King in black tie ins
S.W.O.R.D. (2020) #2
WHAT IS PROTOCOL V? The S.W.O.R.D. station is thrown in at the deep end of a planetary crisis as Krakoa battles the KING IN BLACK! While a cross-division team take on latex dragons from outer space, Abigail Brand prepares a deniable operation all her own. What is PROTOCOL V – and can the Earth survive it?
S.W.O.R.D. (2020) #3
TAKE A TRIP WITH THE EVERYWHERE MAN! The Void-God has overtaken the Earth. Top-level mutants have been assimilated. Protocol V is in effect. But space is a big place… and a lot of things happen there at once. Walk a mile in the Manifold’s shoes, as S.W.O.R.D.’s Quintician takes a multi-artist journey across the universe and back… and comes face to face with S.W.O.R.D.’s deadliest enemy.
S.W.O.R.D. (2020) #4
KRAKOA, WE HAVE A PROBLEM! The mutants are dying. Their island is dying. Earth itself is dying. All hope for humanity as a species lies in Protocol V. Protocol V isn’t going to work.
The Good
Story- Brand sends Mentallo to get the five in case earth falls to Knull. Cortez, Frenzy and Poibok join the krakoan fight against Knull. Sunfire is supercharged by Cortez briefly giving them the upper hand but it all goes south when Young Cable now under Knull’s influence attacks and takes them all prisoner. Manifold is making his rounds. He checks on his family in Australia, tries to make an ally with a Snarkwar heir but is unsuccessful. Spies on Gyrich and realizes Orchis still exists. He misses the part where Gyrich has a spy in sword though. On earth, he battles Knull/Cable, and thanks to Frenzy they take him down but not before the death of Cortez and Sunfire. In the aftermath Sunfire is moved up the resurrection Que and Cortez will be granted the audience he wants with the council.
Art-Where do I begin with the sublime work of Valerio Schitti. Everything is gorgeous, every panel, every scene, every splash page. This is what a good comic should be. Remove all the words and this story still works. Kudos to you my friend. The third issue had a mixture of artists with different styles such as Bernard Chang, Nico Leon, and big homie Ray-Anthony Height (Good come up my brutha). It
Cover-
Black Heroes– Frenzy and Manifold are here, front and center, totally badass and just representing the global black culture like you can’t believe! An interesting question is asked here. Manifold is not classified as an Omega Level mutant despite the fact that when it comes to teleportation he is unmatched by just about every other mutant teleporter yet. Blink, Vanisher, and even Lila Cheney can’t do the things he can. As a matter of fact, let’s think about this. If there is another mutant with this power set that surpasses Manifold, where are they? What can they do? Ewing like with his Blue Marvell stint in Mighty Avengers and later Ultimates is fleshing out Manifold in many ways. He takes the concept of Manifold’s power being an empathic connection to perhaps space itself. He folds/bends space in on itself and it complies. Much the same way Storm’s empathic connection to a planet, be it Earth, Mars, or in other dimensions causes her powers to manifest in different ways his power is seemingly limitless. He grabs fire from the sun itself then uses it against his foe. likewise, he could use just about any element in battle by virtue of simply folding space together. This is a versatile skill set and sets Manifold up as one of the most powerful members of this team. I also loved his return to the Australian outback and the nod to the X-men’s time in the outback during the Claremont run. His kinfolk state Australia loves the X-men. The casual way in which he steps from one side of the universe to the other is also quite intriguing. Some teleporters seem taxed by the use of their powers, he does not. The subtle application of his powers for espionage was also interesting. Frenzy is also seeing a bit of growth in her role as the ambassador. She spent years in space alongside a comatose Magneto, with both Cortez and Exodus. Some may not realize but she also had a physical relationship with Gambit before his eventual X-man stint and marriage to Rogue. She manages to also come across as quite capable and self-aware. Her indomitable is also shown, of all the captured members she also escaped on her own, she alone realized the situation and she also reacted with quick enough reflexes to literally disarm the would-be villain. Now that I think about it, wasn’t she also the ambassador for Genosha under Magneto? Here is a character with unrealized potential!
Al Ewing– Can we give Ewing his flowers now, please? Al Ewing is my favorite writer in comics right now. Apart from his current Avengers run everything else is gold. So many moving parts in this story. He has taken obscure characters and made them relevant while respecting continuity; see his nod to Coates’s current Black Panther run. Frenzy is treated as capable and combat-ready with her inner monologue suggesting she may have been abused before her power manifested. She also notes Magneto and Cortez’s past relationship. Most awesome was her action sequence while nodding to her love for Cyclops.
The Bad
The art inconsistency in SWORD #4, maybe jarring for some. The fact that issue #2-#4 is also a tie-in to the King in Black Storyline may also be a problem for some because instead of establishing itself in the X-line the book got roped into the wider Marvel Universe narrative. This was cool for me but some may not be into it.
The Ugly
Ewing is a freaking rockstar! I give these issues 4/5 stars
