As Duncan settles into a life of fighting the supernatural, a big incursion happens at the British Museum. What new threat emerges? Find out in Once & Future #7 from BOOM! Studios.

ONCE & FUTURE #7

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Matt Gagnon
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 25, 2020

Previously in Once & Future: Arthur, King of the Britons, has returned!  Well, not exactly as foretold; more like an undead out for vengeance. Stories have power, and families have conflict. Elaine is Bridgette’s daughter, and she is on Arthur’s side, going so far as to raise her son to be a Galahad so he can take the Grail. Bridgette raised Duncan to be innocent in the knowledge of all of this – a Percival. He knows his legends and steps up as a hero to get Bridgette healed, return to our world, and give Excalibur back to the Ladies of the Lake.

ARTHUR IS NOT THE ONLY PROBLEM OUT THERE

Once & Future #7 opens with Arthur at Camelot in the Otherworld, surrounded by his undead army. He knows an old rival will be coming soon, and he is looking for a knight to go on a quest. The slightly manic, slightly mad Galahad naturally volunteers, and Arthur asks if he is willing to brave the Siege Perilous. He has no doubt that he will survive the experience and survive it he does after a fashion.

Then we see what Duncan has been up to. He’s in the woods with a huge axe and a rather stunned expression. His phone rings. It’s Gran. He tells her he killed the pixie and comments that he’ll never look at a toadstool in the same way again. This, coupled with his expression, is very funny. He hangs up on her because Rose is calling. She asks how he’s doing and whether he’s talking to Bridgette again, but it soon becomes apparent that she has embraced her role in tracking supernatural events. Her divination shows that something big is going down in London. No sooner does he get off the phone than Bridgette calls Rose, checking on him.

Rose gets Duncan into the British Museum after dark, which sounds so cool. He has a flashlight and a pendulum which leads him through displays to an old and battered helmet. Galahad shows up – and he’s changed, shocking Duncan. As they fight, a hooded figure in the nearby British Library does a smash and grab, stealing a book. Back in the fight at the Museum, there is a gunshot and someone calls out – it’s Gran who distracts Galahad and dispatches him quite cleverly, for now. She is still delightful, and a touch annoying.

Duncan reports to Rose, and she tells him that maybe the helmet wasn’t the target – a manuscript has been stolen. But what was it, and where did they take it, and does it have anything to do with Arthur?

WONDROUS IMAGERY

The art of Once & Future #7 does not disappoint. It has some of the most striking images I’ve seen. The Siege Perilous is a full-page panel, a sinister looking throne made all the more awful by the many, many skeletons and parts thereof caught in its spikes like some sort of grisly shrike larder.  The gorgeous, confident Galahad sits with no fear, and is impaled and changes. We see him again at the museum when he arrives on horseback. It’s another dramatic entrance and the whole horse-in-the-museum thing is pretty great.

The whole fight is bold, brash, and bloody. The art undergoes a color shift when Galahad comes across from the Otherworld, so the background glows with vivid blues and greens that set of the blood, because there is definitely some blood in this fight. And I love the contrast of the motion and action around the fight compared with the original calmness of the museum after dark.

BOTTOM LINE: A NEW SUPERNATURAL ADVENTURE

Once & Future #7 is the beginning of a new story arc, and it’s an easy jumping on point. The creators show us enough that we get what’s going on without needing a huge explanation. And despite the horror, there are some touches of humor like the cherry on top of a sundae.

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Once & Future #7

90%

90%

Easy Jumping On Point

An old enemy lurks in the Otherworld and a new enemy arrives on the scene!

• Writing

  9
• Art

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• Coloring

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