S.w.o.r.d.

[stingerman]

Preview: S.W.O.R.D. #1

http://cosmicbooknews.com/previews/SWORD001_preview

THE STORY:
Spinning out of ASTONISHING X-MEN comes a series that will take you places you’ve never been! After Secret Invasion, Agent Brand is no longer the top dog at S.W.O.R.D. Forced to share her leadership post with former Avengers-liaison Henry Gyrich, Brand is less than pleased. Will the arrival of her boyfriend, X-Man Beast, help her out? Not when she discovers Gyrich’s plan for fixing S.W.O.R.D. is to rid Earth of ALL ALIENS! Brought to you by Kieron Gillen (DARK AVENGERS: ARES), Steven Sanders (Five Fists of Science) and topped off with covers by ASTONISHING X-MEN artist JOHN CASSADAY!

 

[Aquaman]

That dude's version of beast is atrocious. It looks nothing like any beast. He's unrecognizable. What is the point in showing Cassiday's awesome beast design on the cover if what is inside doesn't match at all.

The comic sounds fun though. I liked Brand in Astonishing.

 

[Kitsune]

Just about any version of Beast since the secondary mutations thing is atrocious and unrecognizable.

 

[IFryKids]

This one is much, much worse than any interpretation of Beast post-secondary mutation though. Good god. He looks like a Collie with a bad dye-job.

 

[SuperFerret]

His muzzle is too long, it needs to be shortened ASAP.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Was that Lockheed boozing it up on that last page? If so I'm already in love. :heart:

 

[Kitsune]

If his shnoze was any bigger he could be sitting on top of a doghose and fighting the Red Barron

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Oh wow, yeah, Sanders' Beast looks terrible.

Other than that, though, the issue looks great. I can't wait.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Oh my God, that Beast....it's...it's...Oh my God

 

[ford_jj]

Oh wow, yeah, Sanders' Beast looks terrible.

Other than that, though, the issue looks great. I can't wait.

\
Can't wait to see it.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Wow, yeah... that Beast is horrible... but the rest of the book looks really good. And I love the last panel with Lockheed Makes me think they're going to address Kitty's 'death'... which could lead to her return.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Lockheed was depressed about Kitty's death in Pet Avengers.

Anyway, hopefully we'll all remember SWORD as "that series that was awesome (except for Beast's uber-snout)."

 

[JewishHobbit]

Yeah, but I don't really count Pet Avengers in continuity, or else that's the series where Thanos returns

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yes, it is. And it's awesome.

 

[SuperFerret]

Pet Superheroes are some of the best superheroes out there. Consider this, when two human superheroes meet for the first time, they have a fight due to a misunderstanding. When two animal superheroes meet for the first time, they have an ass-sniffing session and become friends.

 

[Dread]

I try not to think about PET AVENGERS being in continuity. Otherwise it's the series where Thanos not only came back from the epic death scene he had in ANNIHILATION from Giffen & DiVito, but he came back only to lose to a bunch of PETS. Yeah, TheCorpulent1 can bleat about how they had the Infinity Gems all he wants, but I don't care if he lost to a gerbil with the Ultimate Nullifier (which even scares Galactus). Losing to pets is fail, and it makes you lame. Those Imperial Guard guys who Cosmo owns? They're now lame. But it doesn't matter for them; aside for Gladiator they all are lame anyway. Thanos shouldn't look lame.

Preview: S.W.O.R.D. #1

http://cosmicbooknews.com/previews/SWORD001_preview

THE STORY:
Spinning out of ASTONISHING X-MEN comes a series that will take you places you’ve never been! After Secret Invasion, Agent Brand is no longer the top dog at S.W.O.R.D. Forced to share her leadership post with former Avengers-liaison Henry Gyrich, Brand is less than pleased. Will the arrival of her boyfriend, X-Man Beast, help her out? Not when she discovers Gyrich’s plan for fixing S.W.O.R.D. is to rid Earth of ALL ALIENS! Brought to you by Kieron Gillen (DARK AVENGERS: ARES), Steven Sanders (Five Fists of Science) and topped off with covers by ASTONISHING X-MEN artist JOHN CASSADAY!

Saw the 7 page preview. I have to say that is the worst Beast I have ever seen drawn on a comic page that asks for $4 since Trevor Hairsine. He looks atrocious. Brand keeps calling Gyrich "deformed", but he's at least recognizable; if not for the coloring I'd have no clue that was Beast.

As someone who hates Lockheed, I do have to admit the sight of him guzzling some vodka from a bottle is hilarious.

Brand is acting exactly as she has before; bland. The fact that "Brand" and "bland" are one letter different is not a coincidence to me. It really does seem too late to build off SECRET INVASION, that ended like 9-10 months ago. It's predictable post-9/11 metaphors and I am so very tired of them.

These 7 pages offer me nothing I would be willing to pay $2.99 for, much less $3.99. Thanks, but no thanks.

I ditched RUNAWAYS because I couldn't stand the Ramos art. This makes me PLEAD for Ramos art.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Dread = anti-fun.

 

[NightBeetle]

''Gillen Sharpens His S.W.O.R.D.''

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

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."

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Awesome.

 

[yenaled]

Haha looking forward to this.

 

[Dread]

Dread = anti-fun.

I'm not anti-fun. I read AGENTS OF ATLAS, and INCREDIBLE HERCULES as easy examples. I am anti-rubbish.

Then again, I wonder if this is akin to when someone criticizes Dan Slott's work for something and I refuse to see it.

 

[Tron Bonne]

No, it's not. I mean it's okay not to like something, but if memory serves, you were overly harsh (to the point of being fairly silly) towards little ol' Pet Avengers and made a lot of very broad (and borderline) insulting generalizations towards its potential audience. If I recall, you were pretty aggressively ranting against it.

That's why you get the anti-fun rep

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, it's one thing to go, "Eh, pets? That ain't for me." It's quite another to basically accuse Pet Avengers of lowering the bar for the entire comic book industry, which Dread totally did. Hence, Dread = anti-fun.

 

[Dread]

I admit I was hard on PET AVENGERS, I copped to it and I apologized. If that isn't enough for a message board, then I don't know what to do. Still, it's hardly my cup of tea and I contend it did a bit of harm to Thanos if it isn't later claimed that it was some Thanosi clone. At least losing to Squirrel Girl is losing to an actual heroine. Losing to a talking frog and some cats is right in HOME ALONE territory.

Again, "anti-fun" doesn't seem to jive with someone who enjoys INCREDIBLE HERCULES. Or MAD MAGAZINE. Or AGENTS OF ATLAS. And so on.

I don't care for how Beast is drawn here. Considering he was the only character in SWORD that I almost cared enough to buy it for, that's a deal breaker for me. In fact this is the WORST Beast I have seen drawn in quite some time; yes, I preferred "Puma Bear Beast" from CIVIL WAR: X-MEN.

For me to bite on a $4 launch, the bar is exceptionally high. I either have to have invested interest in the franchise (which I don't), have decent expectations of the creative team that I follow their stuff around or will at least give them a try (which, while I am sure Gillen is a fine writer, I can't say I have read one thing of his), and/or just delivers such a dazzling preview that by sheer curiosity I decide to bite. STRANGE #1, written by Mark Waid, passes this test. So far, SWORD #1 fails. It's not the downfall of comics, though. It's a spin-off of ASTONISHING X-MEN more so than trying to deal with SECRET INVASION subplots, and unlike an animal book, there is clearly a market for X-Men spin-offs. I could argue it is weaker now than at any point in recent history (at least post-bankruptcy), but it is still there.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I don't care about Pet Avengers, Incredible Hercules, or Agents of Atlas....

JH = No Fun