Moon Knight - Publication History

Publication History

The character debuted in the title Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975), written by Doug Moench with art by Don Perlin, as an enemy of the title character in a two part story continuing in issue #33. The character proved popular with readers, and was granted a solo spot in Marvel Spotlight #28-29 (1976), written by Doug Moench with art by Don Perlin.

He then had appearances in Spectacular Spider-Man issues #22 and #23 (September/October 1978), both written by Bill Mantlo with art by Mike Zeck on #22 and Jim Mooney on #23; Marvel Two-in-One #52, written by Steven Grant with art by Jim Craig; and Defenders #47-50. Moon Knight then gained a backup strip in the Hulk! Magazine in issues #11-15, #17-18, and #20, as well as Marvel Preview #21 (on which he was the cover feature), all written by Doug Moench. Art was done by Gene Colan in #11, Keith Pollard in #12, and Bill Sienkiewicz on the rest. These were reprinted in Moon Knight Special Edition #1-3.

A new ongoing series was then launched, titled Moon Knight, which also had writing by Doug Moench and art by Bill Sienkiewicz. With issue #15, Marvel pulled the series from newsstand distribution, resulting in it being only available through direct market purchase at comic book stores. The series continued until #38, at which point the comic was cancelled. A six-issue miniseries, Moon Knight - Fist Of Khonshu by Alan Zelenetz and Chris Warner followed the cancellation to try and establish a new status quo, but it was cancelled after six issues. Afterwards, the character was incorporated into the pages of West Coast Avengers from issue #21 through issue #41 and Annuals #1-3. After an appearance in Punisher Annual #2 in 1989, the character was once more given an ongoing series, this time titled Marc Spector: Moon Knight. At the time, Moon Knight also had a major guest star role in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, as The Amazing Spider-Man #353-358 served as the conclusion to an ongoing storyline in the pages of the character's title, as far as the character's war with the Secret Empire. The series was ultimately canceled with issue #60 (March 1994); the last six issues of the series were drawn by Stephen Platt, who was hired by Image Comics based on the strength of his work on the series. Two one-shots were published during the run of the title, (Marc Spector: Moon Knight Special Edition #1 and Moon Knight: Divided We Fall) were published, followed in January 1998 and January 1999 by two further four-issue limited series, which resurrected the character as the 1989 series had ended with the character's death.

A Moon Knight ongoing series was launched in April 2006, written by Charlie Huston with art by David Finch. As of issue 14 of this series, Mike Benson took over writing duties with Huston acting as story-outline adviser according to Benson in an interview with Marvel published as a one-page excerpt in various Marvel comic books throughout late 2007 and early 2008. Peter Milligan also wrote a 2008 seasonal one-shot "Moon Knight: Silent Knight" with artist Laurence Campbell. The 2006 series ended with issue #30 (July 2009), and only one Annual in the series was printed in 2008.

A ten-issue series titled Vengeance of the Moon Knight began in September 2009, written by Gregg Hurwitz and drawn by Jerome Opena. After Vengeance of the Moon Knight was canceled, Moon Knight was placed in the team book Secret Avengers, in the Shadowland three issue storyline and in a 2010 relaunch of Heroes for Hire all in preparation for the then-upcoming Brian Bendis/Alex Maleev 2011 relaunch, which ended in April 2012, with #12 being the last issue.

Moon Knight will be returning in the Age of Ultron 10 part series, starting March 2013.