Demon Knights #1 – Review

By: Paul Cornell (writer), Diógenes Neves (penciller), Oclair Albert (inker), Marcelo Maiolo (colorist)

The Story: Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re playing WoW—this is a comic you’re reading.

The Review: It just occurred to me that I’ve spent quite a bit of time on this site discussing any number of fictional genres: sci-fi, pulp, noir, romance, thriller, and on and on.  One we haven’t really covered is fantasy, by which I mean your classic, dungeons-and-dragons, wizards and knights stuff.  Of all the titles between the Big Two, only Thor sort of counts as the kind of fantasy we’re talking about, and the genre doesn’t fare much better among the indies.

Enter Cornell’s Demon Knights, which can’t possibly fit the bill better unless it established the genre itself.  It even starts from the very paragon of fantasy stories, Camelot, but rather than poach off that already overdone mythos, this issue uses it as a jumping-off point, a way to understand how the glory of King Arthur’s reign gave way to the present grimness our heroes exist in now.  And since some of them have their origins in Camelot, it’s a fitting start indeed.

Two of them should look pretty familiar: supernatural superstars Jason Blood (alter-ego: Etrigan the Demon) and Madame Xanadu, who, at this juncture of their immortal lives, come about as fresh-faced as it’s possible for them to be.  Jason retains his resignation as a cursed host of the demon, but the young Xanadu has none of her farseeing airiness.  In its place, Cornell gives her a lively candor (“I say again, my love—my arse.”) and promiscuity.  Fun as it is to read her blunt style of repartee, it’s even more fun to see her cheat on Jason with his demonic alter-ego.