I’m currently writing a story about Moon Knight (hopefully in the distant future to be viewed by someone at Marvel with approval) and I’m in the research stage. Tomorrow I’m going to splurge and buy up back issues at the comic store, but I thought it would also be useful to get a reader’s perspective on the character.
I’ve gotten the basic background on him from the Unoffical Handbook, but I’m sure that’s well out of date. Could anyone tell me more?
It’s a cheap Batman ripoff.
Does that help? 
For another hint that doesn’t help: read Cerebus High Society.
The only thing remotely interesting about MK was that I read an interveiw at one point with someone who was involved and they mentioned making him Jewish and focusing on the crisis of faith that a Jewish superhero being powered by Egyptian mysticism would have.
Why are you going to waste your time? Now that Epic’s gone, there’s really no reason to even bother.
I’m just curious as to why you picked Moon Night of all people to write about without knowing too much about him. The last time I even saw him show up anywhere was, like, on the roof of a building in Avengers #1 following Heroes Reborn.
I liked his appearance in West Coast Avengers. The team was rendered powerless by a villain who could zap people and destroy their will, but MK was able to take the zaps and keep on coming because of his multiple personalities.
Some random facts about Moon Knight:
[ul]His personal fortune is in the $10 million range. He’s a bit richer than Daredevil, but nowhere near as rich as Iron Man[/ul]
[ul]During his brief tenure with the (West Coast) Avengers, he sided with the faction that believed that an Avenger could kill if the circumstances warranted it. For this reason, he fell out of favor with the organization and has distanced himself from them[/ul]
[ul]More recently, he financed the unnamed team referred to as “Marvel Knights,” a loose confederation of not-very-powerful superheroes. He cut his losses when the team started running up huge bills[/ul]
[ul]During the course of his longest-running series, artist Bill Sienkiewiecz evolved from a Neal Adams wannabe to one of the great comics stylists of the 80s and 90s. Not sure how this tidbit could be useful to your project[/ul]
[ul]He started off as a villain in Werewolf By Night. His first major interaction with mainstream Marvel characters was in the “Who Is Scorpio” storyline in The Defenders 46-50, circa 1978[/ul]
[ul]Initially, this character was very popular in Japan in the 70s[/ul]
On the show Grounded for Life, one of the characters is reading Moon Knight. I pointed out to my wife that the issues were probably from about the mid 80s by the style of the cover.
She called me a geek.
I realize this is a hijack but I couldn’t resist.
Here’s a bio of Moon Knight from The Unofficial Handbook to the Marvel Universe website…
http://marvelbook.topcities.com/jklm/moonnite.htm
…it was based on the Gamers’ Handbook to the Marvel Universe and last updated in December of 2000.
Also, in the second last issue of Wizard magazine (#149), there was an article about seemingly forgotten DC and Marvel characters who deserve to be elevated to at least second-string level (according to Wizard at least). Among them is Moon Knight. Wizard’s first pick is Ghost Rider. (Which makes sense, considering the movie in the works.) DC’s OMAC - the “One Man Army Corps” - is also on the list. I liked him!
I believe they mention that Marvel once had the idea to have Moon Knight and Werewolf By Night form a permanent team, maybe with their own book. I’d actually be interested in that!
Anyhoo…
I just feel like there’s a lot of potential in this guy. I like the obscure characters, and thought that he seemed like one that could, with a little tweaking, be interesting and fun. I’ll admit that my selection of him was influenced by the Wizard article, but I was looking around for someone to revamp, partially for fun and partially as a showpiece for my comic ambitions. If anyone wants to read my admittedly rough outline of the first three issues I’d be happy to email it to them.
I like the obscure characters as well. And although I’ve never read any Moon Knight comics, or any guest appearances he’s made in other comics (that I can remember), he’s always been intriguing to me just based on his entry in the Marvel Handbook.
I’d definitely be interested in reading your outlines, Sam Hell. Send them along to me if you’d like. And I’ll tell you what I think after I read them…
Damnit, Beauty Personified beat me to the link! (There’s probably some deep, Jungian irony to that.)
Just out of curiosity…who else in said faction? Beauty’s link implies that Tigra and Mockingbird were part of it. Were there any others?
Tigra, Mockingbird, Moon Knight and guest star/non-Avenger Giant Man (Bill Foster version), and possibly Mantis. Opposing were Hawkeye, Iron Man and Wonder Man, and maybe Hank Pym and/or the Wasp.
Time traveling in the Old West, Mockingbird was hypnotized and raped by the second Phantom Rider (the unworthy successor to the hero who’d befriended them on, um, their previous time trip to the Old West). When she shook the hypnosis, Mockingbird killed him (or, more technically, allowed him to die in a fall). she kept the whole thing a secret from her teammates, especially her husband Hawkeye.
Later, in the 1980s, Phantom Rider’s ghost possessed the modern hero of that title and harrassed Mockingbird into confessing killing him. This drove a wedge between her and her hard-liner husband (who conveniently forgot he’d done something similar to both Egghead and the Silencer years earlier). Half the team rallied around Hawkeye, half around Mockingbird. It was an issue between them for the rest of the series, at the end of which, she was killed by some other villain.
Moon Knight killed a villain during the storyline as well (I think it was Taurus) and was strongly encouraged to leave. Eventually, he did. He’s been on the outs with the Avengers ever since.