Once And Future #7 // Review
The battle against Arthur continues in Once And Future #7, by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Dan Mora, colorist Tamra Bonvillain, and letterer Ed Dukeshire. This one opens up with some time passing since the last issue. Duncan has gotten better at the family business, and Arthur is still out there plotting his ascendancy.
Arthur has found out that one of his old enemies will be returning and calls on one of his knights to go on a mission. Galahad volunteers and Arthur has him sit on the Siege Perilous, telling him if he survives, he will be perfect. Back in the real world, Duncan uses what Gran taught him to take down a pixie. Gran calls him and asks for a visit, but her call is interrupted by Rose, who has scried that a new threat from Otherworld is about to make an incursion. Gran calls Rose and asks her where she sent Duncan. The next night, at the British Museum, Duncan is attacked by a transformed Galahad. In the nearby British Library, a manuscript is stolen by a hooded figure. Back at the museum, Galahad is about to finish Duncan off when Gran distracts him. He tries to get her but falls right into her trap. Before she can finish him, he goes back to Otherworld. Rose calls Duncan and tells him that while they were foiling Galahad, something else was stolen. Elsewhere, Mary uses the manuscript she stole to resurrect another of England’s folk heroes.
A bit of time has passed since the last time readers saw these characters. Duncan has taken up his grandma’s old job, traveling England and destroying monsters. Rose helps him, using scrying crystals to find where otherworldly creatures are about to come into the real world. Duncan and Gran are still estranged, even though he does use her knowledge to help him in his missions. Gillen sets all of this up quickly and efficiently and gets right down to business. This barest bit of exposition is perfect. It catches readers up with what’s been going on and does it as quickly as possible.
Galahad’s willingness to do anything to prove to Arthur how perfect he can be is frightening in its monomania. After his painful transformation on Siege Perilous, he believes he’s been made even more perfect than before… and yet he’s still embarrassed by Gran. His overconfidence in himself is his undoing, but he’s only going to get more dangerous as times goes on. He’s bought into Arthur’s myth and, as Gran says, has been swallowed by the story.
Dan Mora’s art is great as usual. The Siege Perilous looks, well, perilous. Galahad’s transformation is suitably ghastly. The action scenes in the British Museum look great and are extremely kinetic. As always, Mora’s character is on point. The icing on the cake is Tamra Bonvillain’s impeccable coloring. It sets the perfect atmosphere, using poisonous shades of green to differentiate the mundane world from the magic one.
Once And Future #7 continues the story, catching readers up with what happened in the interim in the most efficient way possible. In the first six issues, Gillen had to introduce the world of the book. Here, he trusts that readers know enough to give them the barest exposition before setting the story loose. Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain knock it out of the art again, making sure that this book is still one of the best looking ones on the stands. With the surprising resurrection at the end, it will be fun to see where the book goes next.
Grade: A
