Previously on Once & Future (#28)

Sep 5, 2022

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(NOTE: This is a refresher of Once & Future #28, along with an upcoming spoiler-free review of Once & Future #29 [coming Tuesday]. If you didn’t actually read Once & Future #29 yet, read that before checking out this week’s issue.)

BOOM’s hit series is almost at an end, so Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora have the intensity cranked up to 11. The series’ penultimate issue did not disappoint, but before getting into any of that, here’s a look back at the major developments from Once and Future #28:

Excalibur … no not that one

Mary’s plan for revenge is set in motion, and it requires her to enter the belly of the beast once again. Not only that, she’s also handed over Excalibur to our story’s original Arthur.

The one in the stone is still in its place, but he now has the one from the lake. With the battle raging on following the holiday, the original Arthur was able to strike down one of the other contending Arthur’s, giving readers one of the most graphic pieces of art they’ve seen from Mora in this series.

Yet, it wasn’t even the most gruesome image of Once & Future #28.

Green Knight comes knocking

Yep. The time has come for Gawain to pay the piper — Gawain being Rose, of course. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been wondering how Gillen and Mora were going to handle this matter as much as anything. Rose has grown into a supreme badass this series, and losing her seemed unfathomable.

Turns out, Gillen and Mora don’t care about any of that. Main characters get taken out in comics all the time, but this is definitely one of the more gruesome deaths we’ve seen one undergo in a while. My word.

Once & Future #29 Review

Suffice it to say, there’s a lot in this issue I did not see coming. Gillen and Mora continue to move things around rapidly, yet the story is still coming to its end smoothly. There are still a few things to be resolved in the series’ final issue, but I wouldn’t be stunned if readers look back on Once & Future #29 as the best of the series.

BOOM! Studios
Written by: Kieron Gillen
Art by: Dan Mora
Colors by: Tamra Bonvillain
Letters by: Ed Dukeshire

As much as I welcome Once & Future having a finite ending, there’s so much more Gillen and Mora could do with the developments from Once & Future #29. Major moves are made within the story — some of which weren’t revealed as options until the very last minute. And while Mora’s artwork has dominated the pages over the least few issues (even more so than before), Gillen’s command of the complicated web he’s woven has never been more evident.

Looking for more comic book content? Go check out the latest episode of Geeks WorldWide Radio‘s TLDR podcast. Joseph Gilmore and Nick Friar discuss comics weekly and talk to creators from the industry.

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