It took some work getting cross-town to my regular comic shop from sword-fighting class, especially having to cut across a Tacos and Margs Crawl to make my connection at the el station, but when I got there I found a pretty good crowd and a well-diminished stack of "Demona #0" on the FCBD table. (Also picked up the "Fantastic 4" issue, for study purposes, sort of.)
First impressions:[SPOILER]
Right off the bat, we're opening during the gap in "Quest" #3, August 8 being about a week after Demona secures the Lance of Fate, and about a week and a half after she learns of Angela's hopes for reconciliation.
Set at...the Met? And the topic of the exhibition, "Vikings in Japan," is itself tantalizing; I don't know if we'll get a deeper view into that through the series, but it's exciting to think so. And Demona looks downright grotty on this first page: Frank Paur's on his game here.
Into the exhibit, and Sleipnir gets an appearance, finally (albeit just as a painting on a shield) along with a number of pretty period-accurate Viking swords (one of which is in really gnarly shape) and what looks like a Sutton Hoo mask. (All in Japan? Oooh.)
And into the spread I think we all saw during the preview phase, which looks even better up close and full-size, featuring a couple of people who seem totally unfazed by an armed Demona coming down the steps of the Met. Whether that speaks to the status the gargoyles are getting at this point, or whether that's just New York for you, I wouldn't dare try to answer.
Always good to see Brooklyn and Demona fighting (and interesting to me that Brooklyn favors his longsword for this fight, but that matches Demona). And they have a few things to say to each other, as could be expected. Hot snot, the artwork here is terrific.
Incidentally, it sure looks like Demona got her sword from the Met: she does not seem to have it when she goes in. Probably not from the case she's shown to be smashing (which is all Viking swords), though the featured exhibit looks like it's in or very nearby the Arms & Armor exhibit, so presumably the Met has more than one smashed-up display case to deal with in the morning.
Over to the castle, with Katana and Hudson overlooking the city (and Demona sort of giving things away with her line in the transition, but that's for later). A conversation with some ominous elements to it. Katana not being inclined to look at the artifacts, and instead going to check on their egg. Now it's really intriguing: a tease like that, and I don't see how this series doesn't eventually show the Vikings getting to Japan...or vice versa?
Back to the battle, and I think this is only the second or third time that we've seen one of the gargoyles using their tails in battle, and Brooklyn just sort of gets tossed out of the way to make room for an especially-important exchange between Angela and Demona.
Out into the street the battle goes before Goliath (apparently) brings the fight to a quick end. Demona makes a dramatic exit, and traffic keeps on flowing, apparently. Home she goes to Antoinette. That picture of her in the last panel of the penultimate page is really beautiful, especially compared with her on the first page of the issue.
And in her typical way, it turns out she's pulled a fast one and claimed a prize that means much more to her, personally, so much so we see her shed a tear over it. And so we get our lead-in to find out who Angelika is, or was, and what she meant to our lead villain.
[/SPOILER]
And then of course we get an epilogue tying in to the upcoming crossover, about which not much more needs to be said at this point.
The artwork in this issue is stellar: the detailing is intricate and expressive, and for some reason I'm especially happy about seeing [SPOILER] Brooklyn's eye as he fights up close with Demona [/SPOILER].
Phoenician: Well spotted. I'd noticed that [SPOILER] it was two different hair colors, but somehow it took your comment to get me to realize that's probably the expectation. Really strong indication of how close Demona and Angelika are going to be over this next series, if Demona's reaction to gaining the locket was not enough. And in fairness, I doubt the Met normally has to deal with anyone making a full-on attack, although given the events of the past couple of in-continuity years, perhaps they ought to have rethought that. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen: One thing I noticed is that [SPOILER] there seems to be something protruding from Demona's left vambrace as she's subduing the guard, and visible again in a couple of panels on her shield arm. I totally would believe that the armor is a souvenir of her Viking expedition, and that would fit the sentiment driving this caper, but I wonder if perhaps she's upgraded her armor since then? [/SPOILER]
morrand - [morrand276 at gmail dot com]
posted @ Sun, May 4, 2025 11:13:16 am EDT from 108.69.72.60
