Moon Knight: Legacy - The Complete Collection

Moon Knight: Legacy #1-2

by Max Bemis (Writer), Philip Tan (Cover Art), Jacen Burrows (Illustrator)

A new day is dawning - and with it comes an enemy unlike any Marc Spector has ever faced! Moon Knight has always been a protector from the shadows, but the Sun King is out to extinguish those shadows with blinding light and fire. Meanwhile, a man called The Truth is driving people to suicide. Thank goodness Marc has his personalities under control! (He does have them under control, right?) The Sun King and Bushman hit Marc where it hurts the most, Jake Lockley's dark secret is revealed and Marc Spector's true origin is uncovered! But what traumatic event from his past will shape Moon Knight's future? As psychotic killers, the horrific Collective and Moon Knight's oldest nemesis all threaten to eclipse him, Marc must face his demons if his legacy is to survive! Collecting MOON KNIGHT (2017) #188-200.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Collections, Superheroes, Fantasy, Fiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2022

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the character of Moon Knight and this was definitely an interesting take on the character and his dissociative identity disorder, but it was a bit all over the place and could have been a tighter storyline. Still better than most other comics out there.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Man, this book was weird as hell. It started off pretty good with the Sun God going up against Moon Knight but it didn’t waste any time going off the rails. The more I read, the more lost I became as to what the hell was going on. Every story arc that came was just weirder and weirder. At least the art was great throughout.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moon Knight Legacy covers issues #188-200 written by Max Bemis.

I really enjoyed this Bemis volume. While he retains much of the schizophrenic quality of Moon Knight's persona, the story is far less trippy than the previous Lemire volume (Moon Knight by Jeff Lemire).

Using some excellent dry humor, Bemis' pens an interesting tale- Khonshu's father, Ra, has found his avatar. Recruiting The Bushman and Truth, Ra launches an assault on Spector's family. He must use all his personas to defeat this foe. A very well done story arc and Jake Burrow's art is quite good.

Then the art style changes in an interesting way to tell the story of the Collective. An interesting art style, I don't know if i'd like it for another type of story, for this oddball story. But it works and the story does have it moments.

The final story arc regarding the Sadist society run by Spector's "uncle" Ernst is an interesting tale, but the artwork is not to my liking.

Still Bemis' writing is really good. The stories are interesting, the dialogue is well written and the dark humor is prevalent. One of the better Moon Knight volumes I've read.

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like it. Maybe I'm just too full of Moon Knight after binging three comic run and the TV show, but I find this universe to be quite limited and from one run to another, we find ourselves always reading the same thing. Also the fact that i started with the Lemire run, which in my opinion is the best one, put the bar quite high and the others never were able to reach it. Not bad, but not an essential read either.

[Ramón S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title of this collection will be: How to destroy a good character.
I am so tired of the madness and craziness and of the "Joker pattern".
The full plot is so boring and full of no sense that you want to stop the reading as soon of posible.
A comic called to oblivion

[Sean Robertson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best part of this comic is that I’ll probably never read a Moon Knight comic worse than this. The first volume is a mess. Sun King could have been an interesting villain but he was just so stupid. Also the pacing for him was all over the place. One second Marc is all “Ra is right?!” And the next Sun King is getting his ass beat. They brought Bushman into it just to turn him into a pushover. The Truth tried and failed to come across menacing and then he just fell flat and didn’t do anything. Khonshu monologuing over everything is goddamn annoying especially with how tedious Bemis’s writing is. The art is dull and some characters look incredible idiotic at times. The ending of the comic is just so incredibly stupid. The second volume was the one I was excited for. A secret Nazi that invaded Marc’s family as a kid? That sounded like a good origin. Especially after seeing the awful version of Marc’s DID Origins in the Moon Knight show. Arguably though, this was worse. Of course the best way to present a Nazi is as a serial killer stabbing a faceless character we’ve never seen before. But that’s not the worst of it. Ernst goes on this whole fucking dialogue later in the comic about how DID is fake and he’s making an Eden and it’s hilarious. This is supposed to be the Nazi villain that gave Marc his DID? He’s a fucking clown. It’s so annoying to hear a character is a Nazi over and over. God knows how many times. A Nazi should be shown that they’re a Nazi through their actions. Not being constantly called one or explaining how they are one. I also hate the whole DNA thing. Jews were hated in WWII because of propaganda. So to add that whole “Hating Jewish people into their DNA” was distasteful to me as Jewish person, but more importantly it made the storyline EVEN WEAKER. Also The Collective was such a stupid villain. It barely even made any sense. You're telling me it can't attack you if you're wearing CLOTHES? Wow such a menacing villain if all you have to do is be out of grabbing distance. It also just doesn't fit the vibe of Moon Knight at all. You can do wack fantasy stuff. Jeff Lemire made that very clear with his incredible run. But the way Bemis does it makes it feel wrong. Now to talk about Moon Knight himself. Marc is a very weak character in this. In fact he’s a pretty nothing character. It’s mostly about his wife and Jake. His wife is characterized awfully, and so is his daughter. Steven is barely in the comic. Khonshu also takes a backseat and just kind of chills as if he’s another avatar? I don’t know why Bemis decided to go with that. I Only liked the first half of Issue 164 because of Marc describing his childhood in a Jewish family. But then it was ruined. I also liked Paul Davidson’s art for the most part in Issue 165 except WHY DID HE DRAW KHONSHU WITH HUMAN ARMS. All jokes aside, his art was pretty good otherwise. That’s about all the praise I can give this entire 315 Page comic. Which is honestly pretty sad. To close, I’d like to say that Bemis writes like a child. Marc’s daughter making her own comic book sounds just as stupid and as wacky as this comic. So maybe Bemis is self aware? I hope so.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes comic creators can make a jumbled mess a part of the story. Controversial, but I liked what Morrison did with Final Crisis, for instance.

This is just a mess.

It has some high points which is why I gave it two stars. But it mostly feels like half hearted story arcs surrounded by dialogue geared to topics the author wanted to talk about. It’s not really lazy, but feels that way.

The middle story about the collective was truly bad. The artwork was very bad.

Which brings me to final point: the art was awful throughout, generally. Part of Moon Knight I’ve read is a particular style or mood each creator makes for their tone and story. This felt like a lot of empty space and lazy pencil work.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

To start with, this is a massive step down from the Lemire run, so if you're expecting something of that quality, looking elsewhere might be a good idea. It's not terrible, but the quality varies hugely. Bemis seems to work far better with character moments than the actual superheroics as I found whenever Moon Knight was actually fighting someone to be the dullest parts of the run. Characterization wasn't always great, at times sounding much more like the popular meme edits of Moon Knight than the character usually sounds, but the interactions between Marc, Jake, and Steven were where character work really shined.

[Brianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely ridiculous. Throw it in the trash.

[J A D A · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is the first time I've read a Moon Knight comic and it was definitely unique...

I felt like the first few issues where really good but it got very strange very quick and I honestly didn't have much of a clue as to what was going on. However, since Moon Knight has Dissociative Identity Disorder, I think the stories being so weird and difficult to understand is a good replica as to what probably goes on in his brain.

I think this probably wasn't the best Moon Knight comic to read as my first one, but it was okay. I think I'd like to read something more about his origin story next time!

[Profile Profile Profile · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Omni Theus · Rating 4 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW *Spoiler Free*- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa4UZ...
I Really Enjoyed Bemis' Work on Moon Knight
OVERALL RATING: 4.25 stars
Art: 4.25 stars
Prose: 4.25 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Pacing: 4 stars
Character Development: 4.25 stars
World Building: 4 stars

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty enjoyable little run. Max Bemis throws quite a lot at the wall here, and while it doesn’t all stick, there’s some fun to be had. The first arc is pretty straightforward, and would make a decent starting place for those coming off of the show (it would be a good storyline for season 2). The writing feels a bit like a Jason Aaron comic, trying to be a bit edgy at times while also serving the character quite well. Jacen Burrows’s art works well for the story and channels Steve Dillon at times. The next issue takes a bit of a turn. It starts as a dive into the character’s Jewish identity and feels earnest and well handled, but then swerves pretty hard with its intro of the next villain. I could see this turning people off the run, but the bat shit direction the next few issues go we’re probably my favorite. These are primarily drawn by Paul Davidson, who brings a slightly exaggerated, almost- Nick Pittara on Manhattan Projects- style, and they push against the boundaries of a Marvel comic in terms of content and feel more like a Vertigo story written by Warren Ellis. The ending ends up feeling quite rushed though, and it gets a little incoherent as it tries to tie everything together.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could rate this collection on the first half of the story, I would give it 5 stars. I always thought Marc Spector’s relationship with Marlene was about the most interesting thing about the character. And the unexpected reveal is a development that can lead to even better stories.

But then we get to the second half of the collection and most things don’t make sense. Antagonists become allies, then they turn evil again. No longer any focus on crime fighting, but we are treated to long talks about feelings and mental disorder. These talks often happen in the middle of a fight. Spector stops acting like a hero and is either sad or confused most of the time. Sometimes he is the butt of a joke. By the end of this I realize that Bemis just wanted write a treatment on mental disorders, not a a superhero comic.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This arc starts off phenomenally with a sharp focus on a crucial new villain, and a crucial new twist in Marc Spector's life that's entirely endearing. Three or four issues in, it was the best Moon Knight series I'd ever read.

Unfortunately, it deteriorates from there, with things going increasingly philosophical/weird, the pattern of always introducing the villains in their own issues repeating itself, and the comic just getting less and less unique over time (let alone Bemis not really knowing anything to do with his great twist).

So, still a great read for Moon Knight, but not as great as it seemed at first.

[Natalie (Rosie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4 rounded up
Absolutely loved the first half, enjoyed the third quarter, and was disappointed with the last quarter

The rating is high because despite disappointment I still enjoyed reading the last quarter - what I disliked I took a star off for but I would reread this volume as a whole

To put simply, the last enemy Moon Knight faces is someone from his childhood, but this man’s motivations are stupid and unclear. He tries to assert himself above Marc without any real tools/actions to win Marc’s loyalty.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I overall enjoyed this, but there were some issues that were just too confusing to decipher. But the exploration of how Marc, Steven, Jake and Khonshu all work together/how they interact inside Marc's hard/Marc's childhood trauma was fantastic to read.
TW for mentions of concentration camps/Nazi's, serial killer who specifically hunts Jewish boys, antisemitism, violence, blood, gore, mentions of war, death, trauma, kidnapping of a child, murder, threats of death to a child.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A messy, weird follow-up to the incredible Jeff Lemire run, this has its high points - the Sun King is a good villain (especially by the often low standards of MK antagonists) and the issue with the Nazi serial killer masquerading as a Jew is wildly nasty - but overall, this is inconsistent and mildly disappointing.

[Néstor Vargas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this after Lemire's run makes no sense, it's better to consider this as its own story. And even like that it falls very short, somewhere here there are a couple of good stories, but the dialogues are bad and they get very messy. I like the art propositions, many good styles.

[nati · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25*

[Joshua]

Started our intriguing enough but I pretty quickly lost the threads here and could never grab them again.

[Shirleon Sharron]

So amazingly wonderful and touching a moments. I'm looking forward go checking out other interpretations of Moon Knight by other authors.

[Jason Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly the weirdest thing I have ever read but, I kind of loved it.

[shay૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 I really loved certain issues but others just fell flat, overall I really enjoyed this and what it added to Jeff Lemire’s run.

[Elias Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love moon knight so much. I like seeing Jake having more space and time in this comic. He felt so absent in the others.

[Alex Makoyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of the moon knight character, but this felt like it was all over the place at times, just like Marc's mind. Nice touch though.

[Steve Howells · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your a fan of Moon Knight, then this will be a fun read. I am not a huge Moon Knight fan but did enjoy it.

[Austin Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Sons Book Club: July 2022 (David)

[Kyler Polson · Rating 2 out of 5]

yikes. not great

[muneh boi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird and messy but i enjoyed it for what it's worth