Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“Hey asshole… watch where ya swing yer magical dick!”
Well that’s no away to address King Arthur or his legendary sword, but ‘Medieval’ protagonist Danny Landau is from the 21st century, with no interest in etiquette!
Issue #3 of the time-travel comic book series by Neil Kleid focuses on Danny’s beef with King Arthur, since it seems like his girlfriend Gina is now the royal consort. Danny simply wants to fight it out for the love of his life and get them back to their future timeline in New York. And the king might just decide to behead both of them, but since it’s only the third chapter, we know that’s not going to happen.
None of this really comes as a shock, considering Issue #2 of Medieval laid the groundwork already. The only mildly intriguing twist is that Gina doesn’t seem like she wants to leave. She doesn’t say anything on those lines, but her facial expressions in some panels just indicate that sentiment. And can you blame her? Why rush back to a future where she’s dating a plumber in New York when Camelot offers a crown, a castle, and a seat beside King Arthur?
Following a handful of comedic scuffles and verbal sparring, King Arthur chooses to resolve Danny’s arrogance the medieval way… by throwing him into a jousting tournament against trained knights. Danny accepts to participate in a public tournament, choosing his baseball bat as weapon, instead of a lance. If he loses, he may not survive, but if he wins, the royal magician must send him and Gina back to their future timeline.
Plot-wise, this issue was a bit flat, even though the vibrant artwork delivers some great theatrical panels of Danny beating up people and then jousting with knights. At this point, I am mostly enjoying Medieval due to Danny’s relentless stream of profanity and the book’s colorful, expressive artwork. Watching a baseball fanatic from the modern-day Bronx screaming obscenities at utterly confused medieval men remains a funny trope in the book. And I say ‘watching’ instead of ‘reading’, because that’s how dynamic the artwork is.
Rating: 3 on 5. ‘Medieval’ is also on Kindle Unlimited.
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