Editor's Note: Moon Knight #21 arrives in stores tomorrow, August 20.

"The Death of Marc Spector: Part One"

It's no secret that I love Moon Knight. Along with Hal Jordan, he's my favorite fictional character and my favorite Marvel character. It wasn't until late last year that I really started to study him and seriously fall in love with the character, his supporting cast and everything he does. With that in mind, I started picking up the series and quickly realized that it was one of the top books in the market. While many readers were left confused and lost towards the end of Charlie Huston's run, Entourage writer Mike Benson stepped in and took the reins, bringing back the Black Spectre and putting Moon Knight up against Tony Stark. Since then I have reviewed every issue of the title for CB's "True Believer Tuesday," and I will continue to do so as long as I can. And now, with Moon Knight's current status quo altered as a result of the conclusion of Benson's first arc "God & Country," things are going to get a little more insane as the government relieves S.H.I.E.L.D. from their responsibility to capture Moon Knight from S.H.I.E.L.D. and hands it to Norman Osborn.

Because I love this series and the character, one may argue that I'm a bit biased when it comes to reviewing the issues. So with that in mind, I'm going to go about reviewing this issue a little differently than I usually do. This is a five silver bullet book for a number of reasons, and I will break it down for you.

• Continuation of Last Issue and the End of the Last Story-arc:After Marc Spector disobeyed Tony Stark's orders and donned the Moon Knight costume and killed the Black Spectre, S.H.I.E.L.D. confiscated all of Marc Spector's possessions, which prompted Spector to go literally underground. Last issue's "filler" story primarily featured a flashback but also portrayed Marc operating from the New York City sewers. This week's issue opens with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents making their way into the sewer to find the outlaw.



• Supporting Cast: The use of Moon Knight's supporting cast is brilliant and is one of Benson's strengths in his writing of this series. Benson told me that he considers Moon Knight to be a bit of a team book, and the way he uses Marlene and Frenchie specifically is brilliant. When they are grilled by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Frenchie, as he has throughout this series, loses his cool as he's asked over and over if he knows where Spector is. Marlene's portrayal is perfect; she's very nonchalant and "matter of fact" about her relationship with Marc, acknowledging that at this point it is simply a more physical relationship than anything else. The great thing about the interrogations, however, is that in some way or another, the supporting characters seem to cover for Marc, more specifically the butler Samuel seemingly acknowledging the enigma that is Marc Spector.



• Tony Stark: Tony's got a lot on his plate lately: the "death" of Steve Rogers, the Hulk rampaging through New York, the return of the Mandarin and the Skrull invasion. But he has no control over Marc Spector. He gave Spector a chance to give up the mantle of Moon Knight and find something else to do. You could say Stark was easy on Spector, but living up to his true nature, Spector plays by his own rules and doesn't give a damn about Stark or the Initiative.
  
  Benson portrays Stark as a man trying to maintain a grasp over a dire situation. The Moon Knight situation is a problem for Stark because the publicity for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s failure to catch him has been terrible, and Stark barely has a grasp on the situation. Benson also plants the seeds for Spector to use the events of the last story-arc as leverage against Stark. The nanites the Black Spectre was going to use to control New York had Stark's name written on them. But in terms of catching Moon Knight, Stark has had his chance, and now the U.S. government steps in and essentially puts a hit out on Moon Knight with the hunters being the Thunderbolts.



• Marketing of the Book/The Thunderbolts: We don't see Norman Osborn until the very end of this issue but the build-up is fantastic. Marvel coming right out and saying that the arc would involve the Thunderbolts was a brilliant strategy to generate interest and hopefully boost sales. As I read the issue, I could feel the intensity building and building until then finally, there's Norman Osborn.



• Moon Knight's Crusade: He may have had his equipment confiscated, but Marc Spector is still out fighting on the streets. The one thing that keeps Moon Knight relevant is that he doesn't deal much with the super-powered villains. In this issue, he does go to a few extremes, but he's also a hero who wants to make people safer from everyday threats like drug dealers, murderers and rapists. This is what makes him unique and why deep down Stark knows he needs Moon Knight. While Moon Knight isn't afraid to take a criminal's life, if Stark could control him, Moon Knight would be one of the Initiative's most powerful assets. It also interesting to note that when Moon Knight takes certain extreme measures, there are two hookers on the street who aren't fazed by what happens; they simply ask Moon Knight if he wants a "good time." In my opinion, this seems like a veiled commentary on what's happening. Moon Knight is doing what he has to do in order to get by, the government is doing what they have to in order to bring Moon Knight down and these hookers are doing what they have to in order to make a buck. It's an interesting contrast that applies to everyone in the book.
  
  With these elements in mind, there's actually a very interesting contrast between Stark, Moon Knight and the Thunderbolts that I am looking forward to seeing explored further. Benson delivers a simple plot on the surface, but when you get into all the details and everything that has come before this issue, you realize how well-crafted and intense this series is, as well as how well it plays off of everything happening in the Marvel Universe, all the while keeping focus on Moon Knight.



• New Villains: Keeping the ball rolling and the future bright, Benson takes the time out to focus on creating a new villain for Moon Knight. A few issues back, before the confrontation with Stark, Moon Knight went after a gang and unceremoniously carved a half-moon into one of the criminals' heads. That criminal, now incarcerated, is approached by the real villain of this series and basically recruited to become a new nemesis for Moon Knight. His motivator is a character we've seen before, a character that has been pulling all the strings since the very beginning. Either way, I'm excited to see new villains, especially those who are not of the super-powered persuasion.


• Artwork: Mark Texiera's artwork and painted style continues to impress. Of course, after last issue I hope Mike Deodato takes over when Texiera moves on, but you will not find me complaining one bit regarding Tex's art. It's consistent, detailed, keeps perfectly in line with the tone of the story and Benson's style of writing. I'm really excited to see Tex's interpretation of the Thunderbolts and given the way he highlights the action during fight scenes, I can't wait for Moon Knight to do battle with the Thunderbolts.

This is yet another fantastic installment of this series, the writing is top notch, the artwork fits perfectly in line with what is taking place and the coming storm should prove to make one hell of a great read. "The Death of Marc Spector" may be just that: he'll have to do what he has to do in order to continue his crusade as Moon Knight.

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