Moon Knight #33

Name: Moon Knight #33
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Sep 1983 · Marvel · 0.75 USD; 0.35 GBP; 1.00 CAD

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“Exploding Myths”

★ 1st appearance — Joy Mercado

About this Issue

Moon Knight #33 (cover date September 1983) earns its place in the key-issue catalog primarily as the debut of Joy Mercado, a reporter who would cross publisher lines to become a recurring fixture in the Daily Bugle's newsroom and a significant presence in the Spider-Man family of titles throughout the mid-to-late 1980s. Her introduction here — as an ambitious journalist investigating both street legend Druid Walsh and Moon Knight himself — established a character whose post-debut career eclipsed the series that created her, racking up dozens of appearances across Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, and The Amazing Spider-Man. The issue also represents the tail end of the original Doug Moench run on the volume, a 38-issue series widely regarded as the character's creative foundation. For students of that era's artistic talent pipeline, it stands as an early full-penciling showcase for Kevin Nowlan, whose distinctive draftsmanship was just beginning to make an impression at Marvel.

writer Doug Moench · artist Kevin Nowlan · inker Carl Potts · inker Brent Anderson · inker Joe Chiodo · inker Bill Sienkiewicz · colorist Christie Scheele · letterer Joe Rosen · letterer Rick Parker · cover Bill Sienkiewicz

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $4

CGC 9.8 · 100 in census $58*

CGC 9.6 · 34 in census $32

CGC 9.4 · 27 in census $21

CGC 9.2 · 7 in census $20*

CGC 9.0 · 5 in census $20*

CGC 8.5 · 3 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 none in existence

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $20

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CGC 6.5 · 1 in census $20*

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History

The issue was written by series mainstay Doug Moench, who had shepherded Marc Spector through every issue of this volume since its 1980 launch, and penciled by Kevin Nowlan — an artist who had broken into Marvel only months earlier with *Doctor Strange* #57 (February 1983) and had already contributed backup stories to earlier issues of this same title. Denny O'Neil served as editor, the same editorial hand who had helped shape the expanded Khonshu origin in the series' first issue. The cover was painted by Bill Sienkiewicz, who had defined Moon Knight's visual identity across the bulk of the run before stepping back from interior art; by issue #33 Sienkiewicz's contribution had shifted to covers and inking credits, and the original cover art — executed in mixed media, ink over graphite with white paint on Bristol board — later entered the collector art market as a documented Sienkiewicz piece.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Joy Mercado (Earth-616), a journalist working for what the issue identifies as the Daily Times; she subsequently joined the Daily Bugle and accumulated more than 68 appearances across Marvel continuity.
Story title: 'Exploding Myths.' Release date: May 31, 1983; cover date: September 1983.
Written by Doug Moench; penciled by Kevin Nowlan; inked by Brent Anderson, Joe Chiodo, Carl Potts, and Bill Sienkiewicz; colored by Christie Scheele; edited by Denny O'Neil; Jim Shooter listed as Editor-in-Chief.
Cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz — one of his final cover contributions to the volume before the series concluded with issue #38 (July 1984).
Also marks the first and only appearance of Druid Walsh, the antagonist, who dies in this issue.
Kevin Nowlan had debuted at Marvel only months earlier (*Doctor Strange* #57, February 1983), making his Moon Knight work — including backup stories in earlier issues of this volume — among the very first professional Marvel pages of his career.
Joy Mercado's post-debut appearances center heavily on the Spider-Man corner of the Marvel Universe, including a prominent recurring role written by Peter David in *Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man* beginning in 1985, with storyline crossovers into *Web of Spider-Man* and *The Amazing Spider-Man*.
The issue has been reprinted at least three times, per the Marvel Database, and the run containing it is collected in *Moon Knight Omnibus Vol. 2* (2022), which gathers *Moon Knight* (1980) #21–38.