Moon Knight #44Issue(s): Moon Knight #44 Review/plot: The FF initially aren't too keen to help, especially after it's confirmed that Moon Knight lied when he said that his attack on Dr. Doom a few issues back was authorized by the Avengers. Mr. Fantastic says that Moon Knight is "following a rogue path that leads in the direction of the Punisher". But they agree to listen after Alicia Masters tells them that Moon Knight saved Franklin Richards during Infinity War. And once they see the nature of the problem, they can't really deny him the help he needs. Soon after beginning the analysis, Dr. Strange shows up. Strange and Mr. Fantastic get into a brief argument about whether or not magic is understandable as a science or not before agreeing that they need to operate on Moon Knight. Before that, though, Dr. Strange tries using the Eye of Agamotto to get more info, but instead the light turns Moon Knight into a demon. After a fair amount of effort, they're able to restrain him, in part thanks to a gun loaded with sedatives that Mr. Fantastic keeps around... in case of an attack by Annihilus?! Maybe the sedatives are for Sue. I suppose i'd want to sedate myself if i had to face him. Moon Knight is restored to normal for now, but it's confirmed that the demon blood in him is trying to bond with him. Dr. Strange assumes that he and the FF will help Moon Knight capture the Demogoblin, but for some insane reason Moon Knight insists on doing it alone. This is really dumb not just because of the tight timeline (72 hours before he dies) but because the demon in question is the Demogoblin, who is currently held in a prison. Mr. Fantastic surely has the connections to get a sample of the Demogoblin's blood, but instead Moon Knight is going to break into the prison, which comes with all sorts of risks. Moon Knight could get arrested. Moon Knight could accidentally free the Demogoblin. Other prisoners, or guards or prison officials could get hurt. But for some reason Moon Knight won't accept help (Moon Knight says it's because taking a prisoner's DNA could be considered a violation of their civil rights; i think they could bend the law in this case). To make matters worse, Moon Knight gets delayed thanks to an encounter with Spider-Man, to be covered in Web of Spider-Man #93-94. So he is down to 25 hours when he finally meets up with his Shadow Council at the end of this issue. And then they find out that the Demogoblin is being held at a prison that is being protested because it's about to execute an unrelated prisoner. For what it's worth, the prison that Demogoblin is being held at is called the Brinkstone Penitentiary instead of Tomb's Prison like it was in Marvel Comics Presents #112. Maybe he was transferred. You'd think they'd hurry up and get him to the Vault already. He's a demon, ferchrissakes. We also have that Templar plot that started in the previous arc. It doesn't seem like a promising story. Two demon-like characters, identified as "Hell-Bent", named Basilisk and Agony are summoned by the Templars... ...and then they kill the Templars that were responsible for maintaining their bloodline, since they are now here. One Templar, Seth, is kept alive and seems to be leading the demons. Quality Rating: D+ Chronological Placement Considerations: This begins at the end of Infinity War (and i haven't listed the characters that only appear in the Infinity War repeated scene at the beginning). The FF appear here during the gap in Fantastic Four #370 (the FF's return from Infinity War in this issue is pretty different than the one in FF #370, but obviously it's meant to be the same event). Web of Spider-Man #93-94 takes place during this issue; i'll place it directly afterwards. Moon Knight's 72 hours are reduced to 25 by the final pages of this issue, after the Web of Spider-Man issues. References:
Crossover: Infinity War Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (2): showCharacters Appearing: Agony, Alicia Masters, Basilisk (Hellbent), Black Widow, Dr. Strange, Franklin Richards, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mercy (Shadow Cabinet), Moon Knight, Mr. Fantastic, Psycho, Seth the Immortal, Shark, Sheriff, Thing CommentsApologies if what i'm stating is blatantly obvious, but "The Tombs" refers to Central Booking in New York. Since the scan isn't included in the referenced MCP, i don't know if it's expressed as a proper name in that story - but even if so, it's likely the Marvel Universe "Tombs" is a similar processing/pass-through stop, and not a final destination for imprisonment. Posted by: cullen | April 12, 2016 6:24 PM I wasn't aware of that. I've added the scan on that entry. It doesn't LOOK like just a booking station, but i guess that's what it could be. It does say that authorities are waiting to decide what to do with him. Posted by: fnord12 | April 12, 2016 7:04 PM I love it that Moon Knight is really concerned with Demogoblin's civil rights as a ward of the state. I'm all for civil rights for the incarcerated, but Moon Knight did me one better; arguing for a demon's human rights shows a lot of commitment. I always remember the old catchphrase "Once he was human...now he's Hobgoblin!!" to describe post-Inferno Jason Philip Macendale. Naturally, the demon half of the Macendale Hobgoblin is even less of a human being, but maybe this was Moon Knight's way of overcompensating for what Mr. Fantastic called his "rogue path [...] lead[ing] to the Punisher." I'm full of liberal Jewish guilt myself, but Marc Spector has real chutzpah. I hear you, Knighty!! Posted by: The Transparent Fox | July 12, 2017 7:37 PM Comments are now closed. |
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