Demon Knights #14

I don't think any of the Demon Knights consider Etrigan their leader.

Last issue, everyone was in hell and trying to escape their own little personal annoyances. That makes this a really good comic book to read during the Thanksgiving week.

Jason Blood was threatening to send himself to Hell so he could punish Etrigan for sending Xanadu to Hell. But who was he threatening? His whole plan seems just as idiotic as you'd imagine a plan would be when thought up by a love sick idiot in the newness of his loss. Hell is the others and Jason Blood is finally free of them. But now he wants to join back up with the others in literal Hell. Perhaps Hell isn't the others at all. Hell is needing others. How about enjoying your own company for awhile, Jason?

Not that he gets the chance. The Questing Queen and Mordru show up to keep him from killing himself. Jerks.

One does not simply use the phrase, "One does not simply...."

The Questing Queen's Magic Eight Ball answered, "Ask again later, " and then "Better not tell you now," when she asked it who would most likely find the Holy Grail she's been seeking. Eventually, it answered, "Etrigan," because Mordru opened up her Magic Eight Ball and took a sharpie to its twenty-sided answering mechanism. So now she is going to use her magic to fix Jason Blood's "Begone the form of man" chant, sending Blood to Hell where he'll get to see his lost love and bring Etrigan back to Earth so he'll refuse to help her.

Back in Hell, Madame Xanadu's personal punishment is to be Etrigan's obedient spouse. But that poses a problem for Etrigan as well since he needs her for his plan to double cross Lucifer.

Perhaps Etrigan needs her army of prostitutes? That's a joke about how they fucked up her name in the first panel!

Elsewhere in Hell, the Companions have all escaped their their own personalized minor nuisances of eternal torment. Etrigan arrives to put them back in their places (maybe. I still don't know exactly what that asshole is up to) so Lucifer will continue to trust him. The confrontation doesn't last long as Etrigan is pulled out of Hell by Mordru and Jason Blood is sent back.

In the thrall of Mordru, Etrigan vomits forth his plan to allow Lucifer to take Avalon. But since Lucifer is reading all of this in some prognosticatorical scroll that Etrigan probably knows about, I still can't believe Etrigan's plan! I'm sure he's not under Mordru's thrall and I'm sure he knows Lucifer will hear anything he says. So his plan to allow his Companions to escape Hell via Avalon so that Lucifer's army can follow and take Avalon for themselves is probably all bullshit. Of course Etrigan has something else up his demon sleeves. And since this chapter is called "Occupy Hell," I have to wonder if his plan is to trap Lucifer in Avalon so that Etrigan can take over Hell for himself.

Wasn't the saying "Pride goeth before a fall" based on this jerk? He would do well to remember that! The front side of the gates of Hell say, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." The back side should say, "Hey, Lucifer, you're a big fat jerk." I was actually going to say the back side should read "Pride goeth before a fall" but then my mind took a left fucking turn at Albuquerque.

Xanadu opens the way to Avalon while Lucifer sits back and waits for the Companions to find her and enter with her. Etrigan's plan remains a secret but I think I might have guessed at it somewhat. Xanadu's plan is to simply escape without Etrigan's plan fucking that plan up. And Lucifer believes he has the upper hand since he tempted Exoristos into being his unholy servant back on Earth. Maybe everybody will get just enough of what they want to be completely unhappy with the results.

Ha ha! Good one, Cornell. My alt Grunion Guy's definition of an editor: "A Fuddyduddy that rains on parades and refers to 'artistic expression' as 'grammar errors.'" And his definition of fuddyduddy: "An ancient Sanskrit word that means ‘some guy who makes the drunk girl put her top back on and stop dancing on the table.’"

Exoristos is willing to take something to Earth for Lucifer since she knows that she'll never again be allowed to set foot on Paradise Island. But she's still looking for some kind of future peace and she believes she can find it with The Shining Knight.

Being an Amazon, is she disturbed that the Shining Knight is part woman? Or part man?

The Companions enter Avalon immediately followed by Lucifer and his army. Immediately after that, The Questing Queen and her hordes are able to follow Jason Blood into Avalon as well. And Avalon has its own army of Silent Knights. The three armies charge into battle against one another with the Companions trapped in the middle. Next issue, whose plan will end up on top?

Demon Knights #14 Rating: +1 Ranking. This comic just doesn't disappoint. Bernard Chang has kept the quality of the art nearly as high as Diogenes Neves had kept it. Paul Cornell's grip on the storytelling is absolutely solid. He doesn't dangle the same mystery over the reader's head month after month. He's allowing questions to be answered while bringing new mysteries to the book while maintaining a solid underlying story about the Quest for the Grail. He also manages to tell a story with a lot of main characters without feeling like he's ever leaving any of them out. Well, except maybe al Jabr. I'd like to see more of him!