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Waxing and Waning: Essays on Moon Knight
Since Moon Knight first appeared as a villain in 1975, he’s spent the decades shifting and changing, never staying too long in any iteration. He may be C-list, but he’s built a devoted fan base and been at the heart of some of the best comics in the last five decades — comics that most haven’t read.
Waxing and Essays on Moon Knight dives into all the different iterations, exploring what they mean to the fan base and how they have impacted the Marvel universe. These essays explore the evolution of art, social commentary in comics, depictions of mental health, and our relationship with religion. With a foreword by David Finch and interviews with Bill Sienkiewicz and Chuck Dixon, this is the book to read before you enter the Midnight Mission.
Waxing and Essays on Moon Knight dives into all the different iterations, exploring what they mean to the fan base and how they have impacted the Marvel universe. These essays explore the evolution of art, social commentary in comics, depictions of mental health, and our relationship with religion. With a foreword by David Finch and interviews with Bill Sienkiewicz and Chuck Dixon, this is the book to read before you enter the Midnight Mission.
191 pages, Paperback
Published November 20, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 24, 2023
A Sequart book on Moon Knight? Sold!
And read.
And, well, I mean, I love Moon Knight, and Sequart are doing a decent job of bringing criticism to bear on the comic world, so I was always going to check this one out.
The essays? They range in quality from good to meh. And there really needs to have been more editorial look-see and proof-reading at particlularly the last third of the volume, as mistakes were creeping in in numbers.
Let's face it, the selling point was the Bill Sienkiewicz interview at the back. Which could have gone on longer, in my opinion. The Chuckie Dixon interview was, as prefaced in the interview itself, a good look at a less popular run on Moon Knight.
If we're going to look at, for example, Moon Knight as a metaphor for the workplace, that's all fine and well, but I'm sure much more mileage could have been opbtained from looking at, say Ditko's Spider-Man with the same approach.
For the record, (old time Moon Knight reader here), I was probably more comfortable with the idea of Moon Knight's alter egos as disguises, rather than alters in a DID system. The essay on Moon Knight and his DID was informative, and eye-opening to this world for all that, and it's pretty much accepted now that Moon Knight does have essentially high functioning DID, so no real bones to pick there.
If nothing else, this book has got me keen to do a solid re-read of the Lemire run, which is an under-rated story arc and needs some more acclaim.
It should be obvious for anyone still labouring under the mis-apprehension that Moon Knight was a Batman clone after reading this that Moon Knight is very much his (their) own man (men). Although, not as versed with Batman lore as perhaps I should be, it was interesting to have pointed out, that the Moon Knight disguises/alter egos became a thing not so long after Batman adopted the Matches Malone disguise to better work information from the underworld, and that Moon Knight's alter egos are a nod, and a development on, this idea.
A few essays fell a bit short on quality, but overall a decent read for Moon Knight fans, with some insight into the character. I thought overall the volume fell a bit short of being a solid addition, which may also reflect the sporadic nature of the Moon Knight series as well.
One for the fans.
And read.
And, well, I mean, I love Moon Knight, and Sequart are doing a decent job of bringing criticism to bear on the comic world, so I was always going to check this one out.
The essays? They range in quality from good to meh. And there really needs to have been more editorial look-see and proof-reading at particlularly the last third of the volume, as mistakes were creeping in in numbers.
Let's face it, the selling point was the Bill Sienkiewicz interview at the back. Which could have gone on longer, in my opinion. The Chuckie Dixon interview was, as prefaced in the interview itself, a good look at a less popular run on Moon Knight.
If we're going to look at, for example, Moon Knight as a metaphor for the workplace, that's all fine and well, but I'm sure much more mileage could have been opbtained from looking at, say Ditko's Spider-Man with the same approach.
For the record, (old time Moon Knight reader here), I was probably more comfortable with the idea of Moon Knight's alter egos as disguises, rather than alters in a DID system. The essay on Moon Knight and his DID was informative, and eye-opening to this world for all that, and it's pretty much accepted now that Moon Knight does have essentially high functioning DID, so no real bones to pick there.
If nothing else, this book has got me keen to do a solid re-read of the Lemire run, which is an under-rated story arc and needs some more acclaim.
It should be obvious for anyone still labouring under the mis-apprehension that Moon Knight was a Batman clone after reading this that Moon Knight is very much his (their) own man (men). Although, not as versed with Batman lore as perhaps I should be, it was interesting to have pointed out, that the Moon Knight disguises/alter egos became a thing not so long after Batman adopted the Matches Malone disguise to better work information from the underworld, and that Moon Knight's alter egos are a nod, and a development on, this idea.
A few essays fell a bit short on quality, but overall a decent read for Moon Knight fans, with some insight into the character. I thought overall the volume fell a bit short of being a solid addition, which may also reflect the sporadic nature of the Moon Knight series as well.
One for the fans.
November 30, 2024
Reading this collection reignited my love for Moon Knight and has made me dive back into the many brilliant Moon Knight comics. The essays are thoughtful and bring so many unexpected perspectives that it makes for a fantastic read, regardless of how many Moon Knight stories you are familiar with.
I highly recommend!
I highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews