Editor's Note: Moon Knight #18 arrives in stores tomorrow, May 7.

"God and Country: Part Five"

Are you currently on an Iron Man kick? Are you looking for appearances by Tony Stark throughout the Marvel Universe? Well this week, Tony Stark appears in one of Marvel's best titles, Moon Knight. It's been building since Charlie Huston left the title and Mike Benson took over. The inevitable confrontation between Moon Knight and Iron Man finally takes place in this issue. For those who are curious as to why Iron Man is confronting Moon Knight, the answer lies in previous issues of this fantastic series following Civil War. Moon Knight has his superhuman registration card, acquired through some unconventional means in Moon Knight #13. He's been legally beating the snot out of bad guys while at the same time being framed by his old, re-emerging nemesis Black Spectre. So now, the father of the superhuman registration act is investigating Moon Knight and how exactly he got the card. While this is happening, Carson Knowles continues his transformation back into the ultra-violent Black Spectre. Be ready, readers, this is one of the most intense and insane comics I have ever read.

As a fan of this book and with an adoration of the character, I would love to see Moon Knight use a moon dart as a can opener and toss Tony Stark around like a rag doll. However, that wouldn't exactly be prudent. Spector has nothing against Stark, and he doesn't need to be even further on Tony's bad side. However, what we get in the opening scene of this issue is masterfully crafted dialogue between Tony and Marc. Tony references Marc's history of "extreme behavior" and Marc responds by threatening Tony and then breaking a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's wrist. I mean seriously, this opening scene basically sums up how bad-ass this book is. Here's Marc Spector, a guy with three personalities, surrounded by fully armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Iron Man, and what does he do? He essentially throws his middle fingers up and tells Tony to bring it. On top of all that he still has time to make some smart-ass comments to Stark. I mean, I'll take this over Moon Knight prying open Tony's chest and ripping out his shrapnel flooded heart any day. What Mike Benson does in this scene makes you laugh at the pure bad-assery of Moon Knight, scream "f**k yeah!" to Moon Knight's dialogue and reactions to Stark and also make you scared to death of the character. However, Tony does flex his titanium covered muscles and his S.H.I.E.L.D. badge by suspending Moon Knight's card and putting him under investigation. Sure I love his movie, but Tony has always got to be the buzz-kill.

But the buzz and madness of this issue doesn't stay dead for too long. The next scene opens with a man being chased and a battle-axe flying into his back. Actually, there's also a beheading as the Black Spectre returns to his full, violent glory. I know there are a lot of people who wish Moon Knight was a MAX series and was allowed to just let loose. I've got to be honest though, I like it just the way it is. The creative team behind this book, particularly Huston, Benson, Assistant Editor Daniel Ketchum and Editor Axel Alonso are flirting with the MAX line but staying clear of crossing it. This book is like an intense PG-13 movie that gets a "TV-MA" rating when it hits cable. Truth be told, the closest comparison I can make for this book is the upcoming film, The Dark Knight. At least every message board on the web has a group of people who believe that The Dark Knight should be rated "R." However, because it is Batman, it has to appeal to a wider audience. The same can more or less be said about Moon Knight. It's intense, it's violent, but it's also one of Marvel's best and most underrated books. Thus, keeping it from a MAX label may help it appeal to a wider audience. Yes, there's some flawed logic there, but I hope you get the idea.

The Black Spectre is completely insane in this issue. He's a great super-villain because not only does he look evil, he is completely evil. Sure, he has his motivations for wanting to go after Moon Knight, but he's also not the type of villain that's going to spare any lives getting to what he wants. Aside from the battleaxe kill and the beheading, he also crushes a guy with his mace. He's looking for something that some old associates have and when he finds it, you realize that this man is not going to pull any punches. He comes across a storage unit full of high tech Stark weaponry. What I find fascinating about this issue is that it begins with Stark confronting Moon Knight about being a "bad guy" and in the next few pages we see the actual bad guy picking up Stark weapons to use for his own evil purposes. The main weapon in question is a nerve toxin that releases nanites to place anyone infected under the control of whoever injects himself with an opposite formula. The guy who was storing all the stuff reveals to the Black Spectre that Stark developed it for interrogations. Who is the bad guy now, Mr. Stark?

At this point, we're only about halfway through the issue and the madness hasn't even begun to pick up. We are treated to one of those fantastic scenes with Spector and the Bushman/Khnoshu ghost where they argue over Spector's role and how he shouldn't listen to Stark. The ghost wants Spector to kill Stark and continue his "sacrificing" of bodies to Khonshu. Here is where we get an excellent insight into what Marc Spector wants that relates back to the first few issues of this series. He doesn't want to be just a killer, and he still hates the person he is inside.

Things start to get really intense as the Black Spectre shows up and beats the crap out of Marc. We also get a brilliantly written "villain speech" from the Black Spectre as he stands over Spector's beaten body. I hate to give the "point by point" breakdown of this book, but everything builds up to an appearance from Jake Lockley's (one of Spector's alter-ego) old informant, Crawley. The scene with Crawley relates back to the early issues of this series when Spector was hooked on pain killers and doubted himself completely. Here, Spector once again doubts his role as Iron Man has taken Moon Knight from him and the Black Spectre is setting out to destroy his life. He wants Crawley to bring the pain pills, which Crawley confiscated early in the series.

Once more, we are treated to a brilliantly written scene, one that boggles the mind when thinking about Marc Spector. This scene is truly intense, it is emotional and it is completely mind-blowing. Crawley, who still refers to Marc as Jake, tries to convince him to stop whining and go out and be Moon Knight. Even as Spector pathetically utters "I don’t know what’s real," Crawley still pushes. Crawley offers a wonderful insight into his character, explaining that being part of Moon Knight's battle against evil has given Crawley a purpose. So when Marc continues to wallow, what does Crawley do? He literally slaps him around a little bit. You've really got to read this book, this scene just culminates the intensity and the insanity surrounding this issue and Mike Benson might really need to be writing a few more books. There's a great moral to Crawley's "smack-down." Crawley views Marc as his hero, his savior. All Marc wants is to be a hero, and the fact that he has impacted one person's life has re-invigorated Marc to the point of breaking out the spare costume. Of course, this is a good thing given the ending of the issue.

Mark Texiera's artwork is the strongest it has been on this title yet. It's dark, intense and I've said it before: Tex's artwork really complements Benson's writing style. He makes the Black Spectre look like the scariest villain this side of the universe. He manages to keep the violence well on that line between "PG-13" and "R." Of course, Dan Brown's colors only add to Tex's style, and it comes together beautifully. The darker tone of Tex's work and Brown's coloring really adds to the mind-boggling nature of the story. I also love the way that the tone and background get brighter as Crawley explains that marc is his hero. Everything just comes together extremely well in terms of the art and when held up against the story.

I've got to tell you, read this issue. If you've never read Moon Knight, at least give this issue a try. Mike Benson's story and dialogue are extremely well-done, the artwork is fantastic and you may find yourself loving the mind-trip that reading Moon Knight may put you on. This is definitely one of the most insane and intense issues of a comic I have ever read. Benson continues to deliver and this title continues to shine. This is my early Pick of the Week.

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