Moon Knight may be done causing trouble for the Avengers (for now), but the imminent threat to the Earth still lingers. Whoever Moon Knight is preparing to face must be quite intimidating considering what he had to go through in the last issue. Spoilers for Avengers #33 ahead.
Avengers #34 opens with Moon Knight fighting other followers of Khonshu to converse with the Egyptian moon god. Upon reaching Khonshu, the god appears scared out of his mind as he is tormented by an evil presence. This presence is Mephisto, the hell-spawn himself. We know not what Khonshu foresaw Mephisto doing, but whatever it is warranted Moon Knight defeating multiple Avengers and taking their powers for himself. With the combined powers of the Iron Fist, Sorcerer Supreme, Spirit of Vengence and Mjolnir, Moon Knight is a force to be reckoned with.
After the amazing showcase of Moon Knight’s resourcefulness in Avengers #33, writer Jason Aaron takes a step back and focuses more on Marc Spector’s inner conflict. Moon Knight’s conversation with Black Panther shows the horrors Spector has witnessed thanks to Khonshu. The fear on T’Challa’s face when he sees Spector’s eyes exemplifies this. Moon Knight’s constant inner-turmoil seems to have been relinquished to change the fate of the world. His determination has led him to Mephisto, but will he be able to stand toe-to-toe with the devil himself?
Artist Javier Garron is doing Khonshu’s work with his presentation of Moon Knight’s brute-force style of fighting. Even with the mystical powers of Doctor Strange at his fingertips, our loony moony boy still chooses to go the more direct method, albeit in a more over-the-top fashion. This comic does not shy away from how relentless Moon Knight can be in a fight, which is represented flawlessly in his fight against Mephisto. Jason Keith’s color work burns brilliantly throughout the comic, mostly due to the intense flames of the Spirit of Vengence’s hellfire and Mephisto’s pyrokinesis.
Avengers #34 is a deep dive into Moon Knight’s headspace, with most of its pages spent explaining his motivation in the previous issue. Marc Spector is a broken man. Jason Aaron presents the mental war being fought between Spector and Khonshu in a more shallow way compared to other writers, but it never feels out of place. Seeing Khonshu terrified is genuinely frightening. Although, I would be scared of Mephisto too, even if I had all the powers of a god. This was a good second issue and I am excited to see how the other Avengers are going to deal with Moon Knight in the next issue.
Rating: 8/10
Buy the comic: https://www.comixology.com/Avengers-2018-34/digital-comic/844467?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC9pdGVtU2xpZGVy
