Editor's Note: Moon Knight #20 arrives in stores tomorrow, July 16.

"In the Company of Wolves"

The highly anticipated Moon Knight #20 hits the stands tomorrow, and it is important for the character for a few reasons. This is technically Mike Benson's first solo issue. In his first story arc "God and Country," Benson was co-plotting the series with former Moon Knight writer Charlie Huston. With Huston in the dugout, Benson made his debut in comics with a very loud bang. I've raved about the quality of Benson's arc for months. This title is easily on the same level as Captain America and Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. There's a lot of talk surrounding the coming story-arc "The Death of Marc Spector" where the Thunderbolts come gunning for Moon Knight, but Marvel has been promoting the hell out of this issue for a few months. Essentially, this is a fill-in issue, but it is also an excellent jumping on point for new readers to get an idea of what's going on with Moon Knight. Following his execution of the Black Spectre, Marc Spector had all his registration privileges revoked, and Moon Knight was essentially outlawed.

This is where the story opens, Spector's long time informant, Crawley, makes his way deep into the New York City sewers, certainly a place to be if you don't want to be found. The imagery is beautiful as it looks like the scummiest and most remote corner of New York City. Deep in the sewers, Marc Spector has set up his new base of operations. It's nothing more than a small section of the sewer blocked off by sheets, where Crawley finds Marc sleeping on the floor. He is essentially on the run, the outlaw hero of the Marvel Universe. Thus he is subjected to carrying out his crusade from the most un-heroic of places. But what's more important to this scene is the fact that Spector just looks broken down. He's exhausted, his mental state isn't so much collapsing or in question, but he's just exhausted physically and mentally. This not only adds to the suspense of the coming story-arc, but it also acts as a catalyst for the story. Again, this issue is essentially a fill-in, but it's also a flashback story where Benson can break free from storyline and explore the more "crime fighting-centric" days of the character. But even more than that, Benson's story revolves around the Werewolf by Night, the character whose title Moon Knight first appeared, as reprinted in this issue.

The story, which takes place in 1994, revolves around some high powered individuals using the blood of Jack Russell (Werewolf by Night) as a catalyst to transform regular guys off the street into temporary, non-lunar enhanced werewolves. But rather than the group of people using their werewolves for standard criminal practices or distractions while their real operation unfolds, instead they run a werewolf fighting ring where two werewolves are created and then fight to the death. The winning werewolf then has to face the Werewolf by Night, and they typically meet their doom. Moon Knight becomes involved when Detective Flint, knowing Moon Knight's history with werewolves, asks the hero to investigate a string of murders that have all the signs of a werewolf. The victims haven't exactly been murdered; they are merely the dumped bodies of the combatants that Werewolf by Night kills. There are a few things that work exceptionally well with this story in the early goings. There's a scene in the beginning where Moon Knight confronts a simple thug. He tells the thug that Moon Knight is the only thing he should be afraid of. To me, this suggests that this story takes place in the very early days of Moon Knight's crime-fighting days, which is the focal point of the story that Benson tells here.

Benson's story covers all the aspects that originally made this character great, and he does an excellent job utilizing the supporting cast. The story is very much an homage to the character, his original appearance and the supporting cast. I'd love to see more involvement with Detective Flint as the long standing relationship between him and Moon Knight could be a key part of Moon Knight's outlaw status. I love the Flint/Moon Knight dynamic. Yes, it's very similar to that of Batman and Gordon, but the relationship with Flint is based more on necessity rather than a mutual respect. Flint also knows everything about Moon Knight and deep down, he believes in what Spector is doing. As Flint informs Moon Knight of the possibility of a werewolf out on a murderous rampage, Benson treats readers to a look at the classic use of the three personalities; Marc Spector/Moon Knight, Steven Grant and Jake Lockley.

I love the way Benson uses each of the personalities in simple, clear cut, and absolutely necessary ways. Spector uses Jake Lockley, the cab driver, to find the location of the fights from an upscale club. Then he transforms into Steven Grant, the billionaire philanthropist with his knockout girlfriend Marlene. I loved seeing Marlene in her old form once again. Many people don't realize that Marlene has never been a classic damsel in distress. She’s not necessarily a sidekick either. She's more or less Marc Spector's contingency plan. She's trained, she's a hard ass and she's drop dead gorgeous. She uses her looks and natural sexuality to get the information that Spector/Grant needs while in the club. When he finally gets that information and the "in" to the fighting ring, he makes the final transformation in personality back to Marc Spector/Moon Knight. This is brilliantly written and plays off of the original ideas of the character. Moon Knight dives head first into taking down the club while Marlene runs back-up. When Moon Knight finally confronts Werewolf by Night, a fantastic fight scene takes place that harkens back to the very way Moon Knight defeated Werewolf by Night in his first appearance. This story plays out very much like a re-introduction to the character, and Benson nails all the original qualities that made Moon Knight great in the first place. It was also a nice touch to add in the Werewolf by Night.

More importantly, there's inner narration from Moon Knight at the end of this issue where he describes what he feels as he battles Werewolf by Night. What he says "back in 1994" resonates perfectly with the Huston/Benson stories from the past few years. Moon Knight is a violent character; he uses whatever means necessary to get his point across as he fights the battles for the common man. As Benson ended the last arc with Moon Knight's desire to be a hero, he establishes the point that even at the beginning of his career; Moon Knight has always only wanted to do the right thing, even if it is a little bit morally ambiguous. The issue ends with Benson bringing us back to 2008, where after remembering the story of this issue and who he is, Spector sets out to continue his crusade, whether or not he wears the Moon Knight costume. Now, it's time to kick the Thunderbolts' asses!

Mike Deodato takes over art duties for this issue, and the result is phenomenal. I've always been a huge fan of Deodato. He and William Messner-Loebs' run on Wonder Woman is what really got me into the character when I was younger. His style has evolved with the times and the types of books he works on. His work with Warren Ellis on Thunderbolts was fantastic, and after seeing his work on Moon Knight in this issue, I sincerely hope that he takes over art duties when Texiera moves on. Deodato fits perfectly in line with Benson's style of storytelling, and he would be a perfect fit for the character. There's one page in this issue where Moon Knight meets up with Flint that is absolutely gorgeous. Deodato is one of the greats, and I really hope that he returns to this title.

This issue concludes with reprints of Werewolf by Night #32 and #33. These two classic stories feature the first appearance of Moon Knight, a man hired by the Committee to bring in Werewolf by Night. While Moon Knight's character changed a great deal from these two issues in 1975 and the debut of his own series in 1980, this is a great addition to this story. For those who have not read Moon Knight's first appearance, check this issue out for the reprints. That two issue story-arc is actually pretty well done. The story is by Doug Moench and the art is by Don Perlin. A true classic appropriately reprinted here.

Benson has so much momentum going into the "Death of Marc Spector" arc. This title is action-packed, perfectly balanced between characterization and mind-boggling plot, and so well-done that anyone not reading it is really missing out on one of Marvel's consistently outstanding books.

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