Demon Knights #1

Title: Demon Knights
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Paul Cornell
Penciler: Diogenes Neves
Inker: Oclair Albert
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Matt Idelson
Cover: Tony Daniel, Tomeu Morey

What once was old is now made new in DC Comics' fifty-two. We'll begin this twisted plot, flashing back to Camelot. Jason (of Norwich?) is close at hand, as the guinea-pig in Merlin's plan. So imprisoned in the form of man, our old buddy the Demon Etrigan. Fans who haven't been caught napping most likely didn't need recapping, but there is one detail new: they throw in Madame Xanadu. Fast-forward now she's on a lark, still years before the J-L-Dark, and she's got Jason there to hold her hand, while on the side she's banging Etrigan. (Ew!).

Now immortal-types gather from near and far. Of course they meet up in a bar. Why not? It's standard fantasy. It always works in D&D. And while on the subject of cliches, the dialogue in these dark-age days, well they throw in words like "bollocks" and "arse". The result: Less historic and more plain farce. The characters gather, the team assembles. The mostly third-rate group resembles a medieval Substitute Hero Legion, called upon to defend the region from Mordru and the Questing Queen. Really? I guess I hadn't seen the Shining Knight in many recent books, but Vandal Savage? This really looks like they're digging to find the most obscure of character who have endured in backup stories long since told in Showcase or Brave & the Bold.

The plot's generic with lots brawling. By the end a bunch of dragons come calling. And I find I'm yearning for the time, when Etrigan at least would speak in rhymes. From hackneyed plot I wish they'd freed him. Where's Matt Wagner when you need him? Come on, rebooted DC Universe, bring back dialogue in verse!

Rating: 5/10
(And I'm really sorry! I just couldn't resist!)