A colleague asked whether it was possible to begin a sentence with the word 'Comes', noting that there should, surely, be an 'It' first. Of course standard grammar requires it, as far as I can tell, and leaving out the pronoun makes the sentence sound weird.
On the other hand, I'm sure I've seen it done before, most likely within advertising (which this example is). Is there a decent explanation for why we can omit the pronoun?
Legal documents sometimes begin with sentences that start "Comes now the Plaintiff......". IANAL but those documents I've seen are usually in response to a document their legal opponent has introduced to the court and sort of indicates the this is a new part of an existing continuing process.
Also, legal talk is not always strictly rational.
Along with the examples from Adam Josef K Hamilton it is plain that some people start sentences with 'Comes', but not that it is right to emulate them.
There are at least two constructs where this can happen.
One is where you use the word 'Comes' (or any verb) as a noun referring to the word itself.
'Comes' is a word you can sometimes use at the beginning of a sentence.
The other is that English permits the asking of a question by reversing verb and subject, although it's a pretty archaic usage.
Comes there now the man who can make me king?
Shakespeare would have been fine with it, and probably up to about 200 years ago, but it does sound stilted to modern ears.
