Bon voyage to Moon Knight. How he – and my comic brain – developed
This week’s issue of Moon Knight – the conclusion of the Shadowland event – will be my last.
When Marvel asked me to consider tackling Moon Knight, I told them I’d only do it if I could do something really different, as the character’s last reinvention – at the hands of Charlie Huston (and taken over by Mike Benson) – had been solid, innovative, and clever. It had reintroduced Moon Knight to a new generation of readers while keeping a great, dark, street edge on the character. I didn’t want to do more of the same because I feared I would only be doing a pale imitation of what they had already done so well. So my decision was to do Moon Knight BIG, bigger than any comic I’d yet written. My early work focused on the Foolkiller, Punisher, and Wolverine – street-geared, noirish crime stories where the killer-hero toted a gun, a sword, or a samurai blades attached to his hands. This was a natural transition for me coming out of my novels, particularly off the Tim Rackley series, which I considered my action-meditation on vigilante justice.
Punisher #75: The Swan Song
Double issue featuring short stories by Charlie Huston and Ken Lashley, Peter Milligan and Tomm Coker, me and Das Pastoras, and Thomas Piccirilli and (one of my favorite artists) Laurence Campbell. This issue will clear the decks, making way for Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon’s MAX relaunch. The cover art is staggering – I love the “Central Park as a grave” motif portrayed by the good Reverend Dave Johnson, and Steve Dillon drew a helluva variant. These stories go back to the source, playing on Castle’s origin. I was really goddamned excited to write a tale that touches on that fateful day in Central Park and the birth of the Man as we know him now.
Punisher #75: Dave Johnson
Punisher #75, Steve Dillon Variant Cover
