What do you think of when you hear the name “Moon Knight”?

Moon Knight

If you’re a fan of the character you probably have your own personal favorite iconic image of him. But even if you are not familiar with Moon Knight, the name probably still evokes intriguing images in your mind’s eye. That’s because Moon Knight is a great super hero name. A great name makes it easier to create a great character. Moon Knight also has a great costume.

Moon Knight has a complex origin and back story (Marvel has a great bio for Moon Knight here ). A quick synopsis: Marc Spector, former CIA operative turned mercenary with a checkered history, dies at the foot of a statue of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon. Khonshu resurrects Spector, who then takes the name Moon Knight to serve as Khonshu’s agent of vengeance. That’s probably too quick of a bio, but you get the gist.

But even with a great name, a cool costume, and an intriguing origin, Moon Knight is not an A-List hero. I think the current creative team of Charlie Huston, David Finch, Danny Miki, and Frank D’Armata are doing a great job and have Moon Knight well on his way to improving his stature as a comic book hero. But to take him over the line, they and any creative teams that come after them should follow these five simple rules.

1. Do not try to make Moon Knight into Batman. Get rid of his bat-cave knockoff and the mansion that sits on top of it. Get rid of his bat-copter knockoff. Get rid of his European manservant. I don’t mind Frenchie as a character; I just don’t want to think of him as the poor man’s Alfred. Frenchie can be a great supporting character, and as far as I know Batman doesn’t hang out with any legless gay Frenchmen.

2. Don’t draw his hood with that extra long pointy thing hanging down in the middle. Overall, I like the way Finch draws Moon Knight in the new series, but that limp hood-point dangling over his nose has got to get trimmed back.

3. Play up the priest of Khonshu angle. The cool name and the cool costume should help get Moon Knight noticed, but WHO he is as a character is what will push him up into the big leagues. Moon Knight has a great origin and plenty of depth (which is why it is so frustrating to see him being saddled with all the Batman character devices). He is the Priest of Khonshu, carrying out his god’s mission of vengeance. That provides for some very interesting motivation.

4. Give him a purpose. He’s established as the Priest of Khonshu, dealing out vengeance in his god’s name. Do something more than have him punch street thugs in the head. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stories about street thugs getting punched in the head, but there are plenty of costumed vigilantes running around already taking care of that. Moon Knight deserves something more. He should stick to KICKING street thugs in the head. I kid. He needs a purpose other than fighting crime.

5. He’s crazy… use that. Seriously, he’s a mental case. He has multiple personality disorder and he believes that the Egyptian god of the moon resurrected him so that he could serve as said god’s agent of vengeance. Those kinds of issues provide a fertile ground for character development and exploration. Take advantage of it.

So there you have it.
The recipe for getting Moon Knight the respect he deserves is right here. Tell a friend. Tell two friends. And pick up a copy of Moon Knight today.

P.S. On the outside possibility that you disagree with me… well, that’s what the comments are for.

What do you think of when you hear the name “Moon Knight”?

Moon Knight

If you’re a fan of the character you probably have your own personal favorite iconic image of him. But even if you are not familiar with Moon Knight, the name probably still evokes intriguing images in your mind’s eye. That’s because Moon Knight is a great super hero name. A great name makes it easier to create a great character. Moon Knight also has a great costume.

Moon Knight has a complex origin and back story (Marvel has a great bio for Moon Knight here ). A quick synopsis: Marc Spector, former CIA operative turned mercenary with a checkered history, dies at the foot of a statue of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon. Khonshu resurrects Spector, who then takes the name Moon Knight to serve as Khonshu’s agent of vengeance. That’s probably too quick of a bio, but you get the gist.

But even with a great name, a cool costume, and an intriguing origin, Moon Knight is not an A-List hero. I think the current creative team of Charlie Huston, David Finch, Danny Miki, and Frank D’Armata are doing a great job and have Moon Knight well on his way to improving his stature as a comic book hero. But to take him over the line, they and any creative teams that come after them should follow these five simple rules.

1. Do not try to make Moon Knight into Batman. Get rid of his bat-cave knockoff and the mansion that sits on top of it. Get rid of his bat-copter knockoff. Get rid of his European manservant. I don’t mind Frenchie as a character; I just don’t want to think of him as the poor man’s Alfred. Frenchie can be a great supporting character, and as far as I know Batman doesn’t hang out with any legless gay Frenchmen.

2. Don’t draw his hood with that extra long pointy thing hanging down in the middle. Overall, I like the way Finch draws Moon Knight in the new series, but that limp hood-point dangling over his nose has got to get trimmed back.

3. Play up the priest of Khonshu angle. The cool name and the cool costume should help get Moon Knight noticed, but WHO he is as a character is what will push him up into the big leagues. Moon Knight has a great origin and plenty of depth (which is why it is so frustrating to see him being saddled with all the Batman character devices). He is the Priest of Khonshu, carrying out his god’s mission of vengeance. That provides for some very interesting motivation.

4. Give him a purpose. He’s established as the Priest of Khonshu, dealing out vengeance in his god’s name. Do something more than have him punch street thugs in the head. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stories about street thugs getting punched in the head, but there are plenty of costumed vigilantes running around already taking care of that. Moon Knight deserves something more. He should stick to KICKING street thugs in the head. I kid. He needs a purpose other than fighting crime.

5. He’s crazy… use that. Seriously, he’s a mental case. He has multiple personality disorder and he believes that the Egyptian god of the moon resurrected him so that he could serve as said god’s agent of vengeance. Those kinds of issues provide a fertile ground for character development and exploration. Take advantage of it.

So there you have it.
The recipe for getting Moon Knight the respect he deserves is right here. Tell a friend. Tell two friends. And pick up a copy of Moon Knight today.

P.S. On the outside possibility that you disagree with me… well, that’s what the comments are for.