CBR: Cornell Rides with the "Demon Knights"

[CBR News]

Series writer Paul Cornell shares his views on Etrigan the demon as a leader, the effect of Camelot's fall on the book and teases what's in store for the Knights in the second arc.


Full article here.

[Desaad]

Good interview.

Probably the best team book going at DC right now. Looking forward to more.

[darthnat]

Not really much new info, but it warms the cockles of my heart to hear that Exoristos and Ystin are going to be friends. I declare them my new favorite comic friendship.

[Dr. Hurt]

Not really much new info, but it warms the cockles of my heart to hear that Exoristos and Ystin are going to be friends. I declare them my new favorite comic friendship.

Oh yes! I love this duo too!!!
Not as much as Dick and Damian though. They're still my favourite!

Btw why did Cornell leave Stormwatch?

[Lemurion]

I believe Cornell may have left because he only likes to write a couple of books a month and now he's got Saucer Country coming up for Vertigo.

Also.

Does anyone else think this article reads like it should have come out LAST Tuesday? Right before issue #5 shipped rather than after?

[Doctor Mango]

Does anyone else think this article reads like it should have come out LAST Tuesday? Right before issue #5 shipped rather than after?

Yes, I thought that myself.

Regardless, I'm enjoying this book thoroughly, so even slightly out of date teaser articles are still enjoyable!

[Dr. Hurt]

I believe Cornell may have left because he only likes to write a couple of books a month and now he's got Saucer Country coming up for Vertigo.

Also.

Does anyone else think this article reads like it should have come out LAST Tuesday? Right before issue #5 shipped rather than after?

Thanks! And yeah i agree about the interview.

[toastedbread]

Another nod of agreement to the fact this interview sounds like it should have been in the run-up to #5 not a week after. Great interview though.

Having said that am I the only one who was genuinely surprised to hear that Etrigan is the leader? I mean, I also feel a little daft because of course, he's The Demon and it's called Demon Knights, and I do recall reading someplace that originally it was just going to be a book about Etrigan but Paul Cornell asked to make it more team oriented?

And obviously the Etrigan/Jason Blood/Xanadu situation is a super complex central relationship in the book.

But it's just felt to me that Etrigan really hasn't been in the book that much, let alone leading the group in any capacity; he spends all his time wanting to leave even by the standards of the rest of them. I'm not sure I could pinpoint any sort of leader here, but i think Shining Knight, Xanadu, Vandal Savage and maybe even Exoristos have all come across as more "main" characters than Etrigan. Possibly partly down to the fact that he splits his time with Jason Blood, but even then it wouldn't have occurred to me that he was supposed to be the lead.

Which I'm not complaining about - I adore this book, and there's not a member of the team I dislike or wouldn't love to find out more about.

I just find it amusing that I was apparently so deeply mistaken as to who the central figure of the story was!

[darthnat]

Yeah, I kind of felt the same way. It's a little jarring when he's like "oh yeah, this guy is the central figure of the book" when he hasn't really done much of anything so far. But only Shining Knight's storyline has been explicitly tied into what is presumably the main plot of the book so far. And Etrigan/Jason were bound together by Merlin for a reason, and we just don't know what yet.

The solicits seem to imply that Etrigan will become more pivotal at the end of this arc, and the Questing Queen does regard him as the greatest threat. But at the same time, the main villain seems to have a personal vendetta against Shining Knight, not Etrigan.

Who knows what the future will hold. Etrigan has been one of my least favorite characters so far just because he hasn't done a whole lot of interest, so I'd like to see him get a more important role.

[Paladin King]

I believe Cornell may have left because he only likes to write a couple of books a month and now he's got Saucer Country coming up for Vertigo.

Also.

Does anyone else think this article reads like it should have come out LAST Tuesday? Right before issue #5 shipped rather than after?

The rumour is that DC editorial wanted Stormwatch to play a major role in some big upcoming event or some-such, possibly to do with Pandora, and Cornell didn't really want to be in on that.

Anyway, as someone else already said, this is the best team book at DC right now. Well, to me anyway. Really love the art as well. Reminds me quite a bit of Olivier Coipel. Diogenes Neves is a real find for DC.

[HeroxMatt2.0]

How has this series been so far? I've read some good reviews, and I enjoyed the first issue a little bit. Has it gotten better/worse? Worth collecting in trade?

[Serviettedetable]

definitely worth collecting in trades... maybe more than floppys. I'm getting it each month and it's one of my favorite title. Best team book with JLD for me.

[darthnat]

How has this series been so far? I've read some good reviews, and I enjoyed the first issue a little bit. Has it gotten better/worse? Worth collecting in trade?

I like it a lot. You may want to wait for the trade if you hate kind of slow-burn books, since it's spent a lot of time setting up the characters. That said, the next issue should be the one where the big battle starts, though.

It's probably the best team book DC has, in terms of having interesting characters with interesting conflicts.

[Sabrewulf]

Love this book but the first arc is dragging on so much I dropped it to go to trade on it.

That's happened with quite a few DCnU books which I was convinced id still be getting at this point.

If they had skipped the Shining Knight filler issue I may still be on board.

[Paladin King]

How has this series been so far? I've read some good reviews, and I enjoyed the first issue a little bit. Has it gotten better/worse? Worth collecting in trade?

you'll see some naysayers, but I think that starting with this month, Cornell has really found his groove. We're getting to really know the new characters.

The art is fantastic as well.

Honestly, if you like fantasy or like any of Cornell's prior works, you should give it a try.

It also has a good, healthy helping of cool female characters.