Once & Future #1 is published by BOOM! Studios. It is written and co-created by Kieron Gillen with art and co-creation by Dan Mora and colors by Tamra Bonvillain.
The story starts off in a way that reminds me of Indiana Jones, except it’s not Nazis coming after the sacred relic. It may not be Nazis, but it is a group of muscular white men led by a blonde women and if that doesn’t scream Indiana Jones villain, I don’t know what does. Despite it being set in our modern era (they have fancy cellphones and Uber and stuff), I feel that touch of 1980s action-adventure movie. I mean, it might be the modern era, but this threat is an ancient one. And apparently, a very powerful one. I won’t spoil it, but once you find out what it is, you’re going to be like “…oh shit”.
An exciting archeological find of a 6th century scabbard followed by the theft of said scabbard introduces us to the elderly Bridgette McGuire. Bridgette is living in a nursing home where apparently all of the other residents are justifiably intimidated by her. Once she hears the news of the scabbard, she abruptly runs away from the retirement home and calls her grandson, Duncan, a simple museum curator (cue “it belongs in a museum!” line) and thus he is thrust into the hidden life of his grandmother, who as it turns out, was a monster hunter.
Magic, mysticism, and familiar names from old stories fill you with curiosity and just enough nostalgia to bring you in, but not so much that it’s the same old story you read before. It’s already too set to be far, far from it. Plus, there’s just something so entertaining about an elderly, badass protagonist. It’s not something you see very often – all my years of comic reading and I can only think of a couple off the top of my head. Older people deserve characters they can relate to and adults (me for sure) still sometimes need a person to look up to and think, “That’s who I want to be when I grow up.” This is the story Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora have expertly created for us.
OVERALL SCORE: 9.5 / 10
Make sure to grab a copy of Once & Future #1 from your local comic shop!
Happy reading!
