Reddit reviews Moon Knight Vol. 1: The Bottom (Moon Knight (2006-2009))

I've been reading comics for a while but haven't read any Moon Knight yet and plan on doing so before the show comes out.

The main runs for beginners are:

Charlie Huston/David Finch's Run (Moon Knight #1-13) (this revitalized the character for the modern day)
Warren Ellis/Declan Shalvey's Run (Moon Knight #1-6) (critically acclaimed run)
Jeff Lemire/Greg Smallwood (Moon Knight #1-14) (another critically acclaimed run)

It would probably be easier by using Marvel Unlimited (Marvel's Netflix style subscription to comics)

Or if you want the physical copies your local comic book store. You can try Amazon but it could hard since certain books are out of print.

Huston/Finch's Run Vol. 1 + Vol. 2 - on Amazon
Ellis/Shalvey's Run - on Amazon
Lemire/Smallwood's Run - on Amazon

NOTE: You don't strictly have to read the runs in order. It's like watching Age of Ultron then going back and watching Thor 2. As long as you understand the basic chronology (Huston->Ellis->Lemire) you can read them in any order you want. I've been told the runs are pretty compartmentalized/modular.

Also if you plan on getting Marvel Unlimited it works best with using the app (like on a tablet or a big phone). You can try the browser but I always found it too clunky.

I am always excited when people ask me about what trades to get. However, it is a very difficult thing to do because the answer isn't a simple one. One of the major problems with collecting Moon Knight Trades is that almost half of his solo stories have not been reprinted in trade format. In fact, until very recently, there wasn't a single Moon Knight Trade reprinting any of his comics prior to 2006. What that means is that most people who have only recently discovered Moon Knight have not had a chance to read any of his classic stories. Why this matters, is that when I mention what I think you should read, it is dependent upon what I love about Moon Knight. I started reading Moon Knight in the early 90's after finding many of his original series in the 25 cent boxes. Over the years my collection expanded, and turned into a legitimate obsession. I have now read every Moon Knight comic, and am attempting to collect every comic in which he has appeared. With that said, I still to this day swear that the original Moon Knight series is the best and most essential to understanding why people initially loved the character. A biased opinion, to be sure, but it is how I feel. After that, I would say that the last two volumes come in second, with the other series being distributed behind that.

Classic Moon Knight Stories

There are two ways you can go about reading the classic material. Recently Marvel released two Epic Collections of Moon Knight featuring full color reprints of a lot of the original stuff. They can still be purchased easily on Amazon or ebay for a good price.

1.) Moon Knight Epic Collection: Bad Moon Rising Start here. This reprints his first appearance, first solo stories, and the first 4 issues of his first Volume.

2.) Moon Knight Epic Collection: Shadows of the Moon This reprints 5-23 of his first Volume and picks up right after the previous Epic Collection.


Alternatively, Marvel published 3 volumes of their Essentials line, which are black and white reprints of material at a very affordable price. The lack of full color is a downer, but it also means they reprinted far more material than the recent Epic collections have, and for far cheaper. They are harder to find now, but still can be done for a great price.

1.) Essential Moon Knight - Volume 1 This reprints his first appearance, first solo stories, various guest appearances, and the first 10 issues of the first volume.

2.) Essential Moon Knight - Volume 2 This reprints #11-30 of his first volume.

3.) Essential Moon Knight - Volume 3 This reprints the last issues of his first volume, the entirety of volume 2, Various solo stories from other comics, and the first 2 issues of the Marc Spector series.

Modern Moon Knight Stories:

4.) Moon Knight Vol. 1: The Bottom This is the first volume of the 2006 series. This is Moon Knight's start in the current Marvel Era. Unfortunately there is no reprints for some of the important stuff from the 90's to fill in the gaps, but Huston does a good job of bringing readers into the story.

5.) Moon Knight Vol. 2: Midnight Sun Volume 2 of 2006 series.

6.) Moon Knight Vol. 3: God & Country Volume 3 of 2006 series.

7.) Moon Knight Vol. 4: The Death of Marc Spector Volume 4 of 2006 series.

8.) Moon Knight Vol. 5: Down South Volume 5 of 2006 series.

Next we skip the Vengeance of the Moon Knight series, as well as Bendis' 2010 Moon Knight series. They just aren't very important, and don't really match the tone and character of the majority of all Moon Knight comics.

9.) Shadowland: Moon Knight Not the greatest story, but has some important relevance to Moon Knight lore.

10.) Moon Knight Vol. 1: From The Dead This is the start of Ennis run, which essentially changed everything.

11.) Moon Knight Vol. 2: Dead Will Rise

12.) Moon Knight Vol. 3: In The Night

13.) Moon Knight Vol. 1: Lunatic

14.) Moon Knight Vol. 2: Reincarnations

15.) Moon Knight Vol. 3: Birth and Death

OP if you’re interested in learning about Moon Knight and why the character has such a strong cult following, I’d personally recommend checking out Moon Knight Vol. 1: The Bottom as a good place to start