Marc finds himself going to the city of the dead to help someone stay alive.
Creative Staff:
Story: David Pepose
Art: Marcel Ferreira, Jay Leisten
Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
What They Say:
THE DEBUT OF THE NEW SCARLET SCARAB! Following the events of Moon Knight #25! When a young runaway is attacked by a gang of death cultists, he is left barely alive outside the Midnight Mission. But Marc Spector made a vow long ago to defend the travelers of the night…and as long as a spark of life remains, his mission isn’t over yet. Follow Moon Knight on his most harrowing adventure yet, as the Fist of Khonshu journeys far beyond the land of the living – and battles across the mind-bending underworld known as the City of the Dead!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Moon Knight has been a favorite of mine for far too many decades, though I’m a lapsed reader to be sure and the continuity is as fun as it is when it comes to Marvel. With this new limited series, the main reason I was interested was to see what David Pepose would do as I’ve enjoyed some of his work at other publishers the last couple of years and he doesn’t disappoint here. Though there’s all the usual recap stuff it’s mixed in well so that it flows fairly well and you know what you can skim over easily enough. It also doesn’t hurt that the incredibly talented Marcel Ferreira is working with Jay Leisten and Rachelle Rosenberg to bring it to life. The art team does a fantastic job throughout in showing the power and action when it comes to Moon Knight but Rosenberg elevates the whole thing once they pass through to the other side as the color design enhances everything in a distinct and perfect way that has me wanting to spend a lot of time outdoors in this place.
The setup for this has Marc, as Moon Knight, dealing with a group of street villains that are obsessed with Anubis and call themselves the Sons of the Jackal. They have a mysterious new plan in motion that has drawn Marc’s eye as they’ve attacked and nearly killed a little boy named Khalil and that has pushed Marc too far for easy reasons. Marc manages them fairly well but missed on them getting a killing blow to the kid and the kid has only barely survived thanks to his ally Bardr, as he brings the child back to their lair. Bardr’s able to save the child even though he was dead for five minutes but the reality is that his soul has not stayed with the body. That’s not good enough for Marc and he’s willing to go the distance to cross over to the other world and face off against Osiris to get Khalil’s soul back. Unfortunately for Marc, Osiris is… indisposed and the guards are dismissive of Marc as Khonshu isn’t quite the powerhouse he once was.
Marc’s time in the city of the dead is certainly educational as we see how the people that exist there are handling things where some are tortured and others exist almost in a normal way amid things. For Marc, it’s problematic as he’s sent a lot of people here and there are some that will wish him harm. But his advantage is that he’s killed a lot of the Sons of the Jackal and finding them here can give him clues as to what’s really going on. But it’s the kind of fight that takes a lot out of him with the damage he can take and the nature of how this place works – giving us the obligatory flashback to his origins at last partially. What’s interesting in all of this, and not really a spoiler since they appear on the next cover, is that Lalya is here as well as the Secret Scarab and easily works alongside Marc considering their long history. It’s a nice add to things and it gives him an ally but part of me just wanted a grim Marc as Moon Knight stalking the city for those he needs to find to save Khalil.
In Summary:
The setup and execution here is solid all around and it covers the necessary bases while doing it with style. As is the case with most books like this, it has to satisfy both new readers and old fans so there’s a lot of familiar narration or flashback material that’s blended in to help with that and it can be tiring but necessary. Once beyond that, there’s a lot to like with how it plays out as Pepose captures a solid voice for Marc in both his forms and I really love the visuals for the city itself once they cross over. The only thing is that it’s just doing so much so fast that the pacing left me with a bit of whiplash as it has to try and provide enough hooks to keep you coming back, which I understand. But it’s frustrating to be stuck in this cycle sometimes as it can take a great work and bring it down a bit.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: July 19th, 2023
MSRP: $4.99
