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The latest incarnation of Moon Knight has been a difficult rebirth at best. During the initial six-issue arc “The Bottom“, written by Charlie Huston and drawn by David Finch, it was hailed as Marvel’s next great hard-boiled action crime series. Then the next arc got weird, and the next one, and the next one… it just seemed like Huston, who had gradually been relegated to co-writer or co-plotter with current series writer Mike Benson was shoving it in our face how totally insane Marc Spector has become. The funniest example of which was a few issues back when Spector, who has finally gotten Marlene back, decides that the best way to wind down after some hot love is to wear the torn-off face of his worst enemy. But now, Huston is completely off the comic, leaving Benson as sole writer, and it has a new artist in the great Mike Deodado Jr., and Marc Spector is returning to his roots as a comic character, literally, in Moon Knight #20.

In the last arc “God and Country“, we saw one of Moon Knight’s more obscure rogues (does he have any other kind, really?), the Black Spectre, tripping up MK by framing him for his own death in front of a parade for Initiative supporters. Now, Marc, with the help of long-time friend, the erudite bum Crawley, is forced quite literally to go underground to lick his wounds and stay hidden from SHIELD. In his subterranean solitude, Spector’s memory goes back to a case in 1994, one that brought him face-to-face with the very first foe he ever encountered in comics: Jack Russell, the Werewolf By Night.

Jack is being held captive by an unknown party and they are taking blood samples from him. At the same time, MK is chasing a perp who is claiming that someone is after him, and a few seconds later, the perp is shot dead by a sniper. Meanwhile, the cops are finding some corpses whose murders are very messy (beheading, disembowelment, limbs torn off, etc.) and the medical examiner determines that this is the work of a man-sized dog. Hmm… who might have some experience with that?  Soon, Marc and Marlene are on the case and discover a nightclub called Lu’ Pine (how clever is that, huh?) where they have werewolves fighting each other. And the club owner is kidnapping homeless people and injecting them with the enzyme extracted from Russell’s blood that catalyses his lycanthropic tendencies. Well, before you can say “Lon Chaney”, Moon Knight springs into action and gives the werewolves some poetic justice, but then has to face a very angry Russell, who has wolfed out.

This is a pretty cool issue, mostly because it takes place in the past where Spector is not quite yet a total raisin cake. But also just having Mike Benson’s voice instead of a mishmash of his and Huston’s voice makes for a smoother ride. Now I have no problems with antiheroes—look at what Garth Ennis has done with Frank Castle. But when they’re totally bat-poop nuts, it makes it just a little too hard to identify with them, unless you yourself are bat-poop nuts. Benson’s decision to go back in time is just what this comic needs right now, because it gives us some breathing room and also gives us a really cool fight between these characters that brings them both back to their roots. Deodado’s art is, as per usual, stunning, especially in rendering the wolves. They don’t have that lame Universal horror film look that they had in WBN’s initial incarnation in the 70’s. They look like big, giant, bad-ass werewolves.

This issue also has included issues 32 and 33 of the original Werewolf By Night series, where Moon Knight made his first appearances. They’re obviously dated, but they’re a fun read as well. This is a trend that Marvel has been really milking lately with including old issues with a new story. Hey, as long as it doesn’t bring those prices up and it ties in to what’s going on, then I’m all for it.

Moon Knight #20
“In the Company of Wolves”
Written by Mike Benson
Art by Mike Deodado Jr.
Colors by Rain Beredo
Letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna

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