Moon Knight #39-40

MARC SPECTOR: MOON KNIGHT #39 (1992)
by Terry Kavanagh (writer), Ron Garney (“plot assist”), Gary Kwapisz (pencils)

You would have expected Doom to run into Moon Knight back when he was a member of the West Coast Avengers, but he was too busy with the Kristoff nonsense.

Doom actually makes his entrance in the very last panel of the previous issue, demanding to see Moon Knight’s secret identity: former mercenary and Bruce Wayne impersonator millionaire Marc Spector…

…and apparently his hologram waits in the lobby until the next issue, because nobody answers!

After taking care of his subplots, Moon Knight accepts the invitation to the Latverian Consulate.
Which is, surprisingly enough, the CORRECT name for what is typically called the Latverian Embassy!

Not only that, but the one in Washington D.C. is correctly identified as the actual embassy, AND people are shown to be speaking Latverian instead of English!

Meanwhile, a bunch of cybernetic fighters known as the Sensor Squad are preparing to assault the consulate.

As a Batman analogue, Moon Knight does his research before tackling Doctor Doom. And in this period he has his board of advisors called the Shadow Cabinet, which has some… interesting things to say about Doom.

The psychiatrist’s comment are by far the most interesting.
Due to the changing writers and his histrionic personality, Doom is indeed very difficult to pin down psychologically. Now, I’m no psychiatrist, but the analysis feels… off to me.
Sure there’s a lot going on in Doom’s head… A LOT… and I’m willing to buy paranoia (particularly when it comes to Reed Richards) and him being delusional, particularly when it comes to delusions of grandeur.
But a “full-fledged schizophrenic”? Where does THAT come from!?

Ah, right. The 1970s.

Marc Spector visits the consulate when Doom is hosting a big party.
I like the various guests speculating what Doom is actually up to, but I’m feeling I’m losing a lot of topical references… we’re supposed to recognize most of these people, isn’t it?

I always enjoy scenes where Doctor Doom attends social events in full armor. It’s just hilarious to think this is New York’s elite casually interacting with a dude wearing a nuclear-powered medieval armor with a cape and cowl.

That’s when the Sensor Squad attacks!

Marc changes into Moon Knight to help…

…but Doom takes care of the situation on his own.

For most of the attendees, that was a disturbing experience. For Doom it’s just a regular Tuesday and he continues his schemes like nothing happened.

So, WHY is Doctor Doom interested in Marc Spector?
Well, it turns out Wayne Enterprises Spectorcorp managed to acquire something Doom wants.

Spector refuses, because A) Moon Knight is quite insane B) we wouldn’t have a story otherwise.

Doctor Doom stating without a hint of self-awareness that arrogance is SOMEONE ELSE’s fatal flaw never ceases to be utterly hilarious.

And the first part ends with the revelation that the Sensor Squad was created by, and is ruled by… Doctor Doom himself.

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MARC SPECTOR: MOON KNIGHT #40 (1992)
by Terry Kavanagh (writer), Ron Garney (“plot assist”), Gary Kwapisz (pencils)

This issue Moon Knight is going to wear an armor? So he’s not content to rip off Batman.

Sensor Squad infiltrates Wayne Enterprises Spectorcorp. There’s even a fellow Latverian working there as a security guard, but it’s not his lucky day.

Moon Knight naturally intervenes, and I really like the explanation on how he manages to get the drop on the cyborgs.

What I really DON’T like is that in this period Moon Knight is constantly using adamantium!
It’s in his staff AND his Batarangs Crescent Darts AND even in his suit!!!
Moon Knight is supposed to be a street-level hero; giving him adamantium feels unfair.

Considering Doom made them, it’s interesting that one of the cyborgs has an eye laser extremely reminiscent to the one that Zorba used to have.

Moon Knight continues to do his research on Doom, with a certain amulet being the centerpiece.

Moon Knight barges into the Fantastic Four headquarters for a quick chat with Reed Richards, getting his attention by flashing his Avengers communicard.
Hilariously, Reed is able to whip out a way to allow Moon Knight to bypass Doom’s security measures without missing a beat!

It’s a pretty dirty move since Moon Knight is no longer part of of the Avengers, but that was a good scene.

And now for the complete opposite: one of Moon Knight’s agents managing to infiltrate the consulate in the dumbest way possible!!!

Basically “Cover Girl” (weird codename for a spy) slipped the eye modified by Reed into the consulate long enough to record the frequencies that will allow Moon Knight to access the place.
Neat trick, but it feels waaaaaaay too convenient that Moon Knight already has an ally with a fake eye. Not to mention the stupidity of personally delivering mail to Doctor Doom!!!

Despite going through all that, Moon Knight is IMMEDIATELY spotted!!!

Moon Knight taunts Doom by using Doom’s holographic technology to look like Reed Richards, and bait him to take the amulet.

We have finally reached the main event: Moon Knight versus Doctor Doom!!!

Doctor Doom has the upper hand the entire time, until Moon Knight decides to do THE DUMBEST THING HE COULD POSSIBLY DO.

Due to shenanigans going on in his own book, Moon Knight’s body is slowly deteriorating: the only thing keeping him together is his armor. Made of adamantium.
Which Doctor Doom PEELS AWAY WITH THE UTMOST EASE.

Doom offers his medical services (well he IS a doctor!) in exchange for the amulet, but Moon Knight makes the first wise decision of the entire storyline and just gives it to Doom.
With the references to magic you might have thought Doom wanted the amulet for nefarious purposes… but instead it turns out he just wanted it because it has a picture of his father!

And that’s the end, because Doom has no longer any interest in Moon Knight.

As for what happened to the hero… it’s not pretty. That’s going to be handled in the following Moon Knight issues, but I guess having Doom forcefully remove the adamantium was not helpful.

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Doom significance: 0/10
I would make another “for Doom it was Tuesday” joke, but this is barely “Tuesday MORNING” for him.

Silver Age-ness: 2/10
The Cover Girl scene is at least a bit Silver Age-y on the Marvel scale.

 Does it stand the test of time? 5/10
I’m not overly familiar with Moon Knight, especially from this period, but here he’s written at his most Batman-like. There is stuff to like here… the Shadow Cabinet is an interesting concept that basically went nowhere, Doom is written well, and I like the twist that he wasn’t actually trying anything shady. The whole situation could’ve been avoided if Moon Knight just gave him the amulet! On the other hand… the Sensor Squad is crap, Doom’s plan doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and Moon Knight is kind of insufferable.

It was a Doombot all along
Quite possibly. It has something to do with a heirloom from his mother, though, so MAYBE he took care of it personally.

Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 79
Just guess who gets added.

 Supervillains created by Dr. Doom: 16
Adding the five Sensor Squad losers (Metalslash, Bloodhound, Impact, Soundbyte and Deadeye). I would call them the worst villains created by Doom (this is their last appearance)… if Fantastic Four #23 didn’t exist.

Crazy tech
It’s unclear how much adamantium Moon Knigh has, and it’s PROBABLY just “secondary adamantium”. But still!!! Way more impressive than the Sensor Squad losers.