What I Bought 8/18/2021 - Part 1

I only went to the store expecting to get two comics written by Jed MacKay that came out last week, but I found something else I wanted I didn't expect to find. We'll get to that on Wednesday, and for today, we'll just stick to the Marvel stuff.

Moon Knight #2, by Jed MacKay (writer), Alessandro Cappuccio (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - I actually bought the Peach Momoko variant. Nothing against this cover, even if McNiven seems like he's trying to channel a '90s artist vibe, just a spur of the moment decision while I was staring at them on the shelf.

Someone is controlling the elderly in Moon Knight's territory and making them attack people. A local everyone calls Soldier shows up beat to hell, saying his mother was among the afflicted who attacked him. They return to his building, and Moonie finds himself surrounded, including by Soldier. The janitor's sweat allows him to control people, see through them, and he's been putting it in the building's water supply to steadily dose people. He, or the person giving him orders, wants to see Moon Knight beat the shit out of all these people he's supposed to protect. Instead, he's offered a challenge. Moonie'll take the sweat directly, and see if the janitor can control him. As you might guess, it ends badly for Groundskeeper Willie.

Mackay used this to offer a little more on this notion Moon Knight's brain is irrevocably altered by Khonshu's influence. Granted, we don't have any other examples of what the mind of a person who doesn't have that problem looks like, but Cappuccio draws it as a shadowy void, save for the circle of a full moon, from which emerges a huge Moon Knight. A Moon Knight that keeps sarcophagi that hold Spector's other personalities, one of which that now holds the janitor's mind. Does that mean Moon Knight can secrete mind-controlling sweat (gross) if he lets that guy out for a while?

This issue also does a little with the person trying to push Moon Knight to embrace his violent nature, and Reese's struggles with being a vampire. Have to figure those are going to intersect at some point. Try to drive her to a blood frenzy, force Moon Knight to choose to kill her. Assuming Hunter's Moon doesn't do it first, since he doesn't seem fond of vampires.

Moon Knight's "mission" is oddly empty. There's cabinets and a bookshelf in one corner, but they look like they don't hold anything. Probably nothing, but I remember his office where he spoke to the doctor is issue 1 was a bit more furnished, so maybe it's something about the face he puts forward.

Black Cat #9, by Jed MacKay (writer), C.F. Villa (artist), Brian Reber (color artist), Ferran Delgado (letterer) - You'd expect the villain to be the one who refuses to hold a facial expression, but Star is probably still trying to get people to take her seriously.

Having retrieved Star from Nick Fury Jr., Felicia makes her pitch to Star. Felicia's client needs Monica Rappaccini, former Scientist Supreme of AIM's, cancer treated for. . . reasons. The Reality Gem inside Star, could do the trick. Star appears to agree, then uses her power to listen in on Felicia saying they need two other people with gems to give her the boost necessary. Which sets Star's gears turning, while Felicia "rescues" the next guy, who has the Time Gem, from her own guys, posing as Lil' Fury's boys.

I have never heard the term "Vermont Smorgasbord," which Felicia uses to describe the sandwiches and champagne she offers Star during her sales pitch. Internet suggests it's a line from White Christmas? My mom likes that movie, but hard pass from me. This story is going to hinge on whether Felicia accounted for Star listening in on her. It seems obvious she would, given she knows the Gem allows Star to bend reality to her whim, and that she's a former reporter. Meaning she's nosey. Yet Felicia left her unsupervised in that building, after mentioning she knew a way to give Star's powers the necessary boost, but refused to tell her.

On the other hand, knowing someone can alter reality doesn't mean you can fully prepare for what that means. And Felicia could potentially still be off her game after the whole mess with the Black Fox. It doesn't seem likely - she gave Fury 2.0 the slip pretty easily, bullet in the leg aside - but nobody's perfect. Except Doom, of course.

I kind of like the shifts in how Felicia presents herself for her two pitches. Not just the differences in food offered - Time Gem Guy gets buckets of fried chicken - but she changes her outfits a bit. She has a, maybe poet top when she talks to Star, versus a white tank top for the other guy. Changes up what she wears around her neck a little, different kinds of bracelets. The one she wears around Star looks more expensive, but also seems more like it could have hidden tools. Like she's expecting more trouble from her. It could just be she changed clothes because it's two different days, but I like the notion that it's all part of the research she did for making her approach to these two.