One year after Marvel and writer Jonathan Hickman announced his upcoming X-Men run in House of X / Powers of X, Hickman and company returned to Chicago’s C2E2 to announce the upcoming X-Men summer crossover X of Swords.
Pronounced “Ten” of Swords, the event marks the first crossover in the Dawn of X and the X-Men’s Krakoa era, with 17 issues currently included as part of the collected final story. In addition to core event “X of Swords” issues, the event will primarily run through X-Men and Excalibur (with tie-ins to seemingly every book except Children of the Atom).
Immediately after the announcement, I put together an extensive video theory on what I expect from X of Swords, and as more comics and information has come out, I feel even better about the predictions, which primarily center around X of Swords as an event committed to Apocalypse history with Krakoa, Arakko, and his true first horsemen! Check it all out below:
The Road to X of Swords
As you’d expect, the best approach to prepare for X of Swords is to start with the Comic Book Herald guide to House of X / Powers of X and the Dawn of X!
If you don’t want to read everything in the Dawn of X to date, I’d recommend paying attention to the following comics (after House and Powers which are absolutely essential)!
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In particular, X-Men #2 by Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu adds to the mythology of Arakko, the separated other half of the sentient mutant island Krakoa.
While I’ve been critical of the opening arc by extremely gifted creators Tini Howard and Marcus To, Excalibur #9 really marks the start of the march to X of Swords, and has me excited about the title again.
The first (apparent) sword is revealed in an outstanding opening issue by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto!
X of Swords Collected Editions
Collects: X Of Swords: Creation (2020) 1, X Of Swords: Stasis (2020) 1, X Of Swords: Destruction (2020) 1, X-Men (2019) 12-14, Excalibur (2019) 12-14, Marauders (2019) 13, X-Force (2019) 13, New Mutants (2019) 13, Wolverine (2020) 6, Cable (2020) 5, Hellions (2020) 5, X-Factor (2020) 4, X Of Swords: TBD (2020) 1
X of Swords Reading Checklist
Free Comic Book Day 2020: X-Men (July 15)
You can find all my X of Swords issue by issue coverage on CBH’s Krakin’ Krakoa.
Excalibur #15
X-Men #15
X of Swords: Destruction #1
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