ICYMI! Marc Spector: Moon Knight #2: Bushman Begins Again

Marc Spector: Moon Knight #2 is an adrenaline-fueled, action-focused issue that would have been a fun time regardless of its art. However, this issue is a textbook example of how important the visual side of comics is to elevating a strong script into something worthy of praise. That’s not to say the writing of this issue is complacent with genre standards, as MacKay has been anything but boring in his approach to Moon Knight. However, there is such brilliance in Dev Pramanik’s art for this issue that it continues to keep this extensive run on the character feeling fresh and dynamic.

With Marc back to his good ol’, bone-crushing self, this issue follows him and Zodiac as they fight their way through Raul Bushman’s prison. Driven by a heightened sense of tension and the history between Marc and Zodiac, this part of the issue is tense in places most other action-driven superhero comics would possibly feel weightless. The dynamic paneling and layouts turn the faceless henchman brutality into a work of visual art, where I found myself stopping to admire the artistry on display. There’s a moment in this issue where Pramanik takes an image of Marc’s fist smashing into an enemy and elevates it into a single-page splash that divides the arm into multiple panels, utilizing the vein lines of his arm to frame each moment of action. It’s brilliant and poster-worthy, whilst pushing the narrative forward without eating at its pace.

The cherry on top is a contemporary reintroduction to Raul Bushman, which is a captivating story on the intersection of race and class that pulls no punches, yet is written with nuance and care. Murewa Ayodele, the author of the most recent Storm run and the excellent I Am Iron Man, is credited with a special thanks for this issue as well, and likely contributed to this brilliant redux on the character. It also helps set him up as a terrifying threat for Marc, their years of history crashing into such a spectacle-driven issue with a deeply personal motivation that keeps the character-driven writing of this book at the front and center.