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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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Review: Moon Knight Omnibus Vol. 1

 

Moon Knight Omnibus volume 1 cover

Description:

Discover the many faces of the Moon Knight! Mercenary. Werewolf hunter. Millionaire playboy. Cab driver. Super hero? Moon Knight is many things to many people, and he has the multiple personalities to match! Follow Marc Spector, the earthly Fist of Khonshu, as he battles to find his place in the Marvel Universe — and builds the strangest rogues’ gallery in all of comics. Prepare yourself for the deadly Bushmaster! Arsenal, the one-man army! Stained Glass Scarlet, the nun with a crossbow! And more! Featuring iconic stories by Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz!

Collects: Werewolf by Night (1972) 32-33; Marvel Spotlight (1971) 28-29; Defenders (1972) 47-50; Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) 22-23; Marvel Two-in-One (1974) 52; Moon Knight (1980) 1-20; Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976) 4; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 220; material from Defenders (1972) 51; Hulk Magazine (1978) 11-15, 17-18, 20; Marvel Preview (1975) 21
Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Published By: Marvel
Published When: April 12 2022
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

The Moon Knight Omnibus (volume 1) is a handsome, hefty, hardcover. A fitting tome for the longtime fanatic, or the new devotee who wants to fill in Moon Knight's history in one single place.

The dust jacket has a more contemporary cover image of Moon Knight than any of the stories inside, which all date from the earliest years of Moon Knight's history in the early 1970s and 80s. It was an era of different art sensibilities and publishing rules, where curses were more likely to call someone "you son of a pig!" (as in Moon Knight (1980) #1). Even in these horror-influenced stories, the code of the era resulted in different approaches.

The recently completed Moon Knight TV series dug deeply into the multiple personalities of this character. In these stories we see the emergence over time of this modern interpretation of Moon Knight.

Elements of it are present from the very beginning, in Werewolf By Night and Marvel Spotlight. But the presentation leaned more toward a man assuming other roles, like a good actor or a spy might, rather than expressions of internal personalities sometimes in conflict.

The collection includes lots of Moon Knight appearances in backup features, as the character struggled to find his place in the Marvel universe and, more importantly, in its publishing schedule. These stories are quick-hits, squeezing plot, character development, conflict and often some measure of resolution into a precious few pages.

Then at last, in 1980, came Moon Knight's standalone series. The Omnibus includes an astounding amount of these issues, reprinting the first 20 issues of that character-defining series here. These are stories that firmly etched Moon Knight into his rightful place in the Marvel universe.

The dark side of this character comes through in these collected tales as well, even if the color and art sensibilities of the time were brighter and more vivid. In the first issue of the 1980 ongoing series, for example, Moon Knight can barely be restrained from pummeling Bushman to death, while on another page the wives of recently murdered men are forced to dance for their killers. These and other thematic elements of horror stories appear throughout the series.

There is so much here that I am reluctant to even begin discussing any individual story arc or issue or artist or author. Certainly the big ones are here, including legendary creators Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz, who set the baseline for Moon Knight for decades to come. Their contributions to this character and his circle of friends and enemies earned them a mention on the cover of the Omnibus itself.

If the TV series has piqued your interest in this character, or if you are a longtime fan, this collection is worthy of your attention and dollars.

If you lean more to the modern styles of graphical storytelling, as represented on the cover of this collection, and find the earlier eras less compelling, this collection may not be for you.

Overall I give it 3.5 capes

ISBN-10: 1302933809
ISBN-13: 978-1302933807
Language: English
Pages: 1016 pages



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