WARNING: The following contains spoilers for S.W.O.R.D. #1 by Al Ewing, Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia, VC's Ariana Maher, and Tom Muller, on sale now.

Since the island nation of Krakoa was established in last year's House of X, mutants with both brilliant and terrifying histories have been welcomed alongside the X-Men to forge their futures together. Now that a new day has dawned for mutants after their victory in X of Swords, there is much work to be done, including the formation of the mutant space program.

And in S.W.O.R.D. #1, one of the most reviled mutants in the Marvel Universe, Fabian Cortez, has an incredibly important job, even if it is much to the chagrin of their teammates.

Aboard the Peak, the former S.W.O.R.D. space station, are a handful of mutants leading their kind into the future. A group of mutants known as the Six combine their abilities to form a circuit of sorts that allows them to accomplish more than they ever could alone. In this circuit, Fabian Cortez amplifies everyone's powers to make things run smoothly.

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Introduced in 1991's X-Men #1 and created by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, Fabian Cortez first appeared as one of the Acolytes, a group of mutants dedicated to Magneto's cause at the time, leading them to Asteroid M. Once everyone was in place, Cortez arranged for Asteroid M, and everyone aboard it to think that Magneto had been killed, turning the elder mutant into a martyr that would inspire others to take up his mission.

The Acolyte Neophyte discovered this treachery, and the Acolytes abandoned him once he had revealed what Cortez had done. Cortez was also a member of the Upstarts, a group of mutants being observed and scored by the mysterious Gamesmaster as they murdered other mutants. Cortez later suffered further humiliation when Magneto returned shortly before Cortez went through one of several apparent deaths at the hands of Exodus. Most recently, he resurfaced with the resurgent Upstarts and perished shortly before the Krakoan era began.

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During Magneto's tour of the S.W.O.R.D. facility, he is approached by Cortez, who speaks in a nervous, overly eloquent manner when addressing Magneto, attempting to apologize for his previous actions before being cut off. On their way out of the room, Magneto whispers to Abigail, wondering why Cortez was chosen, to which she tells him that he was the best option they had for a power booster on short notice.  As unnerved as everyone else seems to be by Cortez's presence, he isn't picking up on it. When Cortez finally takes his place alongside the rest of the Six, he continues rubbing people the wrong way. They all have a particular role to play and Cortez is quick to remind the others that without him the circuit fails, underscoring and overinflating his importance to the team.

Fabian Cortez is not a good guy, even when he's ostensibly playing the hero. Few people in the Marvel Universe tolerate him, and it's unclear whether there is a single soul that genuinely enjoys his presence. Still, there is always a place for nearly every mutant on Krakoa, even the problematic ones. The new position that he holds might have gone to his head, but the mutants back on Earth are probably fine with Cortez having a bloated ego as long as he stays far, far away.

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