Review: Demon Knights Vol. 2- The Avalon Trap

Quick Summary

Pros: The central narrative here is fun and exciting. The characters are all great and their interactions together are typically enjoyable. This collection handles backstory well and does it in a way that enhances the characters.

Cons: Problems pop up and fly by too quickly sometimes.

Overall: The second volume of the Demon Knights series manages to successfully live up to the hype generated by the first volume. It continues an exciting story of action and adventure but still manages to find some time to further enhance the characters as individuals. The overall appeal here works out well and matches what one would expect after reading the first collection. Anyone who enjoyed the first book or who is looking for some fun sword and sorcery in a mainstream comic should check this book out.

Story

In our review of Demon Knights Vol. 1: Seven Against the Dark (Review), we talked about how the first volume in this series took some negative hits in order to establish the comic’s premise for future volumes. We also said that the effectiveness of a tradeoff like this would be determined by whether or not the second volume was a quality read. Now, after reading this second volume, I’m happy to say that this gamble was worth it.

Demon Knights Vol. 2: The Avalon Trap, by Paul Cornell, is a fun and satisfying adventure with a great cast of characters. It tells a compelling story, gives the reader more information about the larger narrative, and has great characters leading the way all the way through. All in all, it really hits the nail on the head when it comes to providing sword and sorcery to mainstream comics.

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The bulk of The Avalon Trap follows the Demon Knights in their sword and sorcery-style journey to the mysterious realm of Avalon. This is a trip that involves fierce monsters, powerful magic, and some very intimidating enemies. All of these factors come together to create a narrative that is exciting and really unique among mainstream comics. The only thing really holding it back is the way in which problems on the road to Avalon seem to pop up and fly by with a pace that makes them harder to believe.

The entire adventure is then enhanced by the comradery or, sometimes, lack thereof among the members of the Demon Knights. Each character has a distinct personality and these personalities come together in ways that are often entertaining. This can be seen in the love triangle surrounding Xanadu, which is a really interesting mix of personalities, or nearly anyone’s relationship with Vandal Savage, which results in some enjoyable conflicts. Plus, comments from these individuals about their adventure in general typically end up being fun to hear, especially since these characters are so well written.

Alongside the main action here are two chapters that are primarily focused on backstory. The first details the relationship between Madame Xanadu, Jason Blood, and Etrigan. This is an interesting tale of love and deception that leaves Xanadu’s true motivations intentionally ambiguous, which I really liked. The second is a pretty straightforward origin story for Jason and Etrigan, which gives some satisfying answers about plot points from earlier in the read. It also helps that, unlike the first volume, these dives into backstory are handled in a way that does not interrupt the flow of the main narrative.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in The Avalon Trap is positive and helps enhance the story. Diogenes Neves, once again, presents a gritty but creative take on the world of the past. This world is accompanied by great characters and some interesting page structure. Marcelo Maiolo’s muted colors also help the book truly feel as if it takes place in a bygone era. There are a few places where facial features look weird or lack detail but these do not pose enough of a problem to distract from the volume’s artistic positive. Instead, this ends up being a good looking book where the visuals properly match the subject material.

Continuity

Demon Knights Vol. 2: The Avalon Trap continues the story from Demon Knights Vol. 1: Seven Against the Dark (Review).

The story started here is continued in Demon Knights Vol. 3: The Gathering Storm.