Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Moon Knight appears! Marvel Team-Up #7

Moon Knight! That should really be all it takes to get you old-school Marvel fans to try out Marvel Team-Up #7. Just in case the first time didn't do, allow me to repeat myself: Moon Knight! Now onto the rest of the book.

The new Marvel Team-Up series by Robert Kirkman and Scott Kolins has everything comic book fans could possibly want in a super-hero comic. It has loads of continuity references to thrill long-time fans, but it doesn't get tied down by the continuity. It has continuing, involved story-arcs, but each issue also has a pretty satisfying chunk of story on its own. It has tons of action, but also plenty of humor and character moments. Best of all, it has the entire cast of the Marvel Universe to star in its pages. Any hero or villain that ever appeared in any Marvel comic can pop into these pages, and quite a few of them have turned up in just the first few issues.

Kirkman, who is also the writer of such slices of comics excellence as The Walking Dead and Invincible, really seems to be enjoying the chance to play with all of these great characters. Sure, he has made use of obvious choices like Spidey, Captain America, and the Hulk, but some great lesser known characters, like Nova and Moon Knight, are showing up as well. Kolins's art just adds to the fun. Kolins draws amazing action sequences and his clean-lines show off the rotating cast of characters in truly classic form.

Marvel Team-Up #7 kicks off a new story arc and teams up the always loveable Spider-Man with Moon Knight, a cool character who has not headlined a title of his own for far too long. Moon Knight, for those who have shamefully forgotten, is a bit like Batman with more of a mystical side. He has all the best super-hero toys to work with, and his banter with a very envious Spidey is a highlight of the issue. And if Spidey and Moon Knight aren't enough for you, this issue also features the villainous Ringmaster, Constrictor, AND a fragment of the Cosmic Cube!

If you like classic comic book action and the pure sense of fun that is missing from too many series nowadays, you really should be reading Marvel Team-Up. Now is your chance! This week Marvel Team-Up #7 is Four Color Fantasies' guaranteed Book of the Week. This COULD be the start of the Moon Knight revolution, and you don't want to be left behind when the revolution begins. (Did I mention that Moon Knight is in this book?)

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