Once And Future #21
Gran, Duncan, and Rose brave Bath and discover something new in Once And Future #21, by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Dan Mora, colorist Tamra Bonvillain, and letterer Ed Dukeshire. This is yet another well-balanced issue, propelling things forward and ending with chills.
Gran, Duncan, and Rose make their way through Bath, witnessing the Gorgon’s handiwork before finding Rose’s parents. After their reunion, they make their way out of the city but are confronted by Eliod of Camelot, a knight calling on Duncan and Rose, in their roles of Percival and Gaiwan, to take their places with the new Arthur for his war against the other. They lead him on a chase through Bath, engineering a confrontation between him and the Gorgon. Back at the Grail Castle, the three of them decide to leave to save the rest trouble, and Mary watches them leave and gives the remaining survivors at the castle a gift.
It’s been a while since Gillen pulled off an issue like this one, and it still works. He packs this issue with narrative and action, moving the plot forward and giving enough exposition to keep things going. Gran finally learns about the second Arthur in what is probably the worst way, but it spurs on the plot to its next stage as she has to take Duncan and Rose away from Grail Castle because of the searchers looking for them. If one of the new Arthur’s knights can find them in Bath, they can easily make their way to the Grail Castle, and even a defensive position like a castle can be overrun.
There’s a cool action sequence in Bath as they’re running from Eliod that serves to break things, and there’s some good humor throughout the whole comic. The reunion of Rose and her parents is okay, but it sort of feels like something is missing. That’s pretty much the only flaw in the comic, as there is some good foreshadowing with Gran later in the book. The ending is pretty great as well.
Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain are a fantastic art team, and this issue is yet another example of why. Eliod doesn’t look anything like any of the other knights seen in the book so far, a visual cue that says something about the new Arthur. The Gorgon looks terrific, a massive mountain of snaky muscle and one of the few male Gorgons around. There’s a moment where Eliod takes a novel approach to fighting a Gorgon that’s worth the price of admission alone. The last page sells the ending wonderfully.
Once And Future #21 is yet another example of what this book does best. It moves the plot forward, has great action, and showcases the art team. It doesn’t all land, but it’s still an entertaining comic.
