The Sword, Volume 1: Fire

There are lots of stories where someone finds out that everything they know is wrong, but The Sword shows how great they can be. Dara Brighton is a paraplegic college student at home with her family one night when three mysterious strangers with supernatural powers break in. They keep calling her father Demetrios and demanding that he turn a sword over to them.

When he refuses to acknowledge what they are saying or possessing any sword, they kill him and then turn to killing his family. They do not kill Dara but leave her without hope of escape in a burning house. As the house collapses she falls into a space underneath the foundation and finds a sword sticking in the ground. When she grasps it, she is instantly imbued with incredible power and can again walk. After she escapes this wreck, she begins to piece together what has happened, beginning with the possibility that her father was over 3000 years old.

The Luna Brothers, Jonathan and Joshua, are both graduates of the Savannah College of Art and Design. They have created a number of comics series through Image Comics, including Ultra and Girls. More about their work can be found at their official site. More about their views and thoughts on The Sword can be read in this interview or this one for the Onion A.V. Club.

The Sword originated as a monthly comic book series that began in October, 2007, and it is still being published. In the end, there will be four collections of the story, and the following volumes will be Water, Earth, and finally Air. Reviews have been largely enthusiastic. Eric Rupe called it a "must read." Nina Stone called it "a thrilling, original, edge-of-your-seat, read with compelling yet easy-on-the-eyes artwork." More reviews can be read at Goodreads.

Read the first issue of the series here for free.