Book Review: Once and Future, Vol 1: The King is Undead by Kieron Gillen and others

Once and Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead
by Kieron Gillen (writer), Dan Mora (artist) and Tamra Bonvillain (colorist) (741.5 Gil)

This one caught my eye on the “new books” display at the downtown library, and I’m glad I gave it a try. “Once & Future” is a exciting fast-paced graphic novel story that is like a crossover between Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Volume 1, “The King is Undead” compiles the first six issues of what has turned into an ongoing monthly comic-book storyline.

We jump straight into the action, as a British ultranationalist sect steals a historical artifact unearthed by archaeologists from a lakebed in Cornwall — the scabbard supposedly used by King Arthur to hold Excalibur — a magical totem that has the ability to heal grievous injury, and which that sect believes they can use to resurrect the long-dead Arthur.

Meanwhile, senior citizen Bridgette McGuire, former monster hunter, slips away from her senior care facility and enlists the aid of her grandson, Duncan, to uncover one of her caches of monster hunting weaponry. Also bringing in Duncan’s would-be girlfriend, Rose, a historian, they begin a quest to try to prevent the horribly-revived King Arthur from gathering the powerful tools he would need to begin a cleansing purge of all but the loyal Celts in England.

The writing is fast and furious, but the characters are well realized. The artwork, by Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain is uniformly good, particular the coloring by Bonvillain and the facial expressions by Mora. The story is heavily laden with Arthurian mythology, but with a modernized twist. And the plot allows Gillen to shine a damning light on the causes of ultra-nationalism, both today and back in history.

I really enjoyed this fantasy/horror/adventure tale, and look forward to future volumes. This first volume was released in graphic novel form in August 2020, and was a 2020 nominee as “Best New Series” in the Will Eisner Awards.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Camelot 3000 by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland, The Once and Future King by T.H. White or Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory.]

[ publisher’s official Once and Future series web page ] | [ official Kieron Gillen Tumblr blog ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: The Kid Who Would Be King

The Kid Who Would Be King
[DVD j Kid]

A fun and engaging youth-oriented take on the King Arthur mythology, with a little heavy-handed lecturing thrown in for good measure.

Louis Ashbourne Serkis (son of Andy Serkis, famed for his special-effects-aided performance as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films), stars as Alex, a pre-teen living with his single mom in a British suburb. He’s not one of the popular kids, but he does stand up for his bullied friends, including Bedders (Dean Chaumoo), a portly but cheerful nerd. When the two main bullies at the school try to fight him after class, Alex flees, and ends up in a seemingly abandoned and collapsing construction site. He discovers a sword sticking up out of a stone, and sucessfully draws it, with no audience to see him.

The action of pulling Excaliber does bring Merlin out of hiding, who realizes he must find Arthur’s inheritor and assemble a team of knights to do battle with Morgana, who is also returning to the mortal world…in search of Excaliber herself.

It takes a while for the young-appearing Merlin (portrayed by Angus Imrie as a teen, and by Patrick Stewart as an older version) to convince Alex and Bedders of the truth, and they end up surprisingly teaming up with the bullies, Lance and Kaye, to go on a quest for Alex’s missing father, who may hold the secret of where to defeat Morgana.

The kids are engaging, particularly Serkis as a very earnest young Alex, and Imrie as an intense Merlin. The special effects, as our heroes battles Morgana’s resurrected undead minions, are pretty impressive. There are humor, sadness, treachery, honor and nobility. There are multiple quests, and character growth for most of the young leads. The cinematography is noteworthy, with scenes along the coast and in the English countryside that are gorgeous, and a final battle between the forces of good and evil on the grounds of the middle-school which all the kids attend.

Yeah, there are silly and unbelievable things, but in the end, I enjoyed The Kid Who Would Be King very much. There were moments that were breathtaking, such as the Lady of the Lake presenting the sword to Alex after he’s faltered in his quest. And those moments more than made up for any failing in this kid-oriented film!

[ If you liked this film, you may also enjoy Excaliber (1981) — my favorite retelling of the Arthurian legend, starring Nigel Terry and Nicol Williamson, though it is definitely not for kids. And Camelot, the classic 1967 musical, starring Richard Harris, is another fun telling of this tale. ]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Kid Who Would Be King web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Monty Python's Spamalot (on CD)

Monty Python's Spamalot
[Compact Disc 782.14 Mon]

I got to go see the Broadway production of Spamalot when it was at the Lied Center a few years ago. This is the soundtrack to that production which is based on the film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which is a parody of the legend of King Arthur. It's Monty Python, so you'd expect it to be funny, and it is. Even if you haven't seen the play, the lyrics will make you giggle. There is not a bad song on this album and even some of the titles are funny: 'I am not dead yet', 'The song that goes like this', and 'You won't succeed on Broadway'. If you like musicals or just want something humorous this CD is for you. I highly recommend it. You may also like Tom Lehrer's albums. These aren't from musicals but they are funny little songs. And now for something completely different, Michael Palin's travel DVDs - which I also highly recommend. -- recommended by Kristen A. - Gere Branch Library [ see Kristen's Reviewer Profile and more of her reviews ]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer: His lyrics, His Music, His So-Called Voice, and His Piano, An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer, Michael Palin's travel DVDs.]

[Also available in Sheet Music formats.]

[ official Monty Python and the Holy Grail Web site ] | [ official IMDb page for the movie Web site ] | [ official Monty Python's Flying Circus Web site ] | [ official Spamalot Web site ]

Have you listened to this? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!