A year or two I got back into comic books, and spent many a Saturday morning browsing garage sales and used book stores for anything that tickled my proverbial fancy. I bought a sealed grab bag of comics (gambling for collectors) and opened it up to find a few stray issues of Camelot 3000, a 1980s maxi-series written by Mike Barr and illustrated by Brian Bolland of The Killing Joke fame. The comic looked bananas, so in my weekly trips to the used book stores I found a hardcover compilation of Camelot 3000 and snagged it.
As the title hints, Camelot 3000 is the story of Arthur, Guinevere, and the knights of the round table showing up in the year 3000. Bug-like aliens have invaded England and the rest of the world. By fate, a frightened Englishman stumbles upon the tomb of Arthur and brings him back. King Arthur assembles a motley crew of modern day knights to fight off evil and save his people. In sum, it’s a fun mix of fantasy and science fiction.
The story is about thirty years old, and you can see and feel the age. The art screams 1980s (in a good way, to me) and the story mostly goes where you would expect it to. In drama, though, sometimes knowing that the inevitable is coming adds to the tension and dread.
Overall, Camelot 3000 is a fun ride and it includes some interesting social commentary that is still relevant today. For example, there is a transgender knight, a mutant knight, some government checks and balances issues, etc. If you’re a fan of the 1980s aesthetic, check this out.
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