So, with PG2.5 falling by the wayside, it leaves a single comic with my name on out this week. It’s S.W.O.R.D. 1, which you’ll find sporting this handsome John Cassaday cover.

(And, yes, part of me is very much aware the idea that the decade I found myself being dragged into comics via a John Cassady comic ends finding me releasing a comic with a John Cassaday cover is… well, exactly as weird as it feels. But more on that sort of feeling in December. I have things to divulge)

Okay. S.W.O.R.D. Out in the US today. Out in the UK tomorrow. I like it a lot.

This is the biggest Marvel comic I’ve had out yet. It’s about an planetary defence organisation, who were created by Joss Whedon in his splendid run on Astonishing X-men. That informs its tone, more than a little. In terms of the (generally really positive) reviews of the comic I’ve seen so far, a leitmotif has been it being not quite what they expected. Which I can understand - I threw around a mass of references in interviews - but the more playful end of Whedon’s emotional frame is kind of where it initially ends up, except warped because I’m writing about a couple-which-drives-the-story rather than anything else. I’m beginning to suspect, at least from the early part of the series, of all the references I mentioned HIS GIRL FRIDAY is actually the best one. Which suits me fine, as it is the best one.

Here’s an example of the better reviews out there from Newsarama, here’s an interview I did over at CBR just prior to release and here’s my beloved artist Steve Sanders’ being interviewed. Honestly, it’s worth clicking through just for a picture of Sanders’ splendid beard.

And, most relevantly, here’s the preview.

Buy the bloody thing. The first five issues are a self-contained joyride. Get on board.

On the bright side, it should be in the shops next week. Sorry about the delay. It’s enormously annoying for everyone - especially after the six-week delay after handing the book to Image due to a Production Bottleneck, without even getting onto the perennial dragging of the series - but we’re really close now. PG2.6 should hopefully lob off to Image later in the day, so… well, let’s not jinx it, eh?

However, the PR efforts strike! There’s been a few reviews. Here’s Comic Book Resources and here’s Comics Daily’s. Oh, and for those who want to tease themselves, there’s a five-page preview which you can see here. Though there’s spoilers right from the off, and I’d wait.

But I am ludicrously precious over Phonogram. Like, no shit, yeah?

However, the previously arranged launch party will still happen, not least because S.W.O.R.D. 1 is out, which Jamie also has a story in. It’s at the Prince Arthur near Euston in London from - ooh - 7:30 or so. Facebook details here. Come join us! We’re very friendly.

Oh - I mentioned issue 6. Well, since we’ve never shown it, here’s the cover. Ta-dah!

William [Christensen, Avatar Editor-in-Chief] came to me, and basically wanted a female-led action comic, and apart from that, it was entirely open. That’s an incredibly open brief, so I sat back and started thinking. I was thinking about cyberpunk, and I was thinking about Riot Grrl, Judge Dredd, Tank Girl, Kill Yr Boyfriend… The most important thing, is that it’s a cop drama on Mercury. It’s the idea that, especially after Obama got in, people seemed to be thinking about the future again, the idea that we’re going to have a future. So a lot of the problems that we have today, are not problems in this particular world. Specifically, environmentalism becomes very important, as in Environmentalism is actually very close to what religion is now, but they still have this energy need. So what they’ve ended up doing is solar panels on Mercury. And Earth is kind of like a lived-in Utopia, but Mercury is a bit harsher, kind of the new Wild West. And the lead character is one of these cops, who goes to Mercury, and has to deal with crime there. Of course, The Heat. So the focus is both on Mercury, because it’s very, very hot, and the police.

One of the inspirations for it was… Whiteout! Not the film but the actual comic. Whiteout is fantastic because it takes a police procedural and then applies it to an unusual environment. And the environment becomes a character. I basically wanted to do the idea of ‘what would it be like to fight crime on Mercury?’. But Mercury’s incredible, one side melts lead, the other side freezes oxygen. These are incredible differences, how would you police it? In fact, how would the power plant work? How would the people live? How would the energy get back to earth? Mercury is very small, and it rotates very slowly. A Mercury day is about 88 Earth days long. It actually only rotates at around 10km/hr, in other words it rotates less than running speed. On Mercury, you can out-run the dawn. And that’s pretty much the opening scene, of somebody trying to out-run the dawn. And of course, you can out-run the dawn - just not for long. And that’s my noir-esque start of it. And the environment characterises and changes everything.

So that’s it then. Be gentle with the science phrasing, as it’s were off the top of my head for casual conversation. I’ve done enough research to at least not fail no that level.

Much more on this as art starts to emerge, but that’s enough to tease for now. Should be out in the first half of 2010.

James Hunt, Comic Book Resources: “Ares, then, is an unlikely hit in just about every area.”
Kirk Warren, The Weekly Crisis: “This is someone that reads the source material and immediately understands what makes the character tick and begins crafting a story tailor made for them.”
But Before I Kill You: “This comic is about how not to fuck up Ares. And it was great.”
Paul O’Brien, If Destroyed Still True: “It’s brazenly over the top, but so it should be - it’s an Ares comic. Fun reading.”>
Klaus A, Corebrner: “So, I read this book not sure what to expect really. The only word I could utter after reading it was: “Fuckwin”. Read the review.”
Panels on Pages: “The dialog Gillen provides for Ares and his ragtag Shades is fantastic. “

Yes, Ares is a book which provokes positively-inclined swearing, which is only right.. Also Awesomed By Comics podcast said some very nice things about it too. Oh - just for a dissenting opinion, here’s IGN’s middling one.

I’ve mentioned in passing that there’s a couple of things which I wrote which Gareth appropriated - with permission - for lyrics before. The title of the second album is paraphrased from my description of them in an end-of-year write up and a line from Phonogram 1.1 (”A room full of vaccuum and a room full of air look the same”) is put to task in a particularly shouty section of opener “Ways To Make It Through The Wall”. Which always brings a smile to myself when I hear it, just because it’s so odd - and what Gareth does with it is very different from what I used with Kohl, openly defiant rather than the first part where old David even appears vaguely human.

Anyway - it’s a different thing to hear it sung live. Los Camp! fans are passionate. Lyrics are screamed out. Glancing to one side and seeing dozens of faces howling something which I abstractly wrote… well… there’s a couple of responses. Firstly, it’s a tiny moment of alienation - like I imagine (say) Chic feel when they hear something they created lifted and repurposes. As in, you recognise the craft and recognise that it’s part of something you did - but it’s also something else. Secondly, there’s the part that’s fuckinghelltheyaresingingsomeshitIwrote. Which is… well, I suspect it’s the closest I’ve ever felt to feeling like bloody Bono or something. It’s powerful and odd and direct, and I can see how people who get it every night, from every single line of every single song go proper mental so often. God know what Gareth feels like.

Well, in the US anyway. It’ll be out in the UK tomorrow.

I’m actually pretty pleased with this one. It’s also the easiest one for you to gague whether you’d like it or not. Go read the preview of the first six pages. If you like that, you should like the rest of it. The plot plays with the central concept a little, but the tone is just right there. That’s my Ares. Like him? There’s three issues more of him to come. While it’s a Dark Reign book, tying into the whole meta-arc of the Marvel Universe, it’s also one whose central high concept - Ancient God Of War Trains Soldiers And Then Takes Them On A Mission - which is pretty universal. Culture-collision dark action/comedy. Also: miniguns.

No reviews yet to point you at, but Fred Van Lente - writer of Incredible Hercules and the eternally-awesome Action Philosophers - twittered about reading it last night, saying “It’s awesome. #1 out Wed and all HERC fans should support it!”. I concur, because I am monstrously arrogant with an overblown sense of my own ability. Like, obv.

There’s also an interview about Ares and Thor up on Marvel.com at the moment, wherein things like this get said…

Marvel.com: Is that one of the things you like about the character of Ares? That juxtaposition? Or is it that slightly misogynistic personality?

Kieron Gillen: [Laughs] He’s not a nice guy. Anti-hero would almost be too strong. Ares is interestingly conflicted. He’s a bad guy. He’s done some pretty monstrous things. But in the last ARES limited series, he basically stormed hell to get his son back. That’s what I find interesting and what I found as a way in for Ares. What I find interesting about Ares is this sense of failure. He wants to be a good father and I think that’s a redeeming feature. Indirectly, I get into touching that. That sort of relationship is key to what I’m doing. That’s the kind of human hook: him trying to be a better man than he has been.

And I continue bumbling along in a similar vein. Go read!

Ah, comics.

Just before the deadline closed, Marvel released some preview pages of the interiors, showing off Steven and Jamie’s work. I’m going to the ones at Matt Wilson’s blog - our Phonogram colourist, who’s doing everything S.W.O.R.D. - because the ones Marvel released of Steve’s page appeared to have some kind of formatting error which left the colours looking a little odd. In fact, they should look like this…

Click through to see ‘em larger. Also, Jamie’s page. Jamie’s story is an eight page short which deals with a certain large metal bullet and a certain Kitty Pryde, and why they haven’t been stopped and/or rescued yet. It’s where I most explicitly follow Mr Whedon’s Astonishing X-men, and a lot of fun. Also, Jamie’s page features the first public appearance of UNIT. He’s one of the characters I’ve created for SWORD. He’s my explicit attempt to create a proper functional supervillain - by which I mean, both having a novel power-set, and having a set of motivations which are possible to at least empathise with a little. The Magneto school of villainy, if you will.

I’ve got to do a lot of that with SWORD. It’s not only my first ongoing comic for Marvel. It’s my first ongoing comic full stop. This requires a different set of thinking. On one level, you’re reaching out for the future. On the other, you’re building for the present. Because - obviously enough - one doesn’t work without the other.

Launching an ongoing is tricky. You never know how much you’re going to get, for dozens of reasons, from sales to me just dropping dead. And nothing annoys me more as a reader than an ongoing which just stops, suspending in space. As such, when I’ve been thinking about this - and, any other ongoings I’m doing - I’m thinking of modularity. As in, making sure wherever we stop, there’s meaningful emotional closure. The route I’m trying with SWORD is making the narrative telescope. The first five issues plot - the forced extradition of all extra-terrestrial life - resolves neatly. If we stop there, it’ll be a fine and beautiful thing. However, while doing that we’ve also set up all the pieces required for the next plot. And so on and on. In short, no matter what happens, we won’t leave the reader hanging.

My first job today has been going through the lettering proofs of the first issue, making all the last minute tweaks. And… well, I’m struck by how different it is to anything else I’ve done for Marvel. I’m struck how different it is to anything else I’ve done, full stop. It’s a heart-on-sleeve, smile-on-lips piece of romantic scientific-thriller-malarkies. The characters are smart. They fence verbally at the slightest provocation. They’re fun to be around. I’m reminded of Fraction telling me about watching the first Iron Man movie, and thinking “Hey, I’d love to write this guy” for a half-second before realising “I am writing this guy” and how joyous that is. Scanning the pages is a little like that.

And it motors.

I mean, I’ve been talking about it being a comic-at-escape-velocity in the interviews, but it’s only when the balloons are on the page do I get a sense of how true that actually was. I mean, it’s not Casanova, but in the 30 pages of story in issue one - 22 of the main story, plus 8 of the back-up - we’ve managed to get in as much plot as a couple of more normally paced comics, with every narrative technique I could bring to bear (Watch how we work the mid-page transitions). And what pleases me most is that it doesn’t feel cramped - which is where Beta occasionally stumbled. We get our comic-silent beats. We get Steve showing off his techno-skills. It’s not claustrophobic nine-panel grids. It just feels fast.

So yeah: I’m pleased it. And that I think the second and third issues step up from the first, I’ve got orbital-high hopes for it.

Issue one out on November 11th. Make a special SWORD calender with Beast’s beaming visage on it to remind you.

Yes, in it, Thor faces off against the GWAR! rhythm section. No, really.

Okay, the solicit…

COVER BY: Billy Tan
WRITER: Kieron Gillen
PENCILS: Billy Tan
INKS: Matt Banning
COLORED BY: Christina Strain
THE STORY:
THE FINAL BATTLE! Dr. Doom has committed barbaric atrocities against the Asgardians living in his realm of Latveria. Now Balder has marshaled his forces, and called upon the counsel of his general, Tyr, the God of War. Even the outcast Thor has rallied to the defense of his people. But what secret weapon has Doom wrought with secrets plundered from Asgard?! And whose side is the duplicitous Loki truly on…? Rated T …$2.99

PRICE: 2.99
IN STORES: January 13, 2010

A picture speaking the proverbial thousand.

COVER BY: John Cassaday
WRITER: Kieron Gillen
PENCILS: Steven Sanders
INKS: Craig Yeung
THE STORY:
Agent Brand, Beast, Sydren, Beta Ray Bill, Marvel Boy, Jazinda, Karolina and all the other aliens on Earth have been captured by Henry Gyrich and his “NO MORE ALIENS” agenda. Only one person can free them and save the world: Lockheed. Rated A …$2.99

PRICE: 2.99
IN STORES: January 13, 2010

What a busy January 13th.

In an other comics update, apparently PHONOGRAM 2.5 has properly been approved at the printer now, so should be printing when a print slot appears. I’m almost nervous to ask when that’ll be in case they say February. We finished sent it off to Image over six weeks ago, so we’re entering Jack-Kirby-esque comics-will-break-your-heart-territory. As soon as I have a date, you will too.

Of course it has all the Sci-fi TV folk too. Who will we assault in the green room this time? Stay tuned.

Oh - some stuff. Here’s the signing schedule for the comics people…

(Jamie and I, of course, will be at our table the whole time and happy to sign shit whenever)

And here’s the comic-stage event stuff. Jamie and I will be on the WRITERS VS ARTIST showdown which promises to be hilarious and/or disastrous.

And finally, here’s a map of the comic part. Jamie and I are C17. Beside Ellerby and Cadwell, so we’ll have to put up with their foul indie stink.

What a marvelous world we live in.

As another part of this marvelous world, Marvel.com ran an article on the forthcoming SWORD series. Wherein I do many things, including teasing new characters like…

“”In terms of new characters, UNIT is the one,” he states. “It takes until issue #3 until we get to see much of him, but he’s my attempt to introduce a useful, novel and quietly threatening villainous long-term foil. He’s basically a cross between C-3P0 and Hannibal Lecter and I don’t want to say any more than that.”"

And continue in much the same vein. Go read!