Attention, Joss Whedon fans. Issue number 13 of Astonishing X-Men (the first of Whedon and John Cassaday's second "season") is out this week. Some great call-backs to Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly's run on New X-Men (a preview is available online), but more than that it features the return of Special Agent Abigail Brand of SWORD (Sentient World Observation and Response Department), my favorite new character in the Marvel Universe since, well, a damned long while. SWORD is a sister organization to SHIELD, the long-running multinational secret agency of the Marvel Universe, but where the latter is involved primarily in international affairs, SWORD is all about protecting Earth from extraterrestrial menaces.

"Well that's the problem with living in the clouds, Commander..." says Brand to new head of SHIELD, onboard the Helicarrier, the agency's flying headquarters. "You can't see the big picture from this far down." Whereat Brand jumps into her rocket, and heads back to the Peak, SWORD's orbital headquarters.

Awesome.

If you're waiting for the trades on this one, you're missing out.