Demon Knights #17 – Review

By: Robert Venditti (story), Bernard Chang (art), Marcelo Maiolo (colors)

The Story: And now, in a new episode of Dungeon Break…

The Review: Anytime a new writer takes over on a title, you have to give them a little breathing room to find their voice and settle into the world their predecessors set before them.  Obviously, it’d be ideal if they could hit the ground running the moment they start, but that’s a rare delight and we should expect it as such.  For everyone else, it often does take a couple issues before the story and characters start gelling with them.

Venditti got off to a promising start in his debut issue last month by, at the very least, not botching the core personalities of the cast entirely.  Anyone who reads comics regularly knows how often that kind of thing actually happens.  Venditti clearly realizes that even with a span of years separating Paul Cornell’s Knights from his own, he still has an obligation to conform to the characters Cornell established.  Here, in just his second issue, Venditti gets even more attuned to the cast; that, or you’re getting more attuned with the subtle changes he’s made.