Moon Knight, Vol. 2: Too Tough to Die

Moon Knight (2021)

by Jed MacKay, Federico Sabbatini (Artist), Alessandro Cappuccio (Artist)

How can Marc Spector fight someone no one knows? Out for blood, Moon Knight hits the streets armed with only a name: Zodiac! But sometimes the streets hit back - and Marc, fighting his way through the underworld to answer a question he's barely grasped, had better watch his back! Then, when an unnatural labyrinth swallows up his people, Moon Knight faces an impossible challenge! And as an assassin infiltrates the Midnight Mission, another hidden enemy strikes where Marc is most vulnerable. Attacked on two fronts, the Fist of Khonshu is on the defensive - but that's where he's most dangerous! Plus: Arrested during the DEVIL'S REIGN event, Moon Knight must fight for survival in a high-tech prison filled with the very criminals he helped put away!

COLLECTING: MOON KNIGHT (2021) #7-12 and DEVIL'S REIGN: MOON KNIGHT.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2022

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is a humming! Moon Knight with mental health issues, estrangement with a Moon god, taking talking therapy, protecting his neighbourhood is a one-of-a-kind 'hero'. With a great cast of supporting characters and superb back-ups like Tigra this is really working for me. But, and it's a big but, I gotta say, and it's rare from me since the 1990s, the artwork is selling this series to me. Special mention to Alessandro Cappuccio, for making this the upwardly surging 7.5 out of 12 Three Star read that it is.
Alessandro + Moon Knight artwork:)

2024 read

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread: 21/03/2024

This volume was another awesome read through, loving how violent and bombastic it is and rereading it all together is kinda just showing how Mackay had a plan all along and he really shows how brutal MK can be and there are so many awesome villains here and I particularly liked the one vs Marko and that was a class act and even an issue with HM and him getting the spotlight and the ending was just fantastic, and what he did to Waxman oof. Seriously loved the whole thing and I just love the art everytime I read through this series.. seriously just gorgeous art.
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Collecting MK 7-12 AND the Devil's Reign tie-in! This was so good omg!

I freaking loved this one!

So we have MK on the hunt for Zodiac and we see him fight different villains trying to get to the villain and then the event of DR hit in and he is in prison but he is there because of a promise he made to some woman to prevent her husband whose in prison from attacking them and it turns out to be MAN MOUNTAIN MARKO and we see MK vs Marko and its brutal in the best ways, I loved it!

And one of the best issues when Hunter's moon protects the mission and takes on Stained Glass scarlet and the art there is just phenomenal and looks lovely! And then the coming of MK and him trying to find where Dr Sterman is (his psychologist) and the battle with Waxman (clayface?) and then Jigsaw until finally we get the big battle between Zodiac and MK and a big cost he had to pay to save his close ones from his new arch-nemesis which sets up the next arc so well!

This volume was amazing! It has so many stories in a way but also continues the larger story with Zodiac and he truly is MK's Joker, so twisted and all, wanting to make MK better and believes his team-thing and whatever this mission is.. is weakening him and then the way you contrast that with MK and his mission and action and what he is doing, it makes for some great reading plus that epic ending was awesome!

So yeah a definite recommend from me! Its awesome and is thrilling with amazing art, each page is a *chefs kiss*! One of the best series from marvel atm!

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It really took me by surprise. I would really advise the watching the Moon Kinght series it enhances my enjoyment of this series.

This is an awesome action-packed series with surprises around every corner. Do you think Moon Knight does not have any powers think again. This is Moon Knight at his butt kicking best.

Issue 7 is set just before Devil's Reign when Moon Knight starts his quest for Zodiac. Issues 8 and 9 are during Devil's Reign. Issues 10 to 12 are the main event.

This series seems to be getting better and better, I can't wait for the next book. The book finishes with a variant cover gallery with full page and thumbnail versions.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. Damn this was good!! Moon Knight is still on the hunt for Zodiac, the villain behind all the shenanigans in volume 1. The whole shaking done criminals for info was fun. Then we get the Devil’s Reign tie in where MK gets tossed in jail. It was cool seeing MK get mixed up in the secret fight ring in the prison. Even cooler when you find out the real reason he got involved. We also get to see Dr. Moon fill in for Marc while he’s locked up. But then Devil’s Reign ends and Marc is back on the prowl. There was an old “character” if you will from the old Doctor Strange comics that MacKay throws in here. ( luckily I just read that run earlier this year and new the character) Man, MacKay gets it! Really dope what he had MK use that character for. Plus, Stained Glass Scarlet shows up!! Dug that call back from the early Doug Moench run. A nice little plot twist leads is to the big confrontation with Zodiac. Been loving this series. Love how brutal MacKay has been writing Moon Knight throughout this run so far and that last panel was a nice touch. Now just to wait for vol 3.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just MK doing MK Things.



I enjoyed the one-off stories here more than the ones connected to the whole Zodiac arc, but strong art throughout kept it consistently fun.

[Sarah Laudenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Looking for the next atrocity to fill my belly. Chewing on my own soul to feel something. Exalted in my own self-hatred."

Jed MacKay never misses, when it comes to Moon Knight!

I'll admit, I found this second volume a little more convoluted than the first, which was the only thing that was really keeping my from giving this one five stars. I've never been a huge fan of vast, storied, ungraspable concepts in graphic novels and comic books, so certain volumes in Too Tough To Die were a little more swampy to get through. It was the same sort of feeling I had after reading the Loki: Agents of Asgard collection, where it's all well and good to have some high concept stuff, but at some point, it just becomes pretentious at a point. If I want to read about self-actualization and the importance of stories in cultural context, I wouldn't pick up a Moon Knight comic, y'know?

Aside from that, this was a really fun collection. No spoilers, of course, but you know I loved that last-page plot twist. I also loved that this version of Moon Knight was a lot more anti-hero, a lot more outwardly violent, and a lot more morally grey than other iterations. Moon Knight is a dark hero, yeah, but it's nice to see him just... not be the good guy, sometimes. To be petty, or angry, and just to do what he thinks is right even if it's objectively wrong. It makes Marc feel like a real person instead of a comic book character, because there isn't a single person in real life that just naturally knows to make all of the 'correct,' heroic decisions.

All in all, Too Tough To Die was great, but to me, not quite as good as The Midnight Mission - though, I'll say that that might just be the case because I really love exploring Marc's religious traumas, which the first volume of this series did a lot more than the second. Too Tough To Die felt much more like a classic superhero comic, and was filled with good fights and action sequences. Already have the next MacKay Moon Knight on preorder!

[Jaye Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely ate & left no crumbs.

[Alex Sarll]

Moon Knight telling a goon who doesn't feel pain that he's missing out, threatening to drop a minor supervillain into an industrial car shredder, getting himself imprisoned because there's someone in there he needs to fuck up, or bonding with a malign supernatural entity after carrying large quantities of high explosives into its innards (said bonding being over how they both keep coming back even though nobody wants them to, which feels a bit Millwall) - even before the spectacular final fight, this volume sometimes feels like an exercise in producing panels which look like Moon Knight-Core has been at them. But there's a solid grasp of the character underpinning the larks; as he says to some understandably wary villains, with Spidey or the Punisher, you know what you're going to get, but with him you really don't, which in some ways makes for better leverage. Something which also comes through in the way the jagged art on the action sequences settles down in the quieter stretches. Granted, the villain who wants to 'help' the hero by stripping away their support network remains a motivation that almost never convinces me, so I'm less into Zodiac than some - and the way the concluding pages flip the glorious finale of the TV show was deeply unwelcome (if certainly not implausible). But for the most part I can see exactly why this run is going down so well.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picks up right where The Midnight Mission left off, with Moon Knight tracking down Zodiac amid a grab-bag of random crimes in New York City. This is definitely Jed Mackay's weakest series - I'm astonished everyone seems to love it. Mackay's Moon Knight is a bland, street-level hero with a string of forgettable associates and punching bag villains.

The best issue in Too Tough to Die illustrates the clever way Moon Knight rebuilds the Midnight Mission. Otherwise, my assessment of The Midnight Mission is the same here: the book is all talk > punch > talk > punch with little world- or character-building. And the art is kinetic in a bad way, often obscuring the action. I'll probably continue reading because Mackay's writing style goes down smooth, but I'm not excited for future developments.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This run has been so absolutely stellar. The tie-in (which are usually hit and miss) was incredible and the whole arc is really fabulous. I can't praise it enough.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
This title is SO Moon Knight. Reminded me why I didn't read it for a long time. Not that it's bad. Just that I don't always know which characters are Marc's personalities in a different costume, and which are a completely different person.

Highlights:
- After a failed attempt to shut down Zodiac, Marc gets arrested and joins the "Devil's Reign" crossover story (read that for more info)
- While Marc is gone, another (apparently more loyal) Fist of Khonshu, Hunter's Moon takes over the Midnight Mission. His main battle is against the spirit who wants to shut down the Mission, Stained Glass Scarlet.
- After "Devil's Reign", Marc returns and makes a deal with the House of Shadows to use that living entity as a new home for the Midnight Mission.
- Marc has an issue with his therapist, Dr. Andrea Sterman. She has been replaced by Waxman. The advice given out had set another patient, Rutherford Winner against Moon Knight. They ended up working together to save her.
- Zodiac makes his move and it takes Marc and all the extra characters he's got working for him to take him out and keep the neighborhood safe.

At the end, we see that Stephen Grant has now made an appearance! I'll be interested to see where this comic goes next. Hopefully giving a bit more ease and less confusion.
Recommend, with slight reservation.

[Sesana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, this is good. Great dialog, solid plot, intimidating antagonists, gorgeous art. Brutal, suspenseful, and exciting. Just really, really good comics.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a rather soft first volume, this one is much more in the tone of a good Moon Knight story.

Without completely getting rid of the Scooby gang, MacKay has the courtesy to put them in the background and concentrate on the main character.
Without ever reaching the heights of brutality of Charlie Huston's run, this is an MK more in tune with who he is, less psychotic, more calculating, more subtle and more subtly violent when needs be.

The idea behind the new Midnight mission is a good one, but the manipulative villain with unclear motives is not. Not that he's badly written, but I've come across 439 like him in the course of my readings and he's not well enough written to be memorable.

In the end I'd say that each episode taken on its own is pretty good, but in the service of a rather banal general plot.

I still don't like the drawing and, to a lesser extent, the colouring. Some nice static poses but the more epic scenes are a failure. The arrival of MK's peculiar allies at the end should have been impressive, even terrifying, but is totally missed. MK needs an artist with less design and more flesh to anchor him in urban darkness.

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Hunter's Moon but are there maybe too many Moon Knights? The main guy has four different personalities not to mention all the past fists of khonshu can come back at any time. Doesn't make a villain like Zodiac seem very threatening and maybe just maybe Moon Knight isn't really a street level hero anymore...

[Evan Boyette · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If I were to drop you, it'd be feet first"

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really impressed with this run of Moon Knight. We get to see the "final" showdown with Zodiac, but since this is a comic book, I bet we see him again.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a bit of a step back from the previous volume. Mackay is one of Marvel's rising star writers, but this time out, the story is a bit jumbled and slapdash and not nearly as clear as his work usually is. And the artwork is honestly a bit of a mess throughout, too.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Batman/Joker parallels are soooooo strong in this series. Zodiac believes that only by breaking down Moon Knight to his core values can he be rebuilt and grow beyond his limits. Joker is always trying to get Batman to see that their dance is eternal and they are more similar than they are different.

..this...

Is grimy. It's ugly. These are the tough choices that nobody wants to make. These are the rules that get pushed aside because SOMEONE has to. Moon Knight takes on some twisted characters and the real thing to come away with is that he's probably more twisted than they are. This character is broken. Broken, but never surrendering to it. He says it himself. He always comes back.

Bonus: There's always a price...
Bonus Bonus: of course they pull from Dr. Strange lore (and a shoutout to Vegas, 'Midnight Sons')

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a little too fast to grasp everything but I'm still liking Mackay's version of MK. The psychoanalysis is always fun and an excellent way to help the reader understand a character. He's blending previous versions together into something new, still with shades of Batman, but perhaps more complex, and maybe even morally questionable. The art is still unique to me and for the most part appealing. Occasionally I find the story-telling to be a little static but the look of it gives the book it's own identity. This volume also included a crossover with Devil's Reign and again, while very Batman-like, MK comes off as being very bad @$$.

[Marco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought some of the art here was abysmal. The series regular artist, Alessandro Cappuccio, is way more than capable.
I found this volume a bit more convoluted and difficult to follow and I wish MacKay would actually do a bit more with the supporting characters but I appreciate having a writer on the book who actually knows the character's continuity, including where other writers messed things up, and puts the whole thing together into a coherent continuation of Moon Knight's story.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my God, was this good! Mackay & Cappuccino are a bona-fide premium team on this book, and I'm happy to be reading amazing MK comics. This dies work with the rule of cool, and the ongoing conflict with Zodiac is gripping. Can't believe one of my favorite books of the year is a moon knight book of all runs

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best Moon Knight in years, since Lemire/Smallwood’s run. Love the therapist and Hunter’s Moon as secondary characters, and how Marc remains enigmatic and optimistically twisted (and intrinsically Jewish, in a way that isn’t too tacked on or unnatural.) This is the kind of series Marc Spector has always deserved and I’m glad this was my final book of 2022. Happy new year!

[fae · Rating 5 out of 5]

MOON KNIGHT !!!!!!!!

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 2 picks up where the last one left off, only with the tie-in to Devil's Reign breathing down the reader's neck.

Trying to get to just who Zodiac is, Marc fights his way through the villainous underbelly of Manhattan in the way that only he can. It's brutal and bombastic, dynamic fight scenes interspersed with the little voice in the back of Marc's skull telling him that maybe he's pushing too far. Or, if not too far, at least too far in front of Reese.

This has more interesting Moon Knight lore to play with and develop, including a fantastic Hunter's Moon story that brings back my favorite, Stained Glass Scarlet, after all these years. I've really enjoyed how MacKay is exploring Egyptian mythology and taking it to its logical conclusion, particularly in relation to previous Fists of Khonshu, and what Khonshu might be capable of, even from his Asgardian prison.

A great entry, and the end-point of what I had read and collected in the individual issues.

[Keef Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rating is only for the ending because it's so awesome. The fists of khonshu coming back to help in the end was pretty awesome and the twist of Steven Grant coming back is great. It has me excited for the next book.

The beginning is slow. It's really disappointing that they have this whole portion about him being in prison and comment on how hard and awesome it's going to be for him to get out, only to fast forward to him already out. That sucked and that part of the book made me want to rate this two stars.

[Dallas Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of Moon Knight's best issues of all time in here!

Hunter's Moon continues to be a blast to get to know! Issue 8 is a huge fave now!
The Devil's Reign tie in, proves to be one of the best tie in single issues I've ever read too!

The power of stories, gods, and people's tenacity all on full display here!

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

In love with Cappuccio's art

[Will Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moon Knight hasn’t been *this good* in years. Seriously, pick this book up!

[Alex(Books-In-A-Storm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so kick ass. I loved it so mush. I need to read the next book as so as possible.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sabbatini and Cappucio did an amazing job with the art. Honestly, it carried the story for me. I felt like the storytelling here was dry. I did like the prison bouts though.