Moon Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975) as a mercenary antagonist before being recast as a superhero in subsequent appearances. Moon Knight is typically portrayed as a street-level vigilante with minimal superhuman abilities, relying instead on his athletic conditioning, expert hand-to-hand combat training, and detective skills to fight crime.
The Jewish American son of a rabbi, Marc Spector served as a Force Recon Marine before becoming a mercenary alongside his friend Jean-Paul "Frenchie" DuChamp. He is killed by the mercenary Raoul Bushman, but the Egyptian moon god Khonshu resurrects him as his avatar. Returning to the United States, Spector becomes the crimefighter Moon Knight, aided by Frenchie and archaeologist Marlene Alraune, who becomes his lover. In addition to his costumed identity, he maintains three other personas: billionaire businessman Steven Grant and taxicab driver Jake Lockley, both used to gather information, and Mr. Knight, a suited detective who consults openly with law enforcement. Multiple storylines depict Moon Knight as having dissociative identity disorder, with the Grant and Lockley alters traced back to his childhood, though other accounts attribute his multiple personalities to physical alterations made to his mind by Khonshu rather than a clinical condition.Moon Knight (vol. 4) #1 (Marvel Comics, 2014).
Moon Knight received his first ongoing series in 1980, with Moench and artist Bill Sienkiewicz as the main creative team. The character has since headlined nine ongoing series and numerous limited series spanning over four decades, with notable runs by writers including Charlie Huston, Warren Ellis, Jeff Lemire, and Jed MacKay. He has also been a recurring member of teams including the West Coast Avengers and the Secret Avengers.
The character has made appearances in various media outside of comics, including animated series and video games. Oscar Isaac portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Moon Knight (2022). Moon Knight has long been regarded as a cult favorite among superhero comics readers, and commentators have frequently compared him to Batman given shared traits such as wealth, detective skills, and the use of multiple identities, though writers and critics have consistently argued that his psychological complexity, Egyptian mythology, and mercenary background distinguish him as a substantially different character.
Development In an interview, Doug Moench recalled the character's genesis:
Don Perlin also commented on the creation of the character, "We were told we needed a costumed character in the book. So Doug and I created Moon Knight. I wanted the costume to be just black and white. Since he'd be on a color page, that would make him a little bit different. He had a silver baton he could use when he battled werewolves. See, he was hired to track down to kill the Werewolf."
Publication history The character debuted in Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975), written by Doug Moench with art by Don Perlin and Al Milgrom, as a mercenary hired by the Committee to capture the title character. The creative team gave Moon Knight moon-related symbols and silver weapons (a metal poisonous to a werewolf) to mark him as a suitable antagonist for the werewolf hero. The two-part story continues into #33, when Moon Knight realizes Russell is a victim rather than a monster and decides to help him. A demonic vision of Moon Knight then appeared in Werewolf by Night #37 (March 1976).
Editors Marv Wolfman and Len Wein liked the character and decided to give him a solo story in Marvel Spotlight #28–29 (June/August 1976), again written by Doug Moench with art by Don Perlin. The story, along with Spectacular Spider-Man #22–23 (September/October 1978) written by Bill Mantlo, recast Moon Knight as a more heroic character. His association with the evil Committee during his first appearance was retconned to be an undercover mission he undertook to learn more about the villains. Moon Knight acted as a hero again in Marvel Two-in-One #52, written by Steven Grant with art by Jim Craig. In The Defenders #47–51, Moon Knight briefly joined the Defenders during their war against the Zodiac Cartel.
Moon Knight appeared in recurring backup stories in Hulk! Magazine #11–15, #17–18, and #20, as well as a black and white story in the magazine publication Marvel Preview #21, all written by Doug Moench. Artist Bill Sienkiewicz drew Moon Knight in Hulk! Magazine issues #13–15, 17–18, and #20, creating a new look for the character heavily influenced by the art of Neal Adams, who at that time was most popular for his work on Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow for DC Comics. This, along with Moon Knight's methods and the atmosphere of his stories, cemented a perception among some readers that he was Marvel's version of Batman. The Hulk backups and Marvel Preview issue provided Moon Knight with a partial origin story and introduced his brother, recurring villain Randall Spector (who would later become Shadow Knight).
Volume 1 Moon Knight received his first ongoing series in 1980, with Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz as its main creative team. The character received an expanded origin story in issue #1, including Spector's "resurrection" in the tomb of Khonshu, suggested by editor Denny O'Neil), which also introduced several supporting characters as well as recurring enemy Bushman. Though many characters doubted the moon god Khonshu was real and believed Marc Spector only experienced a hallucination while near death, it was never explained why others, such as Spector's lover Marlene, concluded this when there was no other explanation for Marc's spontaneous recovery from his wounds and a death-like state.
After early sales were good, Marvel made the Moon Knight series a flagship title available in comic shops starting with issue #15. The companion mini-series Moon Knight: Special Edition reprinted the Hulk and Marvel Preview Moon Knight stories in color and standard comic format, adapted from their original magazine format. Sienkiewicz stopped penciling the series after issue #30, though he continued to contribute covers until the series ended with issue #38.
Volume 2 In 1985, Marvel retooled the character with a new 6-issue mini-series Moon Knight by Alan Zelenetz and Chris Warner. The mini-series was titled "Fist of Khonshu". Only the first 4 issues were written by Zelenetz, the final two issues were each written by a different author. Along with giving Moon Knight new Egyptian-themed weaponry, this mini-series reveals that Marc Spector's strength now increases in accordance to the phases of the moon.
Marvel Fanfare and West Coast Avengers Following the "Fist of Khonshu" mini-series, Moon Knight appeared in Marvel Fanfare for two issues (#30 and #38) and became a regular cast member in West Coast Avengers (#21–41 and Annuals #2–3), written by Steve Englehart. When John Byrne became the series writer, Moon Knight was written out of the West Coast Avengers team.
Marc Spector: Moon Knight After a guest spot in Punisher Annual #2 (part of the "Atlantis Attacks" storyline), the character was given a new ongoing title in 1989, Marc Spector: Moon Knight, originally under the direction of writer Chuck Dixon. Two one-shots, Marc Spector: Moon Knight – Special Edition #1 and Moon Knight: Divided We Fall, were published during the run of the title. Dixon then left the series after issue #24, leaving several storylines unresolved such as the fate of Moon Knight's errant sidekick, the second Midnight, who was seemingly killed by the terrorist organization known as the Secret Empire. Midnight II's fate and plotline were later resolved in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #353–358, written by Al Milgrom.
Marc Spector: Moon Knight ended with #60 (March 1994). Marc Spector seemingly dies in the issue, sacrificing himself while battling a villain called Seth the Immortal. His body is recovered and then buried by his allies. The final storyline was written by Terry Kavanagh and with art by Stephen Platt, who was then hired by Image Comics based on the strength of his work during several of the series' final issues.
Volume 3 In 1998, the 4-issue mini-series Moon Knight vol. 3 was published under writer Doug Moench, artist Tommy Edwards, and inker Robert Campanella. The four part story "Resurrection Wars" shows Marc Spector resurrected again by Khonshu, materializing alive and well in his home while experiencing a vision of himself rising from the grave as Khonshu summons him. Witnessing Marc's sudden manifestation in his home, and noting that the Statue of Khonshu explodes only to then repair itself, Marlene finally believes Khonshu is real and not a delusion. Despite this, the story mentions the possibility that Marc was not dead but somehow and inexplicably was put into a "death-like" state for months as a result of his previous injuries.Moon Knight Resurrection War #1
Volume 4 In 1999, Moench and artist Mark Texeira produced Moon Knight vol. 4. This four-part mini-series was nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Limited Series. The title of the story was mistakenly given as "High Strangers" on each issue cover, while the correct title "High Strangeness" appeared on the interior title page of each issue.Moon Knight: High Strangers #1
Volume 5 A new ongoing series, Moon Knight vol. 5, was launched in April 2006, written by Charlie Huston with art by David Finch., Newsarama, July 25, 2005 The series revises Marc Spector's history by saying he fought in the Gulf War. Starting with issue #14 of this series,Mike Benson: Of Moon Knight and Redemption , Comics Bulletin, August 31, 2007 Mike Benson took over writing duties while Huston acted as a story/plot adviser according to Benson.Bring on the Knight: An Interview with Moon Knight's Mike Benson , Comics Bulletin, March 4, 2008 The 2006 series ended with #30 (July 2009), and only one Annual issue for the series was printed in 2008. Peter Milligan wrote a 2008 seasonal one-shot titled Moon Knight: Silent Knight with artist Laurence Campbell.O Holy Knight: Milligan on Moon Knight Xmas Special, Comic Book Resources, November 18, 2008
Vengeance of the Moon Knight In September 2009, a new series titled Vengeance of the Moon Knight began by writer Gregg Hurwitz and artist Jerome Opena. Vengeance of the Moon Knight ended with issue #10. Moon Knight became a regular team cast member in Secret Avengers #1–21. In Secret Avengers, writer Warren Ellis introduced the idea that Moon Knight sometimes operates without a costume and instead wearing a simple white suit and full white mask. Moon Knight also appeared in the Shadowland crossover and in the 2010 relaunch of Heroes for Hire.
Volume 6 In 2011, the series Moon Knight vol. 6 was launched by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. The series depicted Moon Knight once again experiencing four alters, though now three of his alters were imitations of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine. Due to poor sales, the series was canceled after 12 issues.
Volume 7 In March 2014, the Marvel NOW! initiative launched Moon Knight vol. 7. The series involved rotating creative teams that included Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey for issues #1–6, Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood for issues #7–12, and Cullen Bunn and Ron Ackins for issues #13–17. The series brings back the white suit and tie outfit first seen in Secret Avengers, and now has Moon Knight adopt this outfit when working as a police consultant, answering to "Mr. Knight." With issue #1 of this series, writer Warren Ellis confirmed that Khonshu is a real god or extraterrestrial entity and that Marc Spector indeed died and was resurrected years ago in the tomb in Egypt.