Line #47 ComicBook/Camelot3000


1	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/C3K_328_6938.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:325:[[HesBack ''Rexque futurus''...literally.]]]]
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4	''Camelot 3000'' is an American twelve-issue comic book series written by Mike W. Barr and penciled by Brian Bolland. It was published by Creator/DCComics from 1982 to 1985 as one of its first direct market projects, and as its first maxi-series.
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6	The plot of the series follows the adventures of Myth/KingArthur, Myth/{{Merlin}} and the reincarnated Knights of the Round Table as they reemerge in an overpopulated future world of 3000 A.D. to fight off an alien invasion masterminded by Arthur's old nemesis, Morgan Le Fay. Arthur is awakened accidentally from his resting place beneath Glastonbury Tor by a young archeology student, Tom Prentice.
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8	Notably, because of its position as a maxi-series, ''Camelot 3000'' was able to circumvent the Comics Code and feature more adult content than previously allowed in a comic and included then controversial themes on gender identity and sexuality via the reinterpretation of Sir Tristan as a trans character.
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10	Despite its standing in comic book history, the series is not terribly well known, but highly recommended.
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12	!!Tropes:
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14	* TheEighties: Despite being set in the year 3000, this series wallows in the fashion and culture of the 1980s.
15	* EightiesHair: Tristan, in both incarnations.
16	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: [[spoiler: Excalibur. It's so sharp you can split ''atoms'' with it. Note that in an earlier scene, Arthur uses its edge to ''coherently split a laser in half''. Not just atoms, streams of photons, boys and girls!]]
17	* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: Tom interrupts a wedding to awaken the memories of the reborn Sir Tristan. He assumes, and insists, that the knight is the burly and belligerent groom, but it turns out [[spoiler: the sweet ''bride'' is the real Tristan (who stops being feminine right away after being awakened).]]
18	** The alien HiveQueen assumes that ''Commander Acton'' is the one in charge, not Arthur, because females are dominant in the aliens' society. Not wanting to sidetrack the negotiations, the humans don't correct her assumptions and Guinevere speaks for them.
19	* AmericansAreCowboys: The American president dresses like a cowboy and packs a pair of six-shooters.
20	* AndTheAdventureContinues
21	* ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics: [[spoiler: splitting a single atom of carbon/iron/whatever, even with Excalibur, is probably ''not'' going to cause a chain reaction leading to a thermonuclear explosion.]]
22	* BeePeople: The aliens have a mother-queen, although they're not insect-like anatomically.
23	* {{BFS}}: Excalibur. Even after technology has evolved to laser blades, it's still the most powerful sword in the story.
24	* BluffingTheMurderer: Merlin has been betrayed by one of the reincarnated Round Table knights. King Arthur orders the suspects to hold Excalibur and attest to their innocence, claiming his sword will magically strike down anyone who lies while holding it. The guilty party panics and confesses, after which Arthur admits that Excalibur has no such power.
25	* BookEnds: The series ends with a vaguely amoeboid creature drawing Excalibur from the stone where Arthur left it, while two similar creatures look on in awe.
26	* {{Butterface}}: Ninive is a hot woman clad in a semi-transparent gown and a porcelain mask. What's behind that mask isn't very pretty.
27	* CrapsackWorld: On top of the of the ongoing alien invasion, the world's governments are extremely corrupt and oppressive, turning criminals into [[SuperSoldier Neo-Men]] to repress their restless population. They are also completely ineffective in dealing with the alien invasion, who are capable of destroying London, Japan and countless other places, and when Arthur reemerges to become a HopeBringer, the world's leaders conspire to have him killed, because they see him as a threat.
28	* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: Downplayed. The aliens do manage to occupy London and defeat the forces of Earth, but they are usually ineffective at defeating the Knights, and the most damage they do is because of their Earthly allies.
29	* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: The Lady of the Lake.
30	* EvilSorcerer: Morgan le Fay
31	* {{Excalibur}}: Arthur must retrieve his fabled sword from the Lady of the Lake. The lake, however, is now the cooling pond for a nuclear powers station.
32	* FailedFutureForecast: One of the leaders of the four biggest power blocks in the world is the Premier of the Soviet Union, which apparently still exists in the year 3000.
33	* FirstLawOfGenderbending: [[spoiler:Tristan never does figure out a way to become a man again, and eventually comes to terms with being a woman and still loving Isolde]].
34	* FutureSocietyPresentValues: Despite taking place in the year 3000 - a ''millennium'' from the time this comic was written - the Soviet Union and South Africa's Apartheid are still in effect, despite both being dismantled by modern times. It also has Sir Tristan's angsting about being reincarnated as a woman, even though her reborn lover Isolde seems quite content to contemplate a lesbian relationship, and sex reassignment surgery is bound to be as routine as a tummy-tuck by that era if Tristan is really not happy.
35	* GenghisGambit: The newly resurrected knights are not dealing well with each other, so Kay, who was always the least liked of the knights, chooses to remain in the role by acting like an asshole towards the other knights. Thus he gives the other knights someone common to look down on and get along with each other.
36	* HeroicSacrifice -- several.
37	* HiveCasteSystem: The alien invaders.
38	* ImplausibleFencingPowers:
39	* IncompatibleOrientation: Tom never had a chance... [[spoiler:But he did seem to come very close.]]
40	* Myth/KingArthur
41	* KingInTheMountain
42	* LaserGuidedKarma: Sir Tristan's reincarnation as a woman which may be seen as [[spoiler:punishment for the rape he committed as a male]].
43	* MultinationalTeam: due to being reincarnated into bodies across the planet, the Knights of the Round Table are essentially this: Tom, King Arthur, and (presumably) Merlin are English, Lancelot is French, Guinevere and Kay are American, Percival is Australian, Galahad is Japanese, Gawain is South African, and Tristan is Canadian.
44	* MythologyGag: [[MeaningfulName Tom Prentice]] essentially functions as a squire to King Arthur, most likely in reference to how ''Thomas'' Malory is a lowly squire in ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing''.
45	** Tom is even seen reading ''[[Literature/LeMorteDArthur Le Morte D'Arthur]]'' in the last issue.
46	* NiceJobBreakingItHerod: The reincarnation of Mordred experiences a flashback in which King Arthur attempts to drown him as an infant, apparently having learned that his bastard child will one day destroy Camelot. This naturally pisses off his new incarnation enough to instantly turn him from a CorruptCorporateExecutive-type to the BigBad's new [[TheDragon Dragon]]. [[spoiler:Possibly a subversion, as the flashback is induced by Morgan le Fay, who has her own reasons to manipulate him and might've faked the vision to inflame his hatred.]]
47	* NoInfantileAmnesia: Morgan le Fay causes Mordred's reincarnation to remember his previous incarnation's having almost been drowned by King Arthur as an infant.
48	* RaceLift: In-Verse examples: Gawain's reincarnation is African, and Galahad's is Japanese.
49	* RecycledInSpace: It's essentially a sequel/retelling of the ''[[Literature/LeMorteDarthur Le Morte D'Arthur]]'' IN THE FUTURE, IN SPACE! So much so, that key events of Myth/ArthurianLegend all repeat (the Guinevere/Lancelot affair, the sword in the stone, the Holy Grail,[[spoiler: Arthur's death]] etc.)
50	** But it's mostly justified as the original does foretell that King Arthur would return when Britain would need him most.
51	* RedemptionEqualsDeath [[spoiler:Kay, Galahad, and Arthur himself. Galahad is a double subversion, as his "sins" were very minor, but the trope still applied in his head.]]
52	* RedRightHand: Morgan finds that [[{{Squick}} Power Gives You Seriously Nasty Pustules.]]
53	* ReincarnatedAsTheOppositeSex: The chauvinistic Sir Tristan is reincarnated as a woman. This subplot, and Lady Tristan's relationship with the still-female reincarnation of Isolde, drew a lot of attention at the time.
54	* RightHandAttackDog: Morgan's pet ape-thing is able to kill people for her. [[spoiler: Also WasOnceAMan.]]
55	* RockBeatsLaser: The Excalibur is still too powerful as a weapon, even for modern tech.
56	* SealedGoodInACan: ''Camelot 3000'' is all about the Sealed Good of King Arthur being revived from a millennia-long hibernation to battle alien invaders. He also has to free Merlin from being sealed. [[spoiler:Twice.]]
57	* SecondComing: Fulfilling an ancient prophecy that he would return when England needs him most.
58	* ShoutOut: ''Camelot 3000'' isn't part of Franchise/TheDCU. However, the 2011 comic ''DC Universe: Legacies'' #7 featured a TimeTravel trip to the DCU's version of Camelot in the Middle Ages, and Arthur, Merlin, and Morgaine's appearances were based on how they looked in ''Camelot 3000''. The issue's artist was Brian Bolland.
59	* ShowSomeLeg: King Arthur has Sir Tristan, who'd been reincarnated as female, pull this stunt on some enemy guards. As Arthur knew Tristan hated being stuck in a woman's body, this was as much a loyalty-test for Tristan as a means of neutralizing the guards.
60	** Morgan also does this to murder the African leader by infecting him with the sickness of her back. [[spoiler:It succeeds, and isn't pretty.]]
61	* SignificantHaircut: Tristan cuts his hair short to indicate that he is not Amber any more.
62	* SingleTargetSexuality: Isolde is Tristan-sexual and vice versa.
63	* SkewedPriorities: Neo-Men are stronger than the aliens, yet they are never used against them by the governments, who prefer to use them against dissenters. [[spoiler:That's until the Neo-Men join the Round Table and do fight the alien invaders.]]
64	* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler: Guinevere and Lancelot express the hope that this trope applies in their final scene when she is pregnant]].
65	* StarfishLanguage: The aliens speak gibberish.
66	* SuperSoldier: Dissidents and criminals are involuntarily converted to Neo-Men by oppressive governments: oversized, voiceless, unquestioning brutes used to suppress riots and political unrest. Sir Percival's reincarnation undergoes this transformation within moments of having his past life's recollections restored, but retains his own mind due to the memory-restoration magic's effects.
67	* SupportingProtagonist: Tom.
68	* TitleByYear: This is set in the year 3000.
69	* TheWorfBarrage: The President of America is actually skilled at using his revolvers and nearly foils an assassination attempt. [[spoiler:But Matthew, who commits the attempt personally, simply recovers because of the Holy Grail that makes his armor and kills him.]]
70	* WorkingForABodyUpgrade: Subverted. Morgan la Fay tempts Tristan to betray Merlin in exchange for being transformed from a female reincarnation to male. [[spoiler: Tristan never gets the chance because [[WellIntentionedExtremist Kay]] betrays Merlin first; in any case, s/he had been planning to kill Morgan as soon as the transformation-spell was applied.]]

Context ComicBook / Camelot3000