Review: Once & Future #4

Lucas Fashina

5 years ago

In the previous issue of Once and Future #3, Duncan and his grandmother confronted the Zombie King Arthur, successfully slowing him down for a bit but Duncan’s attempt to resolve the problem will only last for so long.Â Duncan’s grandmother insinuates that Part of the reason they can’t shut it down right nowÂ is because they do not yet have the skills to deal with this particular force of darkness, at least till recruit a co-protagonist who just happened to be Duncan’s date from earlier that night.Â Also we the future Galahad who is supposed to bring King Arthur the Holy Grail.

In the current issue of Once and Future #4, It becomes a race against the clock as the three protagonist; Duncan, his grandmother and Rose, resolve to stop Galahad before he can bring Zombie King Arthur the Grail, by any means possible, and if necessary the Fisher King.

Granny continues to be my favorite character, her disdain for story time narratives, and misleading historical fables, reflects my mood toward King Arthur stories. Centuries later, his myth is probably the most classic of the “chosen one” stories, but after watching the twisted and sadistic progress of “chosen” characters from game of thrones going back to the original vanilla formula version seems, pointless.
That’s why this Zombie King Arthur resonates with me. There’s got to be some symbolism in the way a monstrous King Arthur rises from the dead effectively destroying the preconceived notion of a young protagonist who rises from humble obscurity to claim their destined greatness, as the “chosen one”, yet he needs the help of a young Galahad to help him completer hos journey to solidify his heroic tail and to be truly whole

Final Verdict: Â This is the issue that speculators have been been waiting for to justify all the hype. Once & Future is delightfully formulaic and easy to follow.Â Yet, it may be Kieron Gillen’s attempt to subvert the expectations of a King Arthur story that I enjoyed the most. Dan Mora’s art panels continue to be really good, but it may be the character designs and the intricate lines used for King Arthur and his court that hit it home for me.

Once & Future #4 will come with two covers: The regular A cover is drawn by Dan Moira; then there is also a Forbidden Planet and Jetpack Comics Exclusive Variant cover drawn by David Lafuente.

SCORE: 4 Stars out of 5

(W) Kieron Gillen
(A) Dan Mora
(C) Tamra Bonvillain
(L) ED Dukeshire