Lunar Soldier

[The Re-vamped Moon Knight: darker, tougher and unfriendlier]
Written by GL

Marvel seems to have a lot of lesser known characters that tend to be shifted out of the lime-light to make way for other superheroes such as Spiderman and Captain America. The rest of the Marvel Universe has yet to be introduced to the general comic-fan base properly and with flair. No doubt, there are certain fans out there who do know each and every Marvel Universe character out there, and there are others that pay the 'unknown' character not much mind.

Here in The House Of El, we pay tribute to all. Especially those that don't get notice enough. Those like Moon Knight.

Moon Knight is a guy named Marc Spector, and he first appeared in comics in 1975.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Marc Spector is the son of an American rabbi's (which means he's actually Jewish). As an adult, Spector spent some time as a boxer, a U.S. Marine, and a killer-for-hire. He's a skilled fighter, for one thing.

While on a routine mission in Egypt, Spector and his group stumble upon an archaeological dig. The dig had uncovered an ancient temple which housed certain artifacts, including a statue of the Egyptian god, Khonshu. Because the leader of the group intended on robbing the site, he killed Dr. Alraune, the doctor in charge of the dig. In response to Alraune's murder, Spector (a man with a conscience) challenges the group leader to personal combat but is beaten nearly to death and left to die in the sub-zero temperatures of the desert.

Egyptian nomad, who worship the ancient Egyptian gods, find Spector and carry him to their temple. In front of the statue of Khonshu, Spector's heart stops. Khonshu appears to him in a vision, offering Spector a second chance at life if he becomes the god's warrior on earth. Spector awakens, wraps himself with the silver shroud that covers Khonshu's statue, and again confronts the same group leader who near whooped him to death. He defeats him and returns to America and the statue of Khonshu. Deciding to become a crimefighter, Spector creates a silver cloaked costume, based on the silver shroud and becomes the Moon Knight.

[Marc Spector: unmasked]

After his return to the United States, Spector invests the money that he had accumulated as a mercenary and builds a small fortune. To distance himself from his past he creates the identity of millionaire Steven Grant - he uses this identity to purchase a nice estate. To remain in contact with the common man he also creates another identity, taxicab driver, Jake Lockley.

Over the course of his life, Marc Spector has become one of the finest hand-to-hand combatants in the world. He is an Olympic-level athlete and is the best at combat strategy. He uses a variety of weapons over the course of his career, including throwing darts. On top of that, he's is an excellent driver and can even pilot a helicopter.

Moon Knight's strength, endurance and reflexes are enhanced depending upon the phases of the moon. The fuller the moon, the more strength Moon Knight gets. Due to his multiple personalities, he is also resistant to some psychic attacks and sometimes receive visions of the future.

At one point, Moon Knight is given special weapons by the cult of Khonshu, including bolas, golden throwing darts, an ivory boomerang, throwing irons, and a golden club in the shape of an ankh that glowed in the presence of danger. These items are then replaced with duplicate weapons crafted by the Avenger, Hawkeye. He later moves these items to his personal museum after abandoning the Egyptian theme in favor of a more updated version of his original gear.

During the third series of his comic, Moon Knight's silver-white costume includes adamantium, and he acquires a range of high-tech weapons, including an adamantium staff, a staff capable of firing a cable line, and gauntlets that fire darts. He has also been shown using spiked knuckles, worn on his left hand. For transportation, Moon Knight uses a variety of sophisticated aircraft, including the Mooncopter and Angelwing.

[Moon Knight For Sale: the very, very awesome Marvel Select figure]

Can you see a certain pattern of similarity here? Moon Knight is often criticized as a Marvel-styled Batman. Writer of the 2006 relaunch of Moon Knight, Charlie Huston, accepted that the two characters had their extreme similarities, but noted that there were particular differences in origin, motives, and personality.

'Bruce Wayne', Huston said, 'fights crime to avenge the murders of his parents'. Moon Knight 'beats up whoever has it coming because he believes he is the avatar of the Egyptian god of vengeance and it helps him to feel better about all the people he killed when he was a mercenary'.

While Batman is motivated by vengeance for wrong done to his parents, Marc Spector seeks redemption from crimes he committed in his past. Huston further highlights that Bruce Wayne takes on other personalities merely to aid in his fight. However, Moon Knight has three alteregos which help him in dealing with personal demons. These three alteregos have also had a psychological effect on Moon Knight, causing multiple personality disorder.

And multiple personality disorder is what you get if you spend too much time staring at the moon, so take it easy good buddies.