S.W.O.R.D. #2
S.W.O.R.D. gets caught up in the battle against the King In Black on Krakoa in S.W.O.R.D. #2, by writer Al Ewing, artist Valerio Schiti, colorist Marte Gracia, and letterer Ariana Maher. While getting a book involved in a big crossover on its second issue usually is a terrible idea, it actually works with this book, and Ewing and company do a fine job.
With the Klyntar attack on Earth, Abigail Brand and S.W.O.R.D. spring into action to check on the status of Krakoa. She forms a team to establish contact with Krakoa while having Mentallo, the only telepath available to her as Cable is indisposed, on a secret mission. The team makes it through a Krakoan gate in time to help Magneto, Banshee, and Sunspot take down a Klyntar dragon, with Fabian Cortez giving Sunspot the boost he needs after the Japanese mutant is injured. In the Arbor Magna, the Five discuss the situation outside, with Tempus wanting to take part, while the other members urge caution. Mentallo shows up in his Think Tank to escort them to safety in case things go belly up. At the portal, Cortez parlays the help he gave into getting Magneto to agree to give him access to the Quiet Council, a move Frenzy thinks is ill-advised, seeing as how Cortez has always been untrustworthy. At that moment, the King In Black’s hand starts threatening the mutants through the Krakoan gate, something that shouldn’t be possible for a non-mutant, until a symbiote possessed Cable walks through to Krakoa.
The second issue is a very strange time to get a book involved in a crossover, but Ewing does a great job in this issue. S.W.O.R.D. is the perfect X-Men book to get involved with the King In Black crossover, and Ewing balances hitting story beats that work with the crossover also hitting character beats that progress and build the story he’s telling with this book. It also helps that Marvel’s more recent crossover events are actually good in comparison to other times in recent years. The best part about this issue’s crossover is that one doesn’t really need to know exactly what is going in King Black to get what’s happening- Brand gets a sitrep right at the beginning of the issues that fill her, and readers, in on the situation- which is a nice way of putting in exposition that doesn’t seem forced.
S.W.O.R.D.’s cast is still pretty unwieldy, but Ewing does a good job of focusing on a few characters in this issue, like Brand, Frenzy, Mentallo, and Cortez. So far, these five characters seem to be the core ones in the book, and each one is represented rather well. Mentallo has always been cowardly, Brand has always been pragmatic and cutting, Cortez is up to his old tricks of manipulating those around him, and Frenzy is still the no-nonsense woman she’s always been. All of this shines through in their interactions, and Cortez’s part is particularly interesting. Cortez is known for screwing everyone over for more power, but he’s useful to Brand. He wants to talk to the Council about national security matters regarding humans, a group he’s always hated the most, and while it may seem like he wants to help Krakoa, he always has another motive. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.
Valerio Schiti’s art is great throughout. His Klyntar dragons look great, and he really captures each character rather well. The symbiote possessed Cable looks great. One of the best parts about this issue and what makes Schiti’s art really pop is Marte Gracia’s lush coloring. His colors are so good that it’s easy to tell when he’s coloring a book even without seeing his name. There’s just something about the way he works that makes everything look better.
It’s usually inadvisable to throw a book into a massive crossover this early, but S.W.O.R.D #2 pulls it off admirably. It helps that this book is tailor-made for dealing with this kind of thing and that Ewing is such a good writer. He’s able to hit the story beats that work for the crossover and for the book itself, which isn’t easy in situations like this. Svhiti and Gracia’s art is perfect for this issue and captures the characters and the action wonderfully. S.W.O.R.D. is a different kind of X-Men book and it’s starting to show.