Aftershock Comics 2017
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Mirko Colak
Coloured by Maria Santaolalla
Lettered by Simon Bowland
The horrific legend of King Arthur continues to unfold. The demon known as Merlin leaves a trail of carnage and curses as he searches for the boy who would be king. Arthur wages war against those who would oppose his sovereignty. The haunted walls of Camelot are raised. And Arthur meets the woman who will become his dark queen.
So right now it feels like Cullen is laying a foundation for the story here. He’s actually managing to kind of give a history lesson of the events that unfolded so we can get from point A. to B. easily enough without having to spend too much time on it. Thankfully he’s such a master storyteller so he can do this as efficiently and interestingly as possible. I feel like we’re covering a lot of ground here and it’s only issue two so the pacing for this mighty impressive.
The whole concept here is one that shouldn’t surprise anyone as it’s largely been accepted that Merlin was born a hybrid, mother a human and his father not. In this rendition I like how he was introduced as a man of little real consequence and become something much more akin to the legendary figure he represents. Why shouldn’t he be seen as the controlling, manipulative demonspawn that he truly is? It certainly makes more sense this way to see the rise and fall of Camelot all of which happened at such a remarkable pace.
Mirko is an amazing artist. The attention to detail in the work we see here is superbly rendered. The use of page layouts through the angles and perspective are so well done. The utilisation of backgrounds here and how much they add to the story make this such a joy for me. Plus the faces, expressions and the overall tone, feel and emotions that we get from the characters here is splendid stuff. Maria’s colours here really do some spectacular things as well and make some scenes really pop, making you sit up and pay closer attention.
The characterisation here is top notch stuff. From those so called followers of Arthur that we see building his castle to Arthur’s own moral compass which is overshadowed by Merlin we get such a complete picture of how the people think. I mean it’s nice to see that at his core Arthur was a good, decent man regardless of what Merlin taught him and had done in his name. Plus the way this issue ends is the beginning of what we have come to understand as the fall of Arthur. Three guesses and you won’t need two of them to know of whom I refer.
There’s a great thing happening here because the legend of King Arthur and Camelot has been told, revisited, revised and re-interpreted more than almost anything else we’ve ever seen, except for maybe the bible. So to see what Cullen is doing relying upon all the legends and kind of focusing on the dark side of them brings this an originality that we’ve not seen before. I’m amazed and mesmerized by what they are doing here and I look forward to seeing what happens next.
Make room because the Unholy Grail is the alternate version of King Arthur you’ve been waiting for.