S.W.O.R.D. #9 - "Friends in High Places"

[laughing_tree]

Yeah, I try to stay conscious of the real world as well as the sci-fi world I’m writing. Although when you get deep into that sci-fi world, it can bring up some very crunchy, interesting metaphors — I’ve seen a lot of back and forth online about Crucible and what it means to different people. Part of the interesting thing of this world the X-team built before I turned up is how it rewards going in and testing it. It’s there to be questioned and thought about, I think. -- Al Ewing

Comments

[arilou_skiff]

Ewing tends to be a good writer, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt that the entire "The bright new mutant society ends up just recreating american imperialism" is deliberate.

[tinygaylaura]

Ah yes the evil imperialist mutants, villainously uh....defending themselves from an assasination team sent by a psychotic fascist who is allied with literal nazis

The bastards

How dare they not let humans murder, persecute and oppress them!

[cainofdreaming]

Umm, literal nazis live (lived? Did Struckers end up in the queue, I forget?) on the island too. So that's perhaps not the best avenue to call out someone.

[lordultimus]

I think they were talking about Brand assassinating Snarks and gaslighting Emperor Hulkling.

[jlbarnett]

so imperialism isn't imperialism when you're doing it back to someone.

[silverhammerman]

IMO that's been hanging over a bunch of books, and my feelings are similar. Ewing is a smart writer, and given that he's British I think he might be a little more aware of the sins of empire than some of the Americans seem to be. On the other hand, we're two years into the Krakoan status quo and I've gotten a little sick of waiting around for this stuff.

For as much as this topic has been debated in this community, I think I'll be happy either way. Either the thing that I want to happen (the repudiation of imperialism in all its forms) will happen and I'll be pleased, or it won't, and a decade from now grad students will finally have a new X-Men research topic to replace "reading The Dark Phoenix Saga as a story about feminine power/fear of feminine power" when they talk about the weird politics of this era.

[alliterator]

How did they recreate an imperialism? Please tell me. Whom did they oppress?

[lordultimus]

You... you do realize that is just "a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force", right?

[tinygaylaura]

They're villainously oppressing racists, neo-nazis and genocidal psychopaths by standing in the way of their "Right" to oppress, enslave persecute and attempt to genocide an entire people and culture!

HOW DARE THEY

[arilou_skiff]

They've been extending their power in order to manipulate galactic politics in a whole variety of ways (military/political, like assassinating political enemies, economic, diplomatic, and of course there's the outright claiming of territory with the terraforming of Mars)

This mimics (and I think deliberately) aspects of how american hegemony was established.

Krakoa is a nation, and it is acting like an Empire. A better one than most, to be sure, but it's a bit disappointing that they'd just repeat humanity's pattern with a different coat of paint rather tahn do something wild and interesting.

[cainofdreaming]

This kind of was posted already -- https://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/9440800.html#cutid1 . Sword tag was just missing.

Edit - Ah, I now noticed that some of the scans from that post were removed. So, nevermind.

[tinygaylaura]

For those worried that they've turned Whiz Kid evil here, the next issue reveals he is indeed a triple agent working for Brand to trick Gyrich and the ORCHIS morons he works with and that he's 100% loyal to both S.W.O.R.D and to Krakoa

I breathed a sigh of relief because making the only disabled character in the book be evil would not have been great

I hoped that Ewing wouldn't do that and I was glad to see my faith rewarded there

[lordultimus]

OTOH, we find out that Krakoa treats disabled people as alternatively cringe and an object of pity. So much for being better than humans.

[mindsweeper]

I haven't read the issue, yet, but it's a shame to read that Ewing would do that.

The portrayal of disabilities has been one of those contentious points in fan discussions I've seen. I've read basically three POVs ... (1) fans who believe that every disability should be erased in the resurrection protocols, (2) those who look at it case-by-case, e.g., Destiny (born blind) vs. Karma (most of her life was with two legs), and (3) don't erase any disability, it's important to show it.

[tinygaylaura]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

No

We don't?

Whiz Kid talks about how some INDIVIDUALS on Krakoa can be just as ableist as humans because Krakoa is not some Borg Cube hive mind where everyone is exactly identical and thinks the same thoughts

And they say that some individuals on Krakoa think that their CODE NAME is "Cringe" not their disability

Their actual thoughts about Krakoa as a NATION is that Krakoa is a country where everyone has free healthcare and there's no institutional racism or ableism in terms of its government or the opportunities afforded to people so it's BETTER than any human nation in that regard

[alliterator]

"OTOH, we find out that Krakoa treats disabled people as alternatively cringe and an object of pity."

No, they don't. I don't know where you read that, but nothing in this or the next issue shows them treating disabled people as either one of those. In fact, Wiz Kid clearly states that he doesn't want to be resurrected, so is fine staying disabled.

[icon_uk]

Do they? We only getting Taki's POV when he says that, and his perceptions may not reflect the actual reality.

He may well be right, so I hope I'm not sounding dismissive, but he's always been the argumentative sort too.

[mindsweeper]

Isn't it bad form to spoil issue 10 in a thread about issue 9, especially on the morning when it comes out and many have not had a chance to read it?

[onsokumaru]

I'm baffled that some people thought that in [current year] a Marvel writer would turn a POC into a traitor.

[shakalooloo]

Not really a shcok twist, since Brand is standing right behind him in that final panel. He's have to be the worst double agent ever to treacherously gloat with his boss standing by his shoulder!

[laughing_tree]

PLEASE don't spoil a comic that just CAME OUT TODAY.

It's one thing to talk about stuff that happens in the issue that's being posted from; people go in expecting that. But you're spoiling the *next* issue.

[scorntx]

Ah. Brand is planning to go for the "you'll thank me for this later" defence.
Always a popular one.
Makes a change from "I did what I HAD to do!" or "you need a necessary bastard" or "you don't understand!"
Though there's always something to be said for a heartfelt, condescending "it's for your own good!"


Seeing Ewing dipping back into some of the old 2000AD style humour with the ad page.
Meanwhile, "frequencies of infrashame." Very Morrison-y.

[tinygaylaura]

I mean yes, it is always far easier to ask forgiveness than permission

[blueprintstyles]

I'm still 100% behind the mutants despite Beast's BS.

[tinygaylaura]

When Beast does bad things and is found out Krakoa makes him undo what he did and slaps him down

When Gyrich does bad things he gets a promotion and a budget increase

Mutantkind is definitely the side to root for here, even with their flaws