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The Order of Dagonet #1

By Andy Frisk
November 12, 2009 - 21:31

When a group of construction workers, who are clearing a section of Epping Forest in order to construct a monument in honor of David Beckham the footballer, uproot an old tree with strange markings, Oberon and Titania of the realm of Faerie are freed to wreak havoc upon Briton. Titania finishes off the construction workers, Oberon dissolves Parliament, and Robin Goodfellow, The Puck, brings a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Globe Theatre to a bloody end. Meanwhile, Dizzy Claiborne (an aging heavy metal rocker), Gene Everyman (the author of a very popular series of books about a boy wizard) and Sir Tottington (the elder statesman of The British Isles’ greatest Shakespearian actors, whose name always comes up if there’s “a part for a wizened old anything” in it) find themselves summoned unconsciously by Merlin and charged with saving Great Britain from the Faeries. As they are all knights of the realm, having received honorary knighthoods, they must put their Queen and Country first. They are knights of The Order of Dagonet though, so God save the Queen!

So what, pray tell, is The Order of Dagonet? According to the faux wiki-page printed on the last page of issue #1 of Firetower Studios’ The Order of Dagonet, it’s “an order of knights within the British Commonwealth Realms. Founded by King Edward VIII during his short 325 day reign as king, the order was created to honor outstanding achievements in fields related to entertainment. Inductees represent such diverse professions as: athletes, actors, musicians, authors, Formula 1 drives, puppeteers, film directors, and millionaire CEO’s.” The order is something of a "joke to the other orders," and for writer Jeremy Whitley.

Whitley creates, in the characters of his three main knights, some fairly thinly disguised parodies of three major British entertainers. Dizzy Claiborne is obviously Ozzy Osborne. Sir Tottington is Sir Ian McKellen, and Gene Everyman is, perhaps not as obviously (or definately), Neil Gaiman. Just because the characters are obvious parodies doesn’t mean that they aren’t meant as parodies that shouldn't be regarded in good humor, or don’t make interesting and positive observations on their real life inspirations. They are also pretty funny. It’s nearly impossible “ ‘o ‘derstan ‘a ‘ord Dizzy ‘effin’ ‘ays,” and Tottington, representing McKellen-who is perhaps one of the most gifted and powerfully commanding actors of our age, only receives widespread recognition when forced into making a ludicrous remake of Henry V in the book. It’s only fitting that Everyman (Gaiman) is credited with creating and profiting from a very Harry Potter-like character since Gaiman came up with the boy wizard idea before Rowling’s first book was ever published. It’s the sharp parodying of these real life figures and the mixing of the mythical and fictional beings like Titania and Oberon, while referencing Shakespeare that really makes this first issue fun and interesting. It will be even more interesting to see where Whitley takes this tale in the next issues.

Artist Jason Strutz’s work in The Order of Dagonet #1 is pretty unique in the field of comic books. He was gracious enough to provide me with some insight into his method of creating the dreamlike and slightly impressionistic looking layouts for Dagonet. His use of colored pencils, overlaid with paints and digital inks, give the work a sort of magical, warm glow which is quite fitting for a work where A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s faeries are at play. His colored pencil work also lends a defined yet malleable look to his Titania and Oberon, like a tree that is standing in clear view against the sky, yet moving gently in the breeze and changing ever so lightly with each look as it stirs. In other words, his pencils are great, and highly fitting for the King and Queen of the Woodland Faerie.

Overall, The Order of Dagonet is a fun and eye catching debut issue that mixes fantasy and humor with a dash of horror. Sprinkle in some political and social satire along with plenty of wit, and the end product is worth checking out, and hopefully only a taste of what’s to come.

For more info, check out www.firetowerstudios.com

Rating: 8 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12