Fans waiting on the mid-season premiere of ABC's Once Upon A Time now have something to keep them busy: a new graphic novel titled Once Upon A Time: Out of the Past.
Marvel and ABC teamed up for the 112-page graphic novel, the second based on the popular fantasy television series.
Fans of Captain Hook will definitely want to grab this one as it tells the story of Hook before he was Hook, back when he was just a dashing young Killian Jones on the Jolly Roger. In the novel, Killian must face the monster that lurks beneath the surface of the Leviathan Shoals.
For those mourning what could be the end of the Belle and Rumpelstiltskin romance on the TV series, go back to "happier" times when Belle was just a servant in Rumpel's castle, back when the first sparks of love began floating around their hearts.
Of course, on the series, there's no guarantee that this romance is, in fact, over, especially considering new promotional images from the series show the reuniting of the red rose (signifying Beauty) and the Dark One's dagger (signifying Rumpelstiltskin). But it's nice that the graphic novel explores how they fell for each other in the first place.
Out Of The Past also takes us to a previously untold story about the Evil Queen, Regina, as well as gives us insight into the mad mind of Jefferson, aka the Mad Hatter.
As we haven't seen Jefferson on the series since before the spin-off series Once Upon A Time: Wonderland, could this entry into the graphic novel signal a return to the series? We can only hope.
Once Upon A Time: Out of the Past is written by series writer Kalinda Vazquez, as well as Corinna Bechko, who wrote Once Upon A Time: Shadow of the Queen, the first graphic novel spun off from the television series. Artists involved with the project include Janet Lee, Pascal Campion, Vanesa Del Ray and Betsey Peterschmidt with cover art by Stacey Lee.
The graphic novel arrives in stores on April 1, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon. Its story should serve as a nice segue into the long wait we have until the series returns on March 1, which will feature three new villainesses: 101 Dalmations' Cruella De Vil, The Little Mermaid's Ursula and Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent.
We're also sure to see more of Regina's search for the story book's writer, as well as the fall-out from her separation from Robin Hood.
