Who's This? Arthurian legend as science-fiction.
The facts: One of DC's first direct market books, Camelot 3000 was a 12-issue maxi-series by Mike Barr and Brian Bolland. It imagines a world where King Arthur and his knights return in the year 3000. It was Bolland's first major work for an American publisher. Because the back end was late, the series lasted from 1982 to 1985. It's a complete story, so no follow-ups were ever discussed.
How you could have heard of it: The first issue was reprinted this year in DC Through the 80s: The Experiments, but the last full trade was in 2008. Television's Legends of Tomorrow had an episode called "Camelot/3000", which did feature Arthurian characters in the future, but there's no real link to the series otherwise. Principally, if you're a comics fan, you've heard of Camelot 3000 because of Bolland's gorgeous artwork.
Example story: Camelot 3000 #1 (December 1982) "The Past and Future King!" by Mike W. Barr, Brian Bolland and Bruce Patterson
Because it IS one story, I couldn't just pick a chapter at random. Discussing the first issue means the Knights of the Round Table aren't all gonna be there - it's mostly about Arthur's return - but it should still give us a feel for the series, which claims it's "continuing legends chronicled by Sir Thomas Malory".
Sir Malory would never have thought of aliens invading England in 3000 A.D., but that's exactly what's happening (will happen). Trying to escape London to join the Resistance in France, Thomas Prentice's flying car is destroyed near Glastonbury Tor and he runs to the historical site for shelter, aliens on his trail. He races through the tunnels under the hill, smack dab into the tomb of King Arthur. What a time for his archaeology career to finally pick up. But is it archaeology if Arthur is still alive?
Hey, it says "Once AND FUTURE King" on the tin. Arthur isn't alive, but he's alert and in fighting shape. Those aliens never saw it coming.
Seems Arthur got a knock on the head by Modred's hands and it took the better part of 1500 years for it to heal. He offers Tom the job of squire and with his whole family dead, what else is he gonna do? They hijack an alien fighter ship and off they go to Stonehenge... to find Merlin!
Merlin built the stone circle and protected it all those centuries, preventing even modern machinery from bulldozing it to make room for MegaCity-One (the world is by this point overpopulated and strained for resources in the wake of a U.N. decision to stop all space exploration). Merlin tells Arthur he must unite bickering nations under his rule so they can face a common foe. But for that, he needs Excalibur. Lady of the Lake? Some help?
I guess it's Lady of Salisbury Down Nuclear Plant now. But before the sword can reach Arthur's hand, it disappears. Because what Arthur really needs is to make a big, public splash if he's to convince the super-future of his claim to leadership. Makes sense. And Earth needs it, because the most the U.N. has done is vote to "bitterly censure the invading aliens". Ha!
At certain points during the issue, we cut to other people fighting the aliens and quick glance at the Who's Who entry tells us these are destined to become the reincarnations of the Knights of the Round Table. Guinevere is a general in the armed forces, and Lancelot runs the Resistance from off-shore. Others, including Morgaine and Modred (what's THEIR role in this chivalric saga?) will be "activated" as the series continues. As you can see, the art's great (no surprise) and the concept is strong. I've never read Camelot 3000, but this certainly convinces me that it's worth it.
Who's Next? The Quantum Man.
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