Advance Review: We Stand On Guard #2

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan / Artist: Steve Skroce / Image Comics Back for the first time is Brian Vaughan and Steve Skroce’s We Stand On Guard – a dystopia in the not-too-distant future that draws Canada as the formidable hero. That’s right, someone had to rep our northern neighbors on comic panels after Death of Wolverine happened and Vaughan and Skroce answered the call. And man, they don’t shy away from painting the United States’ villainy in an unflattering light. The cover art shows the USA flag strewn over a pile of debris from a destroyed Dog of War as our merry band of Canadian freedom fighters walk in a line presumably humming “Whistle While You Work.” Then we have an American soldier literally kick down the door waivin’ the 4-4 and straight up point the toast to your grandma’s head. It’s real out here, fam. But I ain’t even mad.

Issue #2 brings us closer into world of the Two Four, as expected. We see where they live, we get insight from a team member or two, and we’re introduced to another angle of the story. What’s done well is that we’re learning through the discovery of Amber, who the Two Four is still leery about, so readers are given information with the same suspicion that a rogue group of fighters would be willing to offer, which is to say they give very little. Most of what we’re learning about this brave new world is through reading like a detective, making a few guesses, and picking up whatever clues you can find in the panels. You won’t read a character t…