S.W.O.R.D. #10
As Storm deals with the Lethal Legion on Arakko, the traitor strikes at the Peak in S.W.O.R.D. #10, by writer Al Ewing, artist Jacapo Camagni, colorist Fernando Sifuentes, and letterer Ariana Maher. This book has fallen off a cliff, and that's really all there is to it.
The book focuses on the events in the Peak, with Wiz-Kid sabotaging the station and the events on Arakko, as Storm fights off the Lethal Legion. It's a rather simple story, as Wiz-Kid does for Orchis exactly what he's supposed to, and Storm saves the day for a few moments before things get worse. There's a twist ending that really didn't need to happen in this issue.
On the one hand, Ewing has proven on The Immortal Hulk that he can craft an amazing story, using long-form storytelling to dig deep into a character's mythos. On S.W.O.R.D., he's proven something else- he can also write a book that just doesn't work. S.W.O.R.D didn't really have a chance to be anything other than the crossover book for most of its run, and since that ended, Ewing hasn't done anything extraordinary with the book. This issue is a great example of just how far this book has fallen. Wiz-Kid isn't an interesting character, and his constant refrain of, "Is that arrogant?" is just kind of childish. There's nothing exceptional about him, and seeing him somehow beat Cable, even with his gadgets, is just kind of ridiculous. The whole thing smacks of narrative convenience. The twist at the end of the issue is a bit surprising, but it would have been better if things had been drawn out a bit longer. Giving away the ghost an issue after revealing there's a traitor is a bad idea, and even if this book isn't long for this world, it would work better as a reveal farther down the line.
The Arakko stuff is okay, but it doesn't really buoy this issue at all. It's just kind of there. It's not really an action scene, it's not exciting, and it's just a waste of Storm. Give her a book of her own but just throwing it into this book to make it worthwhile is disrespectful to her. The biggest disappointment of this book is how unimportant all of it feels. Ewing hasn't sold the stakes of either plotline at all, so none of this really matters at all. There's one clever line in the entire comic where Wiz-Kid calls out Xavier and Magneto for bringing Apocalypse to Krakoa, which would be meta if it didn't seem like the X-Office thought it was a good idea.
If there's one bright spot to this comic at all, it's Camagni's art. It all looks pretty good. His style isn't exactly memorable, but it works rather well for the story. Wiz-Kid is suitably smug-looking. If there's anything drawback to the art, it's that everything looks a little too clean and polished.
S.W.O.R.D. #10 continues the downswing in quality this book has experienced. Ewing just doesn't make anything in this comic feel like it matters, and that's a huge problem for a book that was so mired in crossovers that it never developed its own identity. The art is the best part of the book, but the coloring makes it look a little too polished. This whole book is becoming a disappointment.
