One page from Knight and Squire #1

[kamino_neko]

The best part of Knight and Squire wasn't the plot which was shown in the last post.

Nah, it was Squire's history lesson about the pub the story takes place in...it was several pages long, but this page...this page had my favourite bits...



The last two panels, particularly. This is, interestingly, one of the pages where Cornell didn't explain the references on the text page (well, obliquely), since he thought they should be too obvious.

Comments

[silverzeo]

Oh God... IT'S A BAR FULL OF LANCES! A BAR FULL OF DOUCHES!

[nezchan]

I don't quite get the middle panel, but feel like I should.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, first and third panels I get, second one... not so much.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Really?

Church of Blood, Teen Titans bad guys?

And you call yourself a Nightwing fan!

[icon_uk]

Oh I do, but in this context that would make no sense at all, the others make reference to popular British culture - The War of the Worlds, The Beatles (and thus Wings), but there's really nothing British, or (at a guess) 1960's-ish, about the Church of Blood to give a Brother Blood reference any resonance.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Eh, probably the writer keeping a hand in the DCU stuff

[icon_uk]

Paul Cornell... nah, sorry, it just doesn't fit. If we'd seen references to things like "Counties on Infinite Earths" or "Identikit Crisis" then I'd buy it as an amusing parallel notion, but putting a minor story in an American comic that came out 20 years after the frame of reference, in the same page as War of the Worlds and the Beatles?

No, I'd expect this to be a reference to a Dennis Wheatley novel or the like

[ym2612.wordpress.com]

The Church Of Blood Of England - come on, it's obvious. He's taking the piss (ever so gently) out of the Church Of England, the state religion.

[psion-x.livejournal.com]

The Rattles

Also a reference to the Beatles skit movie - The Ruttles?

[lieut_kettch]

I guess it's a C of E reference. Or in this case, a C of B of E.

[icon_uk]

Actually I take that back, you may very well be right, looking at the symbol they are wearing. Apologies for jumping to conclusions.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

No prob. 2 outta 3 isn't bad for local references, makes sense to me he'd make a few DC ones (like Wildcat's appearance) to keep a hand in both pools.

Let me explain the historical allusion

[lpetrazickis]

In Catholic Christianity, communion wine is literally the blood of Jesus.

In Anglican Christianity, communion wine is only metaphorically the blood of Jesus.

Rome -> CoE = Literal blood of Jesus -> Metaphorical blood of Jesus

CoB -> CoBoE = Literal blood of virgins -> Metaphorical blood of virgins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Eucharistic_theology

Re: Let me explain the historical allusion

[icon_uk]

As a Catholic I know the situation vis a vis transubstantiation (though I probably can't spell it). The bit I'm wondering about is if there is a pop-culture reference in this the way there is in the other two.

Re: Let me explain the historical allusion

[kamino_neko]

Nah. Cornell's vague explanation of it on the text page was 'I'm sure I don't need to explain the CofE reference' (more or less), so it's religion, not pop-culture.

Re: Let me explain the historical allusion

[icon_uk]

As long as they still hold with stripping captive nubile young acrobats down to their feathered little briefs, I can live with it! :) (The Church of Blood that is, not the CofE, I have no idea what their position on stripping captive nubile young acrobats down to their feathered little briefs is... though wouldn't it be fun to find out!)

Re: Let me explain the historical allusion

[kamino_neko]

I thought we were talking about the CofE, not the Catholic Church....

nb: Neko is Catholic.

Re: Let me explain the historical allusion

[arilou_skiff]

I'm not actually sure on the british position, but I think they're consubstantiationists, no?

IE: It's not the literal blood of Jesus, but it takes part of the "essence" or "substance" of the blood of Jesus, while physically remaining wine.

As opposed to dem dirty Calvinists for which it is only a commemorative event.

Re: Let me explain the historical allusion

[thokstar]

Huh. I was expecting it to be some sort of a Spanish Inquisition reference.

[stig]

For quadruple points he could have called them "The Krikkits".

[psychopathicus_rex]

Which would have referred to... what, exactly?

[stig]

A) The Beatles actually based their name on a semi-popular band of the time known as the Crickets;

B) Douglas Adams' book, "Life, The Universe And Everything", is based around the idea that the sport Cricket is Earth's backward racial memory reenactment of the most horrible war ever concieved in the universe, caused by the xenophobic people of the planet Krikkit;

C) Adams was an avid Beatles fan, and in fact "L,TUAE" indulges in describing the beauty of the music of the people of Krikkit in terms of how much Paul McCartney would be able to buy had he written that music.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I bow to your superior Beatles knowledge. I've actually read 'Life, the Universe and Everything', but I was unaware of the music reference therein.

[stig]

...Are you sure? Check the end of Chapter 29 again...

"From somewhere at the back of the crowd a single voice started to sing a tune which would have enabled Paul McCartney, had he written it, to buy the world."

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, I only read it once, and that was a while ago. Anyway, what I meant was that I thought the whole 'Krikkit' thing was just a parody of, you know, the game Cricket - I didn't realize it was also a veiled reference to the Beatles and a band that preceded them.

[stig]

Ah no, you misunderstand - I was saying it would be clever of Cornell to make the quadruple-reference to the Beatles, the Crickets, and Adams & the Book. I don't think Adams was referencing the original Crickets, though it would be nice if he did.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Ah. OK.

[lonewolf23k]

So, by "Metaphorically" sacrificing virgins, do they mean just sacrificing their virginity?

Because in that case, it sounds a lot more fun...

[protogarrett]

Lady Gaga is a British superhero?
Yes!

[ninjapeps]

I didn't notice the first time I read this but... is that alien guy drinking a slurpee?

[crinos]

Why are wings the evil ones? What, nobody likes Wings.

I like Wings, Band on the run kicks ass.

[meatwhichdreams]

Aww, I like Wings too! And the Plastic Ono Band, and The Traveling Wilburys, and Shining Times Station! :D No Beatle has true evil in their hearts.

[lieut_kettch]

Wings is Evil? But was Yoko that caused the split-up!

Now I want to see a cross-universe team-up between the Rattles and the Skrull Beatles.

Whaddya mean the Skrull Beatles are dead? Lalalalalacan'thearyou....

[kamino_neko]

Looks like John-Analogue and Paul-Analogue actually went the same way, rather than separate, from the way the characters are arranged in the panel. (The likenesses aren't...well, aren't particularly 'like', but since that side has 'Yoko', one assumes that's 'John' sitting along with 'Paul', and the one with the guitar is 'George'.)

[meatwhichdreams]

Yoko didn't break up a damn thing! That was both John and Paul's fault, and George wasn't exactly helping either. She was just a catalyst. WITH MAGICAL POWERS...! :O

[ormardu.blogspot.com]

In the Martian panel who's the big strongman type with the big package?

[halloweenjack]

I was most intrigued by the changing picture in the background and the woman standing to the left of it in the middle panel, wondering if they were all the same woman.

[kingrockwell]

The world-building was definitely my favorite part of this issue, but I hope it has some larger arc it's setting up for. This one's done-in-one nature is a little weird for a mini.

[psychopathicus_rex]

So who are the little girl in the mask and the guy in the boater hat? Do we ever find out?

[kamino_neko]

No, nobody in the flashback sections gets a specific individual ID.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Drat. Oh well, it's only the first issue - there's hope.