Moon Knight #14 Review - Marvel Monday

I Love A Full Moon

Written by: Jeff Lemire

Art by: Greg Smallwood

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: May 31, 2017

Review by: Josh Vermillion

It’s finally here. The day I’ve been dreading for a few months is here. Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood’s run on Moon Knight has finally come to an end. I think I’ve been one of this book’s biggest proponents for months now, and I’m sad to see it go. Jeff Lemire has redefined this character and put together a truly great example of storytelling. I can only hope this final issue wraps up everything that has come before, and leaves me with a smile on my face. Let’s wipe the tears from our cheeks and find out.

The culmination of everything Marc Spector has been through in his life has led to this, a showdown against the very god that saved his life and made him Moon Knight: Khonshu. After fighting through the mental institution he woke up in and defeating the beasts inside, Marc must also fight through his memories. He finally comes to the conclusion that in order to be free from his madness and defeat Khonshu, he has to embrace his insanity and accept that all of his personalities make him who he is.

I’m going to take a second here to once again appreciate the brilliant art from Greg Smallwood. Normally, he puts together intricate panel layouts and uses the shapes of the panels as a part of the art and the overall story, but in this issue he goes with a more straightforward, consistent layout. Using only four panels on most pages, he manages to let the story speak for itself while still providing great things to look at. The art is made all that much better by the differences in coloring from page to page depending on the situation, and the lettering that has been fantastic throughout the series.

Through the first 13 issues, whenever Marc would take on a different personality, a different artist would draw those panels and the book would look very different. But in this one, it is Greg Smallwood throughout. Now I may be grasping here, but I think this is meant to symbolize the convergence of all of these personalities into one, manageable person that is all of them at once. That’s just the way I interpret it.

When Marc finally confronts Khonshu, he fully uses his insanity to come together and declare that he no longer needs Khonshu to be Moon Knight. Even though Khonshu doesn’t believe this is possible, Marc brushes off all of the tricks thrown at him and grabs Khonshu by the head. Marc declares that he is Marc Spector, he is Steven Grant, he is Jake Lockley, and they are Moon Knight, and with that, Khonshu’s head shatters and Marc is finally free.

This was a damn good finale to a damn good series. I am sad to see the book go, but I am happy to have been reading along for the story that Jeff Lemire wanted to tell. This series will be hard to match for whoever gets the chance to write Moon Knight next, but a story this good might propel the character to a more prominent role in the landscape of Marvel Comics, and a Netflix show if I get my wish. I’m really going to miss reading this book every month.

Bits and Pieces:

After this finale, I can officially say that this series is my favorite run of any comic I’ve ever read. I am very sad to see it come to an end, but I loved reading every single issue, and will re-read it for years. If you’re a fan of comics at all, give this book a try. It is awesome.

10/10