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‘Once & Future #14:’ Advance Comic Book Review

Quick recap: In trying to figure out Mary/Elaine/Nimue’s MO, the gang ends up in a pub filled with some neo-Nazi types. Before the “England for the English” crowd did any permanent damage to our intrepid hero, they’re interrupted by yet another story: the titular Green Knight from “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.”

In the second issue of this arc, we don’t get very far plotwise, but there’s a solid chunk of exposition and hints about where this story is going to lead. With the Green Knight in play now, there will have to be a Gawain and the candidate may be a bit surprising, but I’m actually really happy with the choice here. With a clue about the inception/conception of Mary’s plan, Bridgette and Duncan are off to follow the breadcrumbs while Rose has an encounter with a McGuire that she wasn’t expecting.

Kieron Gillen keeps reminding us why #StoriesMatter; at its very core, stories matter because they keep things interesting. Twists and turns are just pivotal moments in a story, and narratives are just boring without them. Honestly, with the number of twists that Gillen brings in with each issue, at this point, I feel like I’m totally enmeshed with the history and mythology of the British Isles at this point. In a ridiculously fictional way, of course.

Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain’s work is the usual mix of subtle character moments interspersed with over-the-top gore. It’s deliciously campy without being cheesy. There’s so much red on green here that this might as well be a Christmas issue. Ed Dukeshire’s lettering is effortlessly amazing, as usual. The wobbliness of a dying man’s words, the untamed otherworldliness of the Green Knight’s speech, the occasional exclamation, it’s all perfectly designed and placed.  

Overall, with a new story set in motion and their shared past catching up with them, these characters are in for a wild ride…

Creative Team: Kieron Gillen (writer), Dan Mora (artist), Tamra Bonvillain (colorist), Ed Dukeshire (letterer)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Click here to purchase.

Wenxian Tan, Fanbase Press Contributor

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