MOON KNIGHT: CITY OF THE DEAD #1 will also feature the comic debut of Layla El-Faouly. In an interview with CBR, writer David Pepose revealed some of the history between Marc and Layla: “Layla's past with Marc comes from being a fellow member of the mercenary team, the Karnak Cowboys. So she knows Marc in a way that very few people do, knowing Marc during a time that hasn't been explored as much in continuity.” For the most part, Moon Knight didn’t fight Super Villains or monsters, he dealt with weird stuff and real-world stuff. I also dug the fact that he had multiple identities (in those days, that hadn’t quite evolved into multiple personalities as it would as time went on—initially, he was a guy who put on a different act for each aspect of his life). In that, he was the most like the Shadow, who would pretend to be Lamont Cranston and the police janitor and a few other roles, but who had secretly been aviator Kent Allard, seemingly killed during the war. What was the impetus behind bringing Moon Knight into AVENGERS in such a big way? How does this series spin out of that story? Working with Tom [Brevoort] and Jed is one of the most natural things I've ever done, we are in perfect sync and I hope our relationship lasts much longer," Cappuccio added. "This new Moon Knight cycle will hold several surprises for readers and I look forward to being able to show them to you in the coming months.”

I guess it's good I saved this one for last because apparently every other run before this was canon and mentioned? Like that's cool I guess but half the runs I read were shit lol. When Zodiac shot through Reese and killed Soldier, enough DNA survived on the bullet to infect Soldier with Reese's vampiric curse. This got the attention of Tutor, the vampire who had sired Reese and was running the New York vampire cult, The Structure. He believed that Soldier was the first of many, so he treated the Midnight Mission as a rival organization. After Moon Knight had a run-in with two assassins ( Nemean and Grand Mal) hired by The Structure to take him out, Moon Knight started looking into vampire activity in the city. Now, David Pepose and Marcelo Ferreira’s new series MOON KNIGHT: CITY OF THE DEAD promises to uncover new depths of Marc Spector’s past. When a young runaway is found dying at the doorstep of the Midnight Mission, Moon Knight must take his duties to a new realm: the Duat. In the City of the Dead, Moon Knight will reunite with an old ally, Layla El-Faouly, AKA the Scarlet Scarab!The House of Shadows, introduced in Strange Tales #120 (by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko) was a visitor from a parallel dimension called the Shadow Realm. After holding a journalist captive, it was banished to its home world in a battle with Doctor Strange. It later reappeared as part of an apartment building and began disappearing residents. When Moon Knight found out about this, he entered the entity to free the captives. However, in a bizarre twist of events, during the psychological warfare that the house normally engages in, Spector was able to convince the entity to join his cause as the new base of operations for the Midnight Mission. I also love the introduction of Hunter's Moon, another fist of Khonshu. The way they absolutely hate each other but have to work together and tolerate each other is perfection. Psionic Absorption: Seemingly torturing its occupants when really it craves interaction and feeds off the strong emotions-- such as fear. [4] Just one of the best Moon Knight’s fresh starts ever, setting the stage for lots of good things to come, and cleaning sour from my mouth after watching the sadly disappointing tv series on Disney+. Following his rejection of Khonshu, the vigilante Moon Knight opted to carry on with his former master's duty to protect night travelers. He claimed a territory in Manhattan and established a congregation called the Midnight Mission, whose doors were open for anybody to request his help. One of Moon Knight's earliest rescues were a group of neighbors forcibly turned into vampires by a vampiric pyramid scheme cult. After killing their "recruiters," one of the vampires, a woman named Reese, pled for mercy and was shown such as Moon Knight recognized them as victims. Reese then became the Midnight Mission receptionist and Moon Knight's right hand, the only job she could keep due to her imposed lifestyle change. [2]

With Khonshu's help, Moon Knight was able to travel through the spirit realm to return to the mission faster than he otherwise could to defeat Zodiac. Unfortunately, Zodiac had already killed Soldier, by shooting through Reese, when Moon Knight bested him. Blood of the FistBrevoort: For all that he’s been around as a character for decades, Moon Knight has never quite been able to find his feet as one of the super-popular A-list characters of the Marvel Universe. He’s a perennial player, but one that was seen by most as a bit secondary—he’d appear for a while, and then retreat into limbo for a bit. So if nothing else, we’re going to attempt to work to make Moon Knight a mainstream player and a figure that you expect to be appearing in a series all the time, not simply once in a while. This new volume of adventures begins as what seems to be one and done stories, but there's a thread that lingers through them all that culminates in an explosive confrontation and a reveal that I never saw coming. This is helped out by the fact that there's a second villain waiting in the wings who initially seems more important, but might be more of a Ghost-Maker to Moon Knight than a Joker. The supporting cast are great fun too, especially once a familiar West Coast Avenger pops onto the scene. The House of Shadows reappeared on Earth, taking the form of the top floor of an apartment building. When people started going missing, a neighbor went to Moon Knight for help. He ventured into the building's floor, but it eventually casted him out after an attempt to connect with Moon Knight's fractured mind caused it agony. After seeking help from Wong, Moon Knight learned about the floor's true nature as the House of Shadows. Finding compassion for the House, Moon Knight offered to help it fulfill its desire to be lived in. The House of Shadows then took over the ruins of the offices of Moon Knight's Midnight Mission, refurbishing Moon Knight's base of operations and becoming it. [4] The House of Shadows protected Reese and Soldier while Zodiac was coming for them, but they left its protection when their neighbors were threatened. [5] Resuming functions as an office space, the House of Shadows utilized its magical spaces to psychologically punish Nemean and Grand Mal. [6] Attributes Powers

Alessandro Cappuccio’s art was pretty good too, but with another more horror-oriented artist from the Fist of Konshu’s past like Sienkiewicz, Finch or Burrows, this could have been a five stars review from me. In here we have Marc Spector going exclusively as Mr Knight and running a mission. After the events of past runs (like when Khonshu tried to take over the world), he is separated from him but still does his work and now calls himself a priest. Furious after the death of Badr, Spector pursues the assassins with a righteous vengeance. He captures Nemean and Grand Mal and drags them into the Midnight Mission. The killers insist that he’s wasting his time and that the two are impervious to fear, but Spector knows what the Midnight Mission is capable of and feeds them to the house. The Mission proceeds to inflict one nightmare after another on Nemean and Grand Mal as the two scream in terror. This is a reread and while I loved it the first time months ago, it really hit harder this time. Not to expose myself but I rewatch the Moon Knight show almost every week (not kidding at all, I'm really down bad for him) and this is so different from that and yet they are both so good.On art is newcomer Alessandro Cappuccio, whose dynamic poses and excellent use of shadows make Moon Knight a lovely looking book. It's nice to see Marvel taking a chance on a newer artist, and it's even nicer to see it paying off.

Tom, how did the process of assembling this creative team come together? What specific attributes do Jed, Alessandro, and the rest of the team possess that fit with your vision for Moon Knight?Apparently Moon Knight/Khonshu tried taking over the world, or something stupid, in a recent Jason Aaron Avengers arc (I gave up on that series after the dismal first volume so I’m guessing from details gleaned from this book) and now he’s running a religious mission in the city… for reasons? And just in time too as a number of done-in-one-issue-sized threats for him to deal with have conveniently started to pop up! After the Midnight Mission accomplished a number of good deeds in the neighborhood, the criminal known as Zodiac was determined to prove Moon Knight as a fraud. He attempted a number of complicated and elaborate schemes to defeat Moon Knight This one was cool though! We get to see Moon Knight actually doing his thing as he saves and fights various people at night. This shit IS Moon Knight at his most Moon Knight to ever Moon Knight. He's a badass psycho, pretty scary and you absolutely do not want to fight him but he's also dramatic as hell and has an emotional support teenage vampire.