King Arthur

Once and Future #11

Once and Future #11 comic reviewAfter killing Beowulf, who Merlin and Zombie Arthur sent after them by tricking the legendary hero into doing their bidding, Duncan and his grandmother are forced to deal with Grendel who attacks Bridgette‘s retirement community creating quite a mess.

Duncan arrives in time to help, much to the chagrin of his driver and the local police who are not happy about the inexplicable situation, but it’s Bridgette who strikes the killing blow as she expertly slices off the monster’s arm with the help of the groundskeeper’s chainsaw. The sight of the bloody senior citizen wielding a chainsaw against a mythical beast creates the issue’s lasting image. However, even after making sure the poem can continue without its hero, things aren’t quite finished just yet. Remember, Grendel had a mother.

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Once and Future #10

Once and Future #10 comic reviewLast issue’s death of Bewoulf doesn’t take long to come back and haunt Duncan and his Bridgette as the epic poem’s villain shows up in the retirement community of Duncan’s grandmother.

Once and Future #10 brings back the bit of the fun from earlier issues as Bridgette is able to stand strong while telling a freaked-out young man, this time one of the nurses at the nursing home (rather than her grandson), to stay calm. The tension runs high here with Bridgette looking for any edge to stay alive while Grendel haunts the halls. Contrasting that, we see just how far Duncan has come in a dozen issues as he hijacks a taxi and gunpoint to try and reach his grandmother.

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Cursed – Nimue / Cursed

  • Title: Locke & Key – Trapper/Keeper
  • wiki: link
  • wiki: link

Cursed - Nimue / Cursed television review

Based on Frank Miller‘s re-imagining of the King Arthur legend through the eyes of the girl who would become the Lady in the Lake, the first two episodes of Cursed introduce us to the outcast witch Nimue (Katherine Langford) who is scorned by her village for believing she was cursed as a child (a sequence shown in flashbacks in the second episode of the series). The maurading of Christian zealots known as the Red Paladins, out to destroy the Fey (all magical and non-Christian souls), leads to the destruction of Nimue’s village, the death of her mother (Catherine Walker), and a destiny entrusted to her to see a sword delivered to Merlin (Gustaf Skarsgård). I’ve seen both better and worse versions of the King Arthur legend, but, despite the slow moving first episode (and her inexplicable sudden control of a sword), I do like Langford in the role of the series’ lead.

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Once and Future #3

Once and Future #3 comic reviewZombie Arthur has arisen and it’s now up to Duncan, his grandmother, and his recent blind date (you remember? the one that ended disastrously in the comic’s first issue?), to save the world. No pressure.

Kieron Gillen cleverly brings back Rose into the story as fate has provided her as exactly what Duncan and Bridgette need in their quest to prevent Zombie Arthur from pulling the sword from the stone and becoming King of England. Turns out the pair don’t need to do that large of a sales job as someone has done that groundwork for them. And a pair of heroes becomes a trio.

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Once and Future #1

Once and Future #1 comic reviewI’m a little behind in taking a look at writer Kieron Gillen’s new Arthurian comic, Once and Future. Opening with the discovery of an artifact, an ancient scabbard that once belonged to you-know-who, the issue shifts to man’s awkward first date which is mercifully interrupted by his grandmother leaving her nursing home which in turn leads Duncan McGuire down a fantastical rabbit hole.

Once and Future #1 features a great mix of humor and tension, as well as a nice twist about the idea of King Arthur’s return (and how it might not exactly be a good thing). Duncan works as a stand-in for the reader, discovering that world of Arthur, questing beasts, magical swords and scabbards, his grandmother’s secret cache full of all manner of weapons, and zombie kings are all quite real. All things considered, he takes things pretty well.

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