Comic Review: Once And Future #2

Once & Future #2

BOOM! Studios

Writer: Kieron Gillen

Artist: Dan Mora

Once & Future #1 was probably one of my favourite #1’s I’ve ever read, no word of a lie. It had everything a debut issue to a series needed, set-ups, mysteries, brilliant characters, amazing art. But with all that comes the next big issue, namely the next issue. Could it live up to the hype of the previous issue? It’s a big task, but if anybody could do it, it was Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora.

And by god, they did it. They managed to make a second issue that was as good as the first issue, and they did it in style. I got the same feeling I got from Once & Future #2 that I got from reading another of Gillen’s series, The Wicked + The Divine. It’s a feeling of wonder and the realisation that you’re reading something absolutely brilliant. But anyway, I’m gushing far too much and I’ve barely started talking about the issue itself. So here goes nothing.

Once & Future #2 carries on from where Once & Future #1 left off, with Duncan discovering that his grandmother, Bridgette, is an ex-retired monster hunter. Ex-retired, because something is happening in the world. A group of nationalists is looking to resurrect King Arthur from his grave, and it’s up to Bridgette, and now Duncan, to stop them.

The art is as wonderful as it was in the last issue, with Dan Mora really knocking out of the park on certain character designs (that I won’t spoil) throughout the issue. Mora’s really got a flair for the bizarre and strange, and it translates perfectly into the world that Gillen is setting up throughout this issue and the previous issue. The colouring by Tamra Bonvillain is also great, with the aforementioned creature designs also being highlights in this instance. I also love the design work on our main characters, Bridgette and Duncan (Bridgette in particular, though. She has the aura of somebody who has seen all of this before, who’s been through a lot of stuff, and who is sick to death of hunting demons.)

Overall, Once & Future #2 is an absolutely great issue, one that furthers the mystery that was previously set up, and creates new questions for the readers. This is definitely the hot new series on the block, and as with most other things Gillen has written, this could become something truly, TRULY special.

Click here for more comic reviews