Ahhh...Avengers... 

Back in LA, we find MArc waiting at a hot dog stand where he invited Echo, waiting to see if she'll even show up. 

He sits there with 'Captain America', 'Spider-man', and 'Wolverine'. 

Wolverine tells him that Marc doesn't need her. 

Spider-man thinks it's just a team-up. 

"This ain't about a team-up. You know it and he knows it." 

"Why can't it be both?" 

"Because it just complicates it all." 

"Why can't he have a nice girl?" 

"Because the damn moon god Khonshu told him he brought him back from the dead so he'd make the world more livable.

Not make crap TV shows and date third-string Avengers." 

"Why can't he do ALL those things?" 

(I'm a spider-man fan and I love when he is the young innocent one that just wants people to be happy. And considering that THIS is not the real Spider-man, but just Marc's perspective of Spider-man, it makes sense that Spider-man be seen as the one that doesn't understand and just wants to do his best and make people happy. See, THAT is an interesting take and psychological analysis. But Bendis isn't aiming for that or going to explore it... Damn it.) 

Captain America reminds them that Echo knows more about what's going on than they do and they need her info. 

"The woman's been under-cover in the LA underworld. She knows more than us. We need her." 

And Maya shows up. 

"I must be out of my mind." 

"Oh, come on..." 

"Out of my mind." 

So he asks her what she knows and how long she's been undercover. 

She tells him to go first. 

"Listen, if you're here, you checked on me like I checked on you. You know I'm not the idiot you're acting like you want me to think you think I am." 

"What?" 

"Let's just cut the sass down and have a real conversation. Wouldn't that be nice, if two people who do what we do had a real conversation?" 

"It's hard...It's hard to trust...sometimes..." 

"I know. Believe me, I know." 

They talk a bit about Marc's show and her position in the strp club. 

As they talk, a sharp dressed man shows up and comments on what a cute cupple they make. 

"What a cute couple." 

"Excuse me?" 

"I SAID you're a cute couple. What are you, deaf? Oh yeah, you are, aren't you...Eco." 

She asks if Marc knows who this man is. 

"You see him too?" Nice Marc. Subtle. 

The man introduces himself as "Tick Tock." He's a member of the Night Shift. 

One of the guys has a pretty cool design. Reminds me of the Classic old old comic/radio show "The Shadow". 

The lady's design is....Why is there always a naked lady with tape barely covering up all of her bits? How is that efficient?

Tick Tock claims to be able to see the immediate future. 

He sais that in one future they fight and it doesn't end well for anyone. 

Marc and Maya don't have powers, but the Night Shift members do. 

'Wolverine' decides he isn't putting up with this shit. The flake claws come out and they elect to fight. 

The Moon Knight cape comes out and he and Echo start to fight back.

It's a pretty good fight. Echo saves his tail a few times and he takes the hits easily. 

The Wolverine claws come out a few times and make a mess. 

They take out the baddies but the cops are on the way. Cops usually don’t like Vigilantes and this is LA, where they aren’t used to the New York crew. 

And….The only cop that ever liked Moon Knight was Detective Flint. 

END ISSUE. WOO! Blazing through! 

What gets me is that this HAD the potential to be interesting. It could have been an interesting run! Why did he have to make up the Avengers? Why not just embrace Moon Knight and let him be himself? He’s interesting enough without made up Avengers! 

What’s more, you only got three of them in. And the three of them are only bits of themselves based on what Marc knows of them! 

So you have the angry and eager to fight Wolverine, who could have just been Marc. You have the up tight analytical and reasonable Captain America, who could have been Steven! Then you have the heart who is gentle and wants to give people a chance but is still tough Spider-man….JAKE! 

This run could have been FAR better if it wasn’t the Avengers, but Moon Knight wrestling with himself. Having all three of them trying to suddenly make sense of what it means to work together and coming up with their own fighting styles. 

…..HERE’S ISSUE #5. 

I actually don’t like this cover. The colors are nice. The art still is on point. But I just really don’t like this cover.

So the cops show up and instantly go "WE GOT MOON KNIGHT!" 

Yeah... Most of the cops don't know 'what a Moon Knight' is. 

The internal conversation is Spider-man wants them to run. Captain America tells them that they are an Avenger and should explain things to them. 

"Officers, I am here to cooperate. I will be more than happy to tell you exactly what just happened. I am actually, believe it or not, one of the good guys, if you'll just let me--" 

He does try to calmly explain to the officers what's going on, but they start to get rough and push him around.  What gets me is that Moon Knight IS trying to be reasonable. He tries to talk calmly. To explain things. He tries to be peaceful. 

It never goes well for him. No one listens to him. No one lets him explain. They assume the worse of him. 

Now Wolverine is pissed and wants to get involved. 

Cap and Wolverine start yelling at one another and Moon Knight is not having a good trip. 

One of the cops says he's going to sell the pictures of Moon Knight getting arrested for tons. 

Wolverine wins the argument and Moon Knight starts to fight and breaks free. 

The cops attempt to bring Echo in and she puts up a little fight then gets tazed. 

Yeah so we get lots of scenes of them yelling at Marc. 

They yell at him for leaving Echo behind. But Echo fights the police off and steals one of the cop cars. 

Moon Knight follows and joins up. 

I can’t fault the comic for the action sequences. They do have a good balance. (Unlike in Bemis where everyone is either just standing there grinning like idiots or it’s chaos and you can’t tell what’s going on except that there is gore). 

The banter and conversations are also well managed. Coming from the Bemis run, where every other panel was just a WALL of exposition that made no sense, I appreciate the balance of conversation, action, and stillness. So, points to Bendis and Maleev on this one. 

They park the car and have a small argument. 

She blames him for bringing 'madness' into her life. 

He points out that the Night Shift was actually looking for HER and that they were tracking her, so it's her fault for the madness. 

She agrees. "So that makes us even." 

She can't go home. The police and bad guys know who she is now. 

He tells her to come to his home. Smooth. 

They have a moment and he kisses her. 

She punches him in the face. 

A lot. 

I won't make you squint. 

"Hey! Listen I just thought..." 

Gets beat up. 

"Will you marry me? 

Look at me...Brave guy making jokes to a deaf girl behind her back." 

Alright we head back to Buck. He's at a club. He gets a phone call and heads out. 

He's gotta go pick up Marc, who is sadly walking home in his Moon Knight skivvies. 

"Hi, Buck." 

"Mister Spector." 

"Thanks for coming to get me." 

"What are you doing in an alley?" 

"I didn't start in the alley." 

"Who used to do this before me?" 

"A guy." 

"Where is he?" 

"He got sick of me." 

"Is he alive?" 

"I think so. I hope so." 

Frenchie will forever be a sad place in my heart. I miss him and I hope he is alive and well. 

We head to the police station where Tik Tok of the Night Shift is being interrogated. He's being interviewed by a former New York cop. He didn't like the Supervillain and Superhero business so he went to LA to get away from it. 

As you can imagine, all this recent comotion doesn't have him very happy. 

He wants to make sure the whole lot of the Night Shift stays behind bars forever. 

But he gives him one opportunity to give up some info and walk out. 

"Who hired you? Who sent you after Moon Knight? You give me a name... You walk out of here." 

Tik Tok thinks it over. 

"You don't, and I will laugh the day I hear that the punisher finds his way into the prison you're rotting in. Just say the name."

Tik Tok starts to talk when suddenly a lawyer comes in and tells Tik Tok that he's being sprung. 

The lawyer tells him that they can't hold any of the Night Shift because the police let them be beaten by 'drug addict maniacs'. 

Tik Tok walks out and the police guy is pissed. 

"I hope you know what you're doing, Moon Knight. Because it's all on you." 

END ISSUE. 

So… You see my frustration setting in here? This comic run has SO much potential. There is so much more they could be doing and instead they are taking the “HE’S SO CRAZY” route. The art is good. The pacing is good. The Dialogue is pretty evenly placed. Even the overarching plot of the LA kingpin and Ultron head is not bad. It’s just… Why did it have to be Moon Knight? 

When you can replace the main character with any other marvel character and still have it be the same, this isn’t a Moon Knight issue. And when the writer is so used to writing for other characters that they end up making it about those other characters, they shouldn’t be given the Moon Knight comic and should just stick with what they are good at! 

….At least it isn’t Bemis… 

Alright. Part two is coming soon! I’m going to start kicking these out fast. I got a timeline to get through if I’m going to hit all my marks by the new year! Stay with me people! We got this! 

PART TWO HERE.