What a weird occurrence. Paul Cornell's two series in the DCnU have essentially swapped places with the second issue. Stormwatch #1 was disappointing and was redeemed by a stronger second book, and Demon Knights roared out of the gate then largely stalls in this issue.
There is plenty to like in this book; Vandal Savage has the makings of a great comedic character, a hungry barbarian with a shadowy past seems pretty easy to sell. I also like the new Amazonian gal who runs around in a tiny top smashing bad guys. Sir Ystin is pretty fun, because while she seems to be keen to hide her gender, everyone she interacts with clearly knows she's a lady knight. That's a pretty good ratio of interesting characters.
The inventor and horsewoman haven't had enough panel time for me to form an opinion yet, but they seem fine.
The problems rest with Madame Xanadu and the Demon. Etrigan is not the same guy we've seen before, and in fact, there seems to be very little connecting him to either Kirby's take or the more modern rhyming approach I'm more familiar with. If he was a brilliant new character, that might be ok, but he seems to be a tough-talking, self-centered type. That's a hard lead to anchor a book to. Xanadu is odd too; I like seeing her taking a more active hand than she did in her Vertigo series, but I sure don't understand her power levels.
The plot barely moves from where we were in the first issue. I need a bit more of a conflict to sink my teeth into to stay interested. Morgan Le Fey and Mordru have the potential to work, but I just don't know enough about them yet. I will say I'm digging the amount of dialogue that random bystanders and townspeople are spouting!
Diogenes Neves' art is a bit uneven. Some panels look fantastic and detailed while some look very rushed. Not sure how that monthly deadline is going to look in a couple more months.
Average
