Scan barcode
theswordandthesea's review against another edition
4.0
I’m a sucker for Arthurian adaptations and found this to be pure fun!
Great representation all around. Fun, campy good times. The best I can describe it is Arthurian legend meets Buffy meets Paper Girls. The art feels like a pulp-y throwback and while the story/pacing isn’t perfect, I think given more time it would’ve found its footing. But unfortunately this looks to be the only volume.
Couple details I particularly loved: magical weapons as tattoos! Merlin’s confusion about what human fashion is appropriate feels like a nod to the end of the Disney’s Sword in the Stone, which I love forever. Glad I read this.
Great representation all around. Fun, campy good times. The best I can describe it is Arthurian legend meets Buffy meets Paper Girls. The art feels like a pulp-y throwback and while the story/pacing isn’t perfect, I think given more time it would’ve found its footing. But unfortunately this looks to be the only volume.
Couple details I particularly loved: magical weapons as tattoos! Merlin’s confusion about what human fashion is appropriate feels like a nod to the end of the Disney’s Sword in the Stone, which I love forever. Glad I read this.
unladylike's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 stars
The only reason I'm giving this book any stars is I somewhat like the premise, and I appreciate the representation of asexuality, queerness, and polyamory among teenagers. Sadly, the creators are really bad at writing dialogue and pacing their plot details. There's no believable character development, the characters' voices are annoying and cliche 90% of the time, and really, the whole thing is just not worth reading. It's like they had a checklist of identities and relationship dynamics they wanted to include in a comic book, and just built a flimsy, rushed action story around it.
I read this for one of my women's comic book clubs and, based on our discussion after it had been suggested, it seems no one that read any of it liked it.
The only reason I'm giving this book any stars is I somewhat like the premise, and I appreciate the representation of asexuality, queerness, and polyamory among teenagers. Sadly, the creators are really bad at writing dialogue and pacing their plot details. There's no believable character development, the characters' voices are annoying and cliche 90% of the time, and really, the whole thing is just not worth reading. It's like they had a checklist of identities and relationship dynamics they wanted to include in a comic book, and just built a flimsy, rushed action story around it.
I read this for one of my women's comic book clubs and, based on our discussion after it had been suggested, it seems no one that read any of it liked it.
almostlikequake's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
onespaceymother's review against another edition
3.0
This had all the makings of some thing I would love, but it didn’t quite hit for me. A gender bent Arthur and Merlin story with a relatively retro color palette, fae, and Morgana - but I didn’t find myself caring much about the characters or feeling like they had developed much of a relationship.
annagoldberg's review against another edition
4.0
First of all, can we have a moment for the gorgeous artwork of this book? It reimagines the Arthurian legend in modern day Portland, but with a vaguely 80’s aesthetic and lots of PNW inside jokes. Arthur is chess prodigy Rani Arturus, Excalibur is a tattoo that transforms into a sword, and Merlin is a space wizard.
The comic also has bisexual/pansexual rep, a canon asexual character (!!!) and a polyamorous relationship (personally, the way I thought Arthur/Gwen/lance always should have been).
My only complaint was that the story felt a little rushed/inconsistent at times, and there were too many cross-cuts towards the end.
Will be reading volume two for sure.
The comic also has bisexual/pansexual rep, a canon asexual character (!!!) and a polyamorous relationship (personally, the way I thought Arthur/Gwen/lance always should have been).
My only complaint was that the story felt a little rushed/inconsistent at times, and there were too many cross-cuts towards the end.
Will be reading volume two for sure.
cgwinters1981's review against another edition
3.0
I have always enjoyed Arthurian stories, so I saw this was available on Edelweiss and decided to try for it. I got approved for it, but never got around to reading it. Finally, I decided I should probably do that and get it off my Edelweiss shelf. I can’t say that this was a favorite read by any means. The story and how Rani gets the magical Excalibur felt a bit (umm, how to say this without being too spoiler, but at the same time letting you know how WTF it was for me) anti-climatic (did that work?). While I was not expecting like glittery sparkles for the moment, it was seriously like “okay, she has it now.” I seriously wondered if the writer knew from the get-go that he was only going to get 5 issues, so he had to force things through or what the heck went on in his mind to make it seem like anyone could have rolled up on the sword and taken it. It made me very sad, overall.
The part of the collection that I did enjoy was the fact that this really explores modern day sexualities, but it does not do it successfully to me. See the cover? Poly is all I am going to say, so I don’t give away everything but the kitchen sink. There is even some asexual representation in this, but it all feels so rather forced. Congrats for being diverse, but can it feel more natural? Probably for a different writer or a bit more editing on this writer’s part. It felt like it jumped so much between the two side characters romancing the main character that at times I felt that the main storyline suffered from this. I understand that a single issue of the comic series has limited space and that this particular style means that certain tropes and formatting has to be followed, so I think overall I probably would have enjoyed this more as a well-thought out graphic novel with multiple volumes instead of as this collected 5 issue set.
I will say I loved that this was not an immediate “Morgan Le Faye” is the bad guy story. Morgan appears, but who she is and how she fits into the real world I loved! Seriously! As a book blogger there was no way not to love it. Want to know why the love? Read the darn thing. Find out if you like the things that I disliked about it. Maybe it will give it another volume that can help flesh it out better than this one does. Some of the sketches seem to allude that there was some elements that they wanted to do in subsequent volumes, so maybe if someone throws some money at them they can produce those issues.
I feel that this is one that most people could avoid and just be fine with it. People who like Arthurian stories will at least enjoy those subtle nods that it gives to it. I try to not be overly negative in my reviews, so this is probably the most negative review I will ever give on here. The reality is that this just wasn’t done well for me, as a reader. I saw a lot of cracks in the veneer and simple ways to fix those issues. As a reader though, I recognize my own biases and recognize that sometimes I am just not going to enjoy what I read. This was one of those reads. Someone else may have a completely different experience with it. Good luck to those that take it on.
The part of the collection that I did enjoy was the fact that this really explores modern day sexualities, but it does not do it successfully to me. See the cover? Poly is all I am going to say, so I don’t give away everything but the kitchen sink. There is even some asexual representation in this, but it all feels so rather forced. Congrats for being diverse, but can it feel more natural? Probably for a different writer or a bit more editing on this writer’s part. It felt like it jumped so much between the two side characters romancing the main character that at times I felt that the main storyline suffered from this. I understand that a single issue of the comic series has limited space and that this particular style means that certain tropes and formatting has to be followed, so I think overall I probably would have enjoyed this more as a well-thought out graphic novel with multiple volumes instead of as this collected 5 issue set.
I will say I loved that this was not an immediate “Morgan Le Faye” is the bad guy story. Morgan appears, but who she is and how she fits into the real world I loved! Seriously! As a book blogger there was no way not to love it. Want to know why the love? Read the darn thing. Find out if you like the things that I disliked about it. Maybe it will give it another volume that can help flesh it out better than this one does. Some of the sketches seem to allude that there was some elements that they wanted to do in subsequent volumes, so maybe if someone throws some money at them they can produce those issues.
I feel that this is one that most people could avoid and just be fine with it. People who like Arthurian stories will at least enjoy those subtle nods that it gives to it. I try to not be overly negative in my reviews, so this is probably the most negative review I will ever give on here. The reality is that this just wasn’t done well for me, as a reader. I saw a lot of cracks in the veneer and simple ways to fix those issues. As a reader though, I recognize my own biases and recognize that sometimes I am just not going to enjoy what I read. This was one of those reads. Someone else may have a completely different experience with it. Good luck to those that take it on.
pbeeandj's review against another edition
3.0
Diversity is it's strong point. A bisexual brown girl is the fabled Queen Arthur and she's in a polyamorous relationship with her knights, Gwen and Lance. Lance is also asexual. I had a few problems following the spreads on occasion, and the pacing is really odd, but future volumes might pay off and make this a good series.
vee615's review against another edition
1.0
This was not a good comic. It was a modern retelling of King Arthur and it just got lost. Rani, the main character is a bisexual, biracial main character who enters a pollyamorous relationship with a white lesbian and an asexual african american man. I get adding diversity to stories and fully support it, but this was just too much and it all happened in the first 50 pages. It just wasn't believable and in the end I felt it took away from the story.
heresthepencil's review against another edition
3.0
I received a galley from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 ☆
I'm always weak for the Arthurian myth & here not only do we get that, but our protagonist is a girl! Queen Rani Arturus is biracial American, too (British-Indian) and sapphic. It doesn't really get much better than that, right? Not for me, at least; that was definitely enough to make me want to read this comic book.
The story starts with Rani & her parents flying to UK for a chess competition which Rani unfortunately fails. But she finds Excalibur instead so I guess it's not a completely wasted trip. From the very first page, the tale is very fast-paced. Especially in the first two issues, we're fed so! much! information! It's like the authors want us to know everything all at once - granted, it happens like that for the characters, too. That's not necessarily a bad thing but what it means in this particular case, is that there isn't a single arc that gets properly fleshed out. Idea gets introduced after an idea and before we get used to one, we already have to deal with three more. It gets really confusing at times & kinda makes the reader tired. Plus, it also makes it way harder to actually care about the characters...
Basically what we get from The Once and Future Queen is a story packed with Great Ideas. I mean, the modern setting alone already makes things interesting & then on top of that, the ruler being a teenage girl is enough to make a cool retelling all on its own! But there are so many ideas. So many. There are just not enough pages in the book to give justice to all of them and I really wish it could slow down a bit, let us appreciate the things we were given. As it stands, we're just kind of left with this feeling of wasted potential.
2.5 ☆
I'm always weak for the Arthurian myth & here not only do we get that, but our protagonist is a girl! Queen Rani Arturus is biracial American, too (British-Indian) and sapphic. It doesn't really get much better than that, right? Not for me, at least; that was definitely enough to make me want to read this comic book.
The story starts with Rani & her parents flying to UK for a chess competition which Rani unfortunately fails. But she finds Excalibur instead so I guess it's not a completely wasted trip. From the very first page, the tale is very fast-paced. Especially in the first two issues, we're fed so! much! information! It's like the authors want us to know everything all at once - granted, it happens like that for the characters, too. That's not necessarily a bad thing but what it means in this particular case, is that there isn't a single arc that gets properly fleshed out. Idea gets introduced after an idea and before we get used to one, we already have to deal with three more. It gets really confusing at times & kinda makes the reader tired. Plus, it also makes it way harder to actually care about the characters...
Basically what we get from The Once and Future Queen is a story packed with Great Ideas. I mean, the modern setting alone already makes things interesting & then on top of that, the ruler being a teenage girl is enough to make a cool retelling all on its own! But there are so many ideas. So many. There are just not enough pages in the book to give justice to all of them and I really wish it could slow down a bit, let us appreciate the things we were given. As it stands, we're just kind of left with this feeling of wasted potential.
theybedax's review against another edition
5.0
Reasons to love this book:
Honest queer characters!
Bisexual character(s?)
Ace character
Polyamorous characters!
WOC
Strong female characters (emotionally, physically, mentally)
This was a phenomenal story that made me laugh, and gasp in excitement. This was a GN that wasn't afraid to play with gender roles, stories that people love, and normative ideas on relationships. I loved the color palette changes between our world and the world of fae. I also appreciated the fact that our main character is a great strategist and that's the role they're playing out. Now to see if they can save humanity!
Honest queer characters!
Bisexual character(s?)
Ace character
Polyamorous characters!
WOC
Strong female characters (emotionally, physically, mentally)
This was a phenomenal story that made me laugh, and gasp in excitement. This was a GN that wasn't afraid to play with gender roles, stories that people love, and normative ideas on relationships. I loved the color palette changes between our world and the world of fae. I also appreciated the fact that our main character is a great strategist and that's the role they're playing out. Now to see if they can save humanity!