Once And Future #24
As the Arthurs battle it out, Gran, Duncan, and Rose go to find a new ally in Once And Future #24, by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Dan Mora, colorist Tamra Bonvillain, and letterer Ed Dukeshire. Gillen and company find a way to balance action and plot to make an exciting comic.
As Gran, Duncan, and Rose see Leir, the undead, Arthur prepares his forces for battle as Merlin remembers an earlier battle where Arthur died. Leir wildly recites Shakespeare, and the trio leaves as he begs them to come back. The battle heats up as the two Arthurs clash on the field, and other Arthur’s Merlin calls on Lancelot, who’s slaughtering the centaur Galahad with his Galahad. Meanwhile, the trio decides to use Leir when they can, but they have to hold out for months, so Gran takes them in a different direction. Lancelot gets involved in the fight between the Arthurs at the battle, gravely wounding the undead Arthur. Merlin takes action, telling everyone that Lancelot had sex with Guinevere. The other Arthur angrily dismisses Lancelot and his army retreats, and then a third Arthur shows up. Gran, Duncan, and Rose make their way into a forest to find their newest ally as the residents of Grail Castle get a visitor.
Gillen is the master of taking multiple plot threads and making them all work. The parts with Leir are short but are seeds that will germinate later. The battle scenes break up the sometimes dense info dumps that Gillen uses Gran for, and the final reveal of their newest ally plays into Once And Future’s travelogue through British folk history. The third Arthur makes things even more interesting and plays even more into that conceit.
One of the great things that Gillen has done throughout his run on the book is use Gran to talk about stories. One of the things about stories, especially the folk stories of the British Isles, are the variety of ways they’ve been told over the years. There are multiple Arthurian legends, so there being a third Arthur, one who looks like the stereotypical one, makes sense. Otherworld has overtaken the UK; all of the legends are coming to life, so there’s a good chance this isn’t the last Arthur readers will see. The end of the issue reveal, with a British folk legend who has a thing against tyrannical kings, bodes well for the book’s future.
Mora and Bonvillain are in rare form in this issue. Leir looks great, and the pages with the monstrous armies look amazing. The battle of the Arthurs is exactly what one would expect from an art team as outstanding as Mora and Bonvillain, and the last page reveal of Gran, Duncan, and Rose’s new ally looks impressive. The character designs in this book are amazing, and Mora and Bonvillain are proving why they’re the best.
Once And Future #24 is yet another amazing issue of this book. Gillen does a remarkable job of closing out plots and sowing the seeds for new ones, giving everything the room it needs to breathe. Mora and Bonvillain are one of the best art teams in the business, and this issue is another example of why. This book is one of the best around.