This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the earliest 1970s appearances of the Marvel character Moon Knight.
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT Vol 1 #32 (Aug 1975)
Title: The Stalker Called Moon Knight
Villains: The Committee
NOTE: Jack Russell (Americanized from Russoff) was an established Marvel character who suffered from the family curse of lycanthropy. Jack faced several horrors while seeking a cure for his family curse.
Synopsis: In Los Angeles, Jack’s recurring foes the Committee have returned and still want to force Jack to become their unwilling Werewolf assassin. This time around they have hired a ruthless mercenary named Marc Spector and provided him with a costume, silver cestus gloves, silver boots, a silver truncheon and silver crescent moon blades so he can capture the Werewolf for them.
NOTE: This origin for Moon Knight would be retconned in the future, replaced with Khonshu the Moon God empowering and equipping Marc Spector when he was mortally wounded while robbing tombs in Egypt.
Moon Knight arrives at Jack’s Los Angeles apartment, where Jack shows up shortly before the Full Moon rises and turns him into the Werewolf. The pair fight it out through the streets of L.A. while Moon Knight’s helicopter pilot Frenchie abducts Jack’s sister Lissa and girlfriend Topaz.
Moon Knight’s silver weaponry enables him to eventually defeat the Werewolf, given its vulnerability to silver. He knocks out the beast and begins to carry him up the rope ladder to Frenchie’s helicopter hovering overhead.
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT Vol 1 #33 (Sep 1975)
Title: Wolf-Beast vs Moon Knight
Villains: The Committee
Synopsis: As Frenchie pilots the helicopter over Los Angeles, the Werewolf regains consciousness while Moon Knight is carrying him up the rope ladder. Again the pair fight, falling off the rope ladder and ending up in the ocean below.
The duo make their way up to a wharf and resume fighting. Daylight arrives and turns Jack back into his human form. Jack collapses unconscious over the pain which his weaker normal body cannot bear.
At the Committee’s hideout in a waterfront building, Jack is in a cage and the villains anger Moon Knight by saying they are withholding his pay until the moon rises again that night, to make sure the man that the mercenary delivered to them really is a werewolf.
Lissa and Topaz are being held nearby. They refuse to tell the Committee which one of them is Jack’s sister because the villains want to use Lissa as a werewolf killer too, when she reaches 18 and starts her transformations.
The Moon eventually comes up and Jack transforms. The Committee are pleased and pay Moon Knight in cash. Topaz and Lissa tell off the mercenary for delivering Jack to people who will turn him into a killer for their own ends.
That combined with the guilt he was already feeling after seeing Jack’s pain in human form caused by his crescent moon blades give Moon Knight a change of heart. He frees the Werewolf, who begins slaughtering the Committee members and also frees Lissa and Topaz. He then flies off with Frenchie, keeping the Committee’s money.
MARVEL SPOTLIGHT Vol 1 #28 (Jun 1976)
Title: Enter: The Conquer-Lord
Villain: Conquer-Lord
Synopsis: Moon Knight is presented in action in New York City, which we learn is his home base. We readers are told that he has been spending his time since his encounter with the Committee serving as a crimefighting superhero in New York.
At this early stage we are told that Moon Knight’s super-strength comes from having been bitten by the Jack Russell werewolf in L.A. but all the silver in his costume and weaponry prevented him from becoming a werewolf himself. He instead gained superstrength ranging from Spider-Man levels during the nights of the Full Moon to lower levels during the other phases of the moon all the way down to just normal human strength on nights with no moon.
This story also establishes Moon Knight’s three secret identities – Marc Spector, whose career as a high-priced mercenary made him a fortune which he invested and became a millionaire. As that millionaire he uses the identity Steven Grant. To keep up contacts on the street he uses a third identity – cab driver Jake Lockley.
At any rate, one night he defeats seven costumed men who were trying to break into the offices of a candidate for mayor. He then has Frenchie pick him up in the chopper and fly him to Steven Grant’s mansion, where we meet Grant’s butler Samuels and blonde girlfriend Marlene Fontaine, who knows all her man’s identities.
When he learns that the seven costumed men are really corrupt cops working for a costumed villain called Conquer-Lord, Steven becomes cab driver Jake Lockley and investigates. Conquer-Lord is planning to replace the incumbent mayor with his own puppet mayor and control NYC from behind the scenes.
As Steven Grant, he and Marlene use their invitation to that night’s fund-raising dinner for the incumbent mayor to investigate further. When Conquer-Lord and more of his costumed goons raid the fundraiser, Steven becomes Moon Knight and stops C.L. from killing the mayor.
Marlene is badass and subdues two of the ‘Lord’s thugs but Conquer-Lord himself manages to take her prisoner and escapes with her as his hostage.
MARVEL SPOTLIGHT Vol 1 #29 (Aug 1976)
Title: Deadly Gambit
Villain: Conquer-Lord
Synopsis: The mayor is wounded and an ambulance arrives to take him to the hospital. Meanwhile, Conquer-Lord and his remaining men hold Marlene at his lair, dangling over the hungry alligators in his basement pool.
Moon Knight and Frenchie manage to track down Conquer-Lord’s hideout and our hero breaks in. He takes down the thugs but Conquer-Lord plunges him into an elaborate death-trap. It’s a mocked-up chess board with life-sized pieces.
The villain and Moon Knight fight it out among the booby-trapped chess pieces. Ultimately, Conquer-Lord cheats by rising to the floor above, from where he can detonate mines in every square on the chessboard to kill our hero.
Moon Knight escapes in time, defeats C.L. and frees Marlene. Moon Knight becomes Jake Lockley and the lovebirds go out for dinner.
DEFENDERS Vol 1 #46 (Apr 1977)
Title: Who Remembers Scorpio?
Defenders Roster: Hulk, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat and Moon Knight
Villain: Scorpio I
Synopsis: In New York City, Moon Knight catches sight of some shady men following Jack Norriss, an occasional ally of the Defenders, and decides to observe what is going on at a distance.
Meanwhile, at the Defenders’ secret headquarters at the Kyle Richmond Riding Academy in Long Island, Hulk, Valkyrie, Nighthawk and Hellcat are attacked by Scorpio. This is the original Scorpio, a founding member of the supervillain team Zodiac, recurring foes of the Avengers.
Scorpio came there planning to abduct millionaire Kyle Richmond for ransom, little realizing that Kyle is also the Defender called Nighthawk. Hulk, Valkyrie, Nighthawk and Hellcat take on the supervillain, who is wielding one of the cosmic-powered Zodiac Keys. Our heroes drive off Scorpio, who wasn’t expecting this kind of fight.
DEFENDERS Vol 1 #47 (May 1977)
Title: Knight Moves
Villains: Scorpio I and Wonder Man
Synopsis: Moon Knight steps in to save Jack Norriss when the men following him try to seize him against his will. They link up with the other Defenders and it turns out that the men hassling Norriss were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents wanting information on the secret team’s role in the presidential campaign violence during the Nebulon/ Headmen storyline. (Don’t ask.)
Jack, Moon Knight, Valkyrie and Hellcat go to Avengers Mansion. Hellcat wants to access the Avengers’ files on Scorpio I since she had recently tried out for the team before joining the Defenders instead.
Wonder Man (post-death, now an ionic revenant) is on monitor duty that day in Avengers Mansion and he mistakes the three Defenders for intruders so he fights them until it all gets straightened out. Our heroes learn what readers already knew about Scorpio I.
NOTE: Scorpio I was Nick Fury’s evil brother Jake Fury. It turned out Scorpio was only one twelfth of a supervillain team called Zodiac, all based on astrological signs. The Avengers went on to fight Zodiac multiple times over the years.
This first Scorpio was given up for dead in the flood resulting from the end of one of the Avengers-Zodiac clashes and was replaced with a second Scorpio. All the while, Jake Fury laid low and not even the Avengers knew he had survived or know what his current plans are.
Nick Fury shows up, demanding that Wonder Man and the Defenders turn Jack Norriss over to him, claiming S.H.I.E.L.D. just wants to recruit him as an agent. He leaves with Nick, who turns out to be secretly working with his brother Jake, so Norriss is now in Scorpio’s clutches.
DEFENDERS Vol 1 #48 (Jun 1977)
Title: The Secret of Scorpio
Villain: Scorpio I
Synopsis: The Defenders at Avengers Mansion return to the Richmond Riding Academy HQ of their team. Scorpio informs the Defenders that he has Jack Norriss and he demands a big ransom for his return since the team thwarted his attempt to abduct Kyle Richmond for ransom.
The captive Jack Norriss sees Scorpio verbally abusing his brother Nick and ordering him around relentlessly.
Scorpio shows Jack twelve high-tech coffins of sorts called his Theater of Genetics. He claims that with the Zodiac Key and the ransom money he can finish his plans for the twelve subjects in the “coffins” to emerge as super-powered members of his own, New Zodiac.
Moon Knight tries to rescue Norriss while Nighthawk winds up defeated and captured by the Zodiac Key-wielding Scorpio during the ransom delivery. Moon Knight is lucky to escape one of Scorpio’s death traps and goes to round up the other Defenders as Norris and Nighthawk are now held by the villain.
DEFENDERS Vol 1 #49 (Jul 1977)
Title: Rampage
Villains: Scorpio and his New Zodiac
Synopsis: While Moon Knight makes his way from Scorpio’s base all the way out to the Richmond Riding Academy, Nighthawk and Jack Norriss notice how deranged and pathetic Jake Fury is. It turns out that “Nick” is just a S.H.I.E.L.D. Life Model Decoy (LMD) that Scorpio stole over the years and programmed to be meek and submissive to him.
That was because Jake always felt inferior to Nick all their lives. Our heroes point out to Jake how pathetic it is that he’s been reduced to abusing his brother in effigy because of his feelings of inadequacy. Jake points out that the twelve figures in the Theater of Genetics coffins are also LMDs.
Using all the energy left in the Zodiac Key combined with the remaining tech he just bought via the Norriss ransom money, the twelve LMDs will be granted superpowers via cosmic rays. He will then use his New Zodiac to kill every superpowered hero and villain in the world, leaving normal (or in his case “pathetic”) people in charge of the world again, out of the shadow of special, paranormal figures.
Moon Knight, Valkyrie, Hulk and Hellcat are making their way to the Hudson River tunnel that leads to Scorpio’s base. The ever-moody Hulk loses his temper at the thought of diving into the Hudson since he hates water. A battle results with the Defenders trying to calm the Hulk down.
By the time they do and resume their approach to the base, night has fallen. As always, nightfall increases Nighthawk’s strength and he breaks free of his restraints. But it’s too late as Scorpio has already drained the Zodiac Key and his New Zodiac members have emerged from their “coffins.”
Moon Knight, Hulk, Valkyrie and Hellcat burst in and stand beside Nighthawk against the New Zodiac.
DEFENDERS Vol 1 #50 (Aug 1977)
Title: War Against the Zodiac
Villains: Scorpio and the New Zodiac
Synopsis: Hulk, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat and Moon Knight engage in a Battle Royal with the members of the New Zodiac. They each have different powers than the Zodiac villains who repeatedly fought the Avengers but their powers are still based on the signs of the Zodiac.
With the Zodiac Key now drained of power, Scorpio has only his usual scorpion-themed weaponry as he fights beside his creations. Jake Fury (Scorpio) is devastated at the failure of his planned Virgo to fully form and she now lies “dead”.
We now see more about how pathetic Jake is. He is upset because he planned on having Virgo be as submissive to him as his Nick Fury LMD is. He’d finally have a woman who could love his failure self, making him “normal” as he puts it.
Meanwhile, the Defenders don’t have to worry about killing anyone since the New Zodiac are all LMDs so they don’t hold back, especially Valkyrie with her mystic sword Dragonfang. When all his Zodiac members are destroyed or immobilized, Jake Fury laments losing yet again and kills himself.
DEFENDERS Vol 1 #51 (Sep 1977)
Title: A Round with the Ringer
Villain: The Ringer
Synopsis: In the aftermath of the Defenders’ battle with the New Zodiac, they call in the real Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. They mop up and confiscate any tech not yet destroyed in the fighting.
Moon Knight explains how he escaped Scorpio’s death trap back in issue 48. Hellcat tries to put the moves on Jack Norriss. Meanwhile in the Soviet Union, the female Defender called Red Guardian is captured by a superpowered villain who calls himself the Presence.
Time passes and a new supervillain called the Ringer launches a crimewave powered by his high-tech armor but is defeated.
SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #22 (Sep 1978)
Title: Enter: Moon Knight
Villains: Cyclone and the Maggia
Synopsis: Moon Knight has been trying to catch a criminal in the Maggia (Marvel’s Mafia pastiche) to get him to testify against his superiors. Unfortunately, they get to him first and kill him.
Soon, it turns out there is a war being waged between the American-based members of the Maggia and the European-based Maggia gangs. Spider-Man and Moon Knight get caught in the crossfire.
Spider-Man’s old French villain Cyclone is in the U.S. leading some of the Euro-Maggia thugs and he is gaining the upper hand on our heroes.
SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #23 (Oct 1978)
Title: Guess Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb?
Villains: Cyclone, the Masked Marauder and the Maggia
Synopsis: Moon Knight and Spider-Man continue fighting all the criminals, but eventually Cyclone and most of the thugs from both sides escape.
Moon Knight takes Spider-Man to the mansion he owns as Steven Grant and the pair comb through Moon Knight’s extensive records on the Maggia. Ultimately, they figure out that Daredevil and Iron Man’s old foe the Masked Marauder is currently leading the Maggia against Cyclone’s Euro-Maggia.
The next night, our heroes crash a Grant’s Tomb “sit-down” among members of the warring factions. A mammoth battle results, with our heroes capturing Cyclone and the thugs from both sides, but the Masked Marauder escapes.
*** Moon Knight moved on to his own solo series the following month. I’ll cover it in the near future.
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