Immediately following the 2006 Moon Knight series, Vengeance of the Moon Knight returned the character to New York.
One idea drives Hurwitz’s Vengeance: Moon Knight must let go of his past as a killer to be a hero. Upon his return to New York, everyone questions whether he is the same person under the mask or a new Moon Knight because he no longer kills. (It is, in fact, the Jake Lockley personality in control, although there is no significant exploration of that distinction.) The story itself is pretty straight-forward. Hurwitz’s dialogue is his script’s greatest strength. It’s sparse and to the point—there’s no filler, and it moves action forward with minimal exposition.
The star of this book, though, is its art. Jerome Opeña’s lines are clean and detailed. His pages have a strong sense of motion, and his faces—even when covered by masks, are full of emotion. That’s not something every artist can do—let alone when the mask in question is solid white and featureless. Liesten’s assists on inks and Brown and Mounts’s colors support his lines well, keeping everything clean and moody.
If you’re a fan of Opeña’s work or Moon Knight in general, then you will probably enjoy Vengeance of Moon Knight. It’s not the deepest, most character-driven take on the character, but it plays with an interesting idea, and its art is stunning. It is out of print now, so you’re going to have to do a little work to track it down if you want to read it. And if you’re new to Moon Knight, this isn’t the place to start—it assumes you’re already familiar with the character’s supporting cast and history, and it doesn’t recap those things much.
Collected in
- Vengeance of the Moon Knight, Vol. 1: Shock and Awe (#1-6)
Credits
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz | Penciller: Jerome Opeña | Inker: Jay Liesten (5-6) | Colorists: Dan Brown (1), Paul Mounts (2-6) | Letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna | Covers: Leinil Francis Yu with Jason Keith | Assistant Editor: Jody LeHeup with Sebastian Girner | Editor: Axel Alonso