Moon Knight Vol. 1: Lunatic (Mockingbird) Paperback – 13 Dec. 2016

All good

Moon Knight Vol. 1 Lunatic collects Moon Knight (2016-2017) #1-5 with art from Jeff Lemire and artwork from Greg Smallwood. I should mention I borrowed this comic digitally through my Comixology subscription so I can't comment on the physical quality of the comic. It also needs saying that this is also my introduction to Moon Knight.We are introduced to Marc Spector, a man who wakes up in a mental asylum with no recollection of how he got there. Marc is told that he has been in the care of the asylum from a young age and that him being Moon Knight is a fantasy that is part of a personality disorder he has. Marc with doubts over the allegation and with the guidance of Khonshu (Egyptian lunar god) Marc knows he has to escape.This is an interesting read, I like how you never really know at times if Marc himself is crazy or if he is seeing how the world really is as what you see in a panel and what dialogue that's presented can be different and Lemire does a great job with it with a few surprises along the way. The artwork is great and Greg Smallwood handles the art quite well, especially the "real world"/ Othervoid artwork, giving a more gritty look with darker tones and it was fantastic.Overall, I think it was a decent read, I love how the Egyptian theme is interwoven into the story and the addition of lapses of insanity being presented through the theme certainly makes it unique. Being my introduction into Moon Knight, I did feel pretty thrown in considering this is a Vol. 1 especially not knowing more about the characters and their significance to each other but it wasn't too bad, I think if you check out some reviews, like the idea and concept and like the artwork I think it's worth a read. I will be looking into Vol. 2 as I did like elements from this comic. I'll also be providing pictures of the comic to help give you and idea of the artwork.Hopefully you found this review helpful and happy reading.

Hm. Stop me if you've heard this one before: hero wakes up in a lunatic asylum, where he isn't sure if he is crazy, or if he really is the Moon Knight (make me care?). Cue lots of tiresome dream sequences and 'is it really happening?' sequences, and it all builds up to a thrill-free climax, where you don't really know what's going on, and don't care either. As bad as the plot and characterization are (there isn't any), the dialogue is even worse - boring, cliched, and Stuff Noone Actually Says in Real Life. Samples:"You are a dead man, Spector!" :("Zut alors!" (French character) :("Let's rock!" :(("I have some unfinished business" :(((The art is pretty good, I suppose, but it generally is in comics these days. Page layouts are nice and clean too. I don't read comics frequently enough anymore to know if this book is overall below or above average. Probably average, but on any other metric - just terrible.

A fantastic reimagining of Moon Knight, and essential reading for any new fans converted by the recent Disney series. Up there with Faction/Aja's Hawkeye run

Not even worth 1 starVery dodgy communicationVague about refundHad to chase up several timesReceived notification that the item couldn’t be returned to the prepaid address, also very dodgySave yourself some money & don’t bother

I must not start another comic book review by saying that I've always been a fan of the character....I've always been a fan of Moon Knight, especially harking back to the days when Bill Sienkiewicz was the artist. The character, it's probably fair to say, has long had an uneasy time of things, with his multiple identities - and sometimes personalities - muddying the waters of his stories at times.Jeff Lemire comes at this head-on, with Marc Spector trapped inside an asylum, where he struggles to work out what is real - and who.He faces friends from the past, and comes head-to-head with his own identities - the taxi driver Jake, the movie producer Steven, the warrior battling werewolves on the moon. Reality is fluid here, and it would be easy to get lost in where the story was going - but Lemire's storytelling is expert.The story has no major connection with the rest of the Marvel Universe, so it can be read as a standalone, and it's a rare superhero saga that grapples with mental illness, the nature of sacrifice, and, perhaps, redemption.

Meh.Not the worst I've ever bought.Will not buy the sequel.

This volume collects the first five issues of the new (post-Secret Wars) Moon Knight series. Yet another new writer for the series manages to capture the feel of the preceding series launched by Warren Ellis and maintained by Culled Bunn, and the artist from volume two of that series is back, again maintaining that feel; and they now manage to find yet another new direction within that now-established mood and setting.The story opens with Marc Spector in an asylum, where he is told that he has been all his adult life, and has been subject to delusions about being Moon Knight, who is a real-world character, whose activities are reported on the television there.SPOILERY BITThis is a comic book about Moon Knight, so we “know” that Marc Spector must be Moon Knight, but you do start wondering for a couple of pages, until you, and he, realise that asylums are not really allowed to be run like this anymore.UNSPOILERY AGAINThen it is a matter of finding out what is really going on, and even when we are told, we, and Marc, still feel a bit unsure about it all; and the presence of the entire supporting cast from the original stories (with a cameo by Scarlet on the TV) just adds to the unreality.We reach a revelation/resolution of sorts, which leaves a lot still to be understood and acted upon, but there is a volume 2 in a couple of months to take us onward.I found this to be a really unputdownable story, and the artwork reminded me of that by Bill Sienkiewicz, who introduced the ‘scribbly’ style to a mainstream audience back in the 1980s with Doug Moench on their classic Moon Knight series.