Comic Book Review: Misfits of Avalon: The Ill-Made Guardian by Kel McDonald
So it turns out that King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, was a loan from the fairies of Avalon. They’re not exactly thrilled with how the whole Camelot thing ended up, and they never got their sword back. In the present day, Cu (“Hound”) has been tasked with retrieving Excalibur from King Arthur, and has pressed four teenage girls into assisting him.
Cu has given the girls magical rings that change their outfits and allow them to use special powers, ala magical girls, and had them fight monsters. A few problems have cropped up. First off, the young women do not get on with each other. They appear not to have been friends in the first place, and prolonged exposure isn’t helping much. Second, Cu is not telling his pawns everything. It’s not yet clear how much is him hiding things, how much he’s bound by geas not to reveal, and how much Cu genuinely does not know.
This is the second volume of the Misfits of Avalon series, a modern fantasy graphic novel that blends Celtic lore and the Arthurian mythos. Since I have not read the previous material, I don’t know if certain questions have already been addressed.
As mentioned, we have four main protagonists. Morgan is having odd dreams related to the mysterious ash tree that popped up in the park, and is beginning to have feelings for Elsie’s brother Billy. Her father is an alcoholic and her home life is not good.
Elsie comes from a large family (nine kids!) that squabbles a lot but seems to love each other anyway. Her and Billy’s father passed away a bit ago. Elsie is most assuredly into boys, and finds Cu’s human form (not the dog one) attractive. She’s the member of the team that puts the most effort into trying to be friendly.
Kimber’s father went to prison for being a swindler. She’s not fond of him, but seems to have learned his habits of lying, manipulating and sneaking. She’s the most suspicious of Cu.
Rae is African-American, and her father is a well-off prosecutor–they live in a gated community. She’s younger than the others, being in middle school, and is the most into Arthuriana. But she’s also aware that the stories are mostly made up, so the source material is unreliable. Rae is insecure and feels that the others don’t respect her.
The team’s attempts at tracking down Excalibur go poorly, with many distractions. Kimber makes a move that may backfire on the whole team, and Morgan discovers something important about the enemy.
The art is okay, and after some initial confusion I was able to follow who was who. I like the use of Gaelic for magic.
I didn’t really get into the characters due to the frequent bickering; they’re quite unpleasant to each other and to the people around them.
Content note: use of gendered slurs.
Overall: Some good ideas, but the characters are unappealing. I am not, however, the target audience and teenage girls may find this series more to their tastes.
