Turned Over whole Empires in Search of Sex and Booze
After last issue's flashback story, it's time to start up a new arc. We start with the Princess's of the Kingdom of Alba Sarum discussing their new visitors, and the general consensus is, we can't trust any of these people. Etrigan is a Demon, Xanadu is Shacking up with a Demon, Exoristos is wanted Dead or Alive, Al Jabr and the Horsewoman have not even revealed their names, and Savage.... is an immortal asshole who destroyed entire empires in pursuit of sex and booze....
I love you Vandal Savage and I wish to one day have sex with your crazy homicidal lesbian daughter so that my child will one day inherit your kingdom of glorious insanity. Perhaps we can discuss the terms of this arrangement over two very large bottles of your strongest whiskey and a plate of freshly cooked Grundy.
However, when the Princesses see that this group of misfits travel with the shining knight, they believe that they can trust them. Now that's a reputation.
Vandal reveals that the Princesses here are lesbian lovers. Oh dear, I'll have some words for that later. Vandal, concerned only with their reward, despite the fact that everyone else is wondering why the people of the kingdom appear to be in mourning. AL Jabr believes that Vandal does not deserve a reward because he betrayed them in the battle, which causes Vandal to promptly start whoopin' his ass while recounting a tale of how he once beat the sh*t out of Plato. Al Jabr fights back with force lightning until the local authorities tell them to break it up.
They are taken to the Princesses and they reveal the Teselcter that they believe to be the corpse of Merlin, because if it was in Doctor Who, it's automatically canon everywhere else. Seeing what he thinks is the man who cursed him sets Etrigan off. Fortunately, Xanadu believes that Merlin still lives... sort of it's complicated. He's on a mystic island called Avalon where he's probably regenerating into Christopher Eccelston. So they set sail. Shining Knight talks to her horse for a while only to be interrupted by a very drunk Exoristos. Vandal, who's stearing the ship because he's awesome has a question. You two have crossed this channel before, is that giant sea serpent normal?
We don't get an answer just yet, because it's time t see what Etrigan does in hell. Apparently he rhymes a lot. (YAY!!) So he tells Lucifer that he plans on betraying his comrades and that brings us to the end of the issue.
What works:
Between this and Secret Six, Vandal Savage is fast becoming my favorite character in all of comics. He's an immortal asshole with crazy ambitions and the time to see them through. Gotta love it. The dialogue remains glorious and funny, and the story continues to hold my attention. Also, I really like the design of Lucifer. He looks less like a big red monster, instead opting to emphasize the fallen angel look, which I like.
What Doesn't:
I've been noticing a pattern in comics and science fiction lately, and that is more and more gay characters and gay couples. Even though I'm a straight man, I have many friends in the LGBT community and am a proud supporter of gay marriage. So seeing gays integrating into comics can only be a good thing, but I think some writers tend to try to hard. Such is the case with our lesbian princesses. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure this was the sort of thing that could get one bricked into a wall in medieval times. It's not a bad plot element, it's just out of place.
Overall
5/5
Well this was a fun read. I can go for some Sex and Booze, anyone know any good governments I can overthrow?
