Issue(s): Moon Knight #39, Moon Knight #40
Cover Date: Jun-Jul 92
Title: "Impending Doom!" / "Endgame"
Credits:
Terry Kavanagh - Script
Terry Kavanagh & Ron Garney - Plot
Gary Kwapisz - Penciler
Tom Palmer - Inker
Sarra Mossoff - Assistant Editor
Joey Cavalieri - Editor

Review/plot:
Ron Garney is only credited with a "plot assist". Editor Joey Cavalieri cautions us that "it takes a while for a new creative team to 'click'". New penciler Gary Kwapisz will be off this series with issue #45.

Two hours is apparently the length of time it takes for a Dr. Doom hologram to stop being scary and for people to start throwing their phones at it.

Moon Knight, meanwhile, has rushed home from watching his brother die so that he can get back to playing with his new toys.

The line about the armor not being able to withstand the spikes is what gives me hope that it's not made of adamantium.

We also learn that there is more going on with Moon Knight than just the equipment upgrades.

It's Marc Spector, not Moon Knight, that Dr. Doom wanted to talk to. Spector has been invited to a reception at the Latverian embassy. Before going, Moon Knight goes to his "Shadowkeep" to check in with his "Shadow Cabinet". Last issue we saw a few members of the cabinet but they weren't well defined. Here they are.

Inviting Howard Stern to join the Shadow Cabinet was an interesting choice.

Ok, Sigmund, the psychology expert, was named last issue. Howard Stern is really "Stash", who seems to be either a hacker or just a good researcher/investigator. Don G (short for Don Giovanni, maybe, based on the "street music" line) deals in rumors and intel. And Penny Ante seems to be the networker.

On the monitor but not currently present is also Sheriff, who we saw last issue but who looked totally different, and Scout. Last issue also had a "Psycho".

Since Marlene Alraune has left him, Spector has arranged for his company's publicist, Donna Kraft, to be his date for the party. Just to be clear, she does not seem to be a member of the Shadow Cabinet.

Dr. Doom has arranged for a group of Latverian super-villains called the Sensor Squad to attack his embassy while Spector is there. Here they are in all their goofy glory.

Dr. Doom plays his role convincingly, even killing one of the Sensors while pretending to defend his embassy from them. And Spector slips away to become Moon Knight and helps out.

I don't think much of the Sensor Squad, but i do continue to admire Dr. Doom's ability to whip up a group of super-villains on a moment's notice.

The point of the ruse remains unclear to me. But after the fight is over, Moon Knight switches back to his Marc Spector identity and has a private meeting with Doom. It turns out that while Dr. Doom had been ousted by Kristoff, Spectorcorp wound up acquiring some land bordering Latveria (land that is claimed by Latveria). Doom wants some relics that were found on that land. But Spector refuses to sell them.

So Doom sends the Sensor Squad to raid Spectorcorp, which of course results in a rematch with Moon Knight, and i would assume confirms to Moon Knight that the Squad are working for Doom, not against him.

Moon Knight then checks in with his Shadow Council, who advise that he go talk to Mr. Fantastic. Note yet another member of the council, "Fingers".

Mr. Fantastic doesn't want to help Moon Knight with Doctor Doom at first (!), afraid of risking an international incident (and let's be clear that Doom sent villains to attack a company), but Moon Knight implies with his Avengers reservist card that he's on official business.

Mr. Fantastic utilizes tech taken from the eyeball of one of the Sensor Squad to help Moon Knight avoid Doom's security system. And now we meet another member of the Shadow Cabinet, Cover Girl.

Moon Knight then confronts Doom. I don't really know what Moon Knight's plan is, but he's brought the amulet that Doom wanted (the other relics have been sent to Avengers headquarters for safe keeping).

The good news (for Dr. Doom fans, anyway), is that Doom takes Moon Knight apart, almost literally.

We don't see it yet, but Doom observes something about Moon Knight when his armor falls off, and he offers to cure him in return for the amulet. Moon Knight declines the cure but gives him the amulet anyway. It turns out to just be a locket that was owned by Doom's mother that contains a picture of Doom's father. Nothing magical, nothing that would increase Doom's power. So Moon Knight had no reason to try to keep it away from him.

I'll leave it to you to decide if this whole story was therefore pointless, or if you think that's a nice ironic twist. My worst fears about the treatment of Dr. Doom are not realized, at least.

We end by finally seeing what's going on with Marc Spector.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This story begins two hours after Dr. Doom's arrival at the end of the previous arc. No special context for Mr. Fantastic's appearance. Next issue doesn't continue directly from the revelation about Marc Spector's beef jerky skin. It's an Infinty War tie-in.

Since i didn't read these Moon Knights in realtime, i don't know which members of the Shadow Cabinet will appear again. The MCP doesn't track them (even though they do list all of the members of the Sensor Squad, which i haven't bothered with since they don't appear again), and i can't even find an entry about them on the Marvel Appendix. So for now i'll list them all. Obviously Sigmund and Sheriff have already appeared once before.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

FNORD - you wrote "The line about the armor not being able to withstand the spikes is what gives me hope that it's not made of adamantium."

I don't know if you want to take this as a reputable site -
http://marvel.com/universe/Moon_Knight_(Marc_Spector) -

"He also donned protective adamantium armor, and upgraded his weaponry."

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/universe/Moon_Knight_(Marc_Spector)#ixzz3zmddRHZG

Thanks Clyde. That's a fan edited wiki (which doesn't prove or disprove anything). I'll continue to keep a look out for references to the armor. Seems odd that Moon Knight would specifically mention his adamantium truncheon and then say that his armor can't handle some darts if the armor was also meant to be adamantium, but we'll see.

His armor is meant to (retroactively) be Carbonadium.

(first established in Moon Knight 2006 series, and re-iterated in places thereafter)

It's even identified as such on the Marvel Heroes game: http://marvelheroes.info/item/246/

I guess Doom was available to every Marvel creative team at this point.

I don't know why anyone is upset at the use of Doctor Doom I think he brings instant credibility to any story he is in although I prefer the doom 2099 armor and always thought Doom should have spikes and a more aggressive appearance. I never read Moon Knight until Stephen Platt became the artist so these are very weird to see I had no idea Moonie had such a supporting cast but I still think the art is too bland and the scripting is too over done

@AF, thanks for citing the source. At least i know not to look for any clues in the short term. But i'll still see if i notice any supporting details or seeming contradictions.

"I guess Doom was available to every Marvel creative team at this point."
As was Ghost Rider and Punisher ;).

If the FF refused to do anything about Doom for fear of an international incident while he's committing crimes on American soil, that would probably eliminate about half of the FF-Doom stories.