Moon Knight seems a little… disturbed in his new comic series

Marvel’s Moon Knight has always been a little off, but he went on a bit of a spiral of insanity in the last series that he headlined. Now in his new book, the hero looks like he’s more off the rails than ever.

For years, Marc Spector has defended New York City as the masked vigilante MoonKnight. Calling upon the powers of the ancient Egyptian God Khonshu, he has kept the city safe from street gangs and supernatural forces alike. Or has he? Waking up in an insane asylum will shake anyone’s confidence. But it can’t be true, can it? His mind is full of identities and he no longer knows which is real. His thoughts are clouded and he has no idea what to believe. If he calls to Khonshu, he believes he will receive an answer. But is this a sign he still clings to his sanity, or has it slipped from him completely?

I’ve always been a fan of Moon Knight. I loved the mix of street-level crime-figthing and supernatural elements that the series darted in and out of; it mixed the themes beautifully, with a constant stream of super-villains thrown in there for good measure of course.

That said, I was less of a fan of the way that he was handled in the series that started up in 2006. If you don’t remember, Spector’s mind was scattered even more in this series (and those moving forward) with him seeing visions and running through multiple personalities. Having him be a bit unhinged is fine with me, but that was a little too far for my tastes.

That’s probably why I’m a little trepidatious about this new book, simply entitled Moon Knight. The series promises to “take you deep into the recesses of Marc Spector’s mind” and indeed plunks the hero right in the middle of an insane asylum in the first issue.

If this is the culmination of events seen previously and the re-emergence of Spector as Moon Knight, I’ll be happy. If however, this is an excuse to even further muddy the waters and have him crash into complete insanity (like a more serious Deadpool), well that I have an issue with.

I still like Moon Knight, and I’ll still be picking up this new run to see what’s happening, but I can’t say how long I’ll be sticking around if the hero remains as mentally unstable as he’s been. I realize there are more than a few fans who dig that evolution for him, but I’m not one of them. Then again, Jeff Lemire is writing this bad boy, and if anyone can pen a kick-ass Moon Knight, it’s probably him.

Moon Knight #1 hits the racks from the team of Lemire and Greg Smallwood on April 13th.