DC’s “swords and sorcery” offering ships this week.

General Information

Title: Demon Knights #1

Author: Paul Cornell

Illustrator(s): Diogenes Neves (pencils), Oclair Albert (inks) and Marcelo Maiolo (colours)

Cover Date: November 2011

Cover Price: $2.99

Buy the digital edition.

Premise

At the fall of Camelot, Merlin bound the demon Etrigan to a man named Jason. Hundreds of years later, Jason Blood (and Etrigan), Madame Xanadu and Vandal Savage are trying to live their lives in relative peace when the inn they stay at is overrun. With immortal main characters, this is clearly in continuity, as they might appear elsewhere. However, given that this story is set so much earlier than the others in the line, it’s entirely probable that this can be read independently without concern for continuity.

High Point

Etrigan’s attitude. He’s always been a bit nasty, but the rhyming singsong dialogue of old undermined that somewhere. The rhyming now is used only in select scenarios, and makes the character seem that much tougher.

Low Point

We see a lot of origin events, so we know a lot of the “whats,” but the “hows” and especially “whys” of the origins are missing. I’m also not entirely sure if the main characters are heroes or villains. Right now, they are just irritated citizens.

The Scores

This is an original genre for the line, particularly for an in-continuity title from either of the big two. I give it 5 out of 6.

The artwork is very strong. Clear lines, appropriate colours, and sufficiently emotive expressions are the norm here. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story feels low-calorie. A lot of stuff happens, but without the right motivations and reasons behind the events, that stuff doesn’t really mean much. I give it 3 out of 6.

The characterization of Etrigan is pretty clear, but I’m really unsure of everybody else. I give it 3 out of 6.

The emotional response is bland. I love Etrigan’s introductory dialogue, but the rest just falls flat. I give it 3 out of 6.

The flow is disrupted a bit by the lack of reasons for the scenes. As I said above, we see events involved in origins, but there’s a lot that’s missing. Etrigan is bound to Jason in one scene, while Madame Xanadu jumps off a boat in another scene. Cut to centuries later and the pair who hadn’t previously met now travel together, encountering Vandal Savage along the way. Meanwhile, characters who want to “fix the world” send out a mob. We don’t know why any of the characters are doing any of the things we do, so it feels like something is missing with each change in scenes. The actions within any given scene flow very smoothly, so I give it 4 out of 6.

Overall, it’s not terrible, but I’m still not sure what the title will be in the long term, aside from the “swords and sorcery” entry in the line. I give it 3 out of 6.

In total, Demon Knights receives 26 out of 42.

The New 52

Here are handy links for the reviews of all 52 new #1 issues:

1. Action Comics
2. All-Star Western
3. Animal Man
4. Aquaman
5. Batgirl
6. Batman
7. Batman and Robin
8. Batman: The Dark Knight
9. Batwing
10. Batwoman
11. Birds of Prey
12. Blackhawks
13. Blue Beetle
14. Captain Atom
15. Catwoman
16. DC Universe Presents
17. Deathstroke
18. Demon Knights
19. Detective Comics
20. The Flash
21. Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
22. The Fury of Firestorm
23. Green Arrow
24. Green Lantern
25. Green Lantern Corps
26. Green Lantern: New Guardians
27. Grifter
28. Hawk and Dove
29. I, Vampire
30. Justice League
31. Justice League Dark
32. Justice League International
33. Legion Lost
34. Legion of Super-Heroes
35. Men of War
36. Mister Terrific
37. Nightwing
38. O.M.A.C.
39. Red Hood and the Outlaws
40. Red Lanterns
41. Resurrection Man
42. The Savage Hawkman
43. Static Shock
44. Stormwatch
45. Suicide Squad
46. Superboy
47. Supergirl
48. Superman
49. Swamp Thing
50. Teen Titans
51. Voodoo
52. Wonder Woman