Martian Manhunter #10 hits your local comic book store on November 27, but thanks to DC Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive five-page preview.
About the issue: Diane Meade enters the mindscape of J’onn J’onnz and is attacked by the psychic forms of his tragedies, regrets, and even his aspirations. Will J’onn be able to save her and find the secrets in his mindscape that will lead him to save Ashley Addams and defeating Charnn once and for all?
Martian Manhunter #10 is written by Steve Orlando, with art by Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia worked on colors, letters are by Deron Bennett, and Josh Middleton created the variant cover.
What do you think of Orlando’s run so far? Comment below with your thoughts.
Check Out The Preview Below:
Joseph Samachson and Joe Certa created Martian Manhunter.
Daybreak is a series from Netflix based on the comic book of the same name and starring Colin Ford from Under the Dome that’s about the end of the world and the teenagers and cliques that survived to form new geopolitical dynamics in what’s left of Glendale, California. Making Daybreak sound awesome in a post-apocalyptic way is song producer Bryce Jacobs.
Colin Ford is Josh Wheeler, an outcast and unremarkable student who survives the initial chaos to make a new life in the apocalypse. Josh has a crush on Samaira “Sam” Dean, played by Sophie Simnett (Disney’s The Lodge), and navigates the treacherous new landscape to find her. One of the biggest obstacles is the adults who survived the blast as zombie-like “Ghoulies.” No doubt a nod to the orginal “ghouls” as they were called in Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. To make the world an extra bit dangerous, Daybreak’s post-apocalypse landscape features giant-sized, mutated pugs and a bizarre mix of new gangs that’s like a cross between Mad Max and The Warriors.
PopAxiom spoke with Bryce about his influences, the effect of “Stairway to Heaven,” and making music for the end of the world.
NeverEnding Thriller
Bryce is an Australian native but has called the US home for eleven years now. From an early age, Bryce recalls, “Music’s always been part of my DNA. The first album I remember was Thriller by Michael Jackson. I also remember the NeverEnding Story soundtrack.”
For Bryce, there was always a variety of music from pop to classical. “I thought everyone listened to pop music and soundtrack music. I loved both … so somewhere in the middle of that is my happiest of places.”
Bryce turned 11 when his mom “… got me my first guitar, and then the following year, my dad got me my first electric guitar.”
Listen To This
A few months later, Bryce heard a song for the first time, that would change everything. “… I heard “Stairway to Heaven” … and I was absolutely all in.”
Led Zeppelin’s dynamic, multi-layered, the eight-minute epic was the catalyst for Bryce to deep-dive into music for the rest of his life. “From that one song, I became obsessed with so many different styles of music. There was this classical technique in there, these folky jazz harmonies … arpeggios as well … it got me studying music theory and musicianship”
Another vital layer to the song: “The way that the song is constructed is extremely cinematic as well.”
My love affair was underway. I went on to listen to Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, then it was around the time of the grunge era for me so a lot of Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana.” Bryce continues, “The grunge era in Australia ran right into the electronic dance music of like Chemical Brothers and Prodigy. My guitar playing was very influenced by that as well.”
“All these things cross-pollinate to form your musical identity.”
Let’s Go Crazy
Bryce’s musical influences come from roots dug deep into the landscape but also spread wide through the rich soil. The 70s introduced synthesizers to mainstream music, the 80s ushered in the use of computers, and the 90s introduced some powerful, music-making software. Add in the rapidly rising influence of hip-hop, and you get a lot of musical experimentation and great variety. “You look at a song like Batdance by Prince, which I love. That was a huge hit. But it’s pretty abstract. It goes in and out of sampling. There’s this massive guitar solo in the middle.”
Bryce expands on music’s evolution. “The 20th century was a massive renaissance in music. From the 50s on to the late 90s, it was this incredible cross-pollination.”
The bottom line: “Pop music then was a free-for-all.”
Just Before Dawn
Daybreak’s Music Supervisor Andrea von Foerster (Happy Death Day, Modern Family) kicks off the show with “California Love” by Tupac with Dr. Dre. To create some original songs and covers for the series, Andrea “… called me up, and the concept sounded outstanding.”
On using “California Love” to get the show going, “That’s a big song and quite a brilliant choice.”
Daybreak feels familiar, with a global disaster that kills billions that lays ruin to the world, and leaves millions as shambling, thoughtless husks of humans. Yes, I’m describing zombies, but Daybreak takes its lore in a unique direction. Their zombies talk, repeating the last thought they had before the bomb. Bryce’s favorite line, “There’s a sale, 10% off group pants at Lulu Lemon.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P9U41e75tE
About Daybreak
Daybreak is quick-witted and briskly paced while playfully bouncing around to the time just before the bomb. As a world of teenagers would do, new bands form, including a recurring one on the show. “The most important thing was to set up the sound for the band that was reflective of this world they’re living in.”
Bryce had to wonder what would be left to make music. “If there were a nuclear blast, they’d be grabbing these instruments that are very rough around the edges. Maybe missing a few strings. Without going too abstract, I wanted to give it this raw, trashy element, but, you know, cool trashy.”
The first song you hear from Daybreak’s fictional band is “Today” from Smashing Pumpkins. “I wanted to get the same kind of intensity, but do it in a raw context. Doing that with Today and then “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats and the same band playing that, by that point, the band has personality. The last band on Earth …”
Bryce explains an exchange about another cover song that appears on the show. “Same with ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.’” Showrunner Aron Eli Coleite suggested to Bryce, “Imagine you went into the store and bought a sh*t keyboard.”
For Bryce, the band within Daybreak and many musical elements take on a deeper layer in Daybreak. “What I was doing was tied to the narrative. The band had a personality, and then there’s this American Ninja and American Idol mashup going on too.”
Wrapping Up
Who is part of Bryce’s creative DNA? “Thomas Newman has always had a beautiful aesthetic about him, and the way he approaches his music has so much personality to it. Danny Elfman is another big one. I’m a huge Nine Inch Nails fan and love what Trent Reznor does. Peter Gabriel, what he’s done with soundtracks is phenomenal.”
Having spent time at Remote Control, Bryce adds one more to the list, “Hans Zimmer, who has been such an inspiration to listen to and work with.”
Daybreak is available for streaming on Netflix. Bryce does work for the likes of DefJam and Universal records. So, what’s next? “Gutterpunks is a really cool short film that I did a few months ago. It’s in the festival circuit. It’s directed by Luke Arnold. It’s challenging to capture a world, especially drama, in 5, 10, 20 minutes, but it’s amazing.”
Thanks to Bryce Jacobs and Impact24 PR for making this interview possible.
Want to read more interviews like this? CLICK HERE.
Will you be watching Daybreak? Leave your comments below!
Tom Scioli’s Fantastic Four: Grand Design is one of Marvel Comics’ most exciting projects of 2019 (check out our review of issue one). In it, Scioli writes, pencils, inks, colors and letters an adaptation of the entire Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four run. Next Wednesday sees the release of Fantastic Four: Grand Design #2, the second and final issue. With that in mind, we at Monkeys Fighting Robots reached out to Tom and asked him a few questions about the book, his approach and the possibility of more Godland comics.
Monkeys Fighting Robots: Tom, Fantastic Four: Grand Design, is finally out. Can you tell us how this project came into fruition? Tom Scioli: Ed Piskor created the whole Grand Design concept with his X-Men. They were looking to follow it up with other creators of a similar stripe. Chris Robinson the editor contacted me about potentially doing a Fantastic Four one and what that would look like. What issues would I want to cover.
MFR: As a Jack Kirby fanatic, what was your emotional spectrum while working on this book? Tom Scioli: First I had to get over the initial jitters of interpreting one of the great works of my favorite cartoonist. It was like staring into the heart of the sun. Once I got comfortable with the task, it was so much fun. When I’d get to some of my favorite parts, it was pure bliss. The first time I got to draw Black Bolt, I was having the time of my life and it only got better as Silver Surfer and Galactus showed up.
MFR: What’s your process like? Like what’s a typical workday for you? How do you schedule your time for a project that will take so much of your time? Tom Scioli: I’ve gotten to the point where it takes 1 day per page, start to finish. My record is 4 pages in a day, everything but color. I just did that last night.
MFR: Did you have a favorite FF moment you wanted to do in particular? Tom Scioli: Doctor Doom stealing the Baxter Building. The arrival of the Silver Surfer and Galactus. Doctor Doom stealing the Surfer’s board. I wasn’t really looking forward to the later parts of the Kirby/Lee run, but I ended up having a lot of fun with Franklin Richards’s nanny Agatha Harkness.
MFR: You had to cram over 100 issues of storytelling into two books. What was the hardest part of doing this? Tom Scioli: The subtractive part, having to make the hard decisions of “there’s just no room for this.”
MFR: Did you see anything new or different in those original Lee/Kirby books while you were working on FF:GD? Tom Scioli: I got a new appreciation for the early, early issues. The surface was sometimes crude in those pre-Sinnott issues, but it still had that epic sci-fi feel, it was just a little more under the surface.
MFR: How long did it take you to create FF: Grand Design, from start to finish?Tom Scioli: 9 months. It’s my baby.
MFR: X-Men: Grand Design was the first ‘Grand Design project. Did Marvel give you any parameters to work with because of X-Men: Grand Design? Did it influence your approach in any way? Tom Scioli: The one parameter is that they wanted a sense of roughly what issues I was going to cover. It’s focused around the Kirby era, but I was grabbing things from all over the place: 70s, 80s, 90s to today.
MFR: What other comics (or media for that matter) influenced Fantastic Four: Grand Design? Tom Scioli: Movies, documentaries, Forrest Gump, games. Any incarnation of Fantastic Four: the cartoons and movies. And then the various other Marvel comics where bits and pieces might appear.
MFR: What’s your final feeling on FF: Grand Design now that you have finished it?Tom Scioli: I love it! It’s not for me to say, but it might be my finest work. If it is my best comic, it’s because it’s built squarely on the shoulders of the giants of comics.
MFR: Are there any current comics you are stoked on and reading? Tom Scioli: I always enjoy Marvel’s Star Wars comics. I think everybody who works on them are such massive fans that they bring their A-game to it. Olympia is a new series from Image that I enjoyed. I stay up to date with Hama’s G.I. Joe and I recommend it highly as a comic that’s become brick by brick a life’s work for the author.
MFR: Gotta ask…any chance of more Godland comics in the future? Love that series! Tom Scioli: You know, just the other day I had an idea for a new Godland story. I’ve done more Godland comics than anything else so I felt like I was done with it, but enough time has passed that I’m feeling like maybe there something more I can do there.
MFR: Is there going to be a Marvel Treasury Edition of Fantastic Four: Grand Design? Tom Scioli: I don’t see why not.
MFR: Are you currently working on something you want to talk about? Tom Scioli: Yes, but I think the publisher wants to wait to announce it.
MFR: Any final words for our readers? Tom Scioli:Fantastic Four: Grand Design is in stores the day before Thanksgiving. Thanks for all the support and enthusiasm! I think you’ll be surprised and delighted by the finale.
Fantastic Four: Grand Design #2 is out on November 27, 2019, and is available at your local comic shop.
Valkyrie: Jane Foster #5 hits your local comic book store November 27th, but thanks to Marvel Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive five-page preview for you.
About the issue: INTO THE ETERNAL DARKNESS! Valkyrie’s enemy finally reveals themself to teach the guardian of the fallen an important lesson: Not every life can be saved. It’s the explosive end of the first arc as Valkyrie faces the death that’s been stalking her since issue #1!
Valkyrie: Jane Foster #5 is by co-writers Jason Aaron and Al Ewing, artist CAFU, colorist Jesus Aburtov, and letterer Joe Sabino. The cover is by Mahmud Asrar and Matthew Wilson (based on a classic Amazing Spider-Man cover by John Romita Sr and Danny Crespi).
Marvel announced yesterday that Al Ewing’s time on Valkyrie will be coming to an end in January with issue #7. Norwegian writer Torunn Grønbekk (whose name literally means “to love Thor”) will join Aaron as co-writer starting with issue #8 in February.
In the same press release, the publisher revealed that they’ve also signed CAFU to a Marvel-exclusive contract.
The preview below sees Jane Foster attempting to protect Doctor Strange from the Grim Reaper, who Mephisto has chosen to be his Valkyrie (whew — that’s a lot of name dropping).
Check out the Valkyrie: Jane Foster #5 preview below:
Are you reading Valkyrie: Jane Foster? Sound off in the comments!
For Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth was more than his loyal butler. He was a surrogate father, someone who was always there to assist and advise through every step of his life. In Batman #83, out this week from DC Comics, we see Alfred reflect on this fact, offering Bruce his last goodbye.
The issue opens as Bruce awakens in the Wayne Manor dining room, seated across the table from the body of Alfred Pennyworth. We see Bruce grieve and lash out, seeming to lose control…a sight that gives Thomas hope his days as Batman may finally be numbered.
The Writing
There is sparse dialogue throughout most of Batman #83. Instead, we’re treated to a post-mortem monologue delivered by Alfred, reading like a letter written to Bruce in his last moments. The entire issue is, in effect, Alfred’s farewell to Bruce.
The book opens with a recitation of the poem The Children’s Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; a meditation on the affection of a parent for his children. Such a move could easily come across as pretentious and annoying. However, writer Tom King makes it work here, with the poem lending thematic weight to the moment.
The butler reflects on his memories of Bruce as a child: cautious, yet vibrant and full of life. Alfred affirms Bruce’s choices, ultimately giving him the validation he needs to face what he must. In some ways, Batman #83 echoes the themes of finding validation and the relationship between parents and children that we saw in King’s work on 2017’s Mister Miracle maxi-series. We see Bruce’s grief at the loss of his beloved surrogate father, a man killed by a twisted and scheming reflection of his real father, Thomas Wayne.
At the beginning of his run on the series, King appeared to pose the question “Who is Batman?” Over time, though, that question seems to shift; not “Who is Batman?” but rather, “Who is Bruce Wayne?” Through Alfred’s recollections, we have a very poignant picture of the man behind the mask.
All things considered, the writing in Batman #83 is methodical, yet touching at the same time. It’s a well-paced slow burn, delivering on the emotional payoff while also setting us up for the climactic finale of King’s story.
The Artwork
Artist Mikel Janin showcases some fantastic work in Batman #83. Many of our pages are cleanly-divided into neat sequences of evenly-spaced, horizontal blocks of three to six per page, lending the book a sense of crispness and symmetry.
The recurring layout theme allows the artist to play with repetition and variation. He shifts the depth of field to create a sense of dynamism while maintaining cohesion throughout.
Given the sparseness of actual dialogue, there was a lot riding on Janin’s ability to hit the story beats with precision in Batman #83. Fortunately, he proves to be more than skilled enough to manage the task. With each page, the slow but purposeful action reflects a sense of tenderness as Bruce tends to Alfred’s body. The pacing has the precision of a clock, maximizing the emotional impact of the writing.
Jordie Bellaire provides colors for the issue. Her work here is like a masterclass in how to draw the maximal impact from a monochrome palette. The book is bathed in grayish, deathly blues; however, we see an impressive range of tones employed to highlight subtle contrasts in lighting. Excellent work here.
Final Thoughts
Batman #83 is a highly-effective mood piece. It sets the tone of the story, while also carrying a tremendous emotional payload. Highly recommended for any Bat-fans out there.
Fight Club 3 #11 hits your local comic book store November 27th, but thanks to Dark Horse Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive five-page preview for you.
About the issue: Congratulations! It’s not the messiah we were expecting, but it’ll have to do. Marla Singer meets her power animal, we find out why the Crusades were a scam, and Junior has a troubling dream. Meanwhile, Balthazar is still as ugly as Tyler Durden.
Fight Club 3 is by writer Chuck Palahniuk and artist Cameron Stewart, with colors by Dave McCaig and letters by Nate Piekos. The cover is by David Mack, with a variant by Erik Wilkerson.
The series is a continuation of Palahniuk’s seminal novel Fight Club; Dark Horse also published Fight Club 2 between 2015 and 2016.
In Fight Club 3, Marla Singer is pregnant, but the baby isn’t her husband’s…it’s Tyler Durden’s.
Check out the FIGHT CLUB 3 #11 preview below:
Are you reading Fight Club 3? Sound off in the comments!
Hitting the shelves this week from Marvel Comics, we have Deadpool #1 with all the comedic wackiness you’d expect from its writer Kelly Thompson.
Since revealed on Twitter back in August, fans have long awaited the new Deadpool series with Thompson taking the helm on it. As Thompson seems to be in a high-point in her career, writing for Captain Marvel, her Captain Marvel spin-off titled and staring antagonist Star, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch which was extended past its planned initially five-issue run, the addition of the big Dee Pee has us all dying to see what direction Thompson wants to take with the character.
For starters, Deadpool #1 is certainly weird, and that’s not a bad thing. Starting the first page, and yes, the VERY FIRST PAGE with our “hero” being torn in half and internally monologuing about what it is like to be ripped in half is something that is just classically Deadpool, and a small taste of what is to follow.
That definitely looks painful…
What could be better than seeing a large Shuma-Gorath looking monster rip Wade Wilson in two? Probably watching him put himself back together like he’s putting on a pair of pants and going right back in for more. Fortunately for Wade Wilson in this issue, he’s not the only one out to hunt this monster, but you’ll have to read it to find out who.
Deadpool #1 includes some surprise guests that fans will be happy to see. One, in particular, I was pleased about, but I won’t spoil that for anyone who does not know already. The story is still a fun, and wacky set up to what we can assume will be the running plot for at least the beginning of Thompson’s run with the title.
This issue is full of strange monster designs with an art style by Chris Bachalo that brings out the bizarre energy they give off. I’m an especially big fan of Bellus, who aides Wade in his endeavor to kill the King of the Monsters, and looks like if a Chocobo from Final Fantasy sold its life away for a small-time position at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, and dresses like it too.
I love Bellus. I want a Bellus of my own.
The inking team understood the art style very well. They made each character stand out and emphasized the outlines around some of the weird anatomy among the monsters making them seem even more noticeably freakish. To bring it all together, there’s also the excellent job David Curiel did with the coloring, having backgrounds that were grayish and dull that made each colorful character and monster jump out of the pages.
The lettering for Deadpool is important as it delivers a lot of the punch lines in dialogue and what is a Deadpool comic if not funny? I am happy to say VC’s Joe Sabino kills it here with an easy flow of dialogue, keeping a steady pace with all the back and forth banter.
All in all, Deadpool #1 brings us into this strange story with some familiar faces from Thompson’s previous works to put her own flare into the story while keeping it as comical and fun as it should be. I’m very intrigued to see more of this monster-filled tale, and I am positive by the end of this issue, you will be too.
Von Freeze delivers a tale of a friendship lost to science.
One of the more interesting villains in Batman’s rogues’ gallery is Mr. Freeze. What started as a criminal with an ice gun turned into one of comics’ most sympathetic villains. With most of his crimes only to help fund his research in reviving his sick, frozen wife, how could anyone not feel bad for this man?
Well, during the critically acclaimed Batman: White Knight series, an alternate version of Victor Von Fries has received another piece to his background that raised many questions. It turns out, his father not only loved cryogenics like his son but also worked for the Nazis during World War II. With the sequel series in full swing, it was inevitable to get a tie into our favorite frozen villain. So what is the history of Von Fries?
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
Using Victor telling the story to Thomas Wayne during the night, Bruce is born as a framing narrative; we learn the history of the Von Fries family by starting with Baron Von Fries. Much like his son, Von Fries was fascinated with the medical science of Cryogenics, which caught the attention of Jewish doctor Smithstein. The pair became good friends, opening a lab together to further their research. When the antisemitism started to rise after World War I, Von Fries stood by his partner.
Everything changed, however, when Hitler rose to power. While Smithstein and his family went into hiding, the Baron continued his research. With the threat of the lab shutting down, Von Fries begins designing the first Freeze Gun.
When I first heard of the book, I was expecting a Nazi Supervillain origin story. What I got instead was so much better. It’s a more grounded story similar to the Joker movie in the case of it being a character piece. We get a story of a friendship that lasted through the decades, only to have it torn apart by science. Baron Von Fries is one of those characters people will be split on. Some might see him as a redeemed hero throughout his arc in the one-shot, while others will call him a selfish villain.
There are a few small things that weaken the story just a bit. The first comes from the reveal of the Baron’s experiments after joining the Nazis. We know he’s seen as a bastard in the present, but even what he did for science is too much to make him redeemable for when he tries to help at the end. There is one other thing that makes a present-day relationship seem off, but neither of these hinders this fantastic story.
Art:
While Sean Murphy usually writes the story and does the art, the legendary Klaus Janson takes up the position of artists. While some might miss the style Murphy has brought to the universe, Janson nails the darker, grittier tone of this tale with his style. From the first page where we see Baron Von Fries holding a gun, you get a chill running down your spine. This is not meant to be a clean looking, pretty story, but a dark story that is intended to shake readers to their core. It’s a great look to an already great story.
Conclusion:
Von Freeze is one of the best Mr. Freeze stories in his entire publication history. It is a grounded tale of science and the broken relationships caused in its name. The art of Klaus Janson fits this world perfectly, giving us a gritty image of World War II. I recommend this to Mr.Freeze fans, Batman: White Knight fans, and anyone who is looking for a deeper comic to sink their teeth into.
Hitting stores near you this week from Marvel Comics, Captain Marvel #12 brings us into Kelly Thompson’s “The Last Avenger” arc with a POWERFUL introduction.
Fans have been wondering for a while what current Captain Marvel writer Kelly Thompson has had in store for us with this dark new Captain Marvel storyline she has been flooding her Twitter with as of late. Thompson pulls no punches with this issue, and suffice it to say, neither does Carol Danvers. This action-packed issue starts this story off by bringing us right into a showdown comic-book fans have been curious about for a while now — the half-Kree super warrior vs. the God of Thunder.
Catching Thor off guard is probably the smartest thing you can do… Although it’s still the best of a bad situation let’s be honest.
There’s very little one can say about this issue without giving anything away. Anyone keeping up with the news on this arc already knows, even based on the cover alone, this is a story about Carol Danvers turning on and fighting her allies The Avengers, and doing so with a crazy new uniform that I can only describe as mephistophelian.
The art in this issue by Lee Garbett suits the direction and tone exceptionally well. Carol’s darkened outline and heavy shading around her eyes give her this absolutely sinister look to match her new design. It is accompanied by coloring from Tamra Bonvillain, adding this glow to the red Hala star on the face of the helmet giving it an eerie robotic-like quality that reminds me of Ultron’s face. All in all, a solid design choice.
This is my favorite panel in the whole issue. The design for Carol in this arc is really clean, the shadows on her face add a whole new layer to her expressions. She looks calm, focused, and determined, but still there she’s look angry, tired even.
Throughout the issue, letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles leaves Carol’s inner monologues scattered about giving us small looks and hints at what’s going on with her without giving us the full scope. Shedding some light on Carol’s dark actions but still leaving room for the reader to try to figure it out themselves. Overall the lettering is solid with all the necessary fight sound effects needed for a fight of this magnitude.
From start to finish, this fight is intense and will keep you flipping pages to see what’s next. It represents the fight between these two powerful super-beings very well with high-speed action constant changes in scenery. When all is said and done, it’s hard to imagine what will come next.
Captain Marvel #12 is a very easy comic to get lost in, but it will also fly by just as any good page-turner does. It’s an ambitious way to kick off the new story arc and show us what we’re looking toward in future issues. Despite the dark display, I do still believe in Carol Danvers and have faith that she’ll be making the right decision at the end of this all. As a Captain Marvel fan, I am very excited to see what else Thompson has in store for us in the future and recommend this issue all who follow Marvel Comics.
Do you think Carol can take on every Avenger? She certainly seems to be trying, let us know what you think in the comments!
ONCE & FUTURE #4, out this Wednesday from Boom! Studios, continues the tale of Duncan and his grandmother. And they’re doing a good run for the most messed up family of the year award. Assuming that is an award.
This cover is full of foreshadowing.
***SPOILER WARNING***
When you stop and think about it, Duncan has been through a hectic few days. First, he learned that his grandmother was actually quite capable. Oh, and she owned several guns (one of which she was willing to point at his head). Then he learned that monsters and the legend of King Arthur is real – but not the legend he was expecting. And now he’s on an epic quest to save Britain. With his grandmother at his side. Talk about crazy. And perhaps a little bit awkward.
Once & Future has brought us an interesting twist on the whole legend of King Arthur. Considering how many retellings are out there, it’s a breath of fresh air. Seeing the series take on a darker and twisted tone is exactly what this story needed.
This isn’t what it looks like…
Kieron Gillen has brought us a dark and foreboding tale in Once & Future #4. The series is proving to be more complex than expected, full of historical parallels, deception, and peril. And poor Duncan is caught in the middle of it all.
The fourth issue in the series proves that there are plenty of depths to still be discovered in this story. If you thought the previous three issues were dark, you’d better prepare yourself for what is to come.
The parallels drawn in this issue were extremely satisfying, combining the present with the legend in unexpected ways. If that wasn’t enough, there’s some delightful commentary on pop culture – which was totally unexpected. But made for a nice little touch.
Honestly, it’s actually kind of hard to believe that there are only two issues left in the series. That isn’t a whole lot of time to wrap things up. But this is Gillen we’re talking about, so there’s little doubt that this series is going to end explosively, yet decisively.
Time to take careful aim.
The artwork behind Once & Future #4 was superb. The characters are full of life, their movements believable. The enemies are grotesque in all of the right ways. And the colors are simply stunning. The combination of all of these elements have made for a memorable series, to say the least.
Dan Mora’s lines allowed for a creative take on this world, fleshing out the tale. His sense of movement and violence is perfect here, as are the expressions he provides the characters. Meanwhile, Tamra Bonvillain’s colors are simply striking – vibrant and eye-catching. They’re fantastical, but that just increases the overall effect of the story.
And finally, the lettering. Ed Dukeshire’s lettering is the icing on the cake here. His understated addition is exactly what was needed here. It tells us the story without ever feeling obtrusive.
They say no good deed goes unpunished…
Once & Future #4 was an intense read, no matter how you look at it. Duncan’s story is nearing an end, and yet there’s so much to wrap up. And it seems like every turn he and his grandmother make brings them towards more danger and confrontations.
It’s going to be an adventure to see what the next two issues bring us. And how bad things are going to get before they’re resolved (assuming they even are).
