This is an issue that tends to be bring out extreme opinions (if considered at all). There tends to be two sides. One, views the book as representative of what was wrong with ’90s comics, the second wave and offspring of the Image founders being put into the spotlight once again at Marvel comics. The other (where I guess I’d place myself) remembers the event of this issue, an obscure title from a publisher who was the market leader who had most of its headlining artistic ‘style’ recently move on.
People talk about the LCS experience, and for me I think that experience is basically a product of nostalgia now chiefly for this reason: due to the digital age, for many fans the LCS is no longer a place of introductions. Pre-net, for the majority of buyers, when you went to an LCS it was the first time you saw a cover of that month’s books. I want to remind (or if you’re young, alert) people of truth/reality of setting at that time (1993). One day you went into the rack and saw Moon Knight going one to the other:
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I remember going to the shop, and witnessing for the first time people talking Moon Knight. Moon Knight. Like Wolverine getting his adamantium pulled out by Magneto-level shop talk. Note, I’m not unmindful of the great work in previous material related to the character by Moench and the legendary Sienkewicz, but people have to remember that for that current generation even recent comic book history was not just a click and a connection to the net away. If you were 14 then, McFarlane was Spider-Man, Claremont and Lee were X-Men, and Liefeld was the New Mutants. All 3 titles obviously have a storied past prior to those creators (don’t sleep on New Mutants–some really talented people worked on that title), but that was the current reality, and not one I was complaining about. Then, what you knew was read in your own hands from the issue–it was what you saw in physical form. That day I walked into the LCS and saw enthusiasm over a random issue of Moon Knight was one of the moments that has stayed with me from this hobby.
SPLATT!
Stephen Platt went from showing up stealth on the radar to the most talked about thing going–even if it was only for a minute–and when he drew another issue that featured Spider-Man on the cover (Moon Knight#57), people were wondering if Marvel could in fact just find and slot replacements for the biggest stars in the industry (note: I define ‘stars’ in possessing the most important quality that matters in an industry based on monthly sales—the ability to put and keep asses in seats.) We wouldn’t get the chance to find out, as Rob Liefeld quickly moved to bring Platt over and put him on Prophet (I believe Platt was about to be given Marvel’s Cable).
To this day, Moon Knight#55 carries a premium price tag. All of the Platt issues outpace the rest of the issues in the series (even if not fantastically), but #55 is still an oddly strong issue that will always get a 3 digit price of a graded copy. While some would suggest a lower print run as being part of the equation, these issues wouldn’t be substantially lower than those that came before. Also, relative to today I’d wager a lower print run then still leaves for a lot of copies available now–these aren’t tough issues. While I suggest that the elevated price is probably unjustified by even the liberal and forgiving definition of collectors or hobby enthusiasts, I’m also somebody who has spent quite a bit grabbing up high grade copies when I come across them (I probably have 30 raw NM/NM+ copies, and I have at least one two graded copies).
In the end I feel it stands as one of those issues where its most staunch fans and most adamant detractors share at least one common characteristic–it’s more than likely neither have ever actually read the issue. Know who the writer is? Love or hate it, everybody knows who drew the cover. An odd part of me loves comics more for that. This issue created a moment, if only for that moment. And left a line.
