Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Moon Knight #19
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Moon Knight, Marc Spector's new nemesis Zodiac makes a dark claim about supervillains and their place in the Marvel Universe. Having been recently taken down by Moon Knight and incarcerated in the Myrmidon, Zodiac is visited by Dr. Robert Plesko, a former mercenary friend of Spector's who was also part of Moon Knight's Shadow Cabinet. Having become a psychotherapist, Plesko is sent by Marc to do an evaluation on the classic villain.
Giving Zodiac his mask as a sign of trust, Plesko gets the disturbed villain to talk in the new Moon Knight #19 from Jed MacKay and Federico Sabbatini. However, Zodiac decides that he wants to talk about the United States and its apparent lack of any original art forms, save for one: the supervillain. According to Zodiac, no other country produces a villain better than America (a truly dark sentiment).
Are Marvel Supervillains The Only American Art Form?
While comics and jazz are typically named as the original American art forms, Zodiac notes that there are arguments for Japan having versions of both prior to the United States. Likewise, Zodiac going on to applaud the brutality of Cletus Kasady's serial-killing Carnage while denouncing the more traditional euro-tactics of Doctor Doom, calling him nothing more than a tortured monarch. In Zodiac's twisted, anarchy-obsessed mind, the "land of the free and home of the brave" is a uniquely primed breeding ground for all kinds of vicious super villains seeking freedom from the law and justice and having the bravery to take and do whatever they want.
While Zodiac may still be incarcerated, his perspective on super-villainy as an art form communicates volumes about how he thinks. In his mind, he's trying to attain a higher level of chaos and evil in the name of having his own American Dream. Believing that Moon Knight has wasted his potential as a street-fighting hero, one has to wonder if Zodiac's ultimate goal is to turn Spector into a vengeful villain as well for the sake of the art form.
At any rate, Zodiac is an incredibly unhinged villain who needs to stay in prison for as long as possible. After all, this issue sees him claiming that guilt is just another societal convention created to keep the masses in line. As such, he's a truly dangerous sociopath who's the perfect rival for a hero as brutal as Moon Knight. That being said, perhaps his theory about super-villainy as an American art form could be combated with the idea that heroes are just as uniquely created in the United States as well. Moon Knight #19 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
