The story begins at S.W.O.R.D. headquarters, where it is quickly established that Henry Gyrich has been named co-commander of S.W.O.R.D., much to the obvious dismay of Abigail Brand, thanks to Brand’s failure to prevent the Skrull invasion of Earth. The two begin their morning with insults, jokes, and other humorous quips designed to annoy one another. Elsewhere, Lockheed is doing his best to become a very drunk dragon—which, in itself, is pretty funny—as Sydren fails to stop him. All the while Beast—drawn with a decidedly wolf-ish muzzle—is making his way to HQ.

Brand, along with Beast, deals with the arrival of her half-brother Lothi, who has been chased by a large and almost whimsical space-guy known as Death’s Head, whilst Sydren attempts to keep a group of Drenx Pirates (referred to as Reds) busy. Death’s head captures Lothi and escapes, prompting Brand, Beast, and Lockheed to pursue them. Gyrich, who has thus far proven himself to be a scheming hater of aliens after only one issue, holds a meeting with “those who must be obeyed” wherein he lays out his plan to protect the Earth from aliens by removing any and all aliens or half-aliens from Earth and “sending them all home.”

Thus concludes the first chapter of a rather exciting new series. Gillen brings the science and the romantic comedy to a perfect blend, aided quite beautifully by Sanders’s art. To be negative for a brief moment, I have three points of criticism: 1.) John Cassaday’s recycled “main characters in front of a Planet Earth Seen From Space Backdrop” cover, 2.) Beast looks more like a wolf-man than a cat-man (which is interesting and well-drawn, but a rather dramatic change in appearance), and 3.) Gyrich displays a series of images depicting aliens currently residing on Earth. One of them is the Runaways’ Nico Minoru, although she is not an alien. The picture should be of Karolina Dean (also of the Runaways), whom Gillen has stated will appear in the series. It’s a minor mess-up, but nevertheless a strange one to have gotten past the book’s editor.

I would be remiss were I not to mention that the back-up story—wonderfully drawn by McKelvie--deals with the current status of one Kitty Pryde.

Overall, S.W.O.R.D. #1 is an exciting book that must be read by fans of Whedon’s Astonishing and of good comics in general. You simply owe it to yourself. (Note: While many details were given in this review, several more were left out. You'll have to read the book to see for yourself!)