Marc Spector, also known as Moon Knight is a superhero comic character that appears in American comic books published under Marvel Comics. He first appeared in the comic series, Werewolf by the Night issue #32, released in August 1975. The character, Moon Night, was created by Dough Moench, alongside the artist, Don Perlin.
Moon Knight has been regarded as the ranked 149th greatest comic book character of all time, given by Wizard Magazine. Aside from that, he was also listed as IGN’s 49th greatest comic book character on their list of top fifty Avengers.
Moon Knight Comic Origin
Born in the United States, Marc Spector (the Moon Knight) was the son of a rabbi who had managed to escape Nazi persecution when Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia. He was raised in Chicago, where his father, Elias, became the target of discrimination. During this time, Marc could not understand why his father never fights back against persecution.
Discovered by chance, Marc learned that a close friend of his father, Rabbi Yitz Perlman alias Ernst, was in fact, a Nazi deserter and actually a Jewish serial killer.For the first time, Marc’s battle instinct kicked off as he fended off against Perlman and escaped. Perlman eventually vanished without a trace, although this traumatic event had caused a dissociative identity disorder to Marc. Steven Grant and Jake Lockley were the first personas Marc had developed.Because of this, his father, Elias, had decided to confine Marc at the Putnam Psychiatric Hospital. Shortly before that, Marc was confronted by an Egyptian deity, Khonshu,who claimed to be Marc’s real ancestor. When Elias died, Marc was allowed to attend his father’s funeral. However, he ran away after the funeral when he wasenthralled by Khonshu’s voice.
After his escape, Marc then enlisted and spent three years in the Marines. However, on his second tour, his superiors took note of Marc’s strange behavior. Marc was dishonorably discharged after his history had been dug up. He eventually joined the CIA and interacted with several people, including Dennis Lardner, William Cross, and his own brother, Randall Spector.There was an instance that Spector’s girlfriend, Lisa, was murdered by his brother, Randall, to keep her from exposing a gun-running scheme; Spector retaliated with a grenade and thought Randall was dead.Upon leaving the CIA, Spector became engaged in criminal wars, where he became a colleague of Frenchie Duchamp, and they both became soldiers for hire.
Marc Spector as Moon Knight
Frenchie, the pilot, and Spector have taken different assigned tasks, primarily in Africa and South America. Spector also went to trial after killing the president of Bosqueverde, a country in South America. Subsequently, he and Frenchie had taken a job for Raul Bushman in Egypt. Spector had been working for the money, while Bushman seemed to enjoy plundering and killing. Bushman also killed Peter Alraune, an archaeologist, to find the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh. However, when Bushman was about to kill Alraune’s daughter, Marlene, Spector punched Bushman to protect her. Furious Bushman wounded him severely in the desert and killed almost everyone in the place except Marlene, Frenchie, and a villager who’s willing to tell him the tomb’s secrets.Before he died, Spector managed to reach the tomb, so Marlene and the crew laid him beneath a Khonshu statue. His spirit met Khonshu, who had vowed to save his life in return for his help. Spector agreed, but he later felt this experience was a hallucination. Restored to life, he punished the people of Bushman, while Bushman fled.
Spector committed himself completely, after eventually discovering a purpose in life. He, Frenchie, and Marlene –now his lover, went to New York and took the idol with them. With their assistance, Spector created Moon Knight’s outfit, equipment, and persona.With his fortune, as well as promoting his new role in the fight against crime, he started using his Steven Grant persona as a financier. On the other hand, his second persona, Jake Lockley, became a taxi driver whose aim was to gather information at street level. However, his original character had slipped into the past, with its many facets. Still, it puts tremendous mental stress on Spector to lead four separate lifetimes.
Superpowers and Abilities
Because of his former career as a boxer, U.S. Marine, mercenary, and now, a costumed superhero, Marc Spector has become an expert in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts. Aside from this, some of his skill also includes boxing, kung fu, ninjutsu, judo, eskrima, karate, savate, and Muay Thai. As well as that, he is an Olympic-level competitor, a professional acrobat, gymnast, and a fighting strategist. Throughout his career, he employed a variety of weapons, including throwing darts, nunchaku, and a truncheon. He’s also skilled in using most firearms and is an expert at gun throwing. Also, Spector is a great driver and is capable of piloting a helicopter.In addition, as a result of his visit to the moon god, Khonshu, in Egypt, Spector acquired his supernatural abilities. His strength, stamina, and reflexes are improved according to the Phases of the moon. If the moon is full, the more power Moon Knight draws from it. During a new moon, He can raise several hundred pounds. However, because of his psychological instability, it is not clear how much of that power is mystical and how much is actually the product of self-hypnosis.
Moon Knight is believed to have lost such abilities at some unspecified point in time. He was last seen using his lunar superstrength while with the West Coast Avengers, a team that he left in 1989.He is also immune to certain psychic attacks due to his multiple personalities, although he often experiences prophetic visions. The series shows that Moon Knight possesses a very high pain tolerance, such as ignoring a crossbow that the Taskmaster fired into his shoulder.