This article contains spoilers for the Moon Knight season finale
Throughout its first season, Moon Knight has paid tribute to the key creative figures that made the character such a fan favorite. The show has been full of references to Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood’s grounding mid-2010s run with the character, tipped the hat to the character’s creators Doug Moench and Don Perlin in the ‘Tomb Buster’ poster, and has now referenced an iconic Marvel artist.
This Easter Egg comes during the mid-credits scene, which takes place at the ‘Sienkiewicz Psychiatric Hospital.’ This is a reference to Bill Sienkiewicz, one of the most distinctive comic book artists around. Best known for his work on Elektra, Sienkiewicz is famed for his abstract style and use of oil painting as well as collage in his art, making his comic books look like nothing else in the medium.
Sienkiewicz got his start in Marvel comic books with Moon Knight at the young age of 19. As he explained in a 1985 interview with Marvel Age magazine:
“They didn’t have any work for me, but that didn’t bother me. I just figured that if comics didn’t work out I’d have done advertising or illustration. Vinnie called Neal Adams, who put me in touch with Jim Shooter. Soon after that I was drawing Moon Knight, in The Hulk magazine.”
Sienkiewicz is widely credited as elevating Moon Knight from a Batman clone into something unique, with his art bringing in influences from ancient Egyptian artifacts and cranking up the volume on the character’s supernatural and mythic elements.
Sienkiewicz is still very much active in the world of comic books. Earlier this year he contributed work to Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, which was intended to raise money to help refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country. He’s also become a prolific hip-hop album cover designer, working on Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of Day, RZA’s Bobby Digital in Stereo, and EPDM’s Business as Usual.
The show recognizing the writers and artists that made Moon Knight so popular is great to see, especially as Marvel Studios has attracted deserved criticism for sweeping key creators under the rug.
Moon Knight is available to stream on Disney Plus.
