Originally planned as an ongoing series, S.W.O.R.D. will reach an abrupt halt with the next issue - and it's a shame, because this book had a lot of potential. Thankfully, writer Kieron Gillen had intended the first five issues to cover a single story arc, so the readers won't be left hanging. The idea behind S.W.O.R.D. was right out of Men in Black - it's an organization designed to monitor aliens on Earth and protect the planet from invasions. The group's leader is the green-haired Abigail Brand, and despite being smart, tough and incredibly capable, she finds herself on the outs in her own organization, as Henry Gyrich takes control and decides to deport all aliens from the planet.
Brand and her boyfriend, the Beast, must find a way to deal with numerous alien incursions, deal with Gyrich and face another impending invasion.
I'm not sure why this book didn't hit it off with readers. Perhaps there was just too much going on in the opening storyline - focusing more on Brand and less on the army of supporting characters might have been advisable.
More than a few have pointed at the art by Steven Sanders as being at fault (mostly for his unique version of the Beast), but I'm not so sure that's the culprit - he has a straightforward storytelling style and he makes it easy to tell the characters apart - not always easy with a big cast.
I suspect the book is more a victim of the economy - you can't buy everything, after all (or at least I can't) - and perhaps there are just too many other books taking attention away from this one (note that Dr. Voodoo is also canceled).
Whatever the case, hopefully we'll see these characters again in a supporting role somewhere along the line (almost certainly they'll show up in Spider-Woman). And in a better market, perhaps S.W.O.R.D. can make a comeback.
Grade: B
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