Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1-2: A Lunar Legend 

A byproduct of the current comic landscape is the difficulty for an artist to grow into a book. The revolving door of limited and miniseries requires an established artistic style that establishes a solid visual language for the story. It might make a first issue tighter but locks in the feeling of a story or look. For a longer run with a locked-in artist, the opportunity for an artist and their style to change and grow is more likely. Case in point is Marvel’s Moon Knight, now in its third phase with the Fist of Khonshu relaunch. 

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1-2 – written by Jed MacKay with art by Alessandro Cappuccio, coloring by Rachelle Rosenberg, and lettering by VC’s Cory Petit – is a bittersweet one-two punch of a relaunch, as it marks the end of Cappuccio’s tenure on the character. Moving to Ultimate Wolverine early next year, the artist brings his work on the lunar vigilante to a close with two foundation issues for the next phase of Moon Knight. 

The first sees Mr. Knight and the Midnight Mission getting back to basics after Marc Spector’s death and rebirth (along with a vampire invasion in Blood Hunt). The group is ready to continue their mission, protecting travelers of the night from threats criminal and magical alike. Split into two sections, the issue follows the Mr. Knight personality storming through a nightclub to threaten Achilles Fairchild, a new villain in control of a new drug. 

Glitter is literal fairy dust that’s highly addictive and fatal to its users. The conversation between Mr. Knight and Fairchild ends with a tense stalemate with the vigilante offering a warning. The other half of the issue is a conversation between two New York police officers, former Detective Flint and current Detective Frazier. Flint is a recurring Moon Knight supporting character, sharing a history with the vigilante while it’s revealed there’s a connection between Frazier and Fairchild. 

In the second, Moon Knight investigates the properties of glitter and strikes at an operation ferrying it across New York. Spector brings a sample of the fairy dust to Tony Stark, who points him to a super-scientist who could create a counteragent to the drug. Back in New York, Moon Knight, Hunter’s Moon, and 8-Ball launch an attack on a drug convoy, stopping the supply while having to fight a Z-list villain, Cubist. The pheromone-controlling antagonist fights the crew under the direction of Fairchild, offering a few blows before escaping. With their asses kicked, the trio returns to the Midnight Mission where Spector and Tigra have a difficult conversation based on Stark’s advice from the opening. 

MacKay does an excellent job of threading exposition and action in issue one, establishing the new status quo for the relaunch while seeding the conflict for the current arc. This is done with two sequences, the conversation between NYPD officers in a greasy spoon diner and Mr. Knight’s attack on Fairchild, the new supplier of glitter. Utilizing that dual structure continues to mythologize Moon Knight’s reputation while also laying the pipe for the hero’s life post-Blood Hunt. The vigilante can slip back into his protector of travelers role which also ties into a bigger criminal plot in regards to the fairy drug. 

Issue two reaffirms these elements while boosting the crime element of the story. Other than a brief visit to the Avenger’s space-positioned base, the Impossible City, for the expertise of Tony Stark, the book stays bound to New York City’s streets. MacKay takes the credibility built from the wider run and shapes it into a straightforward story with some unexpected pockets. The biggest is Tony Stark’s referral for a super scientist who can help synthesize a neutralizing agent for the addictive drug. Said scientist has a recent history with Moon Knight, having appeared in Al Ewing and Leonard Kirk‘s Avengers Inc., while also tied to a deeper (and more complicated) past with Tigra.  

While these narrative elements are compelling and seeding the foundation for a rich, thorough story, it’s Cappuccio that thrills in these two issues. His linework remains a perfect fit for the story that’s unraveling in the book, blending the supernatural and criminal elements with stunning harmony. The art thrives in the neo-noir approach to a rich, oppressive city festering in the shadow of crime. Moon Knight (and his other aspects) cut through that darkness, offering a firm figure to stand opposite the corruption and sin. Cappuccio interweaves the gritty and realistic, like weighty conversation in a greasy diner, with the fantastical, i.e. the sensory bending abilities of Cubist. 

That same duality is present in the approach to balancing approach to in and out of costume. Cappuccio stages dynamic action, expressing dense fight sequences with a sense of dutiful grace. An equal focus on stylish choreography flows right into a realistic approach to figures and physics. It’s a synthesis that speaks to the refinement of craft seen in the work over the three installments in this Moon Knight saga. Some of Cappuccio’s early work stumbled in clarity and motion, pulling further into style over substance. Here and now, the artist is much more balanced, allowing the push and pull to shine in equal measure. 

Where that tempering of approach is most evident, however, is in the stiller moments. Inconsistencies in faces under masks, or emotions breaking through the shadowy underbelly of the never-sleeping city, were not uncommon in Cappuccio’s first few issues. Now, those critiques seem like a distant memory as the artist is able to draw the simmering emotions and complex expressions to the surface and play deeper into subtext. The terse back and forth between Flint and Frazier in the diner is just as enthralling to look over as the fight between the vigilantes and Cubist. Cappuccio elevates that dramatic visual storytelling further during the conversation between Marc and Tigra, which anchors as the emotional backbone of this stretch. 

An equal partner in the success of the book, from Cappuccio’s debut artwork, is Rosenberg’s coloring. The alchemic connection between Cappuccio’s linework and Rosenberg’s palettes has been a hit from the start, crystallizing into an iconic visual style. That look is pure neo-noir with a mix of the supernatural that haunts the fringe of night. Moon Knight lurks in the criminal underworld, with a heavy emphasis on the underworld. Rosenberg’s signature glow of the Moon Knight suit is present in these two issues, cutting through the billowing shadows, the cool blues of Fairchild’s club, and Cubist’s harsh reds.