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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 8 months

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Breaking Down The Comics: Under the Mask

Moon Knight, Issue 20: Cut Adrift off the Coast of America

LOOK AT THIS COVER. I laugh every time I see it. It reminds me of like, Night on Bald Mountain when the devil creature is over the city and about to do his evil things. I feel like the past two covers for this run are just the artist (Bill) going, “I don’t know… Moon Knight in various poses of angst?” For no reason!

Anyways… Let’s finish this run!

So we left off with Marc finding plans for Nimrod to attack Manhattan and Marlene being undercover as his personal bodyguard.

Now, up to this point, Moon Knight has been abroad. This whole run has been him retracing steps and places Marc has worked.

I've noticed that in the original comics, any time Moon Knight had to travel out of the country, Marc Spector is the one in charge.

He is well traveled and he has contacts all over. If there's a country, Marc has most likely been there being paid to be a bad guy.

Perhaps Jake doesn't feel comfortable traveling. His home is New York and always has been. He found his identity there and his friends.

Steven will sometimes travel, if it involves luxury, but usually once they leave the hotel Marc takes over.

Now, we are finally heading back to New York.

Which, oddly enough, Marc never feels at home on American Soil. He'll show up for a fight or two, but perhaps he just doesn't feel like he has a home there. He did, after all, leave his home in a hurry after a fight with his father. America is something Marc left behind.

ANYWAYS:

We see Moon Knight with scuba gear on... and still wearing his cape I might add... trying to reassure his contact that "Spector and I will take care of it."

He notes that while he has faith in the plan, "our real strong suit is playing it by ear."

This is true. Moon Knight is amazing at winging it. When things go to shit, he just goes. Which is probably for the best because a lot of his plans tend to go to shit. He's...He's not good at thinking things through. (Especially Marc).

Streglov (the government contact) mentions that he really doesn't like the fact that Marc is emotionally at risk in this mission. Not just for revenge, but also that Marlene is involved.

Moon Knight quips that "I didn't like anything about this operation, Streglov, but we're stuck with it."

Once in full scuba attire:

(WHAT ARe YOU WEARING MOON KNIGHT. That cape can’t be easy to swim in. Is that breathing respirator OVER YOUR MASK?! Are you….wh…. The depths this man will go to to keep his mask on…)

As Moon Knight goes for a swim at night in full outfit...

"Sure cold down here this time of night. Gives me the chills... Chills to match the goose bumps I got when Streglov mentioned Spector. Didn't like his tone of voice. Almost as if he was embarrassed to refer to Spector as a separate man. Guess I'd better face the grim possibility --Streglov may be catching on that Spector and I are one in the same man."

Hmmm... Now, in the last issue, we had no issues with identity. Marc was undercover and comfortable not being himself. Moon Knight was an easy guise to slip into.

He is grappling with 'secret identity' right now. He doesn't like the idea that people know who is under the Moon Knight mask.

But also, he doesn't like the idea that people see the man under the mask as Marc Spector.

He's so uncomfortable being known as Marc that he would go to great lengths to keep the guise up that they are different people.

Which, in this particular circumstance, it IS silly. They are on a boat. It's assumed Marc got on the boat and now Moon Knight is there going on the mission saying that Marc sent him to do it and to trust him.

There's a certain level of self delusion going on in which he wants everyone to believe that Marc is still on the boat. Perhaps that he wants to believe that Marc is still on the boat.

In Moon Knight's eyes, Marc has very little place on this mission and he would rather everyone just play along.

So it looks like the terrorist plan is to put four oil tankers out in the water in key locations, purge the oil, letting the gas build up until a spark sets the whole thing off in an explosion.

Nimrod is on one of the tankers. He plans to blow his tanker and send a signal to the others to blow their own. The pressurized explosion form the built up gas will be devastating and then the oil in the water will catch fire, encircling the island in a raging fire inferno.

Moon Knight is to get on Nimrod’s tanker, cut a hole in the hull and release the gas to prevent the explosion. He will then stop Nimrod, preventing him from signaling the other tankers, giving other teams time to take them out.

A convoluted plan on both ends.

Would the ship blow up? Yes. Science has proven that this is what caused some famous explosion at some point (I'm not looking up which boat it was. It was in port and the built up gas caused a devastating explosion that wiped out the whole town, but if you know it then kudos to you).

Are there better ways to do this? YES. JFC yes. Just put a bomb on the boat. Why is he going so over the top? Why is the only method of preventing the explosion cutting a hole to let the gas vent? What about all the oil in the water that is polluting and causing a fire hazard? And with that much gas build up, ANY spark could set off an explosion. What if it goes off before you’re ready?!

Convoluted plan aside... Moon Knight gets on the tanker, now in search of Nimrod himself.

Moon Knight is now lamenting that he needs to keep control of his emotions. "I've got to control myself... Avoid hasty judgements... Keep myself from thinking about it..."

Good luck with that buddy. Hasty judgments should be your middle name.

Back with Nimrod, we see Marlene still playing bodyguard.

Nimrod is doing his bad guy rant about how Moon Knight destroyed his base. He rants about how he's a one man army and will take down the city no matter what it takes.

As Moon Knight makes his way through the tanker, taking out bad guys, he reminds himself that he's not doing this just because of Marlene.

As Moon Knight busts into Nimrod's room, Nimrod shoves Marlene forward, demanding that she attack him.

Luckily, the two other lady bodyguards jump in and attack first.

Oh! And here we see our hero once more face on the floor in a helpless position.

Back at Grant mansion: Hey! We haven't seen this place in a while!

Frenchie has taken Jake's cab back to the mansion to GET TO THE CHOPPER.

Back on the tanker, Moon Knight wakes up in a very Bond-like situation.

I do appreciate that each time we look at Nimrod after this while Moon Knight is tied up, Nimrod is upside down. It’s a fun touch in perspective.

Nimrod gloats a moment then moves to unmask Moon Knight.

Back in the day, secret identities were pretty sacred. All heroes who wore masks kept their identity pretty tightly locked down (Notable exceptions to those that wore masks: Tony Stark who can't stop telling people who he is and Captain America who no longer has the ability to just be Steve Rogers).

In current times, Moon Knight really stopped caring and ever since Civil War (don't get me started on that Marvel Event), the only one who really keeps his identity is Spider-Man. And that really depends on what Spider-verse you live in.

So back in the day, Moon Knight kept his identity a secret unless you were in his close circle of friends.

This really worked well for Steven Grant, who needed to maintain his social standing to get into high class crowds. It also helped Jake keep his own personal life and let him work the underground.

When it came to Marc, it really didn't matter. Marc didn't really have a normal life anymore.

Not to mention the only people that knew who Marc Spector even was were probably those that had come up against him as a Mercenary.

So Nimrod is momentarily shocked then laughs about how he now has both his nemeses helplessly held captive.

He leaves Moon Knight helpless and we get...this...view....

Um... Anyways...

Moon Knight realizes that the crescent darts are still on his belt, being mistaken for decoration!

So he wriggles around till one pops off and falls towards his restrained hands. He misses quite a few of them.

Of course on the last dart, he finally catches it.

Now he just has to saw through the rope restraints.

Back up top, Nimrod is relaxing with his three bodyguards. They doze and Marlene finally gets a chance to slip away.

Just as she is about to leave the room, one of the other bodyguards wakes up.

Marlene assures her that she's just going out for fresh air, but the guard is suspicious She wakes up Nimrod.

Marlene finds an escaped Moon Knight and they team up together to start taking out the guards.

The hapless lackies all taken care of, they return to look for Nimrod, only to walk into a trap!

Nimrod makes a run for the detonator to blow the other ships. Marlene tells Moon Knight to go. She'll deal with the other two ladies.

We get several pages of Marlene in an out and out brawl with the other two ladies (all three are in bikini uniforms, but not drawn softly. Bill gave them good muscle definition for the time.) To the credit of the writing team/artist team, it's not a cat fight. They use martial arts, punch, and hit one another with chairs and things.

Marlene makes nice work of the other two and wins the fight.

Meanwhile, Moon Knight is up against Nimrod and his Arsenal of weaponry.

Moon Knight is hit by a grenade and once again....

He sure does spend a lot of time down there.

Dizzy from the hit, he stares down the barrol of a gun and remembers his friend being gunned down right in front of him.

"A memory of Ben Abramov, his oldest friend, jerking from the impact of a sniper's bullet... Twisting slowly through pain towards a last fall into a darkness called death..."

He acts and kicks the gun at the lat moment, causing it to discharge into Nimrod's face.

"And another memory, also snarling... Nimrod Strange crushing Marlene to his chest, smearing his lips over hers..."

Moon Knight jumps up, enraged.

"You've killed my friend and soiled my woman, Madman!"

He attacks the disoriented man, punching and coming at him head on despite bullet fire.

When the fire becomes too intense, he falls back to get the high ground.

Nimrod makes a last desperate run for the detonator and Moon Knight tackles him.

Moon Knight takes a blow to the head that leaves him in his favorite position on the floor.

We get a really nice page here and you really have to admire the art, the layout, and the tension. This is just a fantastic page!

He knocks out Nimrod before he can push down on the detonator!

And now we get a bit of our nit and gritty man showing his emotions.

MK: Marlene...I...That last gesture...It was stupid. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me.

Marlene: Hush, Steven. If such a gesture can ever by earned, you did tonight.

He cuts the detonator and calls for Frenchie to be picked up. He leaves Nimrod on the boat and rushes to inform the agents waiting that the mission is a success.

Moon Knight laments that Nimrod knows who he is and will most likely tell everyone who he really is.

Just as he's about to confess to everyone that he and Marc Spector are the same person, Nimrod wakes up and manages to set off the bomb.

His ship blows, taking out everyone still on it.

Thankfully, the other ships have been disabled and taken out before they too can blow.

"You were saying?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that Spector and I are a good team. He does the undercover work and I'm the visible one up front."

Hmmmm. Very true. Very visible.

Epilogue:

Back in Jerusalem... At the home of widow Anna Abramov, she receives a message.

"Anna- Ben's work finished --Spector."

She crumbles the letter and weeps silently.

"Then she sips some tea and wraps herself against the chill, and for a time she is quiet, and she is still, and she is alone... An hour from now the tears will start again...and last until dawn."

END ISSUE and end to Nimrod Strange.

This was a long run of Just Marc Spector in his element.

We got to see a lot of Marc’s skills and the things he did before Moon Knight and what gave him the ability to put on the mask and be as brutal and effective as he is.

It also showcased Marlene in good light and we even got a lot of Frenchie action.

As for the bad guy, he seemed like he was supposed to be bigger than he was. He boasted a LOT about his abilities, his firepower, and being unstoppable. But he just hit behind his goons for hire, his bodyguards, and his weaponry. He really just didn’t strike me as a big top tier villain.

And maybe that was some of the point. A single guy with power and an idea that managed to gather people together to try to do terrible things and hurt a lot of people.

This was a very run run, especially traveling to Israel and going against the elite three. The story and imagery in that one was amazing.

Honestly, it was pretty amazing to just focus on Marc. So that makes up for the fact that the villain was just utterly detestable, and not in a fun hate the villain sort of way.

We also got to see him be utterly pissed and petty, culminating in spitting on Nimrod, then instantly feeling shame that someone saw him. I think that sums up Marc pretty nicely. It isn't often he gets to spit on a terrorist who enjoys killing and hurting people. But then he feels shame that he let his emotions out. Oh Marc, stop being a bottle of suppressed emotions.

It ends in a way that a lot of Moon Knight comics tended to end back in the 80s: A sad and lonely note. Though they won and get to go home, there is still the Widow who is alone and will always be alone.

Marc sends her the note, but Marc can slip back down into his safe mask of nothing and doesn’t have to think about her anymore. His friend is dead, and it’s another name added to his list of people he failed and watched die.

What did you guys think of this run? Thumbs up or down for the bad guy?

I think what’s really exciting after this and seeing Marc work, is knowing where it’s all culminating in at the end of the first big 1980s run of Moon Knight.

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Marc Spector #Marlene #Analyzing the comics #I really disliked Nimrod #But damn I loved the art in this one #I'm glad he wasn't in the villain rotations #I can't wait to get back to my girl Scarlet #And the poses in this issue #What the hell were half those poses #Never change Moon Knight #You lay on that floor #You earned it #On the floor again is the alternate title of this review

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bisexual-horror-fan · 8 months

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hey bex! i haven’t been using tumblr a lot lately but i am having a little thing that’s bothering me and idk who to talk to. i hope this doesn’t sound stupid but i am (very sure) i am asexual. i do not really want to do anything with another person. but sometimes i feel like a have a month or something that i feel like i am in heat. and feel the need to do something about it myself. which i know is a normal thing to do that yourself but sometimes i even feel bad about doing that. i’m very just lost and i feel like if i do that then i’m fake when i call myself asexual. (also i am a 25 year old female if you were wondering about who sent this)

(also reminder that i think you are very swell and i love this blog and i need to catch up on anything you have written while i haven’t been on this app.)

- 🥶

Well, hey there Ice. Glad you came to me here with this, I love being able to provide support and care when I can. Now, having those wants and urges is totally natural and you wanting to get down with yourself is perfectly fine. It does not make you a fake asexual because it is all a spectrum but also, asexuality is a lack of sexual attraction to people, that is what defines it, not libido. There are ace people in relationships, ace people who have sex and enjoy it and masturbation, ace people who read smut, engage in kink and get genuine pleasure and enjoyment out of it, and this doesn't mean they are any less ace.

I consider myself heavily aromantic in many respects, but I'm married, in a committed, long term, almost eleven year romantic relationship with my husband, doesn't mean I am still not aromantic because I have an exception in my husband.

Just remind yourself that you are allowed to do what you want with your own body, you are allowed to enjoy it to the fullest, you have permission to explore and feel good and experience pleasure. And also, keep in mind, our titles, sexualities, romantic orientations, they are meant to be helpful, not harmful and also, not rigid. We change, we expand, we grow throughout our life times, we gain and shed labels all the time and there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't mean that you weren't what you said you were at that point, it could very well have been true at one point, and you grow past it at another.

This is totally cornball, but I love it, the moon has phases, and we still think it is valid and respect the moon, why can't you, a living, growing, changing person, also be respected during all your different phases?

Be kind and be gentle to yourself, please. Remember, more often than not we are our own harshest critics.

#For real tho Ice go get you some whenever you want #Don't feel bad for indulging in the natural and very human act of self pleasure #Seriously it is a bad path to go down #You earned it #You deserve it #Why?#Because you have intrinsic value as a human being just by virtue of existing #Hope this helps #BHF asks #BHF advice

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