The Sword of War is Drawn this Week in the Empyre War Report!

Hello friends and readers, it’s another installment of the Empyre War Report! The tie-ins are getting a bit light these days, and as such we have a solo outing. Justin Partridge looks at the radicalization of the Swordsman in Lords of Empyre: Swordsman #1 by Alex Paknadel, Thomas Nachlik, Marcio Menyz and VC’s Ariana Maher.

Alex Paknadel continues to class up the tie-in joint with Lords of Empyre: Swordsman #1. Bringing readers the sad, savage fate of Jacques Duquesne, Paknadel once again dives into the Roger Stern-flavored backstory of an Empyre antagonist. But also, kinda proves them right, again? It slaps, pretty hard. Couple that with some snewey, highly charged artwork from Thomas Nachlik and Marcio Menyz  and Lords of Empyre: Swordsman #1 makes Paknadel 2-0 when it comes to playing in the Marvel summer event sandbox.

Like the title suggests, our main lead is the composite Cotati hero Swordsman, who stands somewhat apart from the rest of the leafy pack (a “Prime Cotati” from before the flowering). Paknadel doles out some pretty neat and nifty bits of Cosmic world-building here, giving readers a deeper look into their society and the Celestial Messiah’s influence even in these “early” days. But once we head back down to earth, driven by the Swordsman’s “human side” calling to return his weapon (gifted to Avenger Clint Barton), Paknadel starts to turn the screws, morphing the “father-son” mission set up for a tense, gut-wrenching tale of he and Quoi confronting the brutality of humanity and our self-destructive guzzling of precious resources (in this case a once dormant ancient Cotati tree grove). 

I know most people know Paknadel from his various critically acclaimed indie works, but I KNOW him from his TRULY WONDERFUL Eleventh Doctor run for Titan Comics. This one-shot in particular reads like a canny mixture of both of those tones. You have the heady, almost sneaky dread of his indie works, with the big, crazy hooks (Tree people! The Kree! Old, Crazy Avengers Comics!) of his Doctor Who work. You truly love to see it. Especially on the “big” stage of a Marvel event tie-in.

Better still it looks phenomenal and really stagey thanks to the layouts and colors of Thomas Nachlik and Marcio Menyz. Rendered mostly with lithe character models through intimate stage blocking, Nachlik and Menzy bring the “camera” of the issue’s scope in fairly early so then they can take some real glee in expanding it out. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the scene where the Swordsman communes with a tree grove (COMICS!) across a number of days. In four to five widescreen panels, the pair deliver a stirring time-lapse sequence that only reveals more details and changes as you look it over again. The pair even snap the scope back tight again in a harrowing panel-grid action sequence showing just how deadly the Swordsman still is, even in his veggie state, echoing shades of Mike Deodato and Frank Martin’s monochromic showing out with Iron Fist in New Avengers.

To be totally honest, I wasn’t expecting too much once I saw this on the event checklist, but Alex Paknadel, Thomas Nachlik, and Marcio Menyz really make this one-shot more the sum of it’s planted Cosmic parts. Though the name “Swordsman” doesn’t exactly scream “blockbuster pre-orders”, Lords of Empyre: Swordsman #1 is a shockingly effective and showy slice of summer event comics.