This is the first volume in a new series by Kieron Gillen (author of various Star Wars graphic novels including Doctor Aphra) which chronicles the possible return of King Arthur but perhaps not quite in the way you would expect.

Duncan is a really interesting character and I kind of like his quiet strength and obvious love he has for his grandmother. Even as he discovers things aren't quite what they seem he handles it pretty well and steps up. The artwork is beautiful and I loved the use of colour and the little details.

I really liked this graphic novel and am really excited to read more. I think it set up the story and characters really well.

I gave this graphic novel 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Loved this modern spin on the King Arthur tale. Thoroughly enjoyed the story line and character building. Can’t wait for the next installment.

This is exactly what I've been looking for.
A male character, much more Clark Kent slowly discovering the Superman inside of him, being dragged kicking and screaming into an adventure by his monster hunting, kick butt, ornery as a wet cat, grandmother.

Duncan is great at all, but I am here for Bridgett. She's exactly what I've been looking for in my science fiction and fantasy. She's old, she's past her prime, and she couldn't care less about what you think, she's going to take names and kick butt.
I would read a hundred books in this series and I hope it continues for a long time.

I had been waiting to read this and I was not disappointed!
This volume follows Duncan and his grandmother Bridgette as they try to stop the people trying to bring King Arthur back from the dead. I loved that we have a really spunky old lady (something about Bridgette's character just tickled me). And I really loved that we were getting to see a really dark interpretation of the King Arthur Myths. This was a very unique and action-packed story. I felt that the art style fit it perfectly, and I already need more.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Egads - it’s been so long since I read a half-decent Kieron Gillen comic I’d given up hope that he’d ever produce another one again! But thankfully he has with the best artist working at Boom at the moment, Dan Mora - this is Once & Future, Volume 1: The King is Undead.

So it’s a subversive take on the King Arthur myth by way of Brendan Fraser’s first Mummy movie with shades of The Last Crusade (one scene in particular is a near-identical rip off). In a premise germane to our Brexit times, British Nationalists seek to resurrect the once and future king in an attempt to restore England for the English (the legend goes that Arthur will return when the English people need him most - no-one saw him during WW1 and WW2 but he’s probably coming back to save us from this latest pandemic, right...). Except Arthur turns out to be a super-powerful xenophobic zombie psychopath intent on ethnically cleansing the land - d’oh! It’s up to an elderly monster hunter, Bridgette McGuire, and her rugby-playing academic grandson Duncan to stop him and get the Grail before he does.

I really enjoyed most every scene with zombie Arthur, particularly the spectacular resurrection scene and his grisly way of finding out whether your blood was “pure”. The character of King Arthur has never been more appealing to me than here as a villain - it seems obvious to do and yet nobody’s done it before. Gillen reimagines aspects of the mythos in interesting ways like the haunting ladies of the lake and the inventive use of candles.

I’ve been an admirer of Dan Mora’s art since his work on Grant Morrison’s Klaus books (and to a lesser extent Dennis Hopeless’ WWE comics). If you’re a fan of Batman artist Greg Capullo then you’ll love Mora’s art too - their styles are very similar though Mora’s human faces are less rounded than Capullo’s; sharper, which I prefer.

The Questing Beast’s design was fantastic as were the changing appearances of Arthur. I mentioned Brendan Fraser’s first Mummy movie because, in part, the way the Mummy went from a skeleton to slowly becoming more human is how Arthur develops as the story goes on. His organs start to grow back, his flesh starts to appear on his bones, etc. It’s very cool.

Tamra Bonvillain’s colours beautifully complement Mora’s art on every page. I especially liked how the light changed when the characters ventured into the magical realm - it’s a really clever visual cue to signal shifts in the story.

That said, none of the other characters besides Arthur really grabbed me. Duncan is your fairly bland heroic protagonist though Bridgette was a fun, cantankerous old coot. Rose, the obvious love interest, wasn’t pointless but she didn’t feel like much of a character and the McGuire family stuff didn’t interest me much. The ending is a bit rushed too with Duncan falling into his new role rather too easily while Arthur suddenly descends into your average easily manipulated bad guy, basically to save time. It’s all wrapped up a tad neatly and overall I felt the storyline was too generic in structure - goodies vs baddies chasing macguffin.

It’s not bad though and this first book is a promising start to a series I’ll definitely be returning to - I’d say Once & Future is worth a look for readers looking for some fantasy horror with their action. If you enjoyed this one I would also recommend checking out the Hellboy storyline in Darkness Calls/The Wild Hunt/The Storm and the Fury for more Arthurian/horror hijinks.

It was way better than I expected but not that good I would be totally glorifying it. As the story goes to the end, it gets better and better, the grandma is super-awesome during the whole book. It was pleasantly dark, action all the time and very good drawn. I am very glad I had the chance to read it because I did not know if to buy it or not - now I know, I want it and I can't wait for another volume. The twists and ending convinced me it will be really great series.

This was cool. I am a huge fan of the Arthurian legend, so any story that is inspired by it ends up being something I enjoy. I loved the way the multiple versions of the Arthurian legend were used here, and I love the themes of the stories and myths constantly changing and evolving. I also think this story does a lot of interesting stuff with both the original myth content but also with incorporating relevant and timely themes into the myth.

My grievance with this is that I did not find the characters particularly compelling. I also think that some of the reveals were handled a bit awkwardly, without characters having proper reactions to them, which just made the story a bit flat at times.

The art was very classic comic book style, but I loved how colors were used here and I loved that at times, panels were warped or reorganized to tell the story, which was super interesting.

Overall, I would still recommend this one, even though I expected a tiny bit more from it.

This graphic novel is SO fun and I can't wait for the next volume!!

I really enjoyed Kieron Gillen's The Wicked and The Divine so I was hoping to enjoy Once & Future and boy, did I.

This graphic novel has:
1) a shy unwilling hero, with brawns and brains
2) a revival and twist on Arthurian legend
3) guns, sword, magic (?)
4) TWISTS
5) fantastic world-building and character-development
6) great writing
7) amazing illustration and colour work

What more do you want??

Gillen lets his hair down, clearly having a lot of fun telling a romp that deals with England's overly romantic view of its own past.

A group of deranged nationalists (is there any other kind) want to resurrect long dead King Arthur (or something that passed itself off as such), to take England (and by definition, the rest of the UK..?) back from un-English influences. The undead horror that is brought back to life has very strict ideas about what it means to be English -you better not have Anglo-Saxon ancestors, to start with. Luckily, retired OAP monster basher Bridgette McGuire is there to put an end to all this silliness, accompanied by her grandson Duncan, who has no idea about his gran's past.

It's a rollicking adventure, with a good dose of wry humour. There is also a serious undertone about what identity means, and how far it should inform our actions. One of the aspects I found most intriguing is the idea that stories are alive, and try to take a hold of people, sort of distorting reality around them to fit a narrative. Not a new idea by any means, but incorporated in a light way.

After the dourness of DIE, it's fun to see Gillen having.. well, fun.

Family legacies. Arthurian mythology. Monster hunters. Quests. This graphic novel has them all. One of the best, most unique graphic novels I’ve read in a long time.

A fun take on Arthurian Mythology / Present day mashup.

Graphic novels are a different medium from my usual preferences, and I had a little more trouble immersing because of it, but I still enjoyed this.

Intrigue, hidden secrets, action, betrayal. There is a lot to be found in here.

I certainly wouldn't mind getting my hands on the next volume to see where this story goes.

Maybe not for everybody, but fans of the medium and fans of Arthurian mythology wouldn't go wrong to give it a shot.

I love how this graphic novel caught my attention right away, and grabbed me by the collar to pull me along. Rip roaring read.

The basic premise is that King Arthur is to be brought back to life, but that is not a good thing. Bridgette McGuire know this, and although she has fought demons and the supernatural all her life, she has never let her grandson, Duncan, know any of this, until now, when he is pulled into this quest much against his will.

She just casually tells him about this, while she gets her equipment together to fight this threat.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5622" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/once-and-future.png" alt="" />

Good take on the legend. And this is only the first volume , as there is apparently more to the story. For Arthur will come back to life in England's darkest hour, but as Bridgette says, is it England's darkest hour because Arther is needed, or because he causes it.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

The <em>Once & Future</em> by Kiron Gillen and illustrated by Dan Mora really appealed to me due to my immense love of Arthurian retellings. In many ways, I was thrilled at the prospect of reading this tale, a story about a villain from Arthurian myth being brought back to life and the young man who has to fight the evil back. What really killed this story for me was the fact that the so-called "villain," mentioned in the synopsis was revealed early on to be actually Arthur himself.

I'm a big fan of retellings, there's no question about that. But I have a really hard time when stories take the hero, someone whom I have developed a deep emotional attachment to over the years, and turn them into the evil of their own stories. I <em>hated</em> it when I saw it with Peter Pan and I <em>hated</em> it the first time I saw it with Arthur. With this newest rendition of an Arthurian retelling, it bugged the hell out of me.

It's really unfortunate, for me, how much I didn't care for this story. I <em>wanted</em> to love it. I was really excited to read it. But, unfortunately, there were two things that ruined it for me. The first was this vilification of Arthur himself. The second was the utterly ridiculous way in which the evil of this story was illustrated to look like lewd and creepy skeletons. I'm sorry, but this weird nonsense with the tongues and the green slime was just ridiculous and unnecessary.

As for the author's choice to take a dark stance on who Arthur was, all I can say is it's not my taste.

Ultimately, I see it as a real shame that I couldn't get behind much of this story. I really liked the main character, Duncan, and his grandmother. In fact, I absolutely adored the grandmother. Even as some of her methods were quite questionable, she was such a real and fun character to get to know.

I think this story had a lot of potential but those two aspects of the story really hindered my ability to like it. This is disappointing since I'm certain I would have absolutely loved this graphic novel had the villain actually been a villain from Arthurian myth and the skeleton hadn't been so over the top gross.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

News Flash - This Book Is A Riot

"Some fool always wants to take a shot at a prophecy. It's the 'kick me' sign of the occult world....". Gran

So, the premise is here is that Gran presses her grandson, Duncan, into service as her sidekick. It seems some ultranationalist group is trying to resurrect King Arthur, and Gran's a retired monster hunter. So far, so good. But no matter how good that sounds there can be a wide chasm between cool premise and the resulting book. Well, guess what? This book is funnier, twistier, more action packed, more "Arthurian", and more deadpan amusing and witty than I ever hoped. It builds on and expands the premise in clever and imaginative fashion, and skips over obvious Arthurian tropes in favor of more obscure references, (the Questing Beast, Excalibur's scabbard), that will tickle any Arthur devotee but still not leave newbies in the dark.

The main point is that Gran is a cold-blooded, dry, sarcastic hoot who alternates between sweet old lady and kick butt monster hunter. The grandson is a classic mild fish out of water, but he's made out of stern enough stuff that he pitches in to help and doesn't just whinge and drag things down. He develops nicely as the tale progresses, and the two ultimately become an unexpectedly engaging action team. The addition of a girlfriend history professor, who isn't fazed by any of this, rounds out the cast nicely.

"Well, she shot me. But, I'm family." Duncan

The artwork is just right for this sort of tale. No big world building or fancy scene setting, apart from a few notable splash pages. Rather, the focus is on the characters and their expressions. Lots of purples and blues and heavy inking and darkness, but that doesn't weigh things down; it gives the project heft and a bit of a gloomy and dark mood. But each panel sells what the characters are saying and feeling, so it's easy to commit to the characters and to follow what's going on.

"It's not real. It's just true." Gran

So, I enjoyed this across the board. This volume is a complete story arc, but there are later volumes, so the story will continue. I mean, we don't even have a Merlin, yet.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Boom! Studios kindly let me see a copy of volume one of Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora’s Once & Future ahead of its release next week, and it’s absolutely brilliant.

Duncan McGuire is a well-meaning innocent: he works in academia, he plays rugby in his spare time, he’s bad at dating and he loves his grandmother. His grandmother, Bridgette, is anything but innocent. She’s a retired monster hunter steeped in the myths of Britain who’s just found out that the (a?) fabled Arthur is being brought back to reunite the land, and reckons it’ll be over her dead body. And possibly Duncan’s. Cue an inter-dimensional, two-fisted romp through the legend.

If you’re coming to it as a Wicked and Divine fan, like me, it’s a very different animal: pacier, less arch. It’s more in the arena of Gillen’s other current project, Die, but doesn’t chase that kind of darkness. Yet. This is fun, and funny, but also sincere and less critical of the mythic than either Die or W&D, while still being all about the slipperiness of stories and belief. As an opening story, some of Vol 1 is a bit slight, the plot fairly screaming along and some characters are just sketched in so far. But fleshing out these characters will hopefully give it longevity. Because I’d like to see it last. Definitely recommended.

I really enjoy King Arthur stories, but Once & Future couldn't deliver. Arthurian myths are brought to life in this comic when King Arthur comes back, but is all distorted and wrong. Stories blend into one another. An old lady and a monster hunter Bridgette McGuire takes his adult grandson with her in order to prevent Arthur's black prophecy. Her family is entangled with the stories and Duncan is an Arthurian knight. This all happens without explanations and too soon. We don't get to learn about the characters and it all feels like the story had begun before this and BAM! There's too much in the comic and at the same time not enough. The rhythm doesn't work and I would've wanted more time, since the setting is delicious and very interesting. I wish Gillen had used the myths better too so that this wouldn't be a slaughter fest only.

The art looks good and the movements are nicely drawn. The colors are vivid and rich, which makes this easy on the eyes, but still lively and strong. Arthur looks creepy, which is awesome. The art isn't super amazing, but strong and works well with the story line. The story line in itself is the downfall sadly so, and time and more pages could've saved that.

<i>arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

This was absolutely awesome!

I didn’t read the synopsis before going into this as I usually like to go into books blind and I am so glad I did this!

We follow this man, Duncan and his crazy, gun wielding grandma as they set out on this quest to stop this woman from raising King Arthur and basically stop the end of the world.

This was funny, action packed and the family dynamics were hilariously endearing. I really loved everything about this! The art in this was also really well done. The creatures were creepy in just the right amount, the colors were vibrant when needed and really set the creepy, atmospheric vibe of the story.

I can’t wait for the next volume.

4/5 ⭐️

TW: suicide, death, blood, gore, manipulation, death of a family member, self harm, gun violence

Once & Future Vol. 1 collector issues one to six of the new comic by Kieron Gillen, with artist Dan Mora, coloriste Tamra Bonvillain, and letterer Ed Dukeshire. Published by Boom! Studios (2020).

A group of British nationalist extremists somehow get their hands on the scabbard of the legendary Excalibur at en archeological site, and not without spilling blood. They state that they intend to use it to restore Britain’s might.

Bridgette McGuire is what Buffy would be if she had slayed all of the vampires, and voluntarily decided to spend her golden years in the bliss of a retirement home. That is, until she catches the news about the archeological site murder.

Her grandson, Duncan, learns of her disappearance act in the middle of a date. And, he doesn’t even have time to go to search for his’grandmother as she calls for him to join her.

Duncan has been drafted into a quest.

From then, we’re treated to hilarious scenes through which Duncan discovers everything his grandmother has always been keeping hidden from him, from her slayer past to his own destiny.

This book doesn’t spend much time in introduction or exposition, as it doesn’t take long for a monster to appear and, from there, it’s non-stop action with Duncan directly thrown in the shallow part of the pool

This book is a loose modernized twist on the Arthurian legends and everything around them, with a pinch of nationalism, conspiration and hidden agenda. This first volume contains a complete story, but it builds an universe allowing for more down the line.

This story is a completely new direction for Kieron Gillen, as excellent as ever. In spite of being pulled directly into the action, we learn enough of the three main character to take a liking to them, hence caring about their fate. The dynamic between them is at the source of some good laughs.

The art is also on par, with great attention paid to facial expression, specific postures and behavior for each character. An unusual range of colors and shadows used, especially on backgrounds, catches our eye and we spend as much time admiring the atmosphere of the page as we spend following action and dialogue.

Arthurian legends might have been overused in multiple media, including comics, but Kieron Gillen’s approach is something else entirely. An originality I hope I’ll be able to revisit in further volumes.


Thanks to Boom! Studios, and Netgalley for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.

Kieron Gillen is a staple of the comic industry, and I've followed his work for a while. The Wicked and the Divine is his most famous, though I personally loved his Young Avengers run. His work can definitely get a little confusing at times (if you're going to read WicDiv, read it in volumes or you'll get really lost), but he has some fascinating ideas about stories and storytelling.

Once & Future follows Duncan and his grandma, who he discovers was once a monster hunter, and who needs him to help stop British nationalists from resurrecting King Arthur. It's a pretty good action comic, with dynamic visuals for fight scenes and fun monster designs, but the real strength is in the concept, which is kind of hard to explain. Basically, arthurian legend occasionally interacts with the modern world, creating a "story" where people are forced into or choose to become different characters. It does really interesting things with the idea of stories as concrete, transformative things.

The color scheme is generally bright, which balances out the heavy ideas, and the character designs are interesting, but not ridiculous. The layout and gutters are pretty standard and stable, though it does do some intriguing shifts between black and white gutters/background. It doesn't do anything particularly amazing with the art style or the narrative, but it's a really enjoyable read! I thought the way it played with Arthurian legend was fun, though as someone with vague knowledge about the round table it got a little confusing.

Pros:
-very cool grandma
-new take on arthurian legend
-unique fantasy that has relevant things to say about current politics

Cons
-very cool grandma is also kind of mean
-the pace is very fast, with little downtime for character exploration

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Kieron Gillen first grabbed my attention with his work on The Wicked and the Divine, a fantastic series with a wide scope that covers religion, death, celebrity, and so much more. His writing led me to his recent series Die, about a group of friends who were thrown into a deadly fantasy world while playing an RPG as teenagers... and somehow made it out alive... and now must return to it many years later to save one of their own. And now, Gillen takes on the Arthurian legend and British history with his subversive series Once and Future.

Mild-mannered, klutzy Duncan learns that his grandma is not who he thinks she is. One night she wanders off into the woods and his date is disrupted when he has to leave the awkward dinner and go pick grandma up. That's when grandma reveals she's not suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's when she unveils a cache of deadly weapons she has been hiding underground. Duncan is gobsmacked to learn that grandma has been a monster hunter her whole life. What kind of monsters? How about a Lich-like King Arthur and his evil cadre of zombie Knights of the Round, who, according to prophecy, will bring about an age of darkness if they were to achieve their goals?

Duncan and his grandma (and perhaps a new companion or two) begin a whirlwind of adventure, violence, and British history as they navigate through modern versions of Galahad, the search for the Holy Grail, the truth behind Excalibur, the *real* power behind the swords of legend, and many other humorous and clever reveals.

What sets this particular story apart from Gillen's previous work is how we start small through Duncan's POV, and we're drip-fed new information at a steady, but manageable pace. In other stories, I feel that we're dropped right in the middle of the action and must fill in the blanks in both past and future. But here, it truly feels like the beginning of Duncan's story, and the reader is right there experiencing it with him every step of the way.

Dan Mora's illustrations are absolutely stunning. Subtle backgrounds emphasize the movement and strong body and facial expressions of the characters, and the panels flow together beautifully. It's quite fun to see the creative team's interpretation of classic sites such as the Glastonbury Tor, and, well... I won't spoil any more.

Bottom line... if you have any interest in Arthurian lit, and you love it read about legendary stories turned completely on their heads, then you'll want to pick this up as soon as you can.