Welcome to an all new edition of Parlay Points, the complementary blog to the ODPH Podcast. For this edition, we’re talking Once & Future #22 by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain & Ed Dukeshire (BOOM! Studios). This book has been a wild ride with a fresh take on the King Arthur mythology mixed with great humor & action. Let’s not wait any longer & dive into this book, shall we?

Once & Future #22 - On Sale December 1st (Credit: Boom Studios)
Creative: Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain & Ed Dukeshire

*** POTENTIAL SPOILER WARNING ***

The issue kicks off with our heroes running from a knight & his GIANT Lion. What an epic action sequence to start! Right until the daring escape, the creative team wastes no panels on delivering some high octane action. The book then shifts to the Grail Castle where an ACTUAL GIANT is on the hunt!

Our trio of heroes (Bridgette, Duncan and Rose) make their way underground to the room of the world’s most famous hunter. It’s a great surprise so not spoiling it here. We also get a quick trip between the battling Artur sides before coming to a screeching halt on the final page!

There is LOTS to enjoy with this issue. Gillien’s storytelling is strong throughout this issue. From an exciting opening sequence of events to the subtle quiet moments in the hunter’s office, this issue has a lot to build off for the readers. Even when the story takes some detours, it never feels like a pause from the overall story. There’s some many characters in this world that balancing isn’t easy. Gillen pulls this off extremely well & makes for a strong book.

The art….WOW.! Mora delivers on some amazing visuals in this book. The fantasy world pops right off the pages in this issue. Giant Lions? Check. Actual GIANTS? Check. There are so many incredible visuals in these pages that readers will have to do a few reads to see everything they might have missed (and that’s not a bad thing). It’s a perfect match for what the story needs to connect with.

Overall, Once And Future continues on its’ epic story with another epic issue. Gillen & Mora present solid storytelling mixed with imaginative panels that bring this fantasy world to live like no other. Make a point to check this book out when you hit the LCS this week.

Let me know on Twitter what you think of Once And Future #22 . As always, thanks for reading.