Demon Knights Vol 1. Review

 

Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: Taking place during the medieval Dark Ages of the DC Universe continuum, The first trade paperback of The New 52 Demon Knights series follows a loose teaming comprised of the characters Etrigan, Madame Xanadu, and Vandal Savage among others as they fight against outside invaders.

 

My Thoughts: Admittedly, I am not all too familiar with any of these characters and, therefore, could not be swept away by the novelty of instituting existing characters in a different setting. However, I still did enjoy it quite a bit.

Story (3/5) – Fast-moving high fantasy tales like this tend to go in over my head as I try to absorb as much information being cascaded towards me. However, from what I could make of it, I enjoyed the mix of aspects of Arthurian legends and superhero lore which works pretty well here due to the use of characters whose abilities are driven by the supernatural.

Characters (2.5/5) – So much happened to the large cast so quickly that it didn’t leave what I would consider enough time for immersion within the exposition since there was a greater emphasis on setting and folkloric exposition. I did, nevertheless, like the character designs and do see the potential of them growing to me in future volumes if they do give the main cast more screen time to explore their personalities.

Art (4.5/5) – Loved it, the lighting, shading, and character designs, expressions, and backgrounds all shined with meticulous detail, capturing the period setting convincingly. The fantastical action scenes held my attention for much of the book and even pleasantly surprised me for how much blood was depicted for a regular DC title.

Dialogue (3/5) – No particular line(s) of dialogue struck me as exceptional, but it did fulfill its purpose of moving the plot forward.

 

Final Thoughts: This was a mildly entertaining at best and overwhelming at worst debut. I probably won’t be reading any more of it soon for the moment since there are several other unfinished series on my reading list. However, you might love it if you’re into a superhero and medieval mishmash.