Knight and Squire #1

November 4, 2010

Title: For Six Part One
Writer: Paul Cornell
Art: Jimmy Broxton
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Yanick Paquette, Michael Lacombe & Nathan Fairbairn
Editor: Janelle Siegel
Publisher: DC Comics

With Batman about to go international, this seems like the perfect time for England’s own dynamic duo to get their own limited series. However, if you’re looking for any sort of hardcore crime drama or intense detective work in a British setting, look elsewhere. In this series by Paul Cornell, the emphasis is on the fun.

This first issue issue is set in the world-famous “The Time in a Bottle,” a little pub that plays host for both the heroes and villains of Britain (plus any international heroes who happen to pop in, such as the Justice Society’s Wildcat). As Knight throws back a few with the likes of the Milkman, Death Dinosaur, and Jarvis Poker (the British Joker), Squire takes a young man called the Shrike on a tour of the place, where he gets to see both the heroes and villains of the British Empire, giving him something to think about when it comes to choosing sides.

Cornell really loads this issue down with new characters, which isn’t surprising, as one of his stated goals with this series is to really expand the roster of DC Universe characters based in the United Kingdom. The only weakness here is that a few pages tend to drift into the roll call territory, where we’re summarily introduced to lots of characters who don’t really factor into the plot of this first issue. That’s a danger any time you’re attempting to fill up on new characters in a big dump. A few of them get some nice exposition, but most are just quick one or two panel introductions, then they’re gone.

Fortunately, that one flaw does play into the book’s strength, which is that Cornell is obviously having a great time writing it. He really gives the book an authentically British feel, with the comedy stemming from that dry place most great British comedy comes from. He even gives us a page at the end helping we American readers understand some of the more quintessentially British references throughout the book. Jimmy Broxton has a ton of character designs to handle here, and he successfully evokes a number of different time periods and superhero types. (We don’t get any backstory about Faceoff, but if he’s not a product of the 90s I’ll eat my hat. As soon as I start wearing a hat.)

I’ve become quite a fan of Cornell’s this year, and I have no doubt his work will make me a bigger fan in the future.

Rating: 8/10