Nerds That Geek Comic Book Review: ‘Moon Knight’ (2017) #199

Written by Joel T. Lewis

Reading issue 199 of Moon Knight was a harrowing experience. It is a tough and tedious read which sees an exhausted Marc Spector and a dapper Uncle Ernst shoved into panels overcrowded with Lovecraftian monsters and endless speech bubbles as Ernst attempts to break Marc’s mind...again. Aided by the psychedelic influence of the numerous drugs pumped into Marc’s body, Ernst seems to be trying to show Moon Knight that it’s okay to be a monster because everyone else is? I framed that sentence as a question because it's unclear what Ernst’s point or goal is in berating Marc with his stream of consciousness soliloquy, but by the end Marc breaks free from the drugs’ influence and Khonshu sets Ernst’s heart on fire. Oh and on the final page Sun King returns.

 I can’t sugarcoat it dear readers, issue 199 is the worst kind of faux-topical social commentary whose hackneyed use of buzzwords and phrases like ‘gentrification’ and ‘Me Too; alienate the very readers those topics are meant to galvanize. Ernst’s eye-wateringly long monologuing is blaringly unpolished, confusing, and self-indulgent and instead of leading the audience to a deeper understanding and consequent hatred for Ernst, Bemis’ writing becomes this issue’s worst villain. What I don’t understand is why the previous two issues made every effort to rush through plot points and character development just to lead up to an issue so self-indulgent and meandering.

All I can say is thank Khonshu for Paul Davidson’s artwork. As difficult as this issue was to read, I honestly loved looking at the art. From the open-palmed slap Marc receives from a hipster dad walking by on the street, to the puffy ‘Dazzler’ winter coat he dons at the end of the issue, and all the hairy, slimy, winged, horned, and tentacled creatures in between Davidson delivers. In an issue where we do not see Moon Knight out in full regalia, for an artist to make every inch of every panel interesting and expressive almost eclipses the poor quality of the writing. It doesn’t make up for it, but at the very least it gives you images worth throwing down $3.99 for.

I don’t know what happened with this issue readers. The stream of consciousness feel of Ernst’s speeches try to establish that the sadist society he founded has been as far reaching and influential as the Hand or Hydra but the delivery doesn’t inspire dread or awe in Marc or the reader. There was a vicious simplicity to Ernst when he was introduced as the author of all Marc’s pain, he was an elder terror who vanished mysteriously never to be seen again. But what Bemis turned him into, the leader of shadow society who caused gentrification in Brooklyn, is pretty uninspiring and dull.

​I am aware that Mr. Bemis experienced some pretty significant mental health issues while writing the final issues of this run of Moon Knight, and while I empathize and understand those factors, the work must stand on its own, and in this case, it sadly does not. Moon Knight 200 is a pretty significant milestone, and it marks the return of creators David Finch (on a variant cover), Jeff Lemire (on an interior page), and Moon Knight legend Bill Sienkiewicz (on an interior page). At 32 pages long the final issue of Max Bemis’ run on Moon Knight is quite literally a big one and I really hope that it concludes with the fun, wackiness, and character that I know Bemis is capable of. Until Next Time, Geek On!

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