The relationship between the Swordsman and Quoi is explored in this one-shot! Come see why these characters have decided to wage war on all animal life! Read Full Review

Alex Paknadel again does a good job giving readers of Empyre a more in-depth look at two of the Event's villains, and as someone new to the Cotati, I appreciated it. Sure, the release's timing feels a little off, but the story and art made up for it. If you want to get a peek into the Cotati Swordsman's mind and see why Quoi would go along with his plan, check this out. Read Full Review

Any reader of Empyre should consider Swordsman #1 a necessary addition and those avoiding events may still find lots to appreciate about this striking one-shot. Read Full Review

This is a good look at a father and son dynamic we don't often see in comics. There isn't quite enough here to make it totally believable, but I find the approach admirable and I'm looking forward to seeing Paknadel do more, possibly in a longer format, as he's clearly skilled at touching on human emotion and interactions. As it stands, this issue continues to inform readers of how Quoi got here and why the villain in the story is actually relatable. Read Full Review

Just another good issue from Paknadel and company. Art was better than the previous issue, more suited for the event at hand. This and X-men have been the only tie-ins I could consider good. But issue takes the time to dive into Swordsman and his role in Empyre.

I thought we were going to get a little background of Swordsman before the whole Cocati fiasco, but this deals with the current Swordsman hybrid and his acceptance to the Cocati. And it was still a good issue. Good dialogue, some great moments between Quoi and Swordsman. But towards the end of the issue, I felt like Quoi transformation to hating anything non-plant was just a tad bit rushed or not executed cleanly, given the previous issue dealing with Quoi and his mother. I just wished we saw more of the Old Swordsman's past to connect with the last issue. Still, overall a good tie-in and Empyre fans should certainly check this out. more

I feel like these last two one-shots are so incredibly necessary to understanding the antagonists of the Empyre event, and I'm so perplexed that this isn't really explored in the main event. This was good. Very necessary.

A run-in with Alchemax leaves a Cotati tree-grove devastated and leads Swordsman and Quoi to change their thinking. This issue is far from flawless -- the dialogue is stiff in a Star-Wars-y (bad Star Wars) way. But the character developments are great, and they illuminate how these characters went from outsider heroes to genocidal maniacs.

Interesting. This issue is all about Quoi and Swordsman's past and their motivations to start the Empyre war. Also, it shows the dark sides of human nature once again. Not very entertaining or funny to read, but a decent story.

This was just not super fun to read, I’ll be honest with you. It was no doubt important for the motivations of the antagonists, but I wish it had been written more tightly.