Once And Future #25
Duncan, Gran, and Rose find hope for the first time in a while as Mary joins the party at Grail Castle in Once And Future #25, by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Dan Mora, colorist Tamra Bonvillain, and letterer Ed Dukeshire. Gillen and company supply readers with another superb issue.
Duncan, Gran, and Rose are able to talk Robin Hood into not killing them and are taken to his camp to try to become members of the Merry Men. Meanwhile, at Grail Castle, Mary presents her bona fides and has a slight problem. On the way to the camp, Gran explains how Robin Hood fits into everything and then it’s time for their test- knocking a giant Little John into the river, to which Gran has a pragmatic solution. Back at Grail Castle, the inhabitants decide to trust Mary when Lancelot, Percival’s father, busts in. His Arthur’s army has been destroyed by a new one, one who at that moment is destroying the British Arthur’s forces. Duncan, Gran, and Rose follow Robin and company into battle, helping them take down the steampunk mechs that have entered the field. On the way back to Nottingham, they end up in Margate, discuss T.S. Eliott, and then the Green Knight shows up.
This issue has a little bit of everything that makes this book so great. There’s info dumps, entertaining dialogue, fun action scenes, and all manner of plot building. This has been said a million times in these reviews but Gillen is a master of pacing. He understands how to stuff a whole lot of plot into every issue and keep it flowing along. There’s never any logjams because it’s all so interesting. For example, the issue has a long info dump on the Robin Hood story and its origins. In the hands of any other writer, this could have been dry and killed the pacing of the book, but Gillen is able to make it work wonderfully. Another little trick is how many cuts he uses towards the end of the book. Much like in movies, cutting between scenes quickly in a comic keeps the narrative going forward, even when it’s standing still; it shows how multiple groups of characters are dealing with the same moment in time. Gillen understands how to use these little story formatting tricks to keep the pace fast.
From the first page to the last, Gillen just keeps the plot super interesting. The Robin Hood parts are fun, Mary joining the refugees at Grail Castle, along with Lancelot’s entrance, is an interesting new plot, and adding another Arthur to the mix is the icing on the cake. As the story has progressed, Gillen has been using Once And Future more and more to talk about the myths of his homeland. The new steampunk Arthur is yet another addition to the book.
It’s also yet another amazing thing for Mora and Bonvillain to bring to life. As usual, the art in this book is amazing. There are several gorgeous splash pages- the first being of the Merry Men, who are all Fae, the next of the giant steampunk mechs, and the final of the Green Knight, his axe red with blood diffusing into the water around it. As usual, the pair are just as good as the small scale stuff as they are at the big moments. Their art is such a big part of this book’s success, the pencils and colors bringing Gillen’s script to life in a way another artist couldn’t.
Once And Future #25 once again proves just how amazing this coming is. Gillen, Mora, Bonvillain, and Dukeshire craft another wonderful chapter, full of amazing writing and astounding art. There are few books on the market that can compete with Once And Future.