Marvel Spotlight #28
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Spotlight #28 is the pivotal Bronze Age issue that gave Moon Knight his first solo showcase, transforming him from a morally ambiguous mercenary villain introduced in Werewolf by Night into a functioning street-level hero with a fully realized supporting world. In a single 36-page story, Doug Moench and Don Perlin established the three-identity framework — Marc Spector, millionaire Steven Grant, and cab driver Jake Lockley — that would define Moon Knight's psychological complexity for decades. The issue also introduced the core cast that would anchor every major Moon Knight series that followed: love interest Marlene Fontaine (later Alraune), street informant Bertrand Crawley, diner contact Gena Landers, and butler Samuels. By grounding a costumed hero in a network of street-level aliases and confidants rather than a traditional superhero infrastructure, the Spotlight two-parter began Moon Knight's evolution into one of Marvel's most distinctive studies in identity and trauma.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Moon Knight had debuted just eleven months earlier in Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975) as a hired antagonist, with Moench and Perlin designing the character — including his white costume — specifically to give the werewolf a thematically matched, silver-armed foil and boost the title's sales. Editors Marv Wolfman and Len Wein were sufficiently impressed with reader response that they commissioned a solo vehicle, landing the character in Marvel's try-out anthology Marvel Spotlight for issues #28 and #29. Perlin handled both cover and interior art on the issue, with Irene Vartanoff providing colors and Irv Watanabe on letters under Wolfman's editorial oversight; Perlin later noted that the character was created before Marvel's creator royalty system existed, meaning neither he nor Moench received participation in the character's later commercial success.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First solo Moon Knight story, published June 1976 (cover-dated June 1976, on-sale March 9, 1976); story title: 'The Crushing Conquer-Lord!'
- Written by Doug Moench, art (pencils, inks, and cover) by Don Perlin; colored by Irene Vartanoff; lettered by Irving Watanabe; edited by Marv Wolfman
- First appearances of Marlene Fontaine (later established as Marlene Alraune), Moon Knight's primary love interest; Bertrand Crawley, street informant; Gena Landers, diner contact; and Samuels, Steven Grant's butler — the full supporting cast that carried all subsequent Moon Knight series
- First in-continuity revelation of Moon Knight's three civilian identities: mercenary Marc Spector, millionaire playboy Steven Grant, and undercover cab driver Jake Lockley
- Jack Russell / Werewolf by Night appears in a flashback cameo referencing Werewolf by Night #32–33, directly linking the new solo feature to the character's origin appearances
- Klaus Janson drew the Moon Knight figure on the cover; background images are panels by Don Perlin (confirmed in the letters page of Marvel Spotlight #30)
- Published in three distinct editions: a standard 25-cent US edition, a 30-cent cover price variant with starburst price treatment, and a UK pence edition (10p cover price) — the 30-cent variant being among the rarer Bronze Age price variants
- The story has been reprinted in Essential Moon Knight Vol. 1 (2006, black and white), Moon Knight Special Edition #3 (1983–84, black and white), and in color in the Moon Knight Epic Collection: Bad Moon Rising (2014), which collects the full early run beginning with Werewolf by Night #32
Cast · 8 characters
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Reprints
↩ Reprints [Marvel Hostess Ads] #6 (1976)
Reprinted in Comic Reader #126 (1976), Comic Reader #128 (1976), Super Spider-Man #178 (1976), Super Spider-Man #180 (1976), Frankenstein #9 (1978), Essential Moon Knight #1 (2006), Biblioteca Marvel: Caballero Luna #1 (2007), Moon Knight Epic Collection #1 (2014), Moon Knight Omnibus #1 (2020)
Key issues in Marvel Spotlight
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