"Entretien moi" ? I assume Huston means "Entertain me", but in French this translates as something like "maintain me", with a grammar error to boot. And this is one of the rare cases where I can deduce the original English phrase ; most of the time I have no idea what Frenchie's dialogue is supposed to mean.

I used to think Gambit was bad, but this is worse : Huston is trying to be clever and use non-trivial expressions, but fails abysmally.

And that's a shame, because I like Huston's take on Spector's insanity.

A fan might dig it, but I can't imagine someone being drawn to the book by the cover alone.

Any comic cover could be improved by a big arrow saying, "Check out Hawkeye's groovy new threads!"

Doctor Strange: The Oath is awesome. I love this series to the point where if Marvel announced BKV was writing a regular Strange book I would buy two copies just to support it. Hate Eternals though; Gaiman just isn't accomplishing everything I want him to with this; plus the civil war crossover makes me want to claw my eyes out.

Checkmate is a good book. No arguments there, but it's too...large. I got turned off the book when after 6 issues I still didn't know about half the people in the cast. I know Rucka is going for a slow burn...but I want something much better...Still it's the best we're probably gonna get from DC so that's someting huh?

I think you're right about what Huston is doing with the character and hoping we have some sympathy for him from previous incarnations. I hadn't thought of that. I hope it doesn't kill the book, but it might.

It was, I think (and you said as much yourself) more frustrating for me with MK than with other crossovers I read, because I'm a little less familiar with Moon Knight than I am about other Marvel comics (but only a little: I know Frenchie, I got the reference to him thinking about throwing away his Egyptian-themed weapons, I know he's had the whole "three personalities" thing, and I can even name them--Steven Grant, Jake Lockley, and Marc Spector)...but yeah, this isn't just a trend I've bitched about with 'Moon Knight'. Comic writers in general need to learn how to fit in their exposition, because right now it's just being left out.

And the whole "beating a guy to a bloody pulp with a stick" thing...this is one of those things I actually have wanted to bitch about more, the idea that in an open-ended series, your lead character has to be sympathetic. This doesn't mean he can't have flaws, but there has to be something that makes you like the guy, makes you want to root for him and care about what's happening to him, and I think Huston is kind of relying on that already having been established in past MK series so that he can take the character out to the edges. And again, that's great if you are a hardcore Moon Knight fan, but if this is your first issue, he beats a man with a stick until bits fall off, then disses Spidey. Not a way to win friends. (Maybe it's not that I was cranky earlier. Maybe I just always sound this way. )

So in sum, yeah, I was probably making an example of Moon Knight #7 because I'm heartily sick of a lot of trends it exemplifies more than because it's got some unique flaw, but you did ask what a "new reader" would think of the issue, so I felt the need to pipe up.

I like the look of A DUMMY'S GUIDE TO DANGER. Going to have to see if I can find that one somewhere.

The scene with the two people talking to each other is supposed to be mysterious, as it's the first issue of a new arc and they're the bad guys. I understand if you didn't like it, but it's supposed to be incoherent. As for the scene with Spider-Man ... yes, it's brutal, and that's the point. One thing I like about the series, as I mentioned, is that Huston is trying to show that Moon Knight is more than a bit crazy and that his violent ways have a greater impact than he's willing to admit. I think he's doing a good job.

That's cool that you didn't like it, though. To each his own, after all. I'm glad you tried it out, because we should always try new things. Some things aren't for some people. Nothing wrong with that.

Look, I'll be honest with you. I know you love the title, and you've been pimping it for a while, but this was the first issue I read, and honestly? If you told me there was an accident at the printing plant, and some of those pages were from another comic, published by another company, whose chief experience was in publishing the work of head trauma patients, I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

The opening sequence, where Spider-Man watches Moon Knight beat a man to a bloody pulp with a stick? Not actually incoherent, but certainly not something that makes me say, "Ooh, I like this series!" Then we follow with Moon Knight talking to himself in a car, then several pages of sexual innuendo between two characters we don't know, can't see, don't recognize, and by the way they keep throwing body-parts on panel. Whose body parts? Theirs? Each other's? Someone else's? Dunno. This entire sequence was pure gibberish to a new reader (and as a new reader, I'd know.) And it wasn't even interesting gibberish, which is what you need to drag in new readers.

Then Moon Knight goes and talks Frenchie into hanging out with him, which was about the first thing I really understood in the whole issue--OK, Frenchie, I remember him from the old series, sure, I get this. Then they go to a diner and get in an argument with an angry black woman about someone who died somewhere at some point in the past. Everyone treats this as though it's incredibly significant, but there's NO EXPOSITION ANYWHERE. For all I freaking know, they're still upset about Reagan kicking off. To people who are hardcore MK fans, this might have been the bestest scene ever, but to someone picking up their first issue? This was, "Run screaming away from the title and never look back" territory.

So, yeah. Sorry to hate on something you love, I'm glad you like the book, but...no, based on my experience, the 'Civil War' crossover isn't going to be drawing in a lot of new readers, because the writer showed absolutely no interest in making the book accessible to new readers.

I can't imagine the crap I would have to put up with if I was buying Civil War, Joe. Or Teen Titans. At least I'm skipping those!