Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

And yet, I liked it.   I remember liking other works that Ellis has done more, but there you go.   I also was at a disadvantage, having never read Moon Knight before.  Or really anything where Mr. Knight had a cameo.   And this didn't delve into his past so much, although it did throw a couple older story lines and past allies and villains in with no explanation so I was like what now?

Despite all this and despite me not getting all the endings, I found myself somewhat charmed by the story of Marc Spector, a mercenary who fell under the shadow of Khonsu, an Egyptian god.   The traveller of the night.  He's willing to give Spector another chance, so long as Spector becomes Khonsu's avatar.  

So far, this doesn't appear to be too off: the five aspects of Khonsu are, in fact, his five aspects.   The whole defender of the travelers at night?   Seems legit from what I've read.   His design is a modified, somewhat morbid take - but that bird head is how Khonsu was originally depicted.  They focus a lot on the modern stories, and use Khonsu and the mythology where it makes sense. Combine this with the fact that they stay pretty true to the origins of this god, and I feel that it's a far better representation than the skewed, and quite frankly questionable, relationship Marvel has to the Judeo-Christian mythology where they try to force us into the One-True-God thing.   (As an atheist, I appreciate Marvel's use of mythology and religion when it's trying to say something about a character.   Nightcrawler's Catholicism is part of him: he's always used his faith to overcome his tribulations and to keep him cheered and cheery.   Given his past, and his personality, it makes sense, it feels natural for him, and it's never pushy and preachy.  Thor and Odin and Loki stay true to the nature of their mythological origins, without feeling pushy or preachy, either, and are used as the story calls for them.    Marvel getting into the Heaven debate, or sending Wolverine to hell?   Always ham-fisted.   Always.   I don't know why Marvel insists on including Valhalla and then pushing the 'one true heaven' on us unless they're trying to cater to... someone.   Someone who clearly isn't me.   This tactic only makes me want to learn less about the religions you're telling me about, Marvel!)

Okay, that seemed like a rant that wasn't relevant, but I think it proves that Marvel can do some really weird, and quite frankly squicky, stuff with religion.   Far more bizarre than the presentations in Moon Knight, and I can't help but compare the way mythologies are treated.   I think this is far better: it got me interests in another culture, enough to seek out the original myths and origins instead of pushing me away with their heavy, heavy hands.   If someone is more connected to these myths and sees problematic issues, I'd be interested in hearing that.   The dichotomy that Marvel has set up makes me feel a little more ill the more I think about it: if they are portraying one belief as more important, and I do get the feeling that is the case, then these myths, the Norse and Egyptian myths, are being mined to surround the other belief.   On the other hand, the dichotomy is flawed and strained: Valhalla exists, Khonsu is powerful in his own right, it's just portrayed as less than the Judeo-Christian myth.   So in a way, with what they've set up as true and good and what they've set up as powerful and real, but less good, there's always going to be a problem with myths in Marvel.  

On the other hand, when they deal with something like Khonsu, who seems separate in some ways from the Judeo-Christian aspect of Marvel, it's dealt with in a respectful way that uses research into the actual myths.   Since in his bubble of the Marvel world, Marc Spector, Moon Knight, and Khonsu never seem to come up against the Judeo-Christian world, it doesn't seem to impact them.    Which may mean that Marvel has a larger narrative issue in which their world/the power structures of all the mythologies they've crammed in there is just plain fractured, possibly with no solid resolution.   (Not that it may matter all that much come the end of Battleworld.   Perhaps the merging of the Ultimate and 616 verses will fix some of these issues since, from what I remember, Ultimate didn't have the weird Judeo-Christian power-god/'it is RIGHT' thing going on.  At least not when I was reading that verse.)

It still bothers me, enough to write this many words about it.   It bothers me mostly on a 'well, that's just telling some people they're wrong awkward' type of way, but I never realized how many story-telling/narrative issues I had with it until now.   I like the mythologies better than the pure religion aspects, mostly because Marvel gets less serious and preachy and has more fun with the stories.   The stories and world gets more interesting with the mythologies, as well.   

So to wrap up: intriguing, because I'm less familiar with this mythology, it's pretty accurate from what I can tell, it's fun, the art is amazing, and it's well written even if kinda odd in an open-ended way that knocked this down to a three star review since I went 'huh, wait, it's done?' at the end of a couple issues.   

I'm really looking forward to when MU has the next full volume up, though, and hoping I like that better.   The writer and artist are changing, but I like the new writer as well.