Comics Official S.W.O.R.D Discussion Thread

[Manic]

Zee interior art... IT BURNS!

 

[UraniaChang]

Beast's having a third mutation...

This is the ugliest version of Hank I've ever seen.

 

[Manic]

Fourth mutat-- oh, nevermind. I'm apparently the only who thinks the cat-look counts as a third mutation instead of a second.

 

[chamber-music]

What the hell happen to beast face!

 

[UraniaChang]

Fourth mutat-- oh, nevermind. I'm apparently the only who thinks the cat-look counts as a third mutation instead of a second.

You mean from ape-like to blue and furry to cat then to this...ugly long-nosed something?

Then it's forth.

One of Hank's mutant ability is becoming more less human and more animal-like, or it's Brand's influence.

 

[Specter313]

While the recent Skrull "Secret Invasion" of Earth terrified many residents of the Marvel Universe, they would be even more frightened if they knew that their planet was almost in constant danger from many of the Marvel U's space faring cultures and empires. It's the job of the Sentient World Observation and Response Department, or S.W.O.R.D., to stop those invasions and deal with any interstellar matters that might affect Earth. On November 11, writer Kieron Gillen and artist Steven Sanders will take readers inside the mysterious organization when Marvel Comics' new "S.W.O.R.D." series kicks off. CBR News spoke with Gillen about the book, which begins with a fast paced multi-part arc that unfolds over the course of 24 hours. "Roughly," stresses Gillen.

The central character of "S.W.O.R.D." is it's former sole leader and now co-commander Agent Abigail Brand. Creators Joss Whedon and John Cassaday introduced the half-human, half-alien Brand in issue #3 of "Astonishing X-Men." She was something of enigma then, and even though she played a central role in "Secret Invasion," Agent Brand is still a character shrouded in mystery.

"I love Brand. We actually haven't gotten her whole history yet, and we don't really know what makes her operate the way that she does. That's part of the core of the series. The more the book goes on, the more you'll get to know Agent Brand, and you'll find out why she's so angry," Gillen told CBR News. "Basically, at one point in her life something went wrong for Brand and she wants to make sure it never happens again. That core lesson showed her how the world works, and by operating a certain way she can stop the world from being like that. You might guess from what she does and her half alien heritage that what happened to her involves aliens and organizations. That's why it's incredibly hard for her to give up control of things. She doesn't trust people to not make mistakes. She's got a core lack of trust in people.

"We see that in how she deals with almost everyone she meets. On one level, that makes her incredibly monomaniacal," Gillen continued. "It also makes her quite lonely. Beneath her bravado there's a loneliness. That's why I think she and Beast are in an interesting relationship. Beast has no problem being open. His problem is almost the complete opposite of that."

Beast and Brand's romantic and professional relationship began in the pages of "Astonishing X-Men" when she both offered him a position as her adviser and sexually propositioned him. When "S.W.O.R.D." begins, the two have been a couple for a short while, and he's just accepted her offer to come work with her. "So, in addition to his duties with the X-Men, Beast will also be part of S.W.O.R.D. Part of that is because Beast looks for new challenges. He's one of the X-Men who have gone off and done a lot of different things," Gillen explained. "There's also a sense that S.W.O.R.D. is simpler than the X-Men at the moment. It's a little weird to think that Beast's life is so complicated right now that the idea of working for a secret interplanetary organization and dealing with thousands of aliens races on a daily basis is simple, but that's the case."

The romance between Beast and Brand will be a big part of "S.W.O.R.D." "When I and my editor Nick Lowe first talked about this book, we definitely saw the idea of an adventuring couple as being significant. For me the heart of this series is Beast and Brand's relationship," Gillen remarked. "They could, of course, split up sometime, but right now the way I'm writing this series is that it's about the two of them discovering each other. They're a fledgling couple and they don't really know each other yet. How much can they trust each other?

"That's a lot of the emotional juice of the series because Brand is prickly. It's far easier to get together with her than it is staying together with her. 'I need you,' are not words that easily fall off her tongue," Gillen continued. "I think there's plenty of soap opera and human elements in 'S.W.O.R.D.,' and they're present in a very natural way because fundamentally we're orbiting around a couple."

Another one of the major characters in "S.W.O.R.D." will be also be very familiar to X-Men fans. During the course of their "Astonishing X-Men" run, Joss Whedon and John Cassaday established that Kitty Pryde's pet dragon was far more intelligent than any of the X-Men ever realized. Lockheed was, in fact, a member of an advanced race of extraterrestrials and had been working with S.W.O.R.D. for some time. When the series, begins Lockheed is now a full-blown agent of S.W.O.R.D., but he's dealing with the effects of what happened to Kitty Pryde at the end of Whedon and Cassaday's run on "Astonishing." "The most important person in his life has been taken away. Kitty is trapped in this enormous bullet flying through space, and no one is going to get her back," Gillen stated. "I did a back up story in issue #1 with my collaborator from 'Phonogram,' artist Jamie McKelvie. It's Brand filling Lockheed in on what's happened and why they haven't gotten Kitty back yet. The story sets up why he's so furious.

"So he's fallen into an incredibly bad mood, and when you first meet him in issue #1, he's downing whiskey. The line I use with him, which is both tongue in cheek and completely serious, is that he's our Wolverine. He's an incredibly bad tempered creature who will do whatever it takes to get a job done. He's showy, snarky, and rude almost all the time," Gillen continued. "I don't play things completely straight though. It's also quite funny. There's something intrinsically interesting for the team's hard case to be a tiny, fluffy dragon who would sear your head off because he's in a really bad mood."

Another established Marvel character that will play a huge role in "S.W.O.R.D." is Henry Peter Gyrich. Gyrich first appeared in a 1978 issue of Avengers where his ill temper and rigid attitudes about national security made him the team's most unpopular government liaison. Since then, he's popped up in numerous Marvel comics throughout the years, usually in some sort of governmental - and not entirely ethical - role. His most recent appearances were in "Avengers: The Initiative," where he headed up the Shadow Initiative, the U.S. Government's superhuman black-ops team. When "S.W.O.R.D." begins, Gyrich has a new jobas co-commander of "S.W.O.R.D." He brings with him a number of ideas that could impact lots of lives in negative ways, yet Gillen doesn't see Gyrich as evil.

"Evil is a big word. Gyrich's not evil, but what he might be is overly simplistic and under-prepared. You can't say his heart is in the right place, either, because he's awkward and slightly vindictive. Really, though, his aims are the exact same as Brand's. He just wants to go about things in a way that cuts straight to the chase. He's brought into this organization he doesn't really know much about," Gillen remarked. "That's a running theme, that Gyrich doesn't really understand S.W.O.R.D. as well as Brand does, but he believes in 'big stick' solutions to problems. He lacks a certain empathy. He doesn't think about what happens to the aliens that his plans affect. All that matters is that the Earth is safe."

Another prominent character in "S.W.O.R.D" is Agent Brand's reptilian adviser, Sydren, who first appeared in "Astonishing X-Men" #10. "He's a telepath, and he's one of Brand’s supporters. And S.W.O.R.D. isn't the world's biggest organization, but it is pretty sizable. I haven't got enough space to show all of Brand's adjuncts and helpers, so Sydren kind of embodies almost everyone else at S.W.O.R.D.," Gillen said. "He's put upon, but he's also resilient and competent. Also, the way I'm writing Sydren, he's quite... sappy, might be the word. He worries about the other characters. In the first issue, he's reaching out to Lockheed, who is downing a bottle of Jack Daniels at the time. He's an alien, but in some ways he's one of the most human members of our cast."

Rounding out the cast of "S.W.O.R.D." is a character that Gillen created, an enigmatic robotic life form named Unit. "I describe him as a cross between C-3PO and Hannibal Lecter. He's a robot that has to be kept in isolation. He's very friendly and charming. He's interested in what you're up to, but if he had his way he'd probably skin you and wear you as a hat," Gillen explained. "He's quite dangerous to have around, but the fact that he knows so much stuff makes him useful. So they keep him locked in a cell.

"He's meant to be mysterious. How did he get into this situation? What's he up to? How come he knows all this stuff even though no one is allowed to talk to him?" Gillen continued. "Issue #3 will feature Unit's origin sequence as told by him, and we're setting up some antagonistic stuff with him down the line, because he's clearly not a good guy."

The first storyline of "S.W.O.R.D." is called "No Room to Breathe" and unfolds over the course of a single fast-paced and drama-filled day. "The big concept is that Gyrich decides to push for a plan that forces all of the aliens living on Earth to go home. You'd think Brand would be trying to stop this, but since she's a complete micro-manager, she's run off to deal with another situation that's arisen. That allows Gyrich to get a head start on his program. That's the heart of the story. They're forcing aliens off Earth, and what is Brand going to do about it? Especially since she's half-alien!

"In addition to that, there are all these little plots that Brand has to deal with before she becomes embroiled in Gyrich's scheme. This arc is called 'No Time to Breathe' because the idea is that, in space, no one has time to breathe, the vacuum doesn't matter," Gillen continued. "I wanted to convey the idea that when things go bad for Agent Brand and S.W.O.R.D., they happen very quickly. The whole arc goes from crisis to crisis. Some of them are diplomatic, some of them involve beings trying to unscrew Brand's head from her body."

Gyrich's plan to evict all extraterrestrials from the Earth means that the initial arc of "S.W.O.R.D" will be jam packed with guest stars. "This is a global scale story about all the aliens on Earth being forced home. So we got almost any alien we could find, and even though most of them are just making what amounts to a cameo appearance, I wanted those scenes to be meaningful," Gillen said. "In the second issue, there's one sequence where there's eight different arrests which we show in one spread. So you can extrapolate how these aliens were taken down. I think you need to do that to show the global scale. I can't just say that they're arresting aliens. I've got to show to show a variety of arrests in different forms so it pulls at your emotions and is meaningful.

"There's a larger scene with Marvel Boy which I really like. He's fun to write and he's a very interesting character," Gillen continued. "I've got this scene with Warlock of the New Mutants in issue #3 that quite hefty and challenging to write as well."

Gillen also worked in an appearance by a character that should be quite familiar to fans of the Marvel UK line of comics from the late '80s and early '90s. "In the initial arc, Agent Brand's half brother shows up, and he's being chased by a bounty hunter. I'm quite into the new, so initially the bounty hunter was going to be a new character. Then I thought, 'There's already a perfectly good established Marvel character that I can use. Whenever you give any writer a series, it's almost a guarantee they're going to bring back some character in a minor role. And me being a British guy of a certain age, it was fun to bring back Death's Head I. He's involved in a splendid fight scene in the second issue," Gillen explained. "I brought back Death's Head I rather than any other Death's Head, because he's a time traveling, dimension skipping robot, so there's no reason not to. I did mention it to Simon Furman, the creator of Death's Head, that I was bringing the character back. To be polite, I asked him, 'Would you mind if I do this?' And he was very amused."

Gillen is extremely pleased with the way that his "S.W.O.R.D." collaborator artist Steven Sanders has brought to life Death's Head and the other technological elements of the series. "Steve impresses me. The first major book he did was 'Five Fists of Science' with Matt Fraction, a series that featured Nikola Tesla. And in many ways Steve is like Tesla. He's this obsessive scientific genius who draws incredible technology. He gives me all these cool techno gadgets, and I'll run off and do something with them," Gillen stated. "And he's always asking, 'Can I do this?' and I'm like, 'Yes.' There was a scene in a prison corridor, and he asked if he could draw it like the prisons in 'Tron', where people are walking above them. I thought that was great. Steve is not afraid to give us a feast of visuals.

"His style is also very interesting," Gillen continued. "It's a mix of cartoony and realism. He's done some expressive scenes which I just adore. So I have a book with great emotions, and Steve does great robots."

Gillen also wants to examine the role "S.W.O.R.D" plays in the larger cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe, and eventually hopes to have his cast interact with characters from "Nova" and "Guardians of the Galaxy." "This is a book about what happens when space hits Earth. Conceptually, "S.W.O.R.D." is about stuff that people on Earth never really deal with. All these invasions are actually happening, and before the Avengers are called in, S.W.O.R.D. is out there seeing if they can deal with them first. They have this responsibility, and I'd love to do something with the cosmic books, because they're great books," Gillen said. "'S.W.O.R.D.' can touch on stuff that's tangential to those epics... like, for example, what's happened to the refugees from some of these major space wars? So, there's room for S.W.O.R.D to do all these different stories, because it's a book that takes place on the border between space and Earth. It joins these two big parts of the Marvel Universe together. You can gain energy from both."

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23650

 

[Specter313]

With angry aliens, cybernetic bounty hunters, and a star-spanning version of Beauty and the Beast, S.W.O.R.D. moves above and beyond the Final Frontier. But when outer space offenses mingle with Marvel's Dark Reign, as the first issue shows, anything goes.

With the wit and weaponry of Agent Abigail Brand and her boyfriend, the boisterous blue-furred Beast, dropping in comic shops this week, writer Kieron Gillen sat down with Newsarama to do a post-mortem on the sci-fi action/comedy's first issue, as well as to tease us on what might be on the way in future issues of S.W.O.R.D. Some SPOILERS for issue 1 ahoy.

Newsarama: Kieron, for those who only know of S.W.O.R.D. because of the high-stakes space action from Astonishing X-Men, what would you say the mission statement of this book is?

Kieron GIllen: My Spacegirl Friday. Fury Nick and Green-haired Nora. Joss Whedon writes Deep Space 9. West Wing in orbit (plus zap-guns). 24 with the neo-con-agenda swapped for gags. The fastest-paced comic Marvel puts out, I think. We move at escape-velocity. IN SPACE NO-ONE HAS TIME TO BREATHE.

In short: we are your new mentalist sweetheart. Adore us.

Sorry. I've just ate an entire packet of chocolate digestives, and I'm a little hyper.

Nrama: No worries, we'll strive to keep up! This book had a very different tone than a lot of your previous work, like Phonogram, Stormbreaker, and Ares. How did you go from these books to doing what is essentially a space adventure/comedy?

Gillen: The inside of my head is an odd place, it seems. I admit, I love my current output. Ares is a very black action/comedy. Beta Ray Bill was heart-on-sleeve straight-faced with-the-necessary-wink cosmic mini-epic. Phonogram is unreadable indie-nonsense which sells three copies to people who've tattooed entire issues onto their body and theban-sigils branded onto their brows. Thor – though no-one's seen that yet – is straight Shakespeare-does-superheroes drama.

In tone, that's all over the place. That I get to change from piece to piece is enormously refreshing for me. I mean, there's no chance of getting bored at least – and I'm discovering so much about myself as a writer with every page. This is the best job in the world. I recommend it to everyone.

Nrama: It seems as though certain books fulfill certain functions for the Marvel Universe as a whole: X-Men has all their mutant characters, Avengers showcases the flagship characters, Annihilation and the following wars that succeeded it repositioned Marvel's more grandiose space-operatic characters. How do you feel S.W.O.R.D. fits into this, or what do you think its personality is within the context of the rest of Marvel's lineup? Do you think it's Marvel's street-level space book?

Gillen: That's a great way of putting it: “Street-level space book”. It's putting a ground-level eye on the cosmic scale. The example I tend to use – not that it's one I'm going to use – is that we spin stories off the after-effects of this kind of cosmic disasters. Where do those refugees go when a planet gets destroyed? People like S.W.O.R.D. deal with that, and there's all sorts of interesting material in that sort of terrain. NO TIME TO BREATHE – as the title suggests – motors, but there's all sort of fine detail which makes that stuff clear. The section in the second issue where we go through a mass of arrests very quickly imply a load of this.

Basically, we're looking for the human in the alien, if you will. It's telling that all our core heroic cast – barring the Beast – are aliens.

Nrama: It seems like, at least in this first issue, Abigail and Hank are what make this book run. Can you tell us what made this Brand/Beast relationship such fun for you?

Gillen: It's a beauty and the beast relationship. The irony being, Beast is the beauty and the beautiful Brand is the beast. Brand is a curt, rude and cynical monster on the outside, but Beast unlocks that gentler side hiding beneath the shades. That's touching for me. And Brand does things for Beast, which we'll get to eventually. I think they could be perfect for one another. The question being, can they get over themselves enough to actually make it work. Which is the story of any relationship, innit?

In other words, they're just two people I can see being together. Having something at genuine at the heart of S.W.O.R.D. ... well, it gives it a heart. I'm capital-R Romantic enough to think that matters.

Nrama: Something that needs to be asked: The page with Beast and the muffins. Between the dialogue and the look on Beast's face in that second panel, it's probably one of the funniest sequences in a Marvel book we've seen in awhile. What happened there with you and Steve?

Gillen: The wonders of comic writing. You know I was talking earlier about discovering stuff about myself as a writer? Stuff like the muffin scene surprised me as much as everyone else. I just had Beast bringing coffees up – the idea being, to show the move from earth to space, and set up the theme of the science-fiction rubbing up against normal life in a fairly direct way. So I have Beast with coffee and muffins. And I have Brand in a rush and angry. And... well, everything just comes flowing out. You know when writers annoyingly talk about the characters writing themselves in interviews, and you roll your eyes at them? Well, it was one of those moments. I was shocked.

(The only other time that happened was Ares' speech in Ares #1, which couldn't have come out any quicker than if exploded from my brain in bloody pulpy matter)

And then Sander's sad muffin-rejected Beast just sells it all. Yay comics!

Nrama: Moving on from that page to the whole book, what has your collaboration with Steve been like? You both seem to have such a quirky sense of humor to your work, we were curious if that might have translated into any funny "making-of" stories.

Gillen: Steve and I have been friends for years – my first US con before the launch of the first series of Phonogram I shared a table with him (He'd just released Five Fists of Science with [Invincible Iron Man writer Matt] Fraction). We've yabbered since, so doing a book with him is... well, it's different. We're on AIM every day. He's an incredibly inventive artist. I use the word “Inventive” in a really literal way. He invents things. I request a ship which does a certain sort of thing – like the interceptor STILETTO ZERO – and he comes up with something which pretty much works. I ask for a cell for our Hannibal-Lector-meets-CP-30 new character UNIT, and he's working out what all the vents are. And then he'll just drop something in the background which I fall in love with, and then spin off in a different direction. Hell, I asked him to make up a few alien races for that final page of the first issue, and he comes up with this glorious array of freaks. I'm obsessed at the moment with the one second from the bottom left, and working out the background for THE SATELLITE HOUNDS, brave and peaceful descendants of Laika. It's that kind of relationship. We're riffing off one another's excesses constantly.

We also spend too much time actually worrying about the science. We wasted a couple of hours theorising how STILETTO ZERO could actually cushion acceleration. We're thinking we'll fill the cockpit with breathable-fluid. Which makes no real scientific sense, but could look awesome.

Comics!

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/091113-Marvel-SWORD-Gillen.html

 

[starbreaker]

I liked it. Can't wait for next issue! What in the world has happened to Beast though? Did he undergo another mutation when I wasn't paying attention?

 

[Specter313]

S.W.O.R.D. #4
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Penciled by STEVEN SANDERS
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
Beast, Brand and her crew face an assult on multiple fronts as they go on the run and STILL have stop more than one alien insurgency. Can they upend Gyrich’s plot and stop the invasions in one fell swoop?
32 PGS./Rated A …$2.99

 

[Specter313]

S.W.O.R.D. #4
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Penciled by STEVEN SANDERS
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
Beast, Brand and her crew face an assult on multiple fronts as they go on the run and STILL have stop more than one alien insurgency. Can they upend Gyrich’s plot and stop the invasions in one fell swoop?
32 PGS./Rated A …$2.99

 

[Specter313]

Added in the cover.

 

[Mike555]

So far great series in my opienon.

 

[OutcryX]

beast has a purple uniform...lol

 

[Mike555]

Yeah the only thing i dislike is the crappy art. Just as bad as scottie young's art.

 

[Manic]

There was a time I would've agreed that Skottie Young's art sucks, but the man found his niche with stuff like Marvel's Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He seems to know his style is better suited to drawing children and funky animals than traditional superhero fair.

 

[UraniaChang]

Hank also got himself a perm...look at what Brand has done to you, Beast!

 

[Manic]

Well, the man's gotta experiment with his look a little. I mean, beyond the species he resembles.

 

[Specter313]

​

S.W.O.R.D #2


STORY BY Kieron Gillen
ART BY Steven Sanders
COVER BY John Cassaday
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics
COVER PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE DATE: Wed, December 9th, 2009

Extraterrestrials are no longer welcome on Earth. So say goodbye to Marvel Boy, Beta Ray Bill, Karolina from the Runaways and a ton of others…including Agent Brand and Lockheed! Henry Gyrich has turned the tables on our heroine and her time as head of S.W.O.R.D. is coming to a close.

 

[UraniaChang]

Hank is now (d)evolving into blue fox-like something, just great.

 

[Specter313]

Here at X-POSITION, we carefully study the mutant corner of the Marvel Universe every week. In doing so, we know that homo-superiors are the next stage in human evolution (provided they don't become extinct). So where do alien races fit into this equation? Well, according to a few individuals - like Henry Gyrich - who work at S.W.O.R.D., they don't.

S.W.O.R.D. (the Sentient World Observation and Response Department) is an intelligence and counterterrorism organization. Headed by Agent Abigail Brand, they are supposed to monitor and head off alien attacks on earth. As seen in "Secret Invasion," however, they failed…miserably. Henry Gyrich has now been given the position of co-commander of S.W.O.R.D., and he's working off an agenda that is quite different from Brand's (who is, herself, part extraterrestrial). Sparks are about to fly, and X-Men Beast (Brand's current boyfriend) and Lockheed are coming along for the ride.

Kieron Gillen ("Phonogram," "Dark Avengers: Ares," and "Thor") is the writer of the new ongoing "S.W.O.R.D." series. Issue #2 is in stores tomorrow, and readers can expect everything from sneak attacks to military coups. There's bound to be questions, so in a preemptive strike, Gillen joins us today to answer your emails. Ready to do battle?

Hunter Lambright starts things off today with a few queries on gods, robots, and giant projectiles:

1) How hard or easy was it to make the changeover from writing gods ("Dark Avengers: Ares") to writing a space-monitoring agency?


For me, writing is all about research. So doing "Ares" and "Thor," I've been backpacking around the afterlife for a few weeks. I was crashing on Ra's sofa, and picking up some tips and going to his crazy parties. You wouldn't believe the scenes.

(Oh, rough guide to the divinities' spheres tip: don't go to an Egyptian Party if you've got a cat allergy).

Anyway, I when I realized I had a S.W.O.R.D. script due, I had to get out of there ASAP and call in a favor with a mate with a UFO (I'll identify it - it's a flying saucer) and go hang out with some extraterrestrials. I got lots of great material, but got a bit tipsy and woke up with an Alpha Centurian lady. Shame and regret. I do these things for you, true believers.

In short, I found it worryingly easy. They feed into different parts of my imagination. It's great having an outlet for both.

2) It's obvious (to me, anyway) that you're building Unit up as both a threat and as a storyline that's going to have a big payoff. How long before we see Unit's story come to a head?

That's totally the sort of question you ask, but you'll be disappointed if I actually gave you a straight answer. I'm going to have to be as deceptive as Unit itself.

Not that he's deceptive. He's entirely trustworthy and has no ill-intentions towards the rest of existence. He's in that cell just because it's the only room they had available on the Peak. He won't skin you. Just let him out, turn around, and count to forty.

3) Beyond the (awesome) backup story with Lockheed, will the Kitty-Bullet storyline eventually be finished in "S.W.O.R.D.," or will we have to look to other books for closure?

I think it's safe to say it'll be a little while yet before the issue of the troublesome space-bullet will be resolved. Lockheed is going to need more Jack Daniels.

WhoZeDuke would like a spot of tea with his cosmic adventures. Any chance you could help him out?

First of all, I really like everything you are doing at Marvel, especially "Dark Avengers: Ares." Regarding "S.W.O.R.D.," will we see more characters from the British corner of the MU appear? Personally, I'd love to see Pete Wisdom show up in a scene with Brand…

Thank you! Regarding Mr. Wisdom, I'm not sure the Peak is big enough to house those two particularly gargantuan egos; though I'll agree, it would be fun to watch. At the moment, I've no specific plans for any more Marvel UK characters bar our favorite freelance peacekeeping agent.

Also, any news on when the last two issues of "The Singles Club" will be out?

Crikey! A crossover reader. Cage them.

In an unprecedented event, issue #6 of "Phonogram" is actually out this week, less than a month from the previous one. It's probably a sign of the end times. I haven't got a date for the seventh yet, but I suspect early January. We're disappointed we couldn't get it all out before 2010 - because it's the most 00s book in existence, y'know - but the universe and our own uselessness have conspired against us. Hopefully, it'll be worth the wait.

Up next, Jeff Burger is curious as to how Earth and its heroes factor into S.W.O.R.D.'s adventures:

1) Since "Annihilation," Marvel's Cosmic Universe continues to be ripe with stories and shows no signs of slowing down. With "S.W.O.R.D.," I am wondering if we are going to see more stories tying earth in with the cosmic universe to a greater extent. Will "S.W.O.R.D." focus more on earth issues, cosmic issues, or try and balance the two?

I see S.W.O.R.D. exist on the meniscus between the cosmic and earth spheres. Ideally, I'd want to draw stories from how the cosmic events impact earth. In other words, I want to be able to draw from both.

2) Can we expect to see Spider-Woman in any issues of "S.W.O.R.D.," as she was made an agent in the first issue of her new series?

She turns up in issue #2 for a brief cameo. I'm using "cameo" in its true technical meaning of "banging someone's head into the pavement".

3) Will S.W.O.R.D. have any interactions with earth's heroes? With Beast as a member, will there be many dealings with the X-Men? What about other teams such as the Avengers (‘Mighty' or ‘New')?

Cyclops and White Queen turn up towards the close of issue 2. The Mighty or New Avengers aren't showing up in this arc, but the Dark Avengers appear in issue 4.

There's a lot of cameos in the first arc. It's a story about a global action. We're using all manner of hyper-compression techniques to try and show the scale and variety of what's going on.

There's another cameo Sami Dawed is hoping for. What do you say?

I loved the first "S.W.O.R.D." issue! When I looked at the upcoming solicits, Karolina Dean is mentioned twice and her face appears as one of the many Gyrich is studying. With the recent hiatus status of "Runaways" announced, are you going to reference the cliffhanger of the final "Runaways" issue before moving her into "S.W.O.R.D."? Can you share any other details about her upcoming appearance?

Thank you, Sami! Glad you enjoyed it. Regarding Miss Dean, she actually appears in issue #2 in one of the aforementioned cameos, and has a speaking scene in issue #3. And that's all I'm saying. You can't make me say more. Well, you could, but it'd involve torture, and you seem far too nice a person to apply white-hot brands to the bare soles of my feet.

Sami is too nice. Chrisss Topher, however, has some fiery pokers for you if you try and avoid his questions…

1) Any chance of the Starjammers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova Corps, or any of the other Marvel cosmic groups making an appearance?

Not in the first arc. This is very much an inwardly-looking story rather than playing on the cosmic scale. I'd love to do one though. I can imagine Brand has particularly sharp things to say about all of them. She's a very mean woman.

2) I know Thor and Asgard will be involved in a huge story very soon, but is there any chance of a Thor/S.W.O.R.D. story?

Well, Beta Ray Bill's dependent - as introduced in "Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter" (available now in a fine trade paperback edition!) - is a resident of the Peak, so there's a link between these two parts of the Marvel Universe. Nothing explicitly planned as of yet - though I imagine Gyrich did at least think about whether the Asgardians counted as "aliens," before deciding he had enough on his plate right now. Bill does turn up in a few cameos throughout, most noticeably in issue #5.

I've used the word "cameo" far too much in this interview. Forgive me. Consider me punished, as I've now got "Word Up!" stuck in my head.

Dammit - it's stuck in my head now too. I'm hoping it stops by the time you finish answering these five queries from Andre4000:

1) Thanks so much for bringing back Death's Head - he was one of my favorite Marvel characters from the 90s! I remember him as being a rather "bloody" character. Is he going to be an ongoing nuisance for S.W.O.R.D., or is his appearance now a one-time bit of fun?

I was giggling when bringing back Death's Head. He was absolutely perfect for the tone of the series. Yes, he's violent, but there's a playfulness underlying everything. A mercenary who's as mercenary as Death's Head is an interesting one to lob into the mix.

Death's Head is actually a constant presence across the first arc. The hefty combat/fisticuffs/blast-out (or, as you may call it, "fight") in the second issue should give you a taste of how I'm using him.

2) With Gyrich's mission of ridding earth of aliens, will he be going after some of the more well-known aliens? How about the new Captain Marvel (a.k.a. Marvel Boy), Beta Ray Bill, the Silver Surfer (or is he not on earth at the moment)?

Yes, yes and no respectively; although if the Surfer popped in, Gyrich would have a crack. Somehow.

As people will see in the second issue, Gyrich has been planning this for long time. He's got continuity plans for most of the ones who you'd think would be tricky to get. Clearly, you can't just walk up to a lot of these people and say "Go home."

Admittedly, the Dreaming Celestial is going to be awkward.

3) An X-character I enjoy (but haven't seen in awhile) is Hepzibah. Will she be making an appearance in this book? She might be a valuable asset to have as a member of S.W.O.R.D.

She would be a valuable asset, but I suspect she's going to be holding a grudge against S.W.O.R.D. for some time after what they do to her in the second issue.

4) Can you foresee any future storylines where S.W.O.R.D. will cross paths with Galactus? He's a huge ongoing threat to earth…

He is. You can only imagine how something like Galactus gets under Brand's skin. It's her worst nightmare in an enormous genocidal purple-helmeted form. Admittedly, I've got no immediate plans to use him; however, if you want to see how Brand actually thinks about Galactus, I'll direct you at the first and last issues of "Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter" (available now in a fine trade paperback edition, if you haven't heard!), where Brand and Bill have a good old chin-wag about him.

5) It feels like Unit is something we've seen before…or maybe not. Is he/she/it a new threat? Or just a new iteration of something we've seen before? Can you give us any hints?

Why do people keep on going on about Unit being a threat? He's lovely. Honestly, let him out and everything will be fine.

Okay, you'll know Unit a lot better by the end of the first arc. Or at least, you'll know what he's telling people…which you should believe every word of, because there's no chance he'd ever do something as foul as lie to you. I mean, look at that cherubic blue-robotic face. If you can't trust him, who can you trust?

Let him out. He will not skin you.

That's twice you've mentioned "skinning" when talking about Unit. I'm frightened.

We're through with reader email for the day; now it's my turn. We ask our guests a "get-to-know-you" question each week, so here's yours…and we'll make it S.W.O.R.D.-related! Do you think extraterrestrials exist? And do you believe they've been to Earth yet? Why or why not?

They exist and haven't been to earth yet because it's covered in humans. Or they landed in my home town of Stafford, looked around and decided it really wasn't worth staying. Or…yes! Of course Aliens exist! I have the DVD box-set, etc.

Oh, it's a tricky one, y'know? You can't boil it down to a simple answer. It always struck me as fairly arrogant to think that we're the only life in the galaxy. Conversely, there's the Fermi paradox, which is a tricky one to get around - though I like seeing people come up with glorious theories about it (the "all sentient life gets to a certain spot, then gets stuck playing something like World of Warcraft" one is a perennial fave).

Generally speaking, and looking at the evidence, I think sentient life is a rare and precious commodity. But you don't need to bring extraterrestrials into that to be true.

​

COVER BY: John Cassaday
WRITER: Kieron Gillen
PENCILS: Steven Sanders
INKS: Array
THE STORY:
Agent Brand, Beast, Sydren, Beta Ray Bill, Marvel Boy, Jazinda, Karolina and all the other aliens on Earth have been captured by Henry Gyrich and his “NO MORE ALIENS” agenda. Only one person can free them and save the world: Lockheed. Rated A …$2.99

PRICE: 2.99
IN STORES: January 13, 2010

 

[Havok83]

The art is good but this has got to be one of the worst looking cat Beast's Ive seen drawn

 

[Specter313]

S.W.O.R.D. #5
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Penciled by STEVEN SANDERS
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
With Agent Brand imprisoned, all hell breaks loose! Norman Osborn and the Dark Avengers set out to destroy a group peaceful aliens while a war-like race is about to unleash the most intelligent and dangerous being in the universe! Now Brand herself is about to walk in a trap that could spell the end of everything she's worked for…and her life!
32 PGS./Rated A …$2.99

 

[UraniaChang]

The coloring totally doesn't suit Brand.

 

[Specter313]

​

S.W.O.R.D. #3


STORY BY Kieron Gillen
ART BY Steven Sanders
COVER BY John Cassaday
PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics
COVER PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE DATE: Wed, January 13th, 2010

Agent Brand, Beast, Sydren, Beta Ray Bill, Marvel Boy, Jazinda, Karolina and all the other aliens on Earth have been captured by Henry Gyrich and his “NO MORE ALIENS” agenda. Only one person can free them and save the world: Lockheed.

 

[Specter313]

The Astonishing X-Men spinoff book S.W.O.R.D. by Kieron Gillen and Steven Sanders has been cancelled from #5 by Marvel. Sorry, folks, I’ve been enjoying it too.

But as we know in this game, and cancellation isn’t always forever. And can be reversed. On the Nerdery blog, Greg Hyatt is launching a campaign to save the book.

It even has the support of artist Steven Sanders and a nod from writer Kieron Gillen.

Campaigns have in the past helped the likes of Spider-Girl and Deadpool to survive. And as part of Blackest Night, a number of comics returned for one extra issue, in keeping with the resurrection of the dead theme.

There are many possibilities for fans to consider though. Could we get a relaunch? A back-up strip? Maybe the cast taking over another title? But it’s also worth remember that in interviews Kieron Gillen wrote the book so that so the first five issues wraps off neatly. So you will get a decent, planned ending.

I don’t suppose there’s any way to get Deadpool involved in the title? He only seems to have five monthly titles coming out now…


http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/01/17/s-w-o-r-d-cancelled-campaign-starts/