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• Price: $14.99
• Rating: 17+ Only
  
• Pages: 137
• On Sale: March 7, 2018
• Writer: Cullen Bunn
  
• Artist: Mirko Colak
  
• Colorist: Maria Santaolalla
• Publisher: Aftershock Comics

From the Publisher – 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?

Our We Talk Comics WeView – There are many different takes on the Arthurian legend, and now it’s time for Cullen Bunn to provide his. In the introduction he tells of how his concept for this book came abut over 25 years ago, and how now Aftershock has given him the outlet to finally tell the story. This is a collection of the first 5 issues of Unholy Grail, subtitled “Siege Perilous”.

I think that what most people remember of the Arthurian legend comes from what they have seen in movies or read in other stories. Cullen’s take on it fits nicely in with all of the other “King Arthur soup” that so many of us have in our heads; and even though it brings new elements to the story there’s still enough familiarity.

Cullen is a veteran writer and you can tell immediately that he is at ease with the story. The words are often stylish, featuring interesting turns of phrase that add a little extra “oomph” to the writing. The story is broken into multiple chapters in each issue which helps you keep track of the many arcs that are going on at the same time. The characters in this story are well told and he doesn’t rely on what you know (or at least what you think you know) about the characters, he writes them with depth and emotion.

One of the big stars of this book is the art by Mirko Colak. Unholy Grail is often a visceral story featuring lots of violence and bloodletting; his art navigates this with grace and provides a wealth of detail for those interested in getting a real close-up view of the action. His full-page spreads are often spectacular and he manages to fill the frame in such a way that it never draws your eyes from what he wants you to be looking at. Still Colak gives you a greater sense of everything, especially of the kingdom of Camelot. The coloring by Maria Santaolalla is attractive and some of the color choices are very inventive, especially when it comes to scenes underwater and the various battle scenes.

The only real knock I have on this collection comes during issue 5. It just feels like there is perhaps too much of a gap in time between chapters in that issue, and that the story could even have supported one more comic to help flesh out the tale a little better.

Overall, I found Unholy Grail to be action packed and interesting. I never had an issue with the story not keeping my attention and I was always excited to get to the next issue. Given how good this story looks and that it comes from such excellent subject matter, it feels like something that I would come back and read again many times. I would definitely recommend this for fans of King Arthur, Merlin and Camelot as it is a fun addition to the legend.

Rating – Very Fine+ (VF+) or 8.5/10

Review by Brett

Love the review? Hate the review? Disagree with me? I’m happy to talk comics on twitter @Brett_WeTalk

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