Moon Knight

From the same creative team that brought us 'Injection', Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire, comes 'Moon Knight - From the Dead. Moon Knight remained quite a mysterious character to me, having seen him appear only as a cameo in other stories rather than ever reading any dedicated 'Moon Knight' stories.  From this volume, I gather I've been missing an interesting character. Moon Knight is Marc Spector, a mercenary who whilst looting an archaeological dig in Egypt dies at the foot of a statue of the god Khonshu after trying to protect the people his group are looting from.  He's returned to life by Khonshu as Khonshu's earthly avatar, and after returning to America, in an attempt at redemption, becomes a crime-fighter. That's really only the origin of the character, there's much much more in his development, alter egos, mental illness, all sorts, he appears a very complicated and conflicted character under his cool exterior.  Although this volume assumes you know his long and complicated back story (which I do not), it still works well as a stand alone introduction to the character, and for me, left me wanting more.  This is a collection of short, issue long, stories with Moon Knight employed by the Police to solve some mysterious and eerie crimes (it's a bit tripped out in places), there's also an overarching sun plot. The writing is high quality, it would be, it's Warren Ellis! Though the dialogue is kept to a minimal, with the stories really being delivered through the art. The art and colouring are beautiful and carry the stories with ease. I love the way Moon Knight is depicted in black and white, whereas the rest of the story is rendered in glorious colour.  It really works. I've read it twice in a couple of weeks and was captivated by it both times. It's certainly left me with a hunger to read more Moon Knight.

Injection

Injection Vol 2 continues, as with Vol 1, to be a real page turner. If you're not aware of the premise, 5 geniuses in their fields: a strategist/agent,  a scientist/genuine genius, a logician/ethicist, a AI expert and a cunning-man (wizard), are brought together by a government/corporate group (Ministry of Time and Measurement and Force Projection International) to form the Cultural Cross Contamination Unit. The  government and their corporate friends are worried that the 21th century was entering a period of stagnation, our five geniuses are tasked with finding a solution, to make the 21st century more interesting and thus stimulate development, their solution.......the injection. Yup, you've got it, it goes terribly wrong. You can't go injecting magic and stuff into computers, messing with reality, you must know how that's going to go. 

In this volume we focus on Vivek Headland (and his reluctant though resigned assistant and heavy 'Red') as he investigates an abduction, a missing ghost lover who exists in a photo and a lonely messed up rich guy, there's human ham and weirdness of plenty, all courtesy of the injection. It's essentially a detective story, though a strange and bizarre one. We also get to peek into how and what the other geniuses are up to. I loved it. Warren is such a fantastic writer, so engaging and his dialogue carries the story along beautifully; Shalvey's art is wonderfully expressive and conveys emotions perfectly; whilst Bellaire's colouring brings the scenes and characters to life. 

I think you could enjoy this read as a stand alone, having not read Injection volume one, just as a detective story. Then again, maybe not, I don't know. Shit! Get them both, you wont be disappointed.

Injection by Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire.

Injection written by Warren Ellis, drawn by Declan Shalvey and coloured by Jordie Bellaire is a bloody marvellous read. Of course, Warren Ellis is a writer of the highest calibre and I have yet to read work of his I've not liked, and Injection is Warren at his best. The story of 5 geniuses in their fields: a strategist/agent,  a scientist/genuine genius, a logician/ethicist, a AI expert and a cunning-man (wizard), all are brought together by a government/corporate group (Ministry of Time and Measurement and Force Projection International) to form the Cultural Cross Contamination Unit. Worried that the 21th century was entering a period of stagnation, our five geniuses are tasked with finding a solution, to make the 21st century more interesting and thus stimulate development. Guess what? It doesn't go to plan and things get weird. I wont go further, so not to spoil it. Warrens plausible and engaging characters, their development and dialogue carriers the story at a perfect pace. Complemented by Declan Shalveys' lovely expressive drawing and Jordie Bellaires beautiful colours, Injection is a real page turner, I'm a slow reader and I finished it in no time, and wanted more. A tale of nature, science, magic, archaeology, folklore and more! I can't wait for the next collected volume out in July.