Boom! Studios kindly let me see a copy of volume one of Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora’s Once & Future ahead of its release, and it’s absolutely brilliant.

Duncan McGuire is a well-meaning innocent: he works in academia, he plays rugby in his spare time, he’s bad at dating and he loves his grandmother. His grandmother, Bridgette, is anything but innocent. She’s a retired monster hunter steeped in the myths of Britain who’s just found out that the (a?) fabled Arthur is being brought back to reunite the land, and reckons it’ll be over her dead body. And possibly Duncan’s. Cue an inter-dimensional, two-fisted romp through the legend.

If you’re coming to it as a Wicked and Divine fan, like me, it’s a very different animal: pacier, less arch. It’s more in the arena of Gillen’s other current project, Die, but doesn’t chase that kind of darkness. Yet. This is fun, and funny, but also sincere and less critical of the mythic than either Die or W&D, while still being all about the slipperiness of stories and belief. As an opening story, some of Vol 1 is a bit slight, the plot fairly screaming along and some characters are just sketched in so far. But fleshing out these characters will hopefully give it longevity. Because I’d like to see it last. Definitely recommended.