Moon knight vols 1-2 by Max bemis

Vol 1: Crazy Runs in the Family and Vol 2: Phases, illustrated by Jacen Burrows, Paul Davidson, Ty Templeton, Jeff Lemire, Bill Sienkiewicz, inked by Guillermo Ortego  colored by Matt Milla, Mat Lopes, Keiren Smith, lettered by Cory Petit

We open yet again in a mental institution, this time in the company of a different patient than our familiar hero with dissociative identity disorder. Dr. Emmet tries to work out the key to her next patient, hoping that her previous patient might be used as a road map, but instead unleashes the villain, Sun King, champion of Ra and enemy of Khonshu. Sun King discovers something Marc has even hidden from himself - that he has a daughter and the potential for a normal life - but never count out Marc, Jake, and Steven when they’re backed into a corner! Marc also relives some of his childhood trauma and the reason he created Jake in the first place. A figure close with his family turns out to be a sadistic serial killer, and he's back in Marc's adult life hoping to recruit Moon Knight into his ranks of sadomasochistic supervillains.  The cult goes after Moon Knight and his friends hoping to break his spirit, but Marc is already fractured enough!

This is not my favorite run on the character. Bemis makes Steven Grant almost meaningless in this storyline, but does shine a light on Jake and how twisted that portion of our hero is. I’m not entirely sure how to feel about Marc having a family so suddenly, especially because other runs had him distance himself from friends and family who could get hurt by his superhero lifestyle. There are some really dark moments, darker than normal, so this might be better for adult collections. Among the worst is a flayed human, depictions of mass murder and torture, and quite a bit of (censored) cussing.

Sara's Rating: 6/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-Adult

Publisher: Marvel
Publication Date: May 15, 2018 and December 18, 2018
ISBN: 9781302909376 and 9781302912703 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 6/10, Suitability: High School, Comicbooks, Superheroes, Action Adventure, Mental Health, Mythology, Suspense, ​Marvel