S.W.O.R.D #1
Ross Hutchinson
Recap
The Mutant nation of Krakoa has quickly become a major force on the world stage… but why stop there? Krakoa has relaunched the Sentient World Observation & Response Directorate – a fully independent organization dealing with all things extra-terrestrial on behalf of all of Earth. Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti, the team behind EMPYRE, bring us the tale of Mutantkind looking to do for the galaxy what Krakoa did for the planet.
Review
So I am one of those people that gets nervous when something I am interested in gets a lot of hype… because my personal experience is that the “thing” in question (see comic book in this instance) almost never lives up to the expectation I create in my own head so I often don’t get as excited as other fans because I’m scared of jinxing it. However S.W.O.R.D #1 smashed and surpassed my expectations in such a big way that the comparison is like my expectations being me standing looking up at the stars in my back yard and the level this book achieves being the actual Peak space station floating up in space if that makes sense.
Ewing combines superb interpersonal moments with very well laid out and exceptionally ambitious sci-fi concepts, along the way he throws in several very relevant callbacks to both his other work and older X-Men comics of the past. In doing so he cleverly reframes several relationships that shows that we truly are in a completely new era with absolutely limitless story potential in a first chapter that’s going to surprise readers on so many levels with the reveals in this opening salvo!
When you combine this level of ambitious writing creativity with a superb art combination in the form of Valerio Schiti and Marte Gracia ( who may very well be the only equal out there of the Larraz/ Gracia combination we have been treated to in this new era) you end up with a comic that as a cohesive whole may be the best debut issue in the new era since House Of X #1
Final Thoughts
S.W.O.R.D #1 is a perfect balance of ambitious, exceptionally crafted sci-fi ideas and superb interpersonal moments that callback to the past but cleverly reframes things with an eye on a bold and exciting future that fits perfectly into the concept and ambition of this new era!
S.W.O.R.D #1: To Boldly Go
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
I’m sorry but I find 10/10 reviews to be so unrealistic and biased. I guess I’ll have to check this out myself.