Episode 45 – Total Eclipse of the Art – Into the Knight

EPISODE 45:

High Priest Rey is joined by The Power of Chad in this classic and modern romp through some Moon Knight titles –

CLASSIC RUN REVIEW:

The Hulk! Vol. 1, issue #15 – ‘An Eclipse Waning / An Eclipse Waxing’

CLASSIC RUN REVIEW:

Moon Knight Volume 5, issue #6 – ‘The Bottom (Part VI of VI) – Glories Such as These’

We have fun with more SPECTOR-lating and look at an article that both rumours and confirms what’s in store for Phase 4 of the MCU!

The comics reviewed are quite different but both it can’t be denied – Moon Knight is front and centre yet again!!

BARE BONES:

The Hulk! Volume 1, issue #15 – ‘An Eclipse Waning / An Eclipse Waxing’

Released June 1979

(writer) Doug Moench

(artists) Bill Sienkiewicz and Bob McLeod

(colours) Stevel Oliff

(letterer) Jim Owsley, Ed Norton, Peter Ledger

(editor) Rick Marschall

BARE BONES- Narrated by Rey

Steven Grant intends to head out of New York to get away from the Big Apple, and visit his friend Jason, a wealthy astronomer, who lives out of the city on an elegant estate. As Grant brings the wine and greets Jason, the astronomer is keen to observe a total eclipse which will occur that night along with all its components- the First Contact, Initial Partial Phase, Second contact, The Totality, Third Contact, Concluding Partial Phase and finally the Fourth Contact.

Grant spots three intruders trespassing on Jason’s estate and as Jason prepares for the Total Eclipse ahead, Grant excuses himself and heads outside, intent on transforming into Moon Knight, in order to confront and dispatch the eager criminals.

As the moon slowly becomes engulfed in darkness, and conscious of his waning Moon strength, Moon Knight presses forward, hoping to catch up with the no good evil doers. He comes across one of them, but is startled to find that the man himself is petrified, running from something he describes himself as a monster. Moon Knight trips him up with a truncheon and incapacitates him, ensuring that he no longer poses a threat to Jason and his estate.

As the moon now becomes fully enveloped in darkness, and with his strength now reverted back to that of a normal man, Moon Knight suddenly comes across a silhouette or remarkable strength. Moon Knight os brushed aside by this unknown being and is momentarily stunned by the force which hits him. When he recovers, he stumbles upon a freshly torn tree – the huge trunk seemingly snapped like a twig.

Unbeknownst to Moon Knight, the other two trespassers lay at his feet in a ditch and Moon Knight proceeds to call the cops for them to pick up the lone criminal whom he was able to apprehend. Grant returns to Jason who reproaches Grant for having missed the whole eclipse which Jason had worked so hard to observe for that evening.

The story is then told again from another perspective – this time, from Dr. Bruce Banner. Banner is strolling in the countryside, having left New York as a precaution. Banner’s transformations into the Hulk are unpredictable and he’s not taking any chances with the upcoming eclipse. Superstition or not, Banner is not taking any chances as he’s fully aware of what the Hulk is capable of.

As he wanders through the woods, he stumbles across three men who are looking to do no good. They discuss potentially robbing a man at his mansion, but are startled when they hear Banner accidentally snap a branch off a nearby tree. They give chase to the fleeing Banner and catch up to him, but do not realise the situation has stimulated the adrenaline in Banner’s unique physiology. Before their eyes, he turns into the Incredible Hulk and in his rage he snaps a tree in two without any effort. He grabs two of the thugs and knocks them both unconscious without even breaking a sweat. The third man escapes and as the Hulk gives chase, the eclipse blackens to night and it’s not long before the Hulk loses his target. As he prods into the darkness, he comes across a spectre in the night (it’s Moon Knight, whom we have seen previously traverse the landscape) and not knowing who or what it is, the Hulk swats it away like a fly. The moon at this time slowly comes back from the darkness which the eclipse had previously cloaked it with, and the Hulk is left pondering the actions of the moon, as Moon Knight aka Steven Grant returns to Jason, who reproaches him for having missed the whole eclipse.

MOON KNIGHT
THE BOTTOM, Chapter 6

Writer: Charlie Huston
Penciler: David Finch
Inker: Danny Miki with Crimelab Studios
Colorist: Frank D’armata
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Production: Paul Acerios
Editor: Axel Alonso
Publisher: Dan Buckley

BARE BONES- Written and Narrated by Chad Jernigan

We find the remaining Committee members fleeing for their lives, their only defense is Task Master, who upon recovery
levels a crossbow at our hero, The Moon’s Knight.
The mercenary has sharper precision than most and demonstrates with a shot to Moon Knight’s chest that should sever
connecting tissues to that muscle group.
“I can beat you, I’m better than you! I’m so much better than you. You CAN’T WIN. You have to DIE.”
Task Master unsheaths his longblade and drops the point straight at our Avenger’s right eye.
“Yes, kill me.”
Where the seemed to be kneeling in submission, Marc Spector throws open his moonlit cape to reveal he was crouching,
waiting for Tony Masters to get closer. Now armed with his spiked cestus’, this divine murderer was ready for work.
“See if that works, this time.”

No violence necessary, upon standing, the roles are reversed and now Task Master is prone and disarmed.
“Leave me alone! Leave me alone!”
Crescent dart gleaming by the pale moon light, the criminal underworld has heard of the bloody works of Marc Spector,
and now Tony fears that his face may be next to be scraped from skull as a present to the god of vengeance.

“Make it stop, please.”
Sweet screams and paralized onlookers as bloody white gloves go to work peeling back layers from the adversary.
Like a jack-o-lantern, Moon Knight holds up the prize while a crying, bloody boy screams under the weight of his
reckoning. But it is revealed that it is only the iconic skull-mask of the hired hand that has been torn from its place.

Injured but far from beaten, Knight takes rook, as well as the dossiers and information they held about the white clad
Avenger. His revenge delivered, the fist of Khonshu flies into the night.

As a pinstriped Profile pukes into a gutter as he nears his crappy apartment in the city, Marc Spector lands as if
delivered to Marlene from the hands of the moon itself, safely in a grassy park.

At Spector Galleries, we find the namesake cutting off another face.
The face of a defeated avenger.
He holds the razor with a practiced hand and looks to the mirror, removing rows of feral beard.
Trusty Samuels by his side, Marc will do for himself for now.
A rehanilitated Marc asks a certain Archaeologist out for lunch, but after several interupted acknowledgements. No.

Marc goes to check on Jean-paul DuChamp, of course, settling in like a champ. Getting fitted for some new legs.
Not much to say about the horror they have been through, just a little comment on how Marc can help him into the
therapy pool, though stone faced and sour in tone.

Swift to work, swift to play. Marc is on the case to discuss fiscal dealings with a broker by the name of Hal Parkinson.
One of his last investments was in DNA sequencing and a certain Daelus incorporated. Counted as going public with a cheap
and quick way of sequencing ANY DNA, Marc will be throwing that money straight at criminals once again.

Reports on the news circle like sharks around his recent assault on an anonymous building, crashing his mooncopter
for a dynamic entry. It’s been a month and no signs of the Knight. In the black of an empty television, there’s a
grim spectre of a faceless man enticing the bloodlust deep in the ex-mercenary. Indeed, when has he not thirsted for it?

Samuels interrupts, bringing the strange but endeared Bertrand Crawley into the room, to which he asks about making some
tea, knowing Mr. Crawley’s penchant for the steeping stuff. Jake apologizes to Crawley for his terrible behavior.
Being and ass. Bertrand casts it off, insisting upon desisting. Confusiom, some he said she said about who sent who.
More odd ends drawn from with no answers.

As the sun goes down, a defaced Bushmaster creeps out from the shadow of Khonshu’s statue. There to remind Spector
of his best work, no namby pamby crap. Though this last spree was effective in making the highlight reel, sorely
lacking in blood, spoken from Raoul’s sharpened teeth. Ignoring the ghost of slayings passed, Marc moves to the toolset.
He figured it out.
Hammer in hand, he sets upon also removing the statue of Khonshu’s face. Pointing out the futility is breaking a statue
when the problem is in Marc’s head, he’s reminded about how much the god has done for Marc. Three deaths and Khonshu
continues to pick up the check. A little diplomacy and Marc knows he’s owned. Marc feeds him fear and Khonshu
delivers blood for Marc to drink.

With nightfall, Marc is missing and doing his lord’s work. With The Committee’s dossier on The Profile, he goes to work.
Ascending, Marc gets his trajectory and slams through the windown where The Profile stands naked with bottle in hand,
unaware of the impending revenge. The Moon Knight takes his hands and draws them away from covering his eyes.
With the red-neon of the city to illuminate them, Marc intimidates the small man to LOOK at the avenger and reveal
what he sees. To which, the man can only panic and cry.

Back in the gallery, Marc hosts some event and he is drawn away to Khonshu’s bust. How can he live like this?
Blood spilled or yet to be spilled? As long as he can reap a full life from it, how could he live any other way?

A clockface, viscera on at 1:25. Two voices on about the closure of some incidental problem.
He wouldn’t have to live like this, after all.
A fist juts into the face of the clock as a corpse sits in disarray on circle of blood. Numbers one through 12.
Marc isn’t the only one that could never live another way.
Next: MIDNIGHT SUN