One of my favorite characters and favorite runs... I miss comics of that calibur...

MOON KNIGHT MEMORIES

Moon Knight. Loved the character. Got hooked when he got his own book. I was just a kid; I didn't recognize the Neal Adams influence in Bill's work. Not that that matters all that much. The art was great and Moench's stories were fantastic. 

This series inspired my first mail-order order. Mile High Comics! I had missed a few issues, so I saved my money and bought the whole run in VF. The series was at about issue 11 at that time. I can still recall getting the package in the mail, and the way.those books smelled. So crisp and pulpy. And all the way from Colorado to Virginia, too! I was thrilled. I had all the issues, including #1, in order, with clean, color-soaked covers!

 I loved MK's battles with Bushman and Morpheus. Loved Frenchy and the crescent 'copter. Loved the four identities, the truncheons, the cowl and the glider-cape. Moon Knight was an exciting comic then.

That run of MK also marks another line in time for me. It was the exact time when a few Marvel books went "direct". Ka-Zar, by Brent Anderson and Bruce Jones, was another.

Suddenly, Moon Knight was only available at comics shops. 75 cents a pop. Marvel even kicked it all off with a beautiful painted cover of MK runnning and throwing his crescent darts (#13?). It felt like I was getting DELUXE MOON KNIGHT. It was exciting. I hit the store in Phoebus, Va. (Bender's Comics) regularly for the next Moon Knight issues.

Little did I know then that very soon comics would no longer be available in grocery stores, local books stores, the Mom and Pop convenience stores. Little did I know that Moon Knight was one of Marvel's first thrusts into the direct marketplace  Little did I know that American comic books were about to change forever.

I'm definetly picking up this ESSENTIAL. Of all the various Marvel superheroes, Moon Knight really grabbed me. Long live MK.

I used to do umpteen thumbnails and bigger sketches of Batman, Moon Knight and Daredevil in conference on the roof of a building, all of them looking out over New York while they planned strategy. .

Did they call Batman in for his invaluable detective skills? They must have. I never could nail that damn drawing, or the story behind it! I just thought a triple team-up, especially with those guys, would really move. First rule: no in-fighting! Rather, it's more like a meeting of the minds. They are faced with a mind-bending mystery! There is a mutual respect between the three heroes...

Ah, flights of fancy. I may try that drawing again, actually!

There was an issue of MK that came out after Lennon was shot. Moench/Sienkiewicz. Steven Grant was in his mansion with his girl, and one of them (memory spotty) sits down at the piano and plays "In My Life" Both characters begin weeping uncontrollably.

I never forgot that. MK had those kind of touches.