Comic Review: Demon Knights #1

Book: Demon Knights #1 Written By: Paul Cornell Art By: Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert Publisher: DC Comics Price: $2.99 Pages: 32 After the somewhat lukewarm reception of Stormwatch #1 last week, I was worried about the execution of the upcoming release of Demon Knights #1, a book I have been adamantly looking forward to from the same writer: Paul Cornell. Thankfully my skepticism wasn't needed. In every article I have written about Paul Cornell I have brought up his recent mini-series Knight & Squire for DC. A six issue piece set in modern day England which took Z list heroes and villains and made them compelling in a comical but heartfelt approach with a magical Brit twist to a superhero book (much like the 2008 Marvel release by Cornell - Captain Britain and MI13). Demon Knights should from this point on be know as Cornell's official second album book to Knight & Squire. Set in the Dark Age of the DCU we follow the story of Madame Xanadu, Jason Blood (who is also bonded to the powerful Demon - Etrigan) Vandal Savage, The Shining Knight and three new characters from Cornell as they make their way to a small village to drink and rest. They soon discover the village is on the brink of destruction by an impending army, with no one else to defend it. The group soon realise it is up to them to defend everyone, even if they don€™t want to. The story is fluid and a brief prologue helps set up the origins of the main characters. Throughout all of Cornell writing, he has had a great the ability to inject real humour into his stories which it works very well in this european medieval setting. Small glimpses were given to new characters created by Cornell in the book, new characters by Cornell are always a delight to read as they give an insight into all the crazy out there ideas rattling inside his head while we watch them come to life on the page with a high level of depth. A prime example of a new character I cannot wait to read more of is The Horsewoman, from what I have seen in the book and in interviews with Cornell, this character will be a treat to read when we see her fully in action. Art by Diogenes Neves fits extremely well with this story, with every page I am reminded of Leonard Kirk's work on Captain Britain or Olivier Coilel's run on Thor, there is a vast level of detail to the landscape and Neves helps bring a real mythological wonder to the book. Props should also be given to the books colourist Marcelo Maiolo who bring a truly wide spectrum of colour to the table, that works hand in hand with the stories magical background. The artwork alone makes this book worth checking out. Of course there is only so much you can accomplish in twenty pages of story. By the time the book has brought all of its main characters into play it is time to end the book! Cornell handles juggling all the various story threads very well and gets everyone to where they need to be for the action to begin in a way that feels natural in the story. Like I said it in my piece for This Week In Comics - If you want something different this week pick up a copy. It's fast, light hearted and very fun.

rating: 4