#Sometimes I wonder if Marc tries to be overall protector and just does it wrong

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: Who tells the story (Issue 27)

Moon Knight, Issue #27: Cop Killer! 

Opening strong here. I adore any time they do a sky type view down on the city and the characters. 

So opening on Moon Knight watching Jake drive his cab at night is just wonderful. 

....Does that sign on the side say Steven Grant is the writer? 

Let's see what Mr. Grant is writing. 

"August in New York. I hate it. Mostly I hate the heat. That sticky, damp heat that soaks you to the bone and oozes back out your pores. Some August nighs, murder is just another way for people to forget the heat.

This was going to be one of those nights. 

On each of the last six muggy nights, a cop had been killed. Same M.O. in each case. Same markings on the bullets. Too bad no one could find the gun--or any other clues. 

It was a sure bet that the killing hadn't stopped. I --Or rather, cabbie Jake Lockley--was wondering if we couldn't find a way to stop it. 

Oh yeah. They call me Steven Grant. Me and Lockley, we're Moon Knight." 

HOLY SHIT PEOPLE WE HAVE A GRANT STORY TEAM UP WITH JAKE. 

(And let's not forget that Steven later goes on to become a director for Spetor studios in Lemier's run. I am excited people.) 

"One Edge Lockley has over me or Moon Knight--When we need information, he's got the connections." 

Why Steven, you are being generous today. 

We see Jake in his cab pull up to a taxi waiting zone. 

A cop named Richardson is there waiting and Jake calls out to him with corney jokes. 

"Hey! Richardson! What's the going price for a cop these days?" 

"Two years we've known each other, Lockley, two years you've been using that same lousy Joke." 

That's my boy Jake alright. 

Richardson is reading the paper with the headlines about a cop killer being on the loose. 

Jake doesn't like that the cop killer is getting so much press. Neither does Richardson, but the commissioner is making noise to get the killer caught before the copycats start in. 

Jake remarks that it's funny how the killer only picks out the Plain clothed cops and not the ones in uniform. 

"You'd think he'd find easier targets, like uniforms. Must make you nervous, huh?" Jake jabs, considering Richardson is in plain clothes. 

Richardson agrees that it does bother him quite a lot. 

"Like...How the heck does he spot a plain clothes cop? F'r'instance, who could tell from looking which of us was the crimefighter?" 

"Boy! Nobody, I'd think. Maybe you got something there, Richarson." 

Ah, comic humor. 

Richardson heads back to work, telling Jake to be careful out there too. It's dangerous being a cabbie. 

"Richardson had tried to not tell Lockley anything, but he told him enough. It was clear the cops knew more than we did. I wondered what Moon Knight could do with their information." 

GUNFIRE! 

"The shot came from just around the corner. Richardson had gone that way." 

Jake runs towards the sound. 

"In my gut, the part of us that was Marc Spector, the ex-soldier, knew what had happened. He had known that gut feeling in more wars than he could count.  

Spector knew how fate worked. Spector wouldn't have joked about these things. Spector would have known better. 

There are times I wish I hadn't put Spector away.

Then again, Spector would have laughed this off. Lockley and I just felt sick. 

We shouldn't have left the scene, but the cops would have a field day investigating Lockley. His trail would lead them straight to Moon Knight." 

OKAY. There is a LOT going on right here. 

First, Jake makes friends so easily. Everyone is first and foremost a buddy. He’s the friendly man of New York and he knows how to get people chatting. 

Second, they talk about how Moon Knight might know how to use the information Lockley gathers. Another key indicator that Moon Knight is seen as his own separate person now. 

Jake, Steven, and Moon Knight seem to have come to an understanding and are starting to actually work as a functional system. This is pretty big news! 

It also shows that they have sorted out roles. 

Finally, we can’t overlook the way Steven talks about Marc. He addresses the fact that Marc knows how things like this work. Marc expects death and ill-fate. He also addresses that Marc has faced a LOT of death and loss. So much so that he not only expects it, but he has learned to laugh it off as a defense mechanism. 

And the BIGGEST thing here: There are times I wish I hadn't put Spector away.

I’m standing in a room pointing at this and screaming. Steven has accepted the role as gatekeeper. He has also deemed Marc not fit to run the body and ‘put him away’. Time and time again they try to remove Marc from their lives. Marc tries to remove himself from their lives. Steven takes the life from him and refuses to let Marc touch it. Jake will even often fight Marc out of front seat to prevent Marc from doing what Marc does. 

At this point, they all feel that Marc is not something they feel is healthy in their lives right now. Marlene hates him. Marc is self destructive. Jake and Steven feel that Marc is too violent and causes them pain and strife. With Moon Knight acting as the one that can fight, Steven keeping watch on the body and life, and Jake acting as an emotional grounder and spiritual guide, Marc is just not something they need right now. Or so they think. 

ANYWAYS. Back to the story. 

Jake heads home. 

"I called the cops from a pay phone, then beat it back to my mansion on Long Island. All the way I could hear Spector begging to get out. 

He wanted the killer's blood. Lord help me, I wanted it, too." 

Jake’s friend just died. Jake is obviously upset. Marc does not do well when people close to him are hurt. Even if he doesn’t always get along, if something happens to Jake or Steven, Marc is going to want to hurt someone. 

The second Jake walks through the door to the mansion, Steven takes charge. 

He looks for Marlene, possibly wanting some sort of comfort. 

There's a fight going on inside their head and they are in pain. 

Marlene: "Well, well. My favorite schizophrenic. Can't be Moon Knight-You're not dressed for it! WHo are you today. Steven? Jake Lockley? Marc Spector?" 

(NOTE: I had to grit my teeth SO hard at this part. We have entered the era where the Moon Knight system is often going to be called Schizophrenic. Remember everyone, this was written in 1982. Multiple Personality Disorder didn't get an officially recognized diagnosis until 1980. It was often thought of, along with MANY mental illnesses, to be a form of schizophrenia. Prior to that, in 1968 it was listed under 'hysterical neurosis'. It was often thought of as "making up people". It wasn't till 1980 that the term Dissociative was even considered a class of disorders and not at all hashed out. The term was changed to DID in 1994 but was still not fairly fleshed out and still often thought of as just an amnesiac state of the ego. It wasn't till 2013 when the DSM-5 came out that things got updated to current accepted terms and definitions of dissociation. THERE IS GOING TO BE A LOT OF UNFAIR USE OF THE TERM SCHIZOPHRENIA. THIS HAS BEEN A WARNING. It’s also going to paint Marlene is a REALLY REALLY bad light. I’m going to try to give her the benefit of the doubt but fuck is it going to be hard when she outright starts being abusive towards them at times.) 

Marlene takes a playful jab. I don't know... Maybe this is her way of trying? Maybe she's trying to make it a game? 

It does not come off well. 

Steven is not amused. 

"Not Spector! NEVER Spector! This is MY home! I don't want HIM here!" 

Keep in mind that Steven admitted that Marc was worked up and wanted blood. Steven has been holding him off since they found their friend dead in the street. 

It's honestly probably gotten loud in there. Marc demanding to get out and DO something about it while Jake is in pain and sad about his lost friend. 

"Sorry. Didn't mean to yell. A man...A Friend...Was killed tonight. Cop. I was thirty feet away. I couldn't stop it. Didn't even know it was happening until it was over." 

Steven is struggling to handle things inside. 

Marlene: "What are you going to do about it?" 

Steven: "Me? Nothing of course. We know what Spector would do--Grab a machine gun and start cutting down suspects until he found the right one!" 

Marlene: "Moon Knight?" 

Steven: "Moon Knight." 

He tells Frenchie to get ready. He wants Moon Knight out there doing something. 

Moon Knight heads to the police precinct. 

It's a hot night in New York and this makes people dangerous. The cops are overworked and understaffed. 

We see a chaotic station of cops asking for backup, dangerous criminals starting a fight in the office, and one cop who claims to be a transfer but no one can find his paperwork. 

As the Sargent tries to figure out the paperwork on the new guy, Mondnacht, the fight gets serious and he has to run out to help. 

The new guy is left alone in the Sargent's office to start looking through files. 

Mondnacht.... Mond-nacht. REALLY? Moon-night. 

"'Pt. Mondnacht' had a whole strategy for getting into police headquarters--and didn't need it. Life's like that. Not that it mattered. Moon Knight had what he wanted." 

Moon Knight now has a list of the duty roster. 

"The plan smacked of Spector, but it was a good one. Find out which cops were handling the case and read their files. The names were on the pilfered duty roster." 

Moon Knight heads to the office of the first name on the list. 

"The empty station house seemed full of ghosts to Moon Knight. Like he was one of them. A ghost. Or maybe it was the air. You don't get these feelings in the sunlight. 

Or maybe it was me, not Moon Knight. Where do I go when Moon Knight takes over? Or Lockley? Or Spector? Maybe WE'RE the ghosts." 

Jumping up and down screaming and pointing people. Look. Look. Steven is starting to ask questions. 

Moon Knight breaks into the office by picking a lock. "One more skill gleaned from Spector." 

Steven wonders where the skills are learned and who can access them. If Marc has a skill and Moon Knight uses it, is it Marc using his skill? How do they share? 

Moon Knight digs through the files and makes a discovery. But he's interrupted! 

The detective is not happy to have Moon Knight there. 

Moon Knight asks him why there are no suspects listed in the case after so many days and so many dead. 

The detective tries to arrest him for interfearing and breaking into the office. 

Moon Knight tells him that he's on his side. 

"Not on THIS case. This is a departmental matter." 

This gets his attention. 

"I wanted the cop to keep talking --But from somewhere, Spector screamed, 'Jump him!' Moon Knight only heard Spector." 

And there he goes… Jumping out the window again… At least Flint wasn’t there this time. Maybe I should start a ‘jumps out window counter too’. 

Moon Knight heads up to the chopter to discuss with Frenchie what he learned. 

"Ever hear of the Kingpin?" 

Oh shit! We got Wilson Fisk people! Moon Knight has officially made it into the Marvel New York Universe! 

"Few people messed with the Kingpin of crime. Fewer lived to talk about it. We had to beat the odds. The files proved that each murdered cop had busted a kingpin operation--and the fat man bore grudges." 

You don't just sneak into Kingpin's building. He's got more security than fort knox. 

So of course Moon Knight....

Right through the window… 

Well, at least Wilson is blunt about it. 

Moon Knight takes out all the goons and demands answers from Fisk. 

Fisk tells him that he bought the cops and had the cases they were working on dropped. 

Moon Knight is pretty upset, declaring that one of the cops was his friend and couldn't possibly be corrupt. 

Fisk doesn't care. He knows where his money goes. 

"My reputation for violence is useful....But there are cleaner methods of dealing with people. MOST men have their prices. I can meet most prices. Your friend and his fellow officers had their prices." 

And Moon Knight makes a rooky mistake. He lets Kingpin get up close to him. 

Everyone always assumes that the fat man is just money and blubber. 

Everyone always forgets just how freakishly powerful Kingpin really is. 

It takes one solid punch from fisk to knock him out cold. 

Luckily, Fisk has more ideas than killing. 

He tells his goons to set Moon Knight free up on the roof. He wants his contacts at the station to give Moon Knight everything he needs to solve the case. 

The cop killer is killing HIS bought cops and he wants the killings to end. 

"Though woozy, Moon Knight heard everything. He feigned unconsciousness as they dragged him up the stairs." 

The thugs drag Moon Knight to the roof. 

"Spector clicked in. He didn't like being knocked around--And he was ready to take it out on anyone." 

He springs up and knocks around the thugs a bit before heading to the copter and taking off. 

Meanwhile, the two sargents Moon Knight was looking into have also just seen the Kingpin. 

They have their orders and are on their way to carry them out. 

As they head out, another car speeds past them at top knotch. 

They call for backup as they give chase. 

Moon Knight and Frenchie catch their radio signal in the chopper. 

Frenchie asks if they should get involved. 

"Sounds like routine business. We have better things to do." 

Steven: "Moon Knight voiced Spector's thoughts. I wanted to get involved. For all his skill, Spector can be so bloody blind." 

We see the Sargents corner the speeding car. They recognize the driver. Just as they are about to ask why he's speeding around so fast, he pulls a gun on them and opens fire. 

The suspect yells "I know what you're doing and I know where you've been!" as he fires. 

So he has been gunning down the crooked cops working for Kingpin. 

One cop is dead, the other frantically calls for help on the radio. 

Moon Knight picks up the signal and they rush over in the chopper. 

Moon Knight arrives too late to stop it.

Moon Knight arrives as the one cop tries to warn him. He manages to get out “Looey”, but it all sounds like gibberish. 

The suspect comes from behind and pulls his gun on Moon Knight. 

"I only want the bad ones. Not you. Investigations don't stop them. Commissions don't stop them. When a cop turns bad, nobody's safe! You know what I mean! I never hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it!" 

As the man rants, Moon Knight quietly reaches for his truncheon under his cape. 

He's too late! When he turns around, the suspect is gone. 

"Moon Knight had failed to stop the killer -- And deep inside, we weren't sure now we wanted to." 

The killer is going after crooked cops working for kingpin. 

Before he can think about it, the police show up. Moon Knight makes a break for it and the cops prepare to open fire. 

A Sargent steps in and tells them all to hold their fire. 

"He has it on good authority that Moon Knight's not our man!" 

And an old partner shows up late, claiming he was stuck in traffic. 

Now, if I know my Moon Knight crime comics, I'm willing to bet one of these men is the killer. Let's see if I'm right. 

Back at headquarters, we see the old partner returning. He's there to fill out paperwork and Moon Knight follows. 

"Don't turn around, De Rais! You gave me a break--and I'm giving you one! I know your secret--and I sympathize. I know what it's like to do evil in the name of good!" 

Moon Knight explains that he knew the matters were a departmental matter, leading him to believe it was a cop that was the killer. He also theorizes that Looey meant Lieutenant, which is what De Rais is. 

He warns him that Kingpin has a man inside the investigation. Since it isn't him, that leaves the Sargent. 

He tells him that the killing must stop. "Stop now, before you're caught -- Or you mke me come after you!" 

And Moon Knight leaves him. 

Of course the guy figures his next move is to take care of the Sargent and then worry about Moon Knight later. 

Steven is...Idealistic. 

"That was supposed to be the end of it. Time would pass and people would forget and the case would go unsolved, like the Jack the Ripper killings. It was clear when I returned to my mansion that it wouldn't work that way." 

Marlene can't believe that they let the killer go. 

"He's not a mad dog, Marlene--And his victims deserved what they got! I found that out!" 

"His motives don't matter! He's still a killer!" 

"You forget--So am I!" 

Marc is still angry and fighting for a say in it all. Steven puts the reigns back on him, but Marc is still pretty upset. 

I find it funny that Steven KNOWS Marc used to box, and when he’s angry and struggling with Marc, he always goes to the punching bag to work out the angry Marc energy. 

We see the sargent return to his home across town. It's a lavish apartment that far exceeds a police officer's payrole. 

He finds an envelope of cash on his table and gets a phone call. He has orders to take out his partner, permanently. 

Sargent calls his old partner, asking to meet him at his place. 

Both men are setting a trap. 

Steven tries to call De Rais but gets no answer. He worries that De Rais is going after the Sargent. 

While looking up the Sargent's number, Marlene takes pause. The Sargent's full name is Louis Fulcanelli. LOOEY! 

So is it the Sargent or is it the lieutenant?? 

Spector wants to go seek out the Sargent's home. Moon Knight decides to head to De Rais's place. 

For once, Moon Knight takes the lead. 

The two cops meet up and Sargent gets the upper hand, holding De Rais at gun point. 

It's all laid out on the table now. Sargent Louie is the cop killer and De Rais is working for Kingpin. 

They argue on who is in the right. De Rais gets the upper hand and takes a shot, hitting Sargent in the shoulder. 

Look at that dramatic entrance. He’s always gotta make an entrance and an exit. 

Sargent cheers that Moon Knight is on his side. 

"We can work together! CLean up the department for good..." 

Moon Knight turns to Sargent. He tells him that after a trip to the hospital for the gunshot wound, he's going to jail. 

"You're a killer...As Bad in your way as the men you've killed... And I have to be better than that!" Moon Knight kicks away the gun and calls the police. 

We jump ahead to a fancy restaurant where Steven is dining with Marlene. 

She asks what happened with Sargent. 

Steven tells her that he was put away under psychiatric observation, though he believes that in a way he is saner than a lot of people and in a way, a good man. 

"You did the right thing, Steven." 

"Too bad the right thing isn't always the decent thing. Well, I can live with that. And if Marc Spector would ever accept it--He might become a whole man again." 

And we end on glasses of wine clinking. 

OKAY. There was a lot in this comic. Like..A LOT. 

Steven narrating (And this is big because we don’t get a lot of Steven’s perspective in the old runs, much less in current runs where half the time they forget Steven exists!), Jake being the good buddy he is and losing friends despite it all, and Marc fighting with Steven and Moon Knight. 

We get Moon Knight acting on his own, but also under heavy influence from Steven and Marc. Moon Knight is a really special case and I’d need to do more research into alter roles and presentation to really speculate what sort of person he is. He’s his own person, but sometimes he seems to act under heavy direction from the others. And I have my suspicions but I don’t feel it’s my place to do a full call out. 

We also have another moral decision on their hands. The choice they were forced to make with Stained Glass Scarlet still weighs heavily on them and not all of them are in agreement that it was the right choice. It haunts them and will continue to do so for a long time. 

Being faced with a killer who is trying to clean up a corrupt department of cops, and the corrupt cops…. The system is at odds on what to do. 

And Steven Grant chooses what he views as the high road. He strives to be better than Marc Spector. He feels like he and Moon Knight and Jake HAVE to be better than Marc, or it was all for not. Sometimes this leads them to go against Marc just to be contrary. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. 

We see Marc argue to do things that could have saved some of the cops, but we also see Marc argue to do some things that lead to deaths. 

Steven is taking the role of Gate Keeper and in his eyes, this means keeping Marc out. He views Marc as a threat to their very wellbeing. Unfortunately, this is also causing strife in the system and inter-system arguments and fights for control. 

We also start to see Steven view Marc as a wounded man that needs to be corrected and healed. He starts to get notions that if Marc can see and start to act in a more just manner without his temper and urge to hurt those that hurt them, then maybe they can heal and become overall a single better person. 

We see what is often seen as a huge controversial problem solve of “Final Fusion” when it comes to DID. I’m not going to get into that. I have my own opinions on it, but it isn’t my place to discuss them without someone that actually has any say on it present. 

Steven believes that Marc can go away and they can start to live as one man that can act justly. He sees Marc as “THE PROBLEM”. And this is going to cause further issues in their system that is just starting to figure itself out. 

We’ll see more of this start to pop up later on. 

Pretty excited about this issue! Hope you liked it!