Written by Kieron Gillen, cover and interior art by Dan Mora, color by Tamra Bonvillain, lettering by Ed Dukeshire
Thanks to BOOM! Studios for providing a copy for review.
Synopsis: The McGuire family has held back supernatural threats for generations, but this time they messed up. As an ancient evil arises from the grave, Bridgette and Duncan find themselves up against forces bigger than they could have expected, and faces new and old are about to complicate things further
Review
Speaking with writer Kieron Gillen about his upcoming Arthurian legend graphic novel was one of the high points of my SDCC 2019 experience. If you missed it, be sure to check out that interview here! Once & Future has so much support already, and I can safely say that issue #2 is as good if not better than its predecessor.
The wonderfully unique Grandma & Grandson pair of Bridgette & Duncan cross paths with the seeming antagonists of the series. What follows is a scene full of blood, swordplay, and yes, necromancy. I honestly don’t want to share any more events from issue #2 so everyone can be as surprised as I was!
Thematically Once & Future continues to shine. I love the dynamics between Bridgette & Duncan. It’s such an interesting relationship, and they are each compelling characters in their own right. This is clearly a story that enjoys going for the shock value, and it’s fun as a reader to find such excitement at every turn of the page. I found myself smiling, laughing, and gasping in turns throughout this book.
The artwork from Dan Mora is a delight in this issue. Some amazing designs and panel layouts appear here, and I was so drawn into the new parts of the world we were introduced to. Bridgette especially is such a fun character artistically. Everything about her face, her body language, and even her hair is so expressive. She easily steals every panel she appears in. I’m so excited to spend more page time with her and see how she’ll shock and awe us next.
If I had to come up with a criticism of Once & Future #2 it could only be that it’s entirely too short. This installment has quite an upsetting cliffhanger, and I feel personally attacked by Gillen for causing me to wait an entire month for this resolution.
If you missed my review of the first issue of Once & Future you can check it out here.
If you are suffering with me, please do let me know on Twitter and Instagram.
