Vengeance Of The Moon Knight #5 Review

Written by: Jed MacKay
Art by: Alessandro Cappuccio
Colors by: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letters by: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover art by: Davide Paratore
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: May 1, 2024

Vengeance Of The Moon Knight #5 brings 8-Ball’s long road to redemption closer to reality, while the Shroud is confronted by Tigra and Hunter’s Moon for stealing Moon Knight’s mantle.

Is Vengeance Of The Moon Knight #5 Good?

At some point, Jed MacKay is going to have to address the elephant in the room. What’s the point of having a Moon Knight series without a Moon Knight? If the goal is simply to have a comic on shop shelves with Moon Knight’s name on the cover, that’s not good enough.

When last we left the Midnight Mission team, Tigra and Hunter’s Moon received an (off-panel) tip from Lady Yuan regarding the hiding place of the mysterious character calling himself Moon Knight. So far, all signs point to a pretender. Not a resurrected Marc Spector. Suspicions were confirmed when Lady Yuan’s tip paid off. During the confrontation, the “new” Moon Knight turned out to be a former West Coast Avengers team member, the Shroud.

Now, MacKay gives 8-Ball a turn in the therapist’s office by talking about his path to redemption and his desire to follow Moon Knight’s example as somebody who can come back from a low point. Meanwhile, Tigra and Hunter’s Moon fight the Shroud while imploring him to give up pretending to be Moon Knight.

Eventually, Tigra gets through to Shroud by explaining how much work Marc had to put in to become respected by his peers and feared by his enemies, results that Shroud can’t just borrow by putting on a mask. The Shroud comes to his senses just as his body uncontrollably explodes in Darkforce Dimension energy… leading to the start of the Blood Hunt event.

What’s great about Vengeance Of The Moon Knight #5? Tigra and Hunter’s Moon’s fight with Shroud is well done, in writing and art. You can feel the struggle Shroud is going through, wanting to get a taste of the positive aspects of Moon Knight’s reputation. Likewise, 8-Ball experiences a similar struggle but chooses to go about it the right way by “doing the work.”

What’s not so great about Vengeance Of The Moon Knight #5? A Moon Knight comic without a Moon Knight is no bueno. The character work created by giving each supporting character a turn in the therapist’s office is scraping the bottom of the barrel (does anybody seriously care about 8-Ball?). Shroud’s attempt to become the Moon Knight lacks the clear motivation to make it make sense. Yes, Shroud explains why he did it, but the reasoning is a stretch, even for a crazy person.

How’s the art? I regularly praise Cappuccio and Rosenberg for their visuals on Moon Knight, but the team outdid themselves with mesmerizing wow moments with Shroud during the fight. There are at least two splash pages where Shroud descends from the Mount on wings of Darkforce energy, and it looks amazing.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Bits and Pieces

Vengeance Of The Moon Knight #5 brings the mystery of the “new” Moon Knight to a close with a fight, stern words, and hugs all around, just in time to send the Shroud into fits to kick off the Blood Hunt event. The art team’s work in this issue is breathtaking, and all the characters get their moment in the spotlight, but ultimately, this issue fails to address the most important question – Why have a Moon Knight miniseries without a Moon Knight?