Thank you netgally and BOOM! comics for an advance copy of this comic in exchange for a free review!

This is one of my top favorite things I read in 2020. I am not the biggest fan of Arthurian legends, and I am not the biggest Gillen fan (I love some of his stuff but also really hate others.) So because of that, I wasn't sure where I would fall on this.

I fall on the side that this is amazing. It does still have a young white dude as a hero, but it also has his chain smoking, bad ass, has definitely killed someone and may kill her grandson, grandmother. Plus, it also has King Arthur as a zombie villain. I seriously don't know why I sat on this so long, except I also know volume 2 is still sitting on my nightstand to be read? (Pandemic brain is weird, y'all.)

This moves quickly, it has so many twists and turns, and for a second I did actually think it was my favorite comic of 2020. Which I did talk about quite a bit on Panelology, so go check out this episode to hear more!

I love graphic novels and the history/mythology of King Arthur - so I was excited when I was offered this for review. I personally did not enjoy the art style and that affected my enjoyment of the graphic novel itself.

You know you have a freaking amazing graphic novel series on your hands when the base plot takes a stereotypical sweet grandma trope and turns it 360 degrees into a chain - smoking, gun toting retired monster slayer grandma!

Not only that, we have the author taking the Aurthorian legend into a zombie - with King Arthur being back from the dead; ala Mummy style - and a grandson - grandmother monster fighting duo that had me enjoying this graphic novel far more than I had expected to!

The art is quite easily as dark as the plotline expected - and I certainly was glued till the end! Since, it was the first volume in the series; the plotline was far more streamlined than I expected and I honestly was surprised with the way the author has actually put forward the story and character ARC; and I am really looking forward to the next volume in the series!

As a big fan of Arthurian mythology, this had me intrigued right from the premise and did not disappoint. A great read, and I'll be interested to see where the series goes next.

I’m very conflicted about this one. On one hand, I really loved the art style. Dan Mora did an incredible job bringing this story to life. The style actually reminded me of the animation of the cartoon movie Atlantis, but even better and much more dark and gritty. The story itself was also entertaining and one of the main characters, Gran, was pretty awesome.

However, that is where the positives ended for me. The story and most of the protagonists felt very shallow and at times, messy and underdeveloped. Maybe this is in part due to the limitations of it being in comic form, but I don’t think so.

One thing that particularly bothered me was that two of the protagonists who had no knowledge of the supernatural coming to life acclimated themselves to the reality of that way too fast. It wasn’t believable or relatable and took me out of the story quite a few times. The male main character also had abilities such as sword fighting and shooting guns very accurately that just wouldn’t be possible without any previous training.

Another critique I have is the story moved way too fast. This is probably part of why I felt the characters were underdeveloped and didn’t respond to the events of the story in a believable way. There wasn’t any time for character development because the narrative jumped almost straight into action. After that the story just jumped from action scene to action scene with barely a pause in between.

I love the premise, but unfortunately this comic didn’t really work for me and I was pretty disappointed. It is possible that comics may just not be the medium for me as this was my first time reading a comic geared more towards adults. However, if you are looking for something you don’t really have to think about too much and can just enjoy for the action and beautiful art style, you may like this one.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel from the story to the artwork to the paneling on the pages. The best part was the badass grandma reveal at the beginning and how things slowly started to fall into place as the story progressed. Duncan, the main character, is a historian at heart and also was taught the legends of the past to navigate through the enemy blocks presented in the comic.

Something worth noting is that there is a great plot twist in the middle that you don't expect! I would definitely recommend this to any fans of Merlin or SFF genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and BOOM! for giving me a digital copy for review.

Dude! This was pretty great. I've been a King Arthur geek most of my life, and this really scratches that itch in a twisted way. I'm not going to do a story synopsis, y'all can read the publisher's description, I'll just tell you what I liked about it. The characters are well done; while not fully fleshed out yet, they're off to a good start. My favorite (I think everyone's favorite) is Bridgette, a.k.a. Gran, because how can you not love a snarky, bad-ass old lady who has no qualms about killing you if you annoy her? Duncan is a decent character, kinda dumb about stuff, but that makes sense later in the story, and he does catch on quickly. Rose doesn't get to do much, but what she does do is important; her character doesn't really grow in this volume, but I can see potential in her. Then we have Arthur. Hooo boy, is he a mess! He is here to wreak some havoc, and to restore his kingdom to what it once was, which will destroy England. See, England is not his kingdom, and the English are not his people- they're dirty foreign invaders, and he will not let them live. The legends left out the xenophobic asshole part of Arthur's story, you see. He's properly scary looking, too- essentially, he's a sentient zombie, with zombie knights to serve him. Elaine, Galahad, The Fisher King, and Gawain show up too, with a surprise cameo by another character at the end. Also, it was nice to see Arthur's scabbard get the respect it deserves! The art and coloring is gorgeous, like omg fabulous, and the story has some really nice twists and turns. I'm looking forward to the next book, can't wait to see what happens next!

#OnceAndFutureComic #NetGalley

This is the most entertaining graphic novel I’ve read this year!
The artwork id amazing, the plot line is engaging and the characters are so good!
It puts King Arthur a whole other light, and I loved every second of it!
Bridgette is my favorite character by far. She’s a badass grandma with sarcastic comebacks and more energy than me. She made me laugh a lot.

I can’t wait to read the rest!

I love Arthurian myths, so this was a fun read for me.
The comic is about a sassy, badass grandma and her grandson who has to fight monsters and legendary figures.
The artwork was amazing and the villain wasn't who I thought it would be, but that was a fun spin on the legends.
I only wish that it wasn't so fast paced.
I'm going to continue reading it, there was a sorely missed character who showed up at the end.

I love Arthurian legends so the premise of this was super appealing! This links the idea that King Arthur will come back during Britain's time of need but spins it so that he is the cause. I really enjoy the way this story is done and look forward to seeing more of it in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

After reading the synopsis I thought it would be interesting to read however it didn’t match my expectations. The theme is interesting, uses the famous story of Arthur but in a different way. The art looks good, but the story didn’t click to me. There’s not much explanation in the beginning and all the sudden too many things were happening, sometimes was hard to follow. Maybe in the next chapter it gets better.

A group of ''intelligent nationalists'' steal an artifact in order to revive King Arthur ( Who is really a villain).
Grandma Bridgette McGuire comes out of retirement as a monster hunter, points a gun at her grandson Duncan and takes them on a we-have-to-save-England mission . Stories are bent, pasts are revealed and they all have to keep their heads from being sliced off.
Duncan came off as an unwilling hero and well he has every reason to be unwilling since he was blindsided by everything. I am guessing Rose is supposed to be the love interest, well she doesn't do much in this book but from the looks of it she will do more as the series progresses ( maybe, i hope instead of standing there like a potato salad with raisins). Bridgette, this volume shows that Bridgette is a hardcore no nonsense woman, she's a shoot first talk later kinda grandma. I liked her character, i hope s the series progresses we get to see more of her past.
The reason for my rating is that although its a solid start to the series, it can get confusing understanding how the world works but once you get a hang of it its all fun.
The artists did a phenomenal work! I loved Arthur '' human physiology model''. This book is fun to read and a good start to this series Arthurian fans would love this. i am looking forward to the next part because a new character ( vital to the story) was shown thats something to look forward to!
Arc provided by publishers via netgalley all opinions ar mine

I love a good Arthurian remix and "Once & Future" volume 1 doesn't disappoint! Kieron Gillen's writing is fabulous, Dan Mora's art is gorgeous and Tamra Bonvillain's coloring is lovely. I am incredibly interested in seeing where this series takes us, especially with the introduction of Merlin at the very end!

REVIEW: Once and Future Volume 1

A group of British Nationalists are going to bring back King Arthur. They believe that this will bring England back to its glory days. Retired monster hunter Bridgette needs to stop them but cannot do it alone. So, she tricks her grandson, Duncan, into the mix. They begin their adventure that is a combination of family secrets and Arthurian myth while trying to save the world from King Arthur.

The first time we see Grandma Bridgette she is sitting in her retirement home and threatens to break a guy’s hand. The line she uses, “But broken fingers take so long to heal at our age” was the best introduction to a character that I have seen in a long time. Grandma is retired, she used to hunt vampires but ran out of vampires. Once and Future reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer if Buffy retired and had to come back to finish off one more big bad. The dialogue is very witty throughout the entire book. I found myself laughing and yelling throughout the book, completely drawn in by the story.

The art is beautiful. In the beginning, our heroes are faced with a Questing Beast, in Arthurian lore, it is a monster that is made up of different animals and sounds like there are dogs barking in its stomach. Dan Mora drew the perfect Questing Beast and then to add Tamra Bonvillain’s colors you have the perfect modern Questing Beast. When Arthur speaks Ed Dukeshire changes the font that is being used, that combined with the switch in dialect it really gives you the feel of being taken back in time.

For me Once and Future is one of the rare perfect books that you find every so often. It is impossible to choose a favorite part because everything combines flawlessly with everything else. From the first page, I was hooked. I cannot wait to see what the second story arch will bring.

Creative Team:
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Dan Mora
Colored by Tamra Bonvillain
Lettered by Ed Dukeshire
Published by Boom

This was such a fun read! While almost too fast paced at times, I really enjoyed each issue contained within. The art was detailed and fantastic. The writing was top notch, which is exactly what I've come to expect from Gillen. And the cliffhanger at the end was *chef's kiss* so so good. This is definitely a series I plan to continue reading and is perfect for lovers of Arthurian lore!

This story about a regular guy pulled into his grandmother’s attempts to stop the waking of King Arthur was a wild ride of an adventure. Duncan’s grandmother, Bridgette is a retired monster hunter, something he DID NOT KNOW until she escapes from her retirement home one night and asks him (at gunpoint) to help out. Duncan has to participate in a quest to stop the waking of King Arthur, whose scabbard had been found at an archeological dig, and thus can be used to heal his body and wake him. Bridgette is skeptical of the prophecy that Arthur would wake in the hour of Britain’s greatest need (or whatever the wording is) because she correctly assumes it could be taken in two different ways. In fact, as Duncan gets deeper into the mission, involving a recent date in the quest, and getting more and more into the ‘other side’, he realizes his family history is way more complicated than he had been led to believe, and his grandmother has had a plan decades in the making.

Once & Future directly throws us into the action, without much exposition, but if you are familiar with the Arthurian legends, and how there have been many of them, it is pretty fast to get into. The story plays with the various versions of the legends, and the way they have changed over time to establish some method to the magic that holds Arthur, and also the other characters. Also the way the storyboard is constructed makes for an engaging and entertaining tale. Also, the expressions of the characters, OMG! I loved the relationship and rapport between the characters, and how they are rendered (in characterization) in the story. The artwork is also pretty good, and I loved how gruesome Arthur looks, and the coloring style of the comic. There was only one thing I was having trouble accepting is that, for a museum curator, Duncan doesn’t know much about Arthurian legends, even in passing?

A grail quest unlike any you have seen before.

Duncan is just living a quiet life as a not-so-suave academic when his world is irrevocably rocked by the unveiling of a resurrected ancient king, a plot to purify Britain, and the fact that his grandmother is a bad*ss monster hunter who has raised him to be the innocent knight in a quest for a grail.

To save the country from an otherworldly fate, Duncan must step into a legend he never knew existed and complete a quest he for which he is ill-prepared but destined.

**I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

This Review will be available on 5/6/2020

I've been reading too much during this quarantine, but I just can't stop (isn't that a good thing?) I did take a week off for finals but alas I am back and with another review. Considering that you saw the rating you can really tell I loved this. I read it in one sitting from start to finish and I could not stop! Now, I am going to try to give my review without giving things away which is going to be hard because I want to talk about it hard but here goes...

First things first, I am so glad that my grandmother is not Bridgette McGuire! I don't know how Duncan handled things, considering everything that happened. Bridgette is a gun totting bad-ass, wait maybe I do want her to be my grandmother. She is a shoot first ask questions later type of gal. One thing I will say is that Gillen really showed the consequences of being this way.. one of the last moments breaks my heart a bit but I couldn't feel bad for Bridgette considering how she acted.

Duncan was adorable, and I absolutely love him. I don't think I remember a time that I immediately liked a character at first page/panel but I did with Duncan. A true good guy and the complete light to Bridgette's dark. I love the lore that Gillen sets up with this, and if your a history buff that loves King Arthur's story that you definitely need to check this out.

Mora's illustrations really blended well with Gillen's writing. He really set the dark tones when needed, but also made sure not to give too much away. I'm not a illustrator (I can barely draw a stick figure) but I know that drawing action and making it look good is hard to do. Also, let me say that nothing was overtly sexual, but there was some blood so keep that in mind.

Overall, I really loved this and I can't wait to see where this goes.

I'm a sucker for Arthurian legends so this drew me right in. This builds off the idea that King Arthur will one day return in Britain's darkest hour. Well, what if he was actually the cause of that darkest hour? Enter Bridgette (Buffy if she made it to old age) and her clueless grandson, Duncan, as they try and stop Arthur's return. This was an absolute blast. Bridgette is hilarious as a kickass Gram.

The art by Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain is magnificent. Something about it reminded me of a Don Bluth cartoon like <i>Dragon's Lair</i>. These two were firing on all cylinders.

They had me at the kickass septuagenarian, but I stayed for kicking white supremacist ass in particular, a delightfully academic and action packed take on Arthurian legend, I will read this again and can’t wait for the next one to come out. Key House, Die, Wicked and the Divine, I’ll think. All their fans should take a look at this one.