The horror of Camelot.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Mirko Colak
Colors: Mirko Colak
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
Arthur Pendragon was the king of all Britain. His story is legendary. Merlin. The Lady of the Lake. Excalibur. Camelot. The Knights of the Round Table. But these stories are bright lies painted over the truth. Here is presented the gospel of Arthur’s bloody rise to power and his unholy reign. The legend of King Arthur is not the stuff of legends, but the fuel of nightmares. As Arthur descends into darkness, is there any lingering hope that he still might do something good?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Tales of King Arthur are many but few end up resonating in a big way at this period in time because there have been so many and doing something new is difficult due to that. Cullen Bunn has stepped up to the plate to tell the tale of the Unholy Grail and these characters and is working with Mirko Colak, someone who is bringing something really impressive to the page that makes almost every panel haunting to some degree. The new series is one that has a lot of potential but the opening issue is one that walks around what’s going on, as if peering into a barrel and seeing just glimpses of the reality and making sure we don’t know fully. It’s easy enough to guess aspects of it and that does make it engaging enough but it just felt like it needed a bit more.
Working across different periods of time, Unholy Grail tries to connect us with a lot of characters to see how all of this is coming together. The trigger for much of it is the impending death of Uther Pendragon at a time when a nameless but powerful demon has escaped hell and comes across Merlin on his way to oversee Uther’s death. Merlin is like most in this period that claim magical background in that he’s really a charlatan, which makes it easy for the demon to kill and take over his role. And, in turn, manipulate the dying Uther into naming his missing infant son Arthur as the next rightful ruler. That sets the stage for a battle and a period in which Merlin can find the baby, train him, and prepare for whatever it is that he intends to do. Well, beyond general carnage and manipulation. It’s a crafty but long term plan and one where we only get a bit of Arthur. But I do like the way the Lady of the Lake is integrated and all the swords material, something that Colak brings to life in a haunting way through the designs and color work.
We also get a decent bit of time dedicated to a period where Albion is in ruins, diseased almost, as Arthur had sent the Knights of the Roundtable out to seek the Grail. Percival has returned with it and the way this is presented is pretty damn haunting. The cause is hinted at but not outright said, which is fine but it felt like we needed a bit more to be able to latch onto. There’s some good darkness explored in this through what Percivale narrates early on and the results of his return at the end. But with these various time periods covered and the number of characters where there is no central to it, other than perhaps Demon-Merlin, it lacks that cohesive piece to really drive the narrative that you can connect with. This feels more like a zero issue that’s providing the setup and context for what’s to come and it’s done very well with that kind of view in mind.
In Summary:
Unholy Grail plays in a familiar realm of storytelling and sets up the potential for some very neat things to come in the issues ahead. But it is mostly setup and without a clear lead to latch onto, though it offers up several interesting characters that you want to dig more into. Cullen Bunn crafts it well and I like what it’s doing overall in going for something darker in the horror vein in this period which is getting some renewed attention this year but it’s Mirko Colak’s artwork and layouts that make this a must-read. It’s strong with its visual design, great with character artwork and how they move about, and the color work is just fantastic in breathing a particular look into it without being so far out in a weird direction that it becomes difficult. This is a series that may take a couple of issues to really connect with readers but I get the sense that it’ll be worth the time and investment.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: July 5th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
