Ads · Moon knight comics
Ad
related to: moon knight comicsExplore a Wide Range Of Comics & Superhero Novels Available At Great Prices. Enjoy Great Deals and Discounts On an Array Of Products From Various Brands.
Search results
Jacen Burrows, Ty Templeton, Paul Davidson. (vol. 9) Alessandro Cappuccio, Federico Sabbatini. Moon Knight is a character 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). [1] The son of a rabbi, Marc Spector ...
Find the latest Moon Knight comics from Marvel Unlimited, including show variants, trade paperbacks, and more. Browse by issue number, title, artist, and release date.
- Overview
- History Early Life
- Personality
- Attributes
- Paraphernalia
- Notes
- Trivia
- See Also
- Links and References
Let's establish some parameters. I'm not Spider-Man. And I'm not the Punisher. They represent extreme ends of the same costumed spectrum. I'm Moon Knight. And you all know that means one thing. No one in this room-- myself included-- knows precisely what I am capable of. I beat the Avengers. Imagine what I could do to any one of you.
—Moon Knight
Marc Spector, better known as the vigilante Moon Knight, was once a mercenary left for dead in the desert, where he was revived by the Moon god Khonshu. Appointed as Khonshu's fist and high priest, Moon Knight enacts justice to protect those who travel at night. Marc also has dissociative identity disorder, some of his alters being millionaire Steven Grant and cab driver Jake Lockley.
In the beginning of his career, Marc fought crime on the streets with the help of a network of informants, including his best friend "Frenchie" Duchamp, the homeless Bertrand Crawley, and diner owner Gena Landers. Since the early days, Marc has mostly worked alone, but he's also been a member of a few superhero teams, including the West Coast Avengers, the Secret Avengers, and the Heroes for Hire.
Early Life
Marc Spector was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of a rabbi who as a child had managed to escape Nazi prosecution after Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. Marc grew up on the poor side of the city, where his father Elias was the target of discrimination; Marc couldn't understand why his father would never fight back against persecution. He grew up with his younger brother Randall. His father would walk his kids to school everyday, but him being a Rabbi caused Randall to be bullied, but Marc was there to defend him. His father was disappointed with his boys violent nature and their obsession with war, he believed that should concentrate on their education but his wife dismissed this as boy being boys. During the last years of his childhood, Marc discovered by chance that a close friend of his family, Rabbi Yitz Perlman, was in reality a Nazi deserter and secretly a serial killer of Jews named Ernst. Marc's fighting instinct kicked off for the first time when he fended off against Perlman to escape his grasp. Perlman later disappeared without a trace. This traumatic event also caused Marc to develop a Dissociative identity disorder. The first alters developed by Marc were Steven Grant and Jake Lockley. Shortly before Elias decided to intern Marc at the Putnam Psychiatric Hospital, Marc was approached for the first time by the Egyptian deity Khonshu, claiming to be Marc's true progenitor. After his father's death, Marc was allowed to leave the hospital temporarily to attend the funeral and a late luncheon, but, after hearing Khonshu's voice, he ran way. After his death Marc resented his father, believing that Elias was embarrassed by him.
Mercenary Life
Marc enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served for three years. On his second tour in Iraq, his superiors caught notice of Marc's bizarre behavior. After his past was dug up, Marc was dishonorably discharged. He later joined the CIA, and worked with several people who would later interact with Moon Knight, including William Cross, Amos Lardner, and his own brother, Randall Spector. Randall killed Spector's girlfriend Lisa with a hatchet to keep her from exposing a gun-running scheme; Spector retaliated with a grenade and assumed Randall was dead. Once he left the CIA, Spector enrolled in illegal fights, where he befriended "Frenchie" Duchamp and both became soldiers-for-hire. They took on several assignments, mainly in Africa and South America. Spector later went to trial for assassinating the president of Bosqueverde, a South American country. During this time, Spector and Frenchie sometimes did missions as part of the Karnak Cowboys, and Spector eventually became romantically involved with their colleague Layla El-Faouly. After an escape gone wrong, however, Layla apparently lost her life, a loss that eventually led Spector to meet Raul Bushman, in Egypt. Together, they travelled to North Sudan, near the Egyptian border, for a raid on an archaeological site. When Bushman killed the lead archaeologist, Peter Alraune, to find an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb, Spector punched Bushman to protect Alraune's daughter, Marlene. Furious, Bushman mortally wounded him in the desert, killing everyone in the place except for Marlene, Frenchie and a villager willing to tell him the secrets of the tomb. Spector managed to reach the tomb before he collapsed, and Marlene and the crew laid him beneath an idol of Khonshu. His spirit had an encounter with Khonshu, who promised to save his life in exchange for his service. Spector agreed, although he later considered this encounter a hallucination. Restored to life, he punished Bushman's men, while Bushman himself escaped.
Becoming Moon Knight
Having finally found a purpose in life, Spector applied himself fully. He moved to New York with Frenchie and Marlene (now his lover), and developed the costume, equipment, and persona of Moon Knight. With a fortune made from gambling, in addition to support his new career of fighting crime, he began using his Steven Grant persona as a financier and Jake Lockley as a cab driver whose purpose was to gather information at street level. His original persona, with its multiple facets, faded into the background. Still, leading four separate lives put great mental stress on Spector. Lockley developed a network of informants, including the homeless Bertrand Crawley, diner owner Gena Landers, and her two sons, Ricky and Ray. Spector's first major job as Moon Knight came when the Committee hired him to capture a werewolf named Jack Russell. He succeeded, in large part thanks to the silver cesti he was equipped with. However, he learned that the Committee planned to turn Russell's sister into another werewolf and use them both as weapons. He did the honorable thing and switched sides; Spector and Russell shut down the Committee. Spector faced Conquer-Lord on his own before briefly joining the Defenders to battle a Life-Model Decoy version of the Zodiac. The first skeleton from Spector's closet to bedevil Moon Knight was William Cross (now the villain Crossfire), from whom Spector rescued the Thing. He met Spider-Man for the first time when they teamed up against the Masked Marauder, who at the time called himself "Big M" and employed the original Cyclone. Moon Knight had reached the big time and encountered super-villains with more frequency. Very early on, he had to face a serial killer dubbed the Hatchet-Man, who claimed to be his brother Randall. Spector investigated the death of Amos Lardner when his body arrived in a crate on Spector's doorstep. He learned that Amos' brother James had become a test subject in a CIA experiment (one that Spector himself had participated in), and when Amos investigated, he was forced to undergo the same treatment and committed suicide as a result. Spector faced other menaces: some super-powered, some insane, some simply ambitious, but all dangerous. He confronted the Slasher, a man slaying homeless people in a effort to find his father. He tracked down Bushman and sent him to jail, but Bushman struck back by having Midnight Man (a more recent foe) destroy Spector's idol of Khonshu. By this time Spector was convinced that Khonshu had given him his powers, as well as a focus in life. His precarious self-control broke down until Marlene produced another idol, which she claimed was the original. Moon Knight's next major foe, Morpheus, turned out to be a patient of Doctor Peter Alraune, Marlene's brother. The idol of Khonshu sustained Spector again when he first encountered the Black Spectre, who tried to terrorize people into supporting his bid for mayor. Nobody, including Dr. Alraune, believed Spector when he claimed that Knowles was the Black Spectre, but Khonshu gave him the strength to prevail. A battle with the Fly left Spector unable to walk, but he quickly recovered. To stop an ancient Egyptian curse, Spector briefly hosted the spirit of a priest of Khonshu, which helped to integrate his personalities, but later Spector suffered another serious mental breakdown and decided to abandon all of his alternate identities to settle down with Marlene; by reconciling with his father's legacy, though, he found a measure of peace and decided to retire from crime-fighting. As part of his new life, Spector gave up his Grant identity and sold the idol at a gallery in Paris. He had a vision, however, telling him that "the image is delivered up to evil." Called back to action as Moon Knight, he learned that Marlene could no longer tolerate his schizophrenic behavior, and she left him. In the Egyptian Valley of the Kings, Spector met three ancients priests of Khonshu, who told him that Khonshu had chosen him as an earthly champion and gave him new weapons. Only later did Spector realize that Khonshu himself was influencing him subconsciously.
Moon Knight can be best characterized by his relationship with Khonshu, and whether that is derived from his own mental illness or from actual divine inspiration. When Marc Spector first awakened at the foot of Khonshu's statue, it was ambiguous whether his survival was truly Khonshu's doing or if Spector merely attributed it to the Moon God. Later stories introduced Khonshu as an undeniably real god, employing Moon Knight as his agent.[138] Subsequent takes on Moon Knight would attempt to "walk back" the revelation that Khonshu was real, once again questioning whether the drive to be "the moon's knight of vengeance" was all in Spector's head.[139][140]
Presently, it seems as if Marc Spector is both mentally ill and an agent of a higher power. Khonshu does exist, and has chosen Marc as his avatar, but Marc's mental illness sometimes causes him to experience conversations with a Khonshu that is only in his mind, not with the actual god. There are also discrepancies over whether Marc Spector was already schizophrenic or dissociative from an early age (making him a convenient host for Khonshu) or if Khonshu imposed this mental condition upon Marc. Khonshu is a god of multiple facets, and Marc Spector has taken on multiple identities in the past in order to properly represent all aspects of his god. This includes his original alter egos of Steven Grant, Jake Lockley, and Moon Knight, the representations of Captain America, Wolverine, and Spider-Man communicating with him, or his recent set of identities and attire like Mr. Knight.
Powers
Enhanced Brain Function: After being brought back to life by the moon god Khonshu, Marc's brain structure was fundamentally changed, due to being in brain-to-brain contact with him. He states that his brain was "rebuilt as a god's weapon". While the full extent of the changes to Marc's mind are unknown, he has displayed a mental resistance to telepathic attacks. When Hawley entered Moon Knight's mind, he was instantly overwhelmed due to its supernatural nature. Moon Knight had complete control over his mindscape and was able to attack and smother Hawley, leaving him catatonic in the real world.[142] •Moon Empowerment: Marc once mentioned that the supermoon feeds into the strength level of his abilities. Giving him enough power to best the likes of Earth's greatest champions single handed.[131] •Self Sustenance: Moon Knight can survive indefinitely without need of a breathable atmosphere.[131] Immortality: Moon Knight's pact with Khonshu granted him the advantages of immortality. He has been brought back to life by Khonshu on three occasions. Former Powers Divine Empowerment: After Marc was imbued with a sliver of Khonshu's power he displayed these powers:[130] •Power Absorption: Employing a set of divine ankhs Moon Knight was able to absorb the mystical powers of the Iron Fist, the Sorcerer Supreme, Ghost Rider's Spirit of Vengeance, and was seemingly able to absorb the Starbrand and the Phoenix Force if he had been given the chance. This power seems limited as Moon Knight was unable to absorb Black Panther's powers due to the latter's powers being embedded in his blood.[131] •Necromancy: Moon Knight was able to control an entire army of undead mummies.[143][131] •Lunakinesis: Moon Knight was able to control the universe's different moons and objects made out of them, which allowed him to take control of Mjolnir despite not being worthy.[131] •Geokinesis: As most orbital astral bodies are comprised entirely out of mineral, rock, and dead terrafirma, this indicates an underlying ability to control different earthen elements by sheer will.[131] •Phase Transformation: After the Serpent War where he was jettisoned across time & space and back, and realizing his retention of Khonshu's power after seeing the world through a god's perception, Marc stepped through solid glass while transforming into his caped semblance, coming out the other side.[130] •Moon Empowerment: Marc once mentioned that the supermoon feeds into the strength level of his abilities. Giving him enough power to best the likes of Earth's greatest champions single handed.[131] •Self Sustenance: Moon Knight can survive indefinitely without need of a breathable atmosphere.[131]
Abilities
Over the course of his life as a boxer, U.S. Marine, mercenary, and costumed superhero, Marc Spector has become an expert at hand-to-hand combat techniques and various martial arts. He is an Olympic-level athlete and a skilled acrobat and gymnast, and excels as a combat strategist.[147] •Expert Pilot: He is an excellent pilot and aviator due to his years as a U.S. Marine and a mercenary.[145][144] •Expert Detective: Spector is a good detective/private investigator with broad skills, knowledge and understanding of the criminal underworld. He also knows many of the streets of New York very well due to being a cab driver in the alias of Jake Lockley.[145] •Interrogation Expert: He is an expert at interrogation often employing military secret police methods of torture.[145] •Master Marksman: He is capable of hurling all types of projectiles with great aim and pin point accuracy as well as an excellent sharpshooter/marksman. He is able to slice a bullet in half with a crescent disc.[102] •Weapons Master: Spector is adept with nearly every weapon ever invented ranging from many types swords, combat knives, batons, chains, brass knuckles, thrown projectiles such as shuriken, longbows, bolos, boomerangs to use of all types of firearms such as pistols, sniper rifles, automatic assault rifles, submachine guns, machine guns, grenade launchers, anti-tank bazooka, and even electronic remote firing stations such as 20/30mm anti-aircraft full auto chain guns, Gatling cannons, mechanized mortars, missile launchers, etc.[145] •Master Martial Artist: Spector is a former heavyweight boxing champion who underwent intense training as a commando, intelligence operative and mercenary. He is skilled in armed and unarmed combat with training in Boxing, Judo, Krav Maga, Silat, Dambe, Savate, Escrima, Karate, Muay Thai, and Kung Fu; his knowledge is extensive enough that it has been shown that he can use pressure points against his opponents, striking nerve clusters to stun or even instantly incapacitate. On more than one occasion without powers he has fought the Punisher to a stand still.[145] •Multilingual: In addition to English, Spector is fluent in Symkarian[148] and Arabic.[149] •Pain Resistance: Insanity, torture, spiritually gifted, or simply numb from all the years of damage to his body, Moon Knight has an incredibly high tolerance and strong threshold for pain.[150] •Telepathic Resistance: Spector's multiple personalities give him some protection against certain psychic powers such as possession or mental control.[151][152]
Additional Attributes
Brain damage/mental illness: It has been stated that Marc suffers from "a madness so powerful it can only be described as magic". While it was initially believed Marc suffered from dissociative identity disorder, it was determined that the different personas he has developed throughout his life are a consequence of having become Khonshu's avatar. Khonshu is said to have four aspects; Pathfinder, Embracer, Defender, and the Watcher of overnight travelers. Spector cycles through these aspects, and his brain applies identities to them in order to explain them. In essence, Marc's mind has been "colonized" by Khonshu, and the different personalities Marc displays are a way to cope with the damage. Despite this, Marc has also been shown to have experienced dissociative episodes from a young age.
Equipment
Moon Knight's Suit: Spector's original costume included Kevlar armor. It had a built-in two-way radio system so that Spector could summon du Champ, who typically provided backup in a helicopter. Spector later upgraded the Kevlar to Adamantium, and du Champ added dart launchers to the gauntlets.[153] More recently, he added a flashlight so he could explore dark places, like the subway.[116] •Glider Cloak: Although Spector cannot fly, he can spread his cloak and slow his descent from great heights. To a slight extent he can steer his fall. Because it must be flexible, the cloak is not armored. Duchamp created the cloak.[145] •Carbonadium Armored Vestment: Before he moved to the West Coast to operate there, he was wearing a costume that was made of carbonadium which he claimed was almost as tough as adamantium but more flexible. The suit had several features identified: Crescent Dart Launchers in his wrist, Crescent Cable line used for swinging or for grappling, jump jets, laser cutting torch, and a few other features.[145]
Weapons
Although he has mastered almost every weapon ever invented, Moon Knight displays an obvious fondness for certain moon-themed objects referred to as his toys. These include throwing darts, nunchaku, and a truncheon.[147] Crescent Darts: Most likely his favorite weapon, these symmetrical throwing blades function as "calling cards" as well as weapons. Spector keeps a dozen of them in protective holsters spaced around his belt.[citation needed] Truncheon: This ingenious device functions as a simple club, nunchaku, and a grappling hook. By itself, it can be wielded as a blunt instrument or thrown. It separates into two shorter clubs (linked by a chain) to entangle a weapon or limb, or to lengthen the club's arc of travel and thus its force. The hook springs forth from one end and, with a cable attached, allows Moon Knight to climb to, descend from, or swing around a fixed point. It weighs 12 pounds (5.5 kg) and is 12 inches (30 cm) long. When not in use, it fits into a holster on his left calf. Later improvements include upgrading the stainless steel to adamantium, incorporating the cable with the hook, and adding the option to extend to 8 feet (242 cm) long.[citation needed] Crescent Launcher Pistols: He also used 2 pistols which fired crescent darts with cables that allowed him to grapple, trip or pin his enemies to surfaces. These had enough force to push a man back into a wall and pin him there.[citation needed] Energy Shield: Buck Lime built him an energy shield similar to Captain America's Vibranium shield.[citation needed] Web-Shooters/Wolverine's Claws: Buck Lime created a pair of bracers which can be used as Web-Shooters (like Spider-Man's) or metal claws (like Wolverine's).[citation needed] Silver Cestus: On his first mission as Moon Knight (bringing in the Werewolf By Night for the Committee), Spector wore two silver cesti on his arms.[citation needed] During his time as the Fist of Khonshu, Spector used another set of weapons, keeping them in a leather pouch or on his person.[144] Ankhs: This Egyptian symbol made of gold lit up in the face of imminent danger. Like the truncheon above, it could serve as a thrown or hand-held club. It weighed 12 pounds (5.5 kg) and was 12 inches (30 cm) long. Moon Knight then used some Divine Ankhs which allowed Moon Knight to absorb the heroes mystical powers and containing them in individual ankhs.[131] Other Weapons: Moon Knight also used other weapons such as scarab darts, an ivory boomerang, grappling hook and lariat, bola, san-setsu-kon (three-piece staff), and a truncheon with built-in taser. Former Weapons Mjolnir: Thanks to his powers of manipulating moon rocks Moon Knight was able to use the mighty hammer, despite not being worthy.[131]
Transportation
Flying drone (As Moon Knight), Modified limousine (As Mr. Knight); formerly Moon Knight's Helicopter, Avengers Quinjet, Angel Wing Former Transportation Hell Charger[131]
•Before the retcons of Moon Knight (Vol. 8), Marc was not sent to a mental hospital in his youth and his father only died much later on. He grew up to be an angry rebellious teenager, getting into fights at school. When he turned eighteen, Marc joined a gym and became a boxer, fighting for dirty money until Elias confronted him and begged him to stop. This infuriated Marc and he lashed out and punched his father, who disowned his son. The next day Marc left to join the US Marines. Marc and Elias met a few times throughout the years,[154] before he died of cancer as an old man.
•In 1999, Moon Knight (Vol. 4) was nominated for favorite limited series by the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award.[155]
•Moon Knight is Jewish, but non-practicing.[156][116] When asked by Solomon Kane if he was a Christian or a Heathen, he joked that he was "Pagan Christian-Compatible".[128]
•Mistakenly called Mark Spector in his first appearance; in the following issue he was called Marc.
•He is combined with Spider-Man to become the amalgamation Arachknight in the 2018 comic Infinity Wars. Interestingly, both Moon Knight and Spider-Man, along with Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther, all share similarities with DC Comics' Batman.
•During Damnation, Moon Knight was seemingly able to lift Mjolnir before Thor called it back. The co-writer of Damnation, Donny Cates, cleared the confusion confirming that Moon Knight wasn't worthy of Mjolnir, and that the hammer was just returning to Thor.[157]
•Marc's ringtone was The Killing Moon by Echo & the Bunnymen.[158]
•Every Hanukkah, Marc received a card from The Thing.[159]
•538 appearance(s) of Marc Spector (Earth-616)
•20 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Marc Spector (Earth-616)
•44 minor appearance(s) of Marc Spector (Earth-616)
•43 mention(s) of Marc Spector (Earth-616)
•18 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Marc Spector (Earth-616)
•1016 image(s) of Marc Spector (Earth-616)
Ads · Moon knight comics
The latest adventures of Moon Knight, the renegade priest of Khonshu, who protects his people from the weird and horrible. Browse the comic series and find out how to read them online or in print.
Marc Spector: Moon Knight Vol 1. ( 1989 – 1994) 60 issues. Moon Knight Vol 5. ( 2006 – 2009) 30 issues. Vengeance of the Moon Knight Vol 1. ( 2009 – 2010) 10 issues.
- 3 min
Mar 30, 2022 · Learn about the origin, personalities, and allies of Moon Knight, the Avenger who is also a lunar legionnaire and the living avatar of a god. Explore the 2016 run by Jeff Lemire and other comics featuring the Fist of Khonshu on Marvel Unlimited.
People also ask
Is Moon Knight a hero or villain?
Is Moon Knight good or evil?
Did Moon Knight lose his powers?
Is Moon Knight a superhero?
Moon Knight is a playable fighter in Marvel Contest of Champions. Moon Knight is a playable character in Lego Marvel's The Avengers video game. Moon Knight appears in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 ...
