Image Comics' "We Stand On Guard " Finally Arrives in July!

Remember this? I believe it was first announced in January. I checked Image solicitations eagerly every month since and it's finally paid off.

SAGA writer BRIAN K. VAUGHAN teams with artistic legend and MATRIX storyboard artist STEVE SKROCE for an action-packed military thriller that will have everyone talking!  

100 years from now, a heroic band of Canadian civilians must defend their homeland from invasion...by the United States of America! 

The hyper-detailed combat between badass freedom fighters and giant f***ing robots begins with a spectacular 40-PAGE FIRST ISSUE for the regular price of just $2.99!

Newsarama adds:

We Stand On Guard's cast is led off by a young woman named Amber who join a Canadian militia that takes their name from the size of a case of beer in Canada -- "The Two-Four."  

Steve Skroce comes from a long career in comics, but he's best known these days as the go-to storyboard artist for the Wachowskis' such as in The Matrix, Speed Racer and Jupiter Ascending. While Vaughan came to him with the idea of We Stand On Guard featuring giant robots, it was Skroce who added the idea of it being based on creatures like gorillas and wolves.

The Newsarama page linked above displays a few pages of art, including the one below of what I assume to be the bulk of the cast of Two-Four.

A USA Today article adds:

America will largely be a faceless antagonist in the series, and there'll be a slow burn in finding out the country's true motivations behind the attack. Whatever the reason, it really doesn't matter for the Canadians affected. 

"They're not politicians, they're not even career soldiers," Vaughan says. "They're just everyday average Canadians who see their land invaded by someone who doesn't belong there. They're not as concerned about the why of it all as they are about keeping their friends alive one more day." 

... 

Skroce says he focused on making the 22nd-century versions of Canada and the USA familiar to modern eyes while also imagining a world where much of today's predictions came true. "So Neo Ottawa has some vertical agriculture solutions in its skyline and buildings that maybe suggest alternative energy sources but it's still recognizable." 

Adds Vaughan: "Even though the story's been written by an ugly American … it won't be radically different in every way." 

We Stand on Guard was born partly out of an experience at a comic convention with Vaughan and his Y: The Last Man collaborator, Vancouver artist Pia Guerra. A proud Cleveland son, Vaughan stated on a panel that Superman was a creation of his hometown, but he was reminded by his colleague that one of the men responsible for the iconic hero, Joe Shuster, was from Toronto.

"It almost came to blows," Vaughan jokes. 

So, that whole thing about Canadians being nicer? "There is no truth to that whatsoever," he says with a laugh. "They're much smarter, better educated and are quick to remind us at every turn."

And don't you forget it!

Unfortunately, this is only a six-issue mini, but hopefully it will be successful enough to warrant a second volume.