I remember feeling at the time it was Marvel doing a bad job of copying Vertigo... I tried a couple of the books I think, but none stand out. Looking it up, it was a lot more encompassing than I remember!

I thought it was a shot of creativity that Marvel badly needed for many of its more moribund properties, ones that they could be bold and experimental with without putting valuable licensing IP at risk.

The Kevin Smith/Quesada Daredevil, Paul Jenkins/Jae Lee Inhumans, Dan Jolley/Tony Harris/Paul Chadwick Doctor Strange and especially the Christopher Priest Black Panther series were all highlights for me. There were some misses (Punisher though the Wrightson art was a plus), and the actual Marvel Knights team book, come to mind, but overall I think the line successfully broke ground in reinvigorating a number of characters that were going nowhere in the market at the time. To borrow Marvel marketing parlance-it was Heroes Reborn done right in terms of story and character reinvigoration. Heroes Reborn was a sales juggernaut at first, but a dismal creative failure overall that shed it sales because all those who came found nothing worth staying for. That created a lot of initial skepticism which limited initial sales on the MK initiative, but the books were god enough to build readership, not lose it, and rales gradually built on most of the titles and the ongoings (DD & Panther) lasted for some solid lengthy runs, and the minis were selling as well if not better when they ended as when they launched. The MK initiative built enough goodwill in the marketplace that Quesada was tabbed as the new EiC off the strength of it, and whatever you think of his tenure, he successfully oversaw Marvel's recovery from their bankruptcy pit, and that was all built on the back of the Knights line.

The Heroes Return line was ameliorating the damage to the brand done to those characters by Heroes Return, but MK was creating a new brand for Marvel that led to new avenues moving forward. The line had plenty of misses, but overall was a key piece of the Marvel recovery that set the stage for things to come in other media.

But if you want to check out titles I would suggest trying the Black Panther series as the best of the lot, then the Inhumans maxi-series, the Smith and Bendis Daredevil runs, the Doctor Strange mini (Flight of the Bones), and the Black Widow minis that introduced the 2nd Widow. The other stuff I didn't like as much, but others may.

But I would put the Priest Panther run in the echelon among quintessential iconic all time Marvel runs.

-M

I bought the Black Panther and Daredevil titles. They were really high quality in story and art. Not sure about the other titles but I feel this line revitalized Marvel at that time. Having the Knights label on the cover usually meant you were going to get a top notch book. There were other titles later on like the Fantastic Four maxi series that were great.

Looking up the wiki page, I see that it started in 1998 which was a few years before I started looking at mainstream Marvel/DC superhero comics again sometime in the 2000s. This was mostly because of joining the discussions at the old CBR and hearing about various things there then having a look at them at the local comic shop. I couldn't see any great difference between Marvel Knights and the regular Marvel series - they all seemed much the same style to me, probably because it had been so many years since I'd tried reading anything of that kind.

From the wiki list, I see that I did buy at least one Marvel Knights miniseries, The Frank Cho Shanna one, which wasn't that great. I also read the first instalments of both the Kevin Smith Daredevil and the Gaiman 1602 but didn't continue either series past their respective #1 issues. I thought the Moench/Gulacy MoKF miniseries that I read around that time might also be a Marvel Knights but they don't list it on the wiki page so maybe not. I also recall buying a Bullseye miniseries in collected form at some point, again, not sure if it was part of the Marvel Knights line or not. I never did get around to reading it but I think I must still have it around here somewhere as I don't recall getting rid of it. The MoKF was all right, a bit up and down but enough good parts that I was glad to have read it.

I was never a huge Marvel lover when I was really getting back into comics at the time but Marvel Knights got my attention.

Having Paul Jenkins and Garth Ennis come over from Vertigo and getting Kevin Smith into comics was perfect timing for me to dip my toes into the Marvel pool.