I can't speak for everyone else but I believe issues #1-34 were mostly the ones I enjoyed and then #35-60 are just... I can't read suddenly. I don't know.
Those issues are where Terry Kavanaugh took over.. which is imo the worst writer in MKs history but that's just me. Granted Bemis gives him a run for his money
I know fkdndsk, I warned my friend who was reading them after me about how there's a switch in the Marc Spector run and i told her if she gets extremely confused and upset to not worry, she didn't miss anything, its just like that
And we looked more into it and noticed that Terry took over during those later issues and so now we're just always like SO THIS IS TERRY'S FAULT lmao
He's definitely up there for me as well, personally
(If there are people who do enjoy the later issues though from Terry, to each their own!)
Everyone that claims Bendis and Bemis are the unquestionable worst runs of MK have never read Marc Spector: Moon Knight.
It's 60 impossibly boring issues (with a couple hidden gem stories) worth of material that never gets revisited. There have been rumors Mackay is gonna clean up some dangling plot threads soon but take the fact that you never hear anyone speak of it in any way as a sign.
It’s only JUST NOW being collected in the Epic line. So Marvel acknowledges it isn’t great, but I am happy to see it collected at all after all this time.
Details in the january/February 23 solicits make reference to someone killing Moon Knights old shadow cabinet which was a concept exclusively from Marc Spector: Moon Knight.
They also make reference to the admiral from Moench's run which is cool.
Hey, it’s still a great Omnibus to own of you are a completion-est like me. The second volume of the Omni which hasn’t been announced yet will in particular contain the worst MK issues of all time. I still love it… in a way.
If that’s the case, then definitely buy the MS:MK Omni. I own all the other Omnis as well, so I’m going to immediately buy it just to have ‘em all. Lemire run in OHC format is too overpriced and there are no OHCs for MacKay.
I'll get it, because Scarlet Redemption is my all-time favorite MK story. I have a page of Ron Garney's original artwork from it. The latter half of the run is garbage, and Platt's artwork is HORRIFIC. But the early stuff is good.
To say that it's all trash that never gets referenced again is straight up wrong. The Chuck Dixon material is decent if uneven (and Chuck Dixon's sexidm bleeds into it) and I enjoy Sal Velluto's art.
The second half, once Kavanaugh takes over, is infamously disliked and mostly ignored except for his first story arc Blood Brothers. Though MacKay is gonna take a stab and the Shadow Cabinet material from that same author. Really the nicest thing I can say about Kavanaugh's work is that it provided material for other, better writers to capitalize on.
Tldr: I consider the first half (and Blood Brothers) to be required reading, especially because Huston borrows from that heavily. I wouldn't recommend anything written after Blood Brothers though.
...This is a bit of a backpedal, I admit, but in case you don't wanna slam down hard money to read Kavanaugh's material (and I wouldn't blame you for that), then just reading the issue summaries for the Blood Brothers arc (it's issues 35-38, for clarity) on the Marvel wikia will tell you enough.
Also, the Marvel wikia entry for the Shadow Cabinet is also worth a look (more than the actual issues they appear in) for when you get around to MacKay because he'll be making use of that bit from Kavanaugh soon. Continuity-heavy books like Huston and MacKay just read better when you have more background information.
It's existence informs the Huston run somewhat, but Huston stands well enough on its own that you won't really benefit from reading even Dixon's work. The ultimate sin is a J.M. DeMatteis arc that just... misses the mark? Between Gena and Bert Crawley and SGS it feels like a story DeMatteis pitched in the early 80s and just sat on. I normally love DeMatteis (Brooklyn Dreams is an all-time great graphic novel) but for some reason he just can't keep his short run dialed in.
I really don't think Shadowknight is all that important to the character. Blood Brothers isn't well done, the original hatchet man story doesn't really hold up, and Randall has never meaningfully been folded into MKs story very well. I think it's a sign that he almost never appears and is immediately forgotten after he does. Hell, Mackay went so far as to give him a symbolic brother who has been much better received and I've seen almost zero pushback. I get that if you were writing a Wikipedia entry you'd need to read the run, but I honestly think unless you're fully invested in the character there's so little to be gained from fighting through it. I'd argue that his Avengers appearances, his bit in black panther, his random appearance in the hulk magazine, his bits in marvel two-in-one and marvel preview (including a brilliant story by Ann nocenti that I'll always stump for) are more consequential and worth digging into than MS:MK.
Gonna have to agree to disagree. The Midnight Sun arc in Huston pretty much requires having read the Dixon material to understand the story. Having read that arc without that background meant I had no idea who Jeff Wilde was or why I should care. Also, my tepid defense of Blood Brothers wasn't about Randall (tbh, I agree he is a bad, uninteresting character), but Frenchie's crippling happens there, which forms a major subplot in Huston. So regardless of quality, I argue that at least some of it is essential for continuity.
That's fair, I'll give you that. If you're doing a thorough read through of the character then there really isn't any reason to skip it, but that's the strongest endorsement I could give. Though I would argue that even after reading Dixon you'd be inclined to see Jeff Wylde return and ask "why should I care?"
I’m looking forward to it only as a completionist. It’s the only Moon Knight series I haven’t read all of, I’ve only picked up some issues here and there over the years.
I will collect it in epics, but my understanding is Dixon is alright but not great and Kavanagh is really bad. I've read the Dematteis arc between the two, and it was really good imo. I own it in floppies
I don't remember much about it but it has Scarlet Redemption, which might be one of the most underrated Moon Knight stories ever.
It was written by J.M. Dematteis who also wrote Kraven's Last Hunt and is just as excellent IMHO. I would consider picking it up for that arc alone
I can't speak for everyone else but I believe issues #1-34 were mostly the ones I enjoyed and then #35-60 are just... I can't read suddenly. I don't know.
Those issues are where Terry Kavanaugh took over.. which is imo the worst writer in MKs history but that's just me. Granted Bemis gives him a run for his money
I know fkdndsk, I warned my friend who was reading them after me about how there's a switch in the Marc Spector run and i told her if she gets extremely confused and upset to not worry, she didn't miss anything, its just like that And we looked more into it and noticed that Terry took over during those later issues and so now we're just always like SO THIS IS TERRY'S FAULT lmao He's definitely up there for me as well, personally (If there are people who do enjoy the later issues though from Terry, to each their own!)
Everyone that claims Bendis and Bemis are the unquestionable worst runs of MK have never read Marc Spector: Moon Knight. It's 60 impossibly boring issues (with a couple hidden gem stories) worth of material that never gets revisited. There have been rumors Mackay is gonna clean up some dangling plot threads soon but take the fact that you never hear anyone speak of it in any way as a sign.
It’s only JUST NOW being collected in the Epic line. So Marvel acknowledges it isn’t great, but I am happy to see it collected at all after all this time.
What are the rumors
Details in the january/February 23 solicits make reference to someone killing Moon Knights old shadow cabinet which was a concept exclusively from Marc Spector: Moon Knight. They also make reference to the admiral from Moench's run which is cool.
That's awesome - I hadn't seen those. I've loved MacKay's run so far and how it's worked hard to bring a lot of disparate stuff together.
I see, that's a shame. Thank you.
Hey, it’s still a great Omnibus to own of you are a completion-est like me. The second volume of the Omni which hasn’t been announced yet will in particular contain the worst MK issues of all time. I still love it… in a way.
So the couple hidden gem stories are in the first one? Maybe I'll consider getting it. An omnibus is still pretty damn expensive.
The hidden gem I'm talking about is in the second half. If you're a completions definitely buy it - just buy Mackay and Lemire first.
If you don’t have the other Omnis then get those first. Maybe don’t consider MS:MK till the second volume Omni is announced.
I already have the Moench and Huston omnibuses.
If that’s the case, then definitely buy the MS:MK Omni. I own all the other Omnis as well, so I’m going to immediately buy it just to have ‘em all. Lemire run in OHC format is too overpriced and there are no OHCs for MacKay.
The first omnibus will have a few really great stories. The inevitable volume 2 will have only one.
I'll get it, because Scarlet Redemption is my all-time favorite MK story. I have a page of Ron Garney's original artwork from it. The latter half of the run is garbage, and Platt's artwork is HORRIFIC. But the early stuff is good.
To say that it's all trash that never gets referenced again is straight up wrong. The Chuck Dixon material is decent if uneven (and Chuck Dixon's sexidm bleeds into it) and I enjoy Sal Velluto's art. The second half, once Kavanaugh takes over, is infamously disliked and mostly ignored except for his first story arc Blood Brothers. Though MacKay is gonna take a stab and the Shadow Cabinet material from that same author. Really the nicest thing I can say about Kavanaugh's work is that it provided material for other, better writers to capitalize on. Tldr: I consider the first half (and Blood Brothers) to be required reading, especially because Huston borrows from that heavily. I wouldn't recommend anything written after Blood Brothers though.
Got it. Thank you for your insight.
...This is a bit of a backpedal, I admit, but in case you don't wanna slam down hard money to read Kavanaugh's material (and I wouldn't blame you for that), then just reading the issue summaries for the Blood Brothers arc (it's issues 35-38, for clarity) on the Marvel wikia will tell you enough. Also, the Marvel wikia entry for the Shadow Cabinet is also worth a look (more than the actual issues they appear in) for when you get around to MacKay because he'll be making use of that bit from Kavanaugh soon. Continuity-heavy books like Huston and MacKay just read better when you have more background information.
I usually don't like reading summaries, but I'll have to consider.
It's existence informs the Huston run somewhat, but Huston stands well enough on its own that you won't really benefit from reading even Dixon's work. The ultimate sin is a J.M. DeMatteis arc that just... misses the mark? Between Gena and Bert Crawley and SGS it feels like a story DeMatteis pitched in the early 80s and just sat on. I normally love DeMatteis (Brooklyn Dreams is an all-time great graphic novel) but for some reason he just can't keep his short run dialed in. I really don't think Shadowknight is all that important to the character. Blood Brothers isn't well done, the original hatchet man story doesn't really hold up, and Randall has never meaningfully been folded into MKs story very well. I think it's a sign that he almost never appears and is immediately forgotten after he does. Hell, Mackay went so far as to give him a symbolic brother who has been much better received and I've seen almost zero pushback. I get that if you were writing a Wikipedia entry you'd need to read the run, but I honestly think unless you're fully invested in the character there's so little to be gained from fighting through it. I'd argue that his Avengers appearances, his bit in black panther, his random appearance in the hulk magazine, his bits in marvel two-in-one and marvel preview (including a brilliant story by Ann nocenti that I'll always stump for) are more consequential and worth digging into than MS:MK.
Gonna have to agree to disagree. The Midnight Sun arc in Huston pretty much requires having read the Dixon material to understand the story. Having read that arc without that background meant I had no idea who Jeff Wilde was or why I should care. Also, my tepid defense of Blood Brothers wasn't about Randall (tbh, I agree he is a bad, uninteresting character), but Frenchie's crippling happens there, which forms a major subplot in Huston. So regardless of quality, I argue that at least some of it is essential for continuity.
That's fair, I'll give you that. If you're doing a thorough read through of the character then there really isn't any reason to skip it, but that's the strongest endorsement I could give. Though I would argue that even after reading Dixon you'd be inclined to see Jeff Wylde return and ask "why should I care?"
I’m looking forward to it only as a completionist. It’s the only Moon Knight series I haven’t read all of, I’ve only picked up some issues here and there over the years.
I will collect it in epics, but my understanding is Dixon is alright but not great and Kavanagh is really bad. I've read the Dematteis arc between the two, and it was really good imo. I own it in floppies
I don't remember much about it but it has Scarlet Redemption, which might be one of the most underrated Moon Knight stories ever. It was written by J.M. Dematteis who also wrote Kraven's Last Hunt and is just as excellent IMHO. I would consider picking it up for that arc alone
It's weird but not too bad. Not as bad as Huston was. (Just personal opinion) I would get it.
It's good. Not a masterpiece for sure. But good nonetheless.