Blood of the Demon #1 - Review and Spoilers

[Brian Cronin]

This was a good book.

Right off the bat, DC appears to be taking the approach that, if it does not specifically say that it is code approved, then the comic in question could very well have very graphic content.

An odd way to handle labeling.

In any event, this comic has very good, gritty John Byrne art (helped, no doubt, by the inks of the oddly named "Nekros"...wouldn't it be funny if Nekros was a pseudonym for a notable inker?).

The comic has a lot of graphic violence, but most of it is monsters being killed. Still, Byrne depicts it in full gruesome detail, including the point where Jason Blood is "killed" BEFORE he fully transforms into Etrigan!!

This sets up a new status quo for Jason, as he can achieve a mid-level Demon form now.

With the help of his friends (who are worked into the book as longtime supporting characters SHOULD be, they are there for those who recognize them, but are not totally necessary for those who dod not know them), Blood sets back to gain revenge upon the demons who "killed" him.

He does a fine job, until he lets the demon within him loose - and this time, Etrigan is not being held back!!!

I thought this was a really good first issue. The book opens with both a concise explanation of the background of the Demon, but it adds foreshadow to the ending of the issue.

Pfeiffer's dialogue is TONS better than Byrne's dialogue over on Doom Patrol, but even Pfeiffer has a problem with clunky dialogue at times. Still, the improved dialogue helps a lot. Get Pfeiffer on Doom Patrol, as well!

Not to take away from Byrne as a writer, his plotting in the issue was well done, especially the way he uses his own skills as an artist to punctuate scenes as he knows he CAN, as he is the artist. It is these types of risks that only a writer/artist can achieve.

There is a detective (drawn quite ethically by Byrne...and it's good to see an artist dare to draw a character to be clearly ethic in appearances) who is following the "dead body" who woke up in the morgue (Blood, natch ;)) who is extremely old (Blood has been around since the time of King Arthur, natch ;)). It is a pretty standard storyline, but it is handled well.

I am really excited about this series.

What did y'all think?

-Brian

[comicartfan]

I liked it as well, very good art,and writing. I miss seeing the Demon.
By the way, "Nekros" is Bud La Rosa.

[JeffreyWKramer]

I picked up BLOOD OF THE DEMON #1.

The art is nice. No complaints, really. Solid job by Byrne.

The writing... less good. The dialogue was often pretty awkward, and the lame exposition in the midst of big fights was reached Claremontian levels of goofiness. Also, I know Byrne's policy is that if he or Kirby didn't do it, it isn't right, but I much prefer Etrigan the Rhymer.

The flaying alive, lots of gore, people cut in half... this book definitely should have a "mature readers" label.

Not a bad book, though. Good enough I'll give it another issue or two, probably, and see how I feel then.

Grade: B

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Bryne shocked me. I was expecting crap for again falling for his books. I tried Doom Patrol , Spiderman Chapter 1 and the JLA Arc with Claremont. But this had me reading.


It seems he has hit a HR with this. Maybe It was having someone with him do the dialogue. Who knows....the book kicked ass and the art looked solid. Its the best Bryne has done In quite awhile.


Great read.

[Sean Walsh]

By the way, "Nekros" is Bud La Rosa.

I *knew* I'd read way back when that an established inker was working on this book with Byrne.

Why the pseudonym, though?

[Cayman]

I *knew* I'd read way back when that an established inker was working on this book with Byrne.

Why the pseudonym, though?

Maybe he doesn't want to be associated with Byrne?

Cay

[west3man]

This was a good book.

Right off the bat, DC appears to be taking the approach that, if it does not specifically say that it is code approved, then the comic in question could very well have very graphic content.

An odd way to handle labeling.

In any event, this comic has very good, gritty John Byrne art (helped, no doubt, by the inks of the oddly named "Nekros"...wouldn't it be funny if Nekros was a pseudonym for a notable inker?). The "gritty" is typically a complaint that I have with Byrne's work. Maybe it works more on a book with the tone you've described.

The comic has a lot of graphic violence, but most of it is monsters being killed. Still, Byrne depicts it in full gruesome detail, including the point where Jason Blood is "killed" BEFORE he fully transforms into Etrigan!!

This sets up a new status quo for Jason, as he can achieve a mid-level Demon form now. That sounds interesting. I've been interested in mid-level transformations ever since I first saw that episode of the Hulk tv show where Hulk approached a meteor while transforming back into Banner. Enter the demi-Hulk.

There is a detective (drawn quite ethically by Byrne...and it's good to see an artist dare to draw a character to be clearly ethic in appearances) who is following the "dead body" who woke up in the morgue (Blood, natch ;)) who is extremely old (Blood has been around since the time of King Arthur, natch ;)). It is a pretty standard storyline, but it is handled well. I figured you meant "ethnic" where you said "ethic," but I couldn't verify it by the context.

[Zero Hunter]

I have never really been a fan of Etrigan one way or another, but I really liked this issue. Defienlty a lot more violent and bloody than most of Byrnes stuff. The art looked alot better than most recent Byrne stuff and really reminded me more of his clsssic FF style than his muddier looking current stuff. A good inker can go along way it seems. I liked the midway transformation thing and really want to see just how out of control Etrigan will get now that Merlins enchantment is gone that was holiding him back.

This book is definetly getting at least 2 or 3 issues more out me.

[Cayman]

Good issue overall. The art was minimal, but quite effective. Who knew Jason Blood had such a hot butt?

The book did suffer from really bad dialogue. If this is the level Pfeiffer is going to be working on, Byrne might as well just script the series.

Nothing is ever likely to compare to the great Alan Moore take on Blood/Etrigan, but this is still a fairly promising start. I'll most likely get the next issue.

Cay

[Gingold]

The art was good and gritty, the most I've enjoyed Byrne's artwork in a while- reminds me a bit of Klaus Janson's inks over Byrne on Wolverine.

The plot was enjoyable, though the dialog was a bit klunky in places. I've gotta agree that I miss the rhyming too. This first issue has done what Byrne's Doom Patrol #1 didn't, convince me to buy another issue.

[protonik]

Maybe he doesn't want to be associated with Byrne?

Cay

Oh please :rolleyes:

The pseudonym prolly has to do with the theme of the book, Demons etc and the pseudo being NEKROS, of or being dead?!? I mean really, some of the things you people come up with is just ridiculous. Now its gonna become "fact" that La Rosa used a pseudonym to ink Byrne... wtfever.

Jason

[Economist]

I would have been disapointed about how little that Etgrin appeared but it was nice to see Jason Blood cut kick some ass for a change.

[Cayman]

Oh please :rolleyes:

The pseudonym prolly has to do with the theme of the book, Demons etc and the pseudo being NEKROS, of or being dead?!? I mean really, some of the things you people come up with is just ridiculous. Now its gonna become "fact" that La Rosa used a pseudonym to ink Byrne... wtfever.

Jason

Us people? What, non Byrne-board zealots?

Cay

[palaeomerus]

1.Some people like Byrne unconditionally. They like everything that he does. They insist that he is the best artist working today and defend him when he says something that sounds outrageous or that sets a lot of people off. They collect Byrne art and maybe get too into it from time to time. A few of them think that all other comics suck. Slightly more of them don't really like any modern comics.

2.Some people like Byrne. They like his art and some of his ideas they usually enjoy Byrne's books. They see him as a good artists amongst many and while they may not agree with everything that he says or enjoy everything that he does they still enjoy the work of Byrne and occasiobnally pitch in when his name turns up on the internet or start a topic about him when they feel they have something of interest to say about Byrne. Some of these people are a bit disaffected with recent comics but still willing to hang in there and look for good books that appeal to them. Many people in this category are strong supporters of the neo-silver age "movement" which resembles in many ways the retro anime "movement" of the nineties.

3.Some people don't much care. They like some of his stuff and dislike some of his stuff. They might post on a BBS discussing Byrne or his work but have no interest in loving or hating Byrne. They are willing to give a book a try when Byrne's name is on it because from their point of view Byrne comes through often enough to at least warrant a look. They might praise Byrne or spit on him but they really don't think about him much and he's just another comic book guy to them.

4. Some people don't really care for Byrne or his work. Since it does't appeal to them they avoid it and rarely talk about him or his books. Every now and then they'll see or hear something about Byrne and make a comment but for the most part they don't have much of a problem with Byrne. They just see him as one artist of many who had some time in the sun but just isn't of interest to them personally any more. These people tend to either support "sophisticated" comics or be tend followers who are looking for what they perceive to be the bleeding edge of comics. A few just don't like the look of Byrne's art or feel that his writing is grating and are not so much in love with the pursuit of the avant garde of comics. They criticize Byrne but rarely do so from a personal point of view. They just don't like his stuff.

5. Then there are the people who have a weird compulsion to diss Byrne every chance they get on any thing no matter how small or how much of a stretch it is and these same people insist that any one who points out their tendency to rant against Byrne must be from the 1st group. These people go looking for any mention of Byrne they can find on the various comic book related BBS's and when they find one they try to use it as a platform to diss Byrne. They are very obvious about their desire to harm Byrne's reputation any way that they can. Some seem to be trying to look too hip for Byrne or bearing some sort of grudge or possibly obssessed with Byrne in some way. Some are merely piling on figuring that where there is smoke there must be fire. Sometimes they sound like they think they deserve cosmic brownie points for publicly demonstrating how much they do not like Byrne. Some of them read Byrne's work just so they can rip it apart and try to portray Byrne as a sort of Ed Wood of comics. Some hate Byrne because they feel that their favporite writers, artists, and editors also hate Byrne and thus they are fulfilling a sort of duty to their idols by hating Byrne(who may have even said something against said idol). Some were possibly pissed off by a story that they heard about Byrne third hand or something that they heard that he said or may even have actually said. The point is that this group tends to take Byrne personally and see him either as an evil to be isolated and destroyed or a weakling to be incessantly pecked at and picked apart because it's fun and "everyone else" is doing it. Many of the Byrne haters actually seem to think that they are heroic freedom fighters against the oppressive forces of Byrne and his myrmidons or something euqally dramatic. Sometimes they actually try to convince others not to buy Byrne's books as some sort of misguided social duty or wirte to DC to try and get him fired or they pass things that they heard about Byrne around hoping to get a nice big bon fire going.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

1.Some people like Byrne unconditionally. They like everything that he does. They insist that he is the best artist working today and defend him when he says something that sounds outrageous or that sets a lot of people off. They collect Byrne art and maybe get too into it from time to time. A few of them think that all other comics suck. Slightly more of them don't really like any modern comics. .

To each thier own. Thats my belief.

2.Some people like Byrne. They like his art and some of his ideas they usually enjoy Byrne's books. They see him as a good artists amongst many and while they may not agree with everything that he says or enjoy everything that he does they still enjoy the work of Byrne and occasiobnally pitch in when his name turns up on the internet or start a topic about him when they feel they have something of interest to say about Byrne. Some of these people are a bit disaffected with recent comics but still willing to hang in there and look for good books that appeal to them. Many people in this category are strong supporters of the neo-silver age "movement" which resembles in many ways the retro anime "movement" of the nineties.

I like most of Bryne's art In Superman and Fantastic Four. I tried to not let his art bother me In Wonder Woman. But egads It sucked In Spiderman Chapter 1# and his Doom Patrol.

Most bash Bryne because they will find some stupied comments like him dissing Jesica Alba or Christopher Reeves and call him on It. They post them here since Its a comic message board and we all chime In.

I have never posted at John Bryne's forums. I don't go looking to diss him at his site. I have said that his recent work has turned me off...that has been on numerous CBR Threads.

3.Some people don't much care. They like some of his stuff and dislike some of his stuff. They might post on a BBS discussing Byrne or his work but have no interest in loving or hating Byrne. They are willing to give a book a try when Byrne's name is on it because from their point of view Byrne comes through often enough to at least warrant a look. They might praise Byrne or spit on him but they really don't think about him much and he's just a nother comci book guy to them.

Bryne Is a legend I feel. He's created the Modern Superman and has done more awesome stories than most anyone In comics. He's just had a bad run to me on books and the Demon Book was a step Into something I'll read.

This Is more my reponse as well. Of what you typed pretty much sums up my views of Bryne. Liked his Superman, Fantastic Four and Wonderwoman. Hate his Spiderman Chapter 1, X-Men Classics , and Doom Patrol.


4. Some people don't really care for Byrne or his work. Since it does't apeal to them they avoid it and rarely talk about him or his books. every now and then they'll see or hear something about Byrne and make a comment but for the most part they don't have much of a problem with Byrne. They just see him as one artist of many who had some time in the sun but just isn't of interest to them personally any more. These people tend to either support "sophisticated" comics or be tend followers who are looking for what they perceive to be the bleeding edge of comics. A few just don't like the look of Byrne's art or feel that his writing is grating and are not so much in love with the pursuit of the avant garde of comics.


Some feel he's no longer the same man. I wondered that myself. His Superman and Fantastic Four stuff was full of Imagination and all. His recent work even had me debating at whethor I had outgrown him as a writer or he had lost the Imagination.

Guy showed me he still can deliver the goods. I liked the Demon and feel he still can pull out a good story.



5. Then there are the people who have a weird compulsion to diss Byrne every chance they get on any thing no matter how small or how much of a stretch it is and these same people insist that any one who points out their tendency to rant against Byrne must be from the 1st group. These people go looking for any mention of Byrne they can find on the various comic book related BBS's and when they find one they try to use it as a platform to diss Byrne. They are obviously either tryign to look too hip for Byrne or bearing some sort of grudge or possibly obssessed with Byrne in some way. Sometimes they sound like they think they deserve cosmic brownie points for publicly demonstrating how much they do not like Byrne. Some of them read Byrne's work so they can rip it apart and try to portray Byrne as a sort of Ed Wood of comics. SOme hate Byrne because they feel that their favporite wirters artists and editors also hate Byrne and thus they are fulfilling a sort of duty to their idols by hating Byrne. Some were pissed off by a story that they heard about Byrne or somethign that they heard that he said or may even have actually said. The point is that this group tends to take Byrne personally and see him either as an evil to be isolated and destroyed or a weakling to be incessantly pecked at and picked apart because it's fun. Many of the Byrne haters actually seem to think that they are heroic freedom fighters against the oppressive forces of Byrne and his myrmidons or something euqally dramatic. Sometimes they actually try to convince others not to buy Byrne's books as some sort of misguided social duty or wirte to DC to try and get him fired or they pass things that they heard about Byrne around hoping to get a nice big bon fire going


No Idea about this. Its not like DC will listen to a bunch of net fans who don't like Bryne's work. Some are still angry over his retconning Morrison's work , which they considered the gospel of the Doom Patrol.

Plus he Is writing and doing 3 books this month from DC . Its not like If he gets one book canceled that he's gonna have to collect food stamps.

[palaeomerus]

DC obviously hasn't listened to calls for his head yet but I doubt the crusaders for Byrne's head know that.

I'm mostly in the "don't care patch" myself. I've become very jaded about comics starting when I quit reading them in about 1995 and started up again in late 2001. I quit because it seemed like suddenly every one was a bulging muscled ninja, a blood drinking lesbian sorceress in a tacky metal bikini and breach cloth who was always drawn sticking her ass up in the air, a tattooed British emo hipster smart ass anti-hero with vaguely psychic powers, or a cyborg with a bazooka sized laser cannon thing and a bandanna covered in ammo belts.

When I came back the superheroes seemed to be in a tug of war between the extremists and the classic types. Weirdly Alex Ross made a miniseries about it and seemed to side with the classic movement.

Events and sagas seemed to be the order of the day and they were often based on revisiting a previous "saga" or event. It was better than when I left but not by that much. Several "Re-inventions" (Legion Reboots, Ultimatizing etc, Marvel Knighting etc,) were in full swing. I dunno know I fell about all that. I tend to kind of dislike it. Comics seemd very self referential and yet very distant from their original premises.

I do hate to see people just launching attacks on Byrne though. Especiallywhen they mob up and multi-post and try to turn what he said into something else and act like the man just can't draw or write worth a damn when it's obvious that he's a pro who can find regular work with the big two and nothing more need be said as to his credentials.

BTW I am no fan of the Doom Patrol in any incarnation. I read the current one out of curiosity and it's not bad most of the time. The retcon doesn't bother me. I don't miss Morrison's Doom patrol at all. It was weird but that's about all I have to say about it. It was pretty boring to me. I used to read it in the old half price book stores boxes along with other stuff. It was weird for it's own sake without being anything but weird. It was kind of like the Prisoner but dumber. If you mutate a book into something unrecognizable(where the former boss is suddenly a bad guy) from the original then don't be surprised if your work gets retconned out of existence. That goes for Byrne too. Change it too much from it's origins and you risk getting the white out treatement. Frankly the Doom Patrol has NEVER been much of a success. It's always been on the bottom end of sales.

As for the Demon I'm surprised that all the old fans of the Matt Wagner Limited series aren't raising hell right now. Maybe it's been forgotten by now. I liked the 1st issue of BoTD but kind of cringed when Jason was running aorund in an overcoat with the samurai sword. I kind of got that vibe where I wonder where the bullwhip and jet pack and all the other gimmicks are... it was a minor quibble though. I'm a decided opponent of cheap post Frank Miller Ninja-ism in all of it's insidious forms.

But overall it seemed like a good fun issue. The story moved along. There was some cinimatic stuff and it brought back Randu so I liked it. I don't personally care if the Demon rhymes. It got bungled so often it was hardly worth the effort anyway.

We'll see if the book keeps my interest.

[Sean Whitmore]

That first splash page....godDAMN, that made me uncomfortable. I haven't squirmed so much over the mutilation of a fictional character since...well, South Park, earlier this week. :)

Very, very good. I was afraid Jason Blood was going to be an afterthought in this series, but it looks like that fear will be unfounded. Holy crap, I haven't seen Randu since the 80s.

I do miss "Gone, gone, o' form of Man", however... :( But I knew there was no way Byrne was gonna have Etrigan rhyme, so I was braced for it.



SEAN

[protonik]

Most bash Bryne because they will find some stupied comments like him dissing Jesica Alba or Christopher Reeves and call him on It. They post them here since Its a comic message board and we all chime In.



he didn't insult Reeve or Alba. He actually LIKES Reeve and his work in Superman. He just said he wasn't a hero because SOOOOO MANNNNNNNNY people are being called heroes and the word is losing its true meaning. Reeve was an INSPIRATION but certainly not a hero. With Alba he stated a PERSONAL PREJUDICE about how he feels hispanic women look when they die their hair blonde and DO NOT Pretend you don't say similar things... everyone does, plain and simple. It doesn't help that TV and Movies portray hispanic and black women with dyed hair in unflattering stereotypes that trigger these sorts of opinions etc. Just look at Jerry Springer. This isn't directed at you ECWfan but Byrne bashers in general and you aren't usually, I just get sick of the hypocritical manner Byrne bashers operate. I don't know ONE person who hasn't said something to the effect of what Byrne said from "there is black people and there is n------" to "I like Asians better than White girls". It is in the same, exact same, area of statement. DEAL WITH IT.

Jason

[protonik]

That first splash page....godDAMN, that made me uncomfortable. I haven't squirmed so much over the mutilation of a fictional character since...well, South Park, earlier this week. :)

Very, very good. I was afraid Jason Blood was going to be an afterthought in this series, but it looks like that fear will be unfounded. Holy crap, I haven't seen Randu since the 80s.

I do miss "Gone, gone, o' form of Man", however... :( But I knew there was no way Byrne was gonna have Etrigan rhyme, so I was braced for it.



SEAN

Thank god Byrne didn't write it then. Sure JB wouldn't have the Demon rhyme, he wrote the story that removed that particular nuance (only worked for Moore, who didn't create the Nuance, Len Wein did, I have the issue) in Wonder Woman.

From what JB said at Mid Ohio, this series is more about BLood than Etrigan and is going to appeal to Angel fans. It is meant to be dark, slightly humourous. When I first saw the ninja sword in the artwork JB passed around the JBF gathering at Mid OHio I kind of cringed but on my second pass through... man, it kind of made sense with what I was seeing in the panel to panel work. Excellent artwork and the art tells a great story. It isn't going to be groundbreaking but it is going to be good ol' fashion Kirby fun.

[palaeomerus]

When I first saw the ninja sword in the artwork JB passed around the JBF gathering at Mid OHio I kind of cringed but on my second pass through... man

I have no valid complaint about the sword. It's just a pet peeve of mine. I am getting really sick of cliche Japanese and Okinawan weaponry in comics(especially sai, kama, katana, Ninja-to, no dachi, shuriken, naginata, and magari-yari. Oh and Nunchaku.) I mean is it so hard for someone to draw a Yataghan every once in a while? Or a Khopesh? Or a Falcata? A katar? A little bladed weapon variety would be much appreciated.

[TJ Shoun]

1.Some people like Byrne unconditionally. They like everything that he does. They insist that he is the best artist working today and defend him when he says something that sounds outrageous or that sets a lot of people off. They collect Byrne art and maybe get too into it from time to time. A few of them think that all other comics suck. Slightly more of them don't really like any modern comics.

2.Some people like Byrne. They like his art and some of his ideas they usually enjoy Byrne's books. They see him as a good artists amongst many and while they may not agree with everything that he says or enjoy everything that he does they still enjoy the work of Byrne and occasiobnally pitch in when his name turns up on the internet or start a topic about him when they feel they have something of interest to say about Byrne. Some of these people are a bit disaffected with recent comics but still willing to hang in there and look for good books that appeal to them. Many people in this category are strong supporters of the neo-silver age "movement" which resembles in many ways the retro anime "movement" of the nineties.

3.Some people don't much care. They like some of his stuff and dislike some of his stuff. They might post on a BBS discussing Byrne or his work but have no interest in loving or hating Byrne. They are willing to give a book a try when Byrne's name is on it because from their point of view Byrne comes through often enough to at least warrant a look. They might praise Byrne or spit on him but they really don't think about him much and he's just another comic book guy to them.

4. Some people don't really care for Byrne or his work. Since it does't appeal to them they avoid it and rarely talk about him or his books. Every now and then they'll see or hear something about Byrne and make a comment but for the most part they don't have much of a problem with Byrne. They just see him as one artist of many who had some time in the sun but just isn't of interest to them personally any more. These people tend to either support "sophisticated" comics or be tend followers who are looking for what they perceive to be the bleeding edge of comics. A few just don't like the look of Byrne's art or feel that his writing is grating and are not so much in love with the pursuit of the avant garde of comics. They criticize Byrne but rarely do so from a personal point of view. They just don't like his stuff.

5. Then there are the people who have a weird compulsion to diss Byrne every chance they get on any thing no matter how small or how much of a stretch it is and these same people insist that any one who points out their tendency to rant against Byrne must be from the 1st group. These people go looking for any mention of Byrne they can find on the various comic book related BBS's and when they find one they try to use it as a platform to diss Byrne. They are very obvious about their desire to harm Byrne's reputation any way that they can. Some seem to be trying to look too hip for Byrne or bearing some sort of grudge or possibly obssessed with Byrne in some way. Some are merely piling on figuring that where there is smoke there must be fire. Sometimes they sound like they think they deserve cosmic brownie points for publicly demonstrating how much they do not like Byrne. Some of them read Byrne's work just so they can rip it apart and try to portray Byrne as a sort of Ed Wood of comics. Some hate Byrne because they feel that their favporite writers, artists, and editors also hate Byrne and thus they are fulfilling a sort of duty to their idols by hating Byrne(who may have even said something against said idol). Some were possibly pissed off by a story that they heard about Byrne third hand or something that they heard that he said or may even have actually said. The point is that this group tends to take Byrne personally and see him either as an evil to be isolated and destroyed or a weakling to be incessantly pecked at and picked apart because it's fun and "everyone else" is doing it. Many of the Byrne haters actually seem to think that they are heroic freedom fighters against the oppressive forces of Byrne and his myrmidons or something euqally dramatic. Sometimes they actually try to convince others not to buy Byrne's books as some sort of misguided social duty or wirte to DC to try and get him fired or they pass things that they heard about Byrne around hoping to get a nice big bon fire going.


That about sums up my observations of the 'Byrne phenomenon' too.

Not to turn this into a "Do you like John Byrne" thread or not but:

I think the guy's work is fantastic. Sure, some of it is better than others... but I can honestly say that there's only one project he's ever done that I didn't thoroughly enjoy and that was Spider-Man Chapter 1.

*shrugs*

FF, Superman, X-Men, Fourth world, WW, Avengers, WCA, Cap, Supes/Bat Generations... all just great, great stuff.

Even though Byrne had fallen out of vogue by the late 90's and early 2000's, I even liked Lost Generation and Lab Rats. Next Men remains one my favorite comic book works of all time, and my favorite Byrne work ever. He's rarely let me down.

I think he's got a knack for sequential storytelling that even most other writer/artists don't have. His visuals effortlessly match the verbage and flow of the story. You may like his style or not, but I'm convinced he'll go down as one of the greats.

His board kinda freaks me out though. Sometimes I think he just says outrageous crap to see how many of those guys will agree with him, and then sits back and laughs at how everybody stumbles over themselves to kiss his ass. :p

This issue was okay - I've never been into this genre - but I liked it enough to stick around and find out more.

Sweet-ass cover.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

he didn't insult Reeve or Alba. He actually LIKES Reeve and his work in Superman. He just said he wasn't a hero because SOOOOO MANNNNNNNNY people are being called heroes and the word is losing its true meaning. Reeve was an INSPIRATION but certainly not a hero. With Alba he stated a PERSONAL PREJUDICE about how he feels hispanic women look when they die their hair blonde and DO NOT Pretend you don't say similar things... everyone does, plain and simple. It doesn't help that TV and Movies portray hispanic and black women with dyed hair in unflattering stereotypes that trigger these sorts of opinions etc. Just look at Jerry Springer. This isn't directed at you ECWfan but Byrne bashers in general and you aren't usually, I just get sick of the hypocritical manner Byrne bashers operate. I don't know ONE person who hasn't said something to the effect of what Byrne said from "there is black people and there is n------" to "I like Asians better than White girls". It is in the same, exact same, area of statement. DEAL WITH IT.

Jason


To my knowlodge I have never said anything close to saying that Hispanic women look like when they dye thier hair blond. Plus I admit sometimes people do think of raciel and ethnic things. But most and me Included rarely ever say something bad.

I try to accept people as they are. I have never said anything as bad as the Alba line on a message board and to thier face. I think It was pretty over and It did blow up for that reason.

Reeves had a horrible accident that would have made most give up. But he struggled to live his life as best he could. He also tried to raise money for those stuck In the same shape he was.

Reeves had became a spokeman for those who were disabled and his Image of someone working as a Director and beyond showed life still goes on. The Bryne comments came as he died.

It was like someone pissing on a grave of someone who had struggled. Thats why It too got spread about. I don't agree with Bryne's comments on eithor case.

John Bryne does It to himself. Sometimes you have to think before you post something you know Is crossing the line.

[RodOdom]

"Plus he Is writing and doing 3 books this month from DC . Its not like If he gets one book canceled that he's gonna have to collect food stamps."

Actually, Byrne is hinting that he has been working on a fourth monthly title for over a year now under a pseudonym.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

"Plus he Is writing and doing 3 books this month from DC . Its not like If he gets one book canceled that he's gonna have to collect food stamps."

Actually, Byrne is hinting that he has been working on a fourth monthly title for over a year now under a pseudonym.


Well again I repeat my earlier statement...Its not like he's gonna have to collect food stamps If he gets one book cancelled. ;)

[Kevin Street]

Just finished the issue. It was okay. The art was great, but the writing was a bit too predictable for my taste. And it doesn't help that the main villain is a complete unknown.

Byrne and Nekros are doing a great job on the art for this book. It's quite dynamic and detailed, and all the characters are spot on. I've got no problem with the violence. (Although poor Officer Anderson might disagree. ;)) It makes sense that a book starring a demon would more violent and bloody than your average DC title.

However, the dialog needs some work. Will Pfeifer does give the characters distinctive voices, but he kind of overwrites the book (particularly by sparse modern standards), and as a consequence it has a sort of retro 80's feel. There are scenes where Jason Blood talks to himself, explaining his actions for the reader, and nearly every panel is crammed full of word balloons. I liked the talky effect, but I'm not sure if it will appeal to newer readers.

And in addition, there are a couple of instances where the dialog and the art are a bit different. For instance, on page 9 panel 3 Mel says "there's something odd about his face -- something not right" when Jason clearly has two horns growing out of his forehead - that's more than a little odd, and wouldn't it be the first thing she mentions? Also, the caption identifies this as the Gotham City Morgue, but it seems to be a hospital morgue (Blood even runs out of a door marked "Emergency"), and not the building we've seen before in comics like Gotham Central. (And in addition, the building where Kincaid gives her report to the Captain isn't Gotham's police headquarters, but that's probably because the Detective is assigned to a different precinct.)

As for the plot... It's okay so far, but I'd really like to know a bit more about the main villain and his henchmen. Right now they're just demonic plot devices, but how did they come to the Earth? Don't demons have to be summoned?

One thing this title does really well is reintroduce both Jason Blood and the Demon in a compelling way. They're cool characters, and the story shows that quite well.

I'm interested enough to buy the next issue, but we need to see a little more depth in the villains. Right now they're just extras that the main characters can tear apart at will. Even if they are demons, they should have goals and personalities and histories.

[ssurly]

I really thought this was a great book. Loved the art....loved it! MUCH better than Doom Patrol... IMO.

In terms of this:
However, the dialog needs some work. Will Pfeifer does give the characters distinctive voices, but he kind of overwrites the book (particularly by sparse modern standards), and as a consequence it has a sort of retro 80's feel.

Sparse modern standards???? Like BENDIS ...the lover of the written word!?!?!?!!? There is more dialogue in comics today than I can EVER remember, less action more talk seems to be the mantra.
Now, if you mean type of dialogue, I agree with you there...it did feel a bit retro...but it didn't seem too ponderous to me.....and liked the way it was used with Randu on the second to last page.....

David

[protonik]

The characters talk like that because....






That is the voice that Kirby gave them in the original series, the hokey "Randu my darling" etc is all part and parcel of the characters as established by Kirby in the 70s and yeah, it anachronistic and yeah, people don't talk like that, but that is what their voice is... when we see the SAME dialogue in FF we don't question it because we have been seeing it for so long but watch yer FF, Sue talks the same way.

Jason

[Kevin Street]

Sparse modern standards???? Like BENDIS ...the lover of the written word!?!?!?!!? There is more dialogue in comics today than I can EVER remember, less action more talk seems to be the mantra.
Now, if you mean type of dialogue, I agree with you there...it did feel a bit retro...but it didn't seem too ponderous to me.....and liked the way it was used with Randu on the second to last page.....

Well, sparse modern standards except for Bendis, I guess. ;) For the most part comics are written like they're movies now, and you just don't see caption boxes or explanatory digressions anymore. And pacing is usually set by the art, with the dialog following along (IE: lots of silent panels and dialog "beats."), but in this comic the dialog sort of sets its own constant pace. That's why this issue seemed retro to me. Check out the way the villain talks, and Jason Blood too.

That's not a bad thing, it's just... different from what you usually see today.

That is the voice that Kirby gave them in the original series, the hokey "Randu my darling" etc is all part and parcel of the characters as established by Kirby in the 70s and yeah, it anachronistic and yeah, people don't talk like that, but that is what their voice is... when we see the SAME dialogue in FF we don't question it because we have been seeing it for so long but watch yer FF, Sue talks the same way.

Actually, I never noticed anything different in Randu and Anjeli's dialog. You're right, that is the way they've always talked. Pfiefer has really suceeded in capturing their "natural" voices.

[protonik]

Then what were your problems with the dialogue Kevin? I was assuming it was the anachronisms of Randu and Angeli. I did find the villain a BIT jarring, but took it to try and emphasize his "alieness" as a demon.

Jason

[yenaled]

I found the dialogue clunky at times but overall I enjoyed the issue for what it was - a set up to hopefully a good run.

Jason Blood's suddenly chatty quippying felt a bit weird to me since I know Jason to be a very stonefaced mage - no need for a sword when he could have just banished demons? right?

[Dennis K]

I'm not at all familiar with this character. Is this the first time he has had his own monthly, or is it a relaunch? Does one have to have an understanding of the character's past history to grasp everything that's going on, or can I pick up the book fresh and enjoy it from the beginning?

[DDM]

I'm not at all familiar with this character. Is this the first time he has had his own monthly, or is it a relaunch? Does one have to have an understanding of the character's past history to grasp everything that's going on, or can I pick up the book fresh and enjoy it from the beginning?

The Demon was created by Jack Kirby; he first appeared in his own series in the early 70's.

[Sean Whitmore]

I'm not at all familiar with this character. Is this the first time he has had his own monthly, or is it a relaunch? Does one have to have an understanding of the character's past history to grasp everything that's going on, or can I pick up the book fresh and enjoy it from the beginning?


It's pretty new reader-friendly. Knowing more will enrichen the experience, obviously, but all you need to know going into the book is that Jason Blood is possessed by Etrigan the Demon. :)


SEAN

[Brian Cronin]

It's pretty new reader-friendly. Knowing more will enrichen the experience, obviously, but all you need to know going into the book is that Jason Blood is possessed by Etrigan the Demon. :)


SEAN

LIAR!!!!

Etrigan is turned into Jason Blood!!!

-Brian

[Brian Cronin]

Actually, Byrne is hinting that he has been working on a fourth monthly title for over a year now under a pseudonym.

Did he?

Blast...now that means I have to do detective work!!!

Must be as a writer...can't pass off his pencils...what book, what book, what book...

-Brian

[Sean Whitmore]

LIAR!!!!

Etrigan is turned into Jason Blood!!!


Now I feel like one of those vultures from The Jungle Book. "Let's not start THAT again..." :)


SEAN

[yenaled]

Did he?

Blast...now that means I have to do detective work!!!

Must be as a writer...can't pass off his pencils...what book, what book, what book...

-Brian

Well you know that Geoff Johns character...

[Brian Cronin]

Well you know that Geoff Johns character...

Hehe....that'd be hee-larious.

Not Gabrych...not Pfeiffer...any other newer writers?

-Brian

[Sean Whitmore]

Not Gabrych...not Pfeiffer...any other newer writers?



Quite a few theories floating around here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=48021), including one that says Byrne is B.S.ing (mine, I must admit :)).


SEAN

[Stephane Garrelie]

I loved issue #1. Best Byrne stuff in years!!! :) :) :)
Blood of the demon is now on my monthly list.

[AlanScott606]

I really enjoyed this issue but I was sure I would. I have been a big fan of the Demon since I first say him in an issue of Action Comic's.

It was a solid start to what looks to be a very entertaining series.

[protonik]

Now I feel like one of those vultures from The Jungle Book. "Let's not start THAT again..." :)


SEAN

Except that if you read issue 1 of the ORIGINAL Demon series by Kirby, that is EXACTLY what happens. Etrigan is turned into the form of a mortal and eventually the mortal develops into a unique individual, Jason Blood. There was NO Jason Blood for Etrigan to possess.

Jason

[Sean Whitmore]

Except that if you read issue 1 of the ORIGINAL Demon series by Kirby, that is EXACTLY what happens.


Oh, I know. It's just sort of an in-joke. :)


SEAN

[Brian Cronin]

Except that if you read issue 1 of the ORIGINAL Demon series by Kirby, that is EXACTLY what happens. Etrigan is turned into the form of a mortal and eventually the mortal develops into a unique individual, Jason Blood. There was NO Jason Blood for Etrigan to possess.

Jason

Yeah, Sean knows that, he was just messing around, as was I (sorta ;)).

The discussion of which version is better (Etrigan into Jason or Jason into Etrigan) has gone on for awhile before this issue came out. :)

-Brian