Etrigan the Demon has betrayed his comrades and had them banished to Hell where they faced special tortures designed specifically for each of them. This issue, they break free and turn their sights to escaping Hell and entering Avalon in an attempt to revive Merlin. Complicating their efforts are The Questing Queen and Mordru and Lucifer himself. The Queen and Mordru have Etrigan’s human half, Jason Blood, in their grasp, meanwhile Etrigan believes he has enthralled Madame Xanadu.
The heroes encounter their former ally Etrigan and The Shining Knight takes him on, before Mordu’s magic intervenes. Ultimately, the heroes reach their destination, but two warring armies may make it so they don’t survive much longer!
This is a fun irreverent book. The art by Bernard Chang is consistently solid. The battle between the Shining Knight and Etrigan is excellent, but the real treat is towards the end. Are those dinosaurs?!
Paul Cornel has crafted a fun, anachronistic team book. Unfortunately, he’s leaving soon and he really hasn’t had time to showcase a lot of the group. I really like Al-Jabr, but he hasn’t really had the chance to shine. Exoristos and Sir Ystin do get to share a nice moment that helps add layers to their characters, though. And Cornell introduces another old DC concept, the Silent Knight, or rather in this case the Silent Knights, plural, in this case, as the defenders of Avalon.
This is a fun team book, that doesn’t seem to get the love I think it deserves. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s a fun mix of disparate characters. It’s fairly light and humorous at times and the art is consistently really solid. This was kind of a breather issue, but it was still entertaining.
DEMON KNIGHTS #14
Written by Paul Cornell
Art and Cover by Bernard Chang
