Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #3
- Writer
- Erica Shultz, Ann Nocenti, Jim Zub
- Artist
- David Lopez, Djibril Morissette-Phan, Stefano Raffaele
- Letterer
- VC’s Cory Petit
- Cover Artist
- Frank Cho
- Publisher
- Marvel
- Price
- $4. 99
- Release Date
- 2022-07-20
- Colorist
- Chris Sotomayor
Many years ago, troubled ex-mercenary Marc Spector was given a second chance at life when the Egyptian god of the moon, Khonshu, resurrected him inside his shadow, making him his formidable fist and vessel, the hero Moon Knight. Moon Knight is a godlike being who roams the streets and fights for justice in the Marvel Universe.
Featuring three short stories-“Wrong Turn” by Erica Schultz and David Lopez, “No Empty Sky” by Jim Zub and Djibril Morisette-Phan, and “Astronuts” by Ann Nocenti, Stefano Raffaele and Chris Sotomayor — Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #3 collects tales of mayhem, madness, and morality under the light of the moon. These stories continue the anthology series and show the terror and vulnerability that the Fist Of Khonshu faces as he confronts a range of felons. Moon Knight is able to see through the eyes of anyone, whether it be evil cults or immoral millionaires, and even robbers with bad luck.
While all three stories in Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #3 share a similar theme and aesthetic, they vary in tone, style, and quality. The stories also examine a different aspect of Moon Knight’s personality, including his past as a civil mercenary and struggles with Dissociative Identity Disorder. They also discuss his unwilling reverence for Khonshu and conflicting feelings about his past and present.
The first story, “Wrong Turn,” focuses on one of Marc Spector’s alter-egos, Jake Lockley, the taxi driver whom three robbers have the misfortune of hijacking. David Lopez cleverly used Moon Knight’s appearance as a mirror reflection, which Lockley can only see as he talks to himself. Moon Knight is seen snoozing in the backseat of two hapless robbers. Lockley seems confused and lost as he chats with nobody. It is equal parts funny, creepy and hilarious. The clean visuals of “Wrong Turn”, with their tight, sharp line art and clean storytelling are a compliment to the story.
“Astronuts” boasts more lurid, grandiose visuals courtesy of artist Raffaele and colorist Sotomayor. Line art looks almost like it is painted. Every panel looks more like panels than paintings because it is packed with textures and lines. Sotomayor uses color to complement this style, mixing solids and dappled watercolor washes. The visuals are messy and can seem haphazardly constructed. Although “Astronuts”, while it has some humor (putting Moon Knight on the literal Moon makes for a good joke), its storyline is too obvious and flat. It pokes fun at current billionaire space races.
Of the three short stories, the strongest in Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #3 is “No Empty Sky,” written by Jim Zub, who singlehandedly captures Moon Knight’s feelings of reverence, reluctance, humanity, and duty. Moon Knight faces a religious fundamentalist cult that wants to sacrifice a girl with a powerful power. With the help of Khonshu’s power, the hero defeats the cult and commands him immediately to mark the girl using his symbol. He claims that she is a possible vessel for the Moon Knight. Spector claims that he wasn’t given the option to choose between Khonshu and his faith and power. This powerful scene captures Spector’s inner conflict. “No Empty Sky” also has the strongest visuals thanks to Morissette-Phan’s art, a beautifully rendered style reminiscent of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira, with vivid solid reds, halftones, elegant fight choreography, and gorgeous environments.
Moon Knight has many faces and phases — too many to cover in just one storyline. With so much potential for his character in terms of development and genre, Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #3 exemplifies Moon Knight’s depth and versatility.
