Moon Knight Bad Moon Rising
A compilation of Moon Knight’s earliest stories and appearances
It begins with Moon Knight hunting a creature known as Werewolf by Night. He’s been hired by a group called the Committee to hunt a werewolf named Jack Russell and receive 10 thousand dollars
Russell transforms into the werewolf under stress. He is no match for Moon Knight however. Moon Knight KOs Russell as his helicopter chauffeur Frenchie takes Russell’s girlfriend and sister hostage as any blood relative to Russell may be a werewolf too
Moon Knight delivers to the Committee and takes the money but releases Russell after seeing him reverse-transform and his humanity, adjusting his moral compass and putting an end to his mercenary days
The next arc begins with Moon Knight stopping seven thugs from breaking into Charles Thurston’s campaign headquarters and who is a new candidate for mayor
A man named Mr. Quinn is attempting to frame the current mayor in this robbery but does not know his plan has been foiled
Weasel, Quinn’s right-hand man, presents a dossier on Moon Knight which provides info on MK’s other identities: Jake Lockley, a humble taxi driver; Steven Grant, a millionaire; and Marc Spector, his true identity
Mr. Quinn dubs himself the Conquer-Lord
Policemen arrive on the scene where Moon Knight K.Oed the thugs and discover they were undercover cops but wonder who gave them their orders and why there were so many at a time and at the same location
Conquer-Lord receives news of the failed attempt and decides to take matters into his hands
Jake Lockley gets information from a friend named Crawley at Gena’s diner
Steven Grant attends a fund-raising dinner with his girlfriend Marlene at the mayor’s house and changes into MK. There he finds Conquer-Lord and they scrap. While fighting, the mayor is shot
One of Conquer-Lord’s men pretends to be Spector’s butler. Spector lets him punch him out then follows him
Spector finds the warehouse where Conquer-Lord is and holding Marlene hostage. He is about to feed her to crocodiles just as Moon Knight confronts him and eventually defeats him and leaves him for the police
The mayor survived
The next arc involves the Defenders which currently rosters Hellcat, Valkyrie, Hulk, and Nighthawk (Squadron Sinister). Nighthawk is leader after Dr. Strange’s departure
Moon Knight witnesses a man named Jack Norriss being abducted by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents under direct orders from Nick Fury who is there in person supervising
Moon Knight foils the operation and Nick Fury and his men retreat
Valkyrie goes to the Sanctum Sanctorum to see Clea (Dr. Strange’s wife) who gives her a new uniform. Hellcat goes to Avengers Mansion
There she sees Wonder Man who she does not recognize and is unaware he’s recently become a full-time member of the Avengers. They scuffle
Moon Knight and Jack Norriss go to the Sanctum Sanctorum to seek the Defenders’ help. We learn that Valkyrie is actually inhabiting the body of Jack’s wife Barbara. Jack tells them that Fury was questioning him on the disappearance of a presidential candidate and used drugs to coerce him
MK, Valkyrie, and Jack head to Avengers mansion to get Hellcat and mistakenly think Wonder Man is hurting her when he’s actually helping her from being trapped under machinery
The squabble is put to rest as Hellcat proves to Wonder Man she too is an Avenger. Nick Fury transmits a message to the mansion saying that Jack Norriss is a priority alert
It is revealed that Nick Fury is in cahoots with a man named Scorpio who is actually Nick’s brother Jake Fury. He wanted Jack Norriss to get to Kyle Richmond aka Nighthawk. Scorpio is part of an organization known as The Zodiac where 12 members name themselves after the 12 signs
Norriss turns himself in to Fury. Valkyrie takes Hellcat to Defenders HQ at Nighthawk’s residence who tells them that Scorpio has Jack Noriss in his grasp and demands a ransom of 500K which Nighthawk is expected to withdraw
Scorpio shows his new master plan to Norriss which is a Zodiac chamber- a genetic chamber that created avatars to personify each of the 12 signs
During a rescue attempt, MK falls into a water container set up as a trap. Scorpio closes the container and fills it with water intending to drown MK
The next morning, Scorpio checks the container only to see it empty with no MK. Nighthawk withdraws 500K
Scorpio tricks Nighthawk into attacking him when he lies about giving Norriss up. He grabs and teleports him to his hideout claiming he’ll steal Nighthawk’s whole fortune and use it to finance his plan
Scorpio activates the other 11 Zodiac using the Zodiac Key
Through astral projection, Clea contacts Hellcat and Valkyrie at Nighthawk’s Long Island Riding Academy and informs them that MK is seeking the Defenders
Nick Fury ignores Nighthawk’s pleas for help
An attempt to recruit Hulk by the Defenders and Moon Knight goes awry and he becomes angry and chases them across the city. They lure him to where Scorpio’s hideout is
All but 3 of the Zodiac animate to life. Missing are Capricorn, Virgo, and Pisces
Libra does not engage. Representing the scales of balance, he observes to reserve judgment on which side he will help
Hulk battles Cancer, Taurus, & Aries. Leo & Gemini take on Hellcat
Nighthawk breaks from his bonds through the strength of night
Aquarius did not engage because of the antipathy between his and Scorpio’s sign
Scorpio finds the missing Zodiac dead due to being activated prematurely
Gemini ponders logically on who to help. One half determining reason favors the Zodiac and the other half determining emotion favors the Defenders. Gemini follows emotion. Leo falls into the water container as Gemini closes it on him, presuming his fate
Moon Knight and Nighthawk lift Aries into the air and catapult him to the floor K.Oing him. Hulk pummels Cancer into the ground and Nighthawk takes out Taurus. Sagittarius flees when he’s out of arrows
In defeat and despair, Scorpio kills himself with a pistol. Nick Fury turned out to be an L.M.D. (Life Model Decoy)
The real Nick Fury has S.H.I.E.L.D. clean up the place and offers Norris a place in S.H.I.E.L.D.
Moon Knight reveals to Nighthawk that he was able to escape and survive the container by breathing the trapped air from a beer can that Scorpio gave him as a goodbye token
Moon Knight becomes involved with organized crime group the Maggia
Both Spiderman and MK defend Gena’s diner and of course come to odds with each other until Cyclone uses a powerful cyclone to knock them off their feet. He works for the Maggia and was sent by Big M who was contacted by a fleeing thug from the diner. Cyclone disposes of him for knowing too much (Big M’s number) by taking the air from his lungs
Moon Knight and Spiderman survive the cyclone and team up to find the Maggia. Their next clue is from a newspaper from the dead thug showing a photo of Ulysses S Grant’s tomb and so they head there next
The duo crash the party and defeat Cyclone and the Maggia then depart ways
A short subplot involving MK and Thing stopping a villain named Crossfire from distributing mind-warp waves to the masses
Moon Knight follows a man who shoots another man on the street and gives the shooter a ride in his cab as Jake Lockley to a mansion of a man named Joel Luxor who hired the hitman to obtain a key off the man he killed
Moon Knight confronts Luxor who is then abruptly shot in the chest and falls dead. He calls Marlene in to investigate the house and look for any leads before calling the police
MK’s cab is gone and he figures it must’ve been the man who shot Luxor. The hitman is still in the trunk where MK put him
MK goes to the Fourth Estate newspaper publishing office and uses the key to open a file cabinet containing a piece on an artifact from the National History Museum. The man who was shot dead on the street was the one who wrote the piece whose name was Jim Polhaus
MK has editor Curt print a copy for him. The piece says that Joel Luxor wants a Horus statue excavated from Egypt and put into the museum, back. It also says that the Horus statue is in the personal care of the curator Fenton Crane leading MK to believe he switched the real Horus for a fake one
MK investigates Crane’s house and finds the hitman tied up. The hitman reveals himself to truly be a rival collector after the statue as well. He tells MK that Crane offed Luxor after finding Polhaus dead suspecting that Luxor was no longer interested in Crane selling him the statue and double-crossed him and stole the statue meaning Crane is not in possession of it
MK hurries back to Luxor’s mansion where he finds Marlene shot in her right arm from Crane’s musket. Crane thinks that Marlene is with Luxor
MK knocks Crane out and finds another clue in a jade jar by way of a card with the name of Alphonse Leroux- Chilean U.N. Ambassador. He deduces that this is the man who stole from Crane
Moon Knight arranges as Steven Grant to get himself invited to an Embassy party to meet with Leroux and discuss buying the statue from him. The same night, Moon Knight infiltrates Leroux’s house to confirm its location and then arrives as Steven Grant after beating up Leroux’s security, offering half a million for the statue
Leroux has agreed to let Grant send his ‘courier’ Moon Knight to deliver the money to his terrorist accomplices
MK meets the crooks at 11pm and is expectedly double-crossed after handing the money. He beats the crooks, takes Horus, and leaves the money
He follows the crooks who hijack a truck and, as Marc Spector, pretends he was sent by the boss to assist them. He realizes they are stealing boxes of radioactive plutonium
The mayor of NYC calls in N.E.S.T. (Nuclear Emergency Response Team) to deal with the situation
The boss of the terrorists sends a decoy Moon Knight to catch Marc Spector off guard. He is gunned down by the terrorists
MK instructs Frenchie to follow the car he marked with an X which contains the money and the plutonium while he stows away on another car heading to a higher-up
The terrorists’ boss (Lupinar) orders them to stay where they are until after dark to deliver the goods
Moon Knight arrives at Lupinar’s place who has hypertrichosis (werewolf syndrome) who challenges him to a duel using rapiers. After losing, he purposely impales himself on MK’s sword and dies
Frenchie and N.E.S.T deal with the plutonium and the criminals. Lockley donates the statue back to the museum and receives a handsome reward for it, as well Leroux is extradited by the U.S to France after Frenchie leaks French intel overseas
Spector goes to visit an amateur astronomer named Jason who wants to educate Spector on a lunar eclipse
He sees 3 men sneaking around the complex outside and knocks them out but is then knocked out himself by a tall monstrous-like creature
The next chapter reveals the monster to be Banner who happened to be walking in the forest near the complex and was seen by the 3 men. After being chased, he transforms into Hulk and scares them off thus running into Moon Knight
Hulk knocks out Moon Knight from not being able to see what it is in the dark
A man is going around killing nurses. The media dubs him the Hatchetman
Moon Knight and Marlene devise a plan to lure the Hatchetman (against MK’s wishes for Marlene to get involved), by dressing Marlene up as a nurse
The Hatchetman takes Marlene into Central Park who was accidentally shot by a cop. MK gives pursuit and the Hatchetman lets her go only to bury his hatchet into Marlene’s back
This makes MK recall another lover he had 10 years ago named Lisa who was killed by the Hatchetman whose real name is Randall and both worked for the C.I.A. Gathering information from Crawley who said that the Hatchetman would “not stop until Lisa and her lover were dead”, Spector deduced this was the same man he put down 10 years ago for betrayal
We find out the man’s full name is Randall Spector, Marc’s brother
Randall flees and continues his murder spree. MK gives chase. Marlene is admitted into the hospital
Randall ambushes MK and hacks him in the chest. MK still pursues. They stop at the entrance of a cave where Randall lunges at Marc who ducks and Randall impales himself on a branch of a tree
That night MK keeps himself busy by stopping crime but in agony and anxiety awaiting to see Marlene in the morning. Morning arrives and the nurse tells him she’s stable
A crate for Marc arrives at his mansion containing a corpse. Marc recognizes it as Amos Lardner, a man he worked with for the Company
He relays the story of when Lardner asked Marc to drive him across the U.S-Canada border to Ravenscrag mansion (now the Allan Memorial Institute) in Montreal. He had not seen him again until now
Marc and Frenchie go to Ravenscrag. Marc tells Marlene to look through his files for info on Operation: Cobra. At the asylum, MK is attacked and the attacker gets away
In the morning, Spector talks to a psychiatrist named Hanson but was really looking for a man named LeBlanc. Hanson tells Spector how Operation: Cobra (mind-control experiments) got out of hand and LeBlanc fled to his native Paris
Spector and Frenchie book flights to Paris as does Marlene sneakily
MK confronts LeBlanc on Operation: Cobra who tells him that by implanting electrodes in the brain and overriding sensory systems and then stimulating them, they can control anybody through the mind
MK is attacked by the same man from Allan Memorial who turns out to be James Lardner, Amos’ brother. He is in Paris to exact vengeance on anyone involved in the operation including Marc who was framed for the death of Amos
James runs and drives off. Marlene and MK give chase until a 3rd car gets in their way at a T-intersection and all 3 parties go unconscious. Spector wakes up drugged and being interrogated by two of LeBlanc’s accomplices, Crane and Jenkins
The three of them use their drug on Lardner and is now under their control. Dubbing him Cobra, they plan to use him to attack MK at a rendezvous the following day where LeBlanc told him would be a buyout of the drug by Jenkins and Crane, not knowing they already have
A showdown goes down in Cosse-le-Vivien. Frenchie kills Jenkins and Crane as MK releases Lardner from LeBlanc’s control by destroying the controller. Lardner goes after LeBlanc who attempts to run him over but crashes into a tree when MK deflates the tire with a crescent dart. Lardner and LeBlanc die as the car explodes
After burning down LeBlanc’s estate, the trio head home
The abridged origin story of MK/Marc Spector
Spector works in a commando squad as a 2nd to Raoul Bushman
After eliminating rebels in northern Sudan, Bushman desires next to obtain gold from an American archaeologist
He raids a village in the Selima oasis and kills the archaeologist. He then guns down innocent civilians. After opposing Bushman, he beats Spector and leaves him for dead in the desert
Brought to the tomb of Seti, he is resurrected by the god Khonshu, Egyptian deity of the moon. He then proceeds to take Bushman’s men down. Bushman’s fate is ambiguous
An unspecified amount of time passes. Presumably the present, MK shows Marlene a Death’s Head necklace which means Bushman is in the city looking for Spector
He finds Bushman at a club in Harlem and lays a beat down on him being stopped by Marlene before he kills him
MK leaves him for the cops
A short story involving a man in his 30s going about and slaying older men around Crawley’s age, in fact, friends that Crawley knew
The murderer turns out to be Crawley’s son who moved away with Crawley’s wife when he was 8
He falls off a rooftop and dies at the conclusion
Gena and Crawley are finally told of MK’s real identity
The penultimate story sees MK become entangled with a criminal known as Midnight Man who steals valuable items and resells them for profit
Steven Grant hosts a benefit at his mansion where he meets one Anton Mogart who asks Grant to get Spector to protect Mogart’s valuable paintings for a fee of 100K from Midnight Man
MK encounters and battles Midnight Man who turns out to be Mogart. After a scuffle, Mogart falls into a river. MK takes the stolen artifacts and donates them to the museum
The final story revolves around MK taking on 5 assassins. They are Boom-Boom (demolitions), Razor (knives), Dragon (martial arts), Ice (hitman), and Bull (brute strength)
They were hired by the committee
With the help of Frenchie, Marlene, and Gena’s sons, MK deals with them one by one. Bull and Boom-Boom are casualties while the rest are left for the police