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X of Swords

X of Swords

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-21 11:51:14
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Jonathan Hickman
  • ISBN：1302927175
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

A tower。 A mission。 A gathering of armies。 Swords will be drawn in the first epic crossover of the astonishing Dawn of X！ Wolverine， the X-Men， Cable， X-Force， Excalibur， X-Factor， the New Mutants， the Marauders， the Hellions and the rest of Krakoa’s residents will all feel the effects — but which ten mutants will wield the blades？ Weapons both new and familiar are drawn from their scabbards as the X-Men prepare to do mythic battle against a truly daunting foe！ Jonathan Hickman and his fellow visionary creators — who have painstakingly put all the pieces into place during Dawn of X — join forces to smash the board！

Collects: X of Swords: Creation （2020） #1， X of Swords: Stasis （2020） #1， X of Swords: Destruction （2020） #1， X-Men （2019） #12-15， Excalibur （2019） #13-15， Marauders （2019） #13-15， X-Force （2019） #13-14， New Mutants （2019） #13， Wolverine （2020） #6-7， Cable （2020） #5-6， Hellions （2020） #5-6， X-Factor （2020） #4。

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Reviews

Amanda ，

Spring 2020 （April）; Dawn of X （Vol。 11-16）X of Swords （full）Reign of X （Vol。 1-7）** As a spoiler warning， do not read this review unless you've read all of the above issues， not just the volume where you've found this review。 **I did a massive multi-volume， multi-arc blitz recently and so I'm going to just drop a lot of what's hot here & going to be copying it down across a million books。 My favorite thing literally is now and forever the Polycule going on in Summer House。 I love his universe a Spring 2020 （April）; Dawn of X （Vol。 11-16）X of Swords （full）Reign of X （Vol。 1-7）** As a spoiler warning， do not read this review unless you've read all of the above issues， not just the volume where you've found this review。 **I did a massive multi-volume， multi-arc blitz recently and so I'm going to just drop a lot of what's hot here & going to be copying it down across a million books。 My favorite thing literally is now and forever the Polycule going on in Summer House。 I love his universe and am certainly very curious about the things still hiding in the shadows。 I'm glad Kitty found her way through that thing。 I'm glad we didn't lose Betsy while we were in the other universe where death *sort of* sticks。 Excalibur remains the most arrestingly gorgeous art。 I'm still not interested in the one and only story comics know how to tell with Beast。 I love the whole council and can't stop cooing over Erik as the Left Hand/Charles as the right （and even more so the bits where/how Jean & Scott are off to reform the X-Men #goodboy）。 Jeanne & The Twins， in general， are back and I'm super duper in love with that。 I really madly adore that there isn't any vast soap opera drama with any relationships or old bad blood that can't be given a new chance in Krakoa。 There's such a breath of fresh air reading a lot of the choices Hickman and his writers have made。 Illyana remains a badass demon-sorceress at all times， and Ororo remains a goddess。 I loved all the Giant-Size art across Emma， Jean， Ororo。 。。。more

James ，

Man I had so much stuff going that stopped me from finishing this。 Well it’s done now。 This book started off with so much promise。 Even tho I was shaky （ and still am） about Amenth and Arakko as far as where they are located， I was still into the build up of the story。 Watching some of the characters go on their quests to find their swords and the how the odds were stacking up against them as they marched towards the coming contest of swords was a great ride。 Plus the artwork was great。 Everyone Man I had so much stuff going that stopped me from finishing this。 Well it’s done now。 This book started off with so much promise。 Even tho I was shaky （ and still am） about Amenth and Arakko as far as where they are located， I was still into the build up of the story。 Watching some of the characters go on their quests to find their swords and the how the odds were stacking up against them as they marched towards the coming contest of swords was a great ride。 Plus the artwork was great。 Everyone brought their A game。 Then at the halfway mark going into chapter 12 their was probably the biggest tone shift I’ve seen in a comic。 It went from a serious big sweeping grand epic kind of feel to being really silly and goofy。 Saturnyne started changing up the battles and had them doing some really dumb stuff。 （ side note， I don’t like her， Betsy or half the quiet council after reading this） after those couple issues the story did get back to the serious tone but still had some more confusing parts。 Saturnyne seemed to have control of everything and everyone had to do what she set forth but then that went out the window and the Arakko folks stopped listening to her and started to try to kill everyone。 Then the Hellions and Sinisters side quest seemed useless。 Something major happened to Havok that we didn’t even get to see。 Huh？ Then what Sinister did to them was just left out there without being addressed。 Man this book hurt me as I was so hyped to read it only to be left feeling a bit lost and unsatisfied。 。。。more

Theo Kallström ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Read everything except for the Excalibur and Cable issues。 Interesting crossover event， feeling refreshingly small-scale compared to Empyre and War of the Realms。 The art is great throughout， while the story focuses on the search or the swords during the first half and the tournament itself during the second half。 It never felt truly epic until the final issue。 I like the focus on Apocalypse and his family， but the Otherworld/Arrakko backstory stuff felt a bit heavy at times。 Other than that I f Read everything except for the Excalibur and Cable issues。 Interesting crossover event， feeling refreshingly small-scale compared to Empyre and War of the Realms。 The art is great throughout， while the story focuses on the search or the swords during the first half and the tournament itself during the second half。 It never felt truly epic until the final issue。 I like the focus on Apocalypse and his family， but the Otherworld/Arrakko backstory stuff felt a bit heavy at times。 Other than that I felt that the different titles were well utilized， with the Storm/Wakanda issue， the feast issues and the Wolverine/Hellions issues being particular highlights。 。。。more

Tom Ewing ，

X Of Swords is that rare thing， a crossover where the side books are vital to the story。 Not in terms of plot - the 22（！） chapter format makes it look like everything is going to matter， but there’s so much misdirection in play that almost none of it does。Instead the side books here are crucial because they get to keep their tone。 The stuff which sticks with me from this very long story - the stuff which meant I enjoyed it despite its glaring flaws - are the two-part Otherworld dinner in Maraude X Of Swords is that rare thing， a crossover where the side books are vital to the story。 Not in terms of plot - the 22（！） chapter format makes it look like everything is going to matter， but there’s so much misdirection in play that almost none of it does。Instead the side books here are crucial because they get to keep their tone。 The stuff which sticks with me from this very long story - the stuff which meant I enjoyed it despite its glaring flaws - are the two-part Otherworld dinner in Marauders， the side quests in Storm and Cable， and the Hellions’ ridiculous Suicide Squad style raid into Arakko。 By letting those chapters play to their writers’ and characters’ strengths they bring the crossover to life and stop it becoming the slog it so easily could have been。What about the flaws， though？ A lot of the criticism of X Of Swords centres on that misdirection - the nature of which would constitute a big spoiler*， so let’s just say some of the assumptions every character in the first half of the story makes about what’s coming up in the second turn out to be wrong。 I think it works， but I can also see how people NOT reading this as a collection would feel that they’d been tricked into buying a lot of padding。 But for me the crossover just about justifies its length and weird structure。No， the flaws are more to do with something that’s been a lurking issue since day 1 of the Hickman X-era， the threat of the data page tail wagging the story dog。 A lot of the time in X Of Swords it feels like co-writers Hickman and Tini Howard are writing a tabletop RPG sourcebook first and then letting the comic illustrate it。 There’s a ton of worldbuilding by info dump in X Of Swords that feels designed to indulge Hickman’s fetch-quest approach in this area: ten swords for the X-Men， ten all new opponents to introduce， and hey， THEY all have a sword to introduce too， and then there’s the ten kingdoms of Otherworld。。。 I hope you’re taking notes at the back there！In a sense this is justifiable。 If Otherworld is going to keep being prominent in Marvel stories then it needs some fleshing out。 Ditto for Arakko if it’s going to be part of the X Status Quo in future。 But it makes for lumpy， un-resonant storytelling。 At one point there’s a splash page reveal when a character arrives in - dun-dun-DUN - Sevalith， and surely the intended reaction wasn’t a sigh and a “wait which one is that again？”The sourcebook style of data pages is one way they can be misused。 The other way is how they often work in Excalibur- as way of explaining what just happened when the actual storytelling was too cryptic。 And since X Of Swords is springing out of Excalibur story threads， and Tini Howard is co-writing， the problem recurs。 It’s especially aggravating when one of the main antagonists is Saturnyne， whose motivations for。。。 well， most of what happens - are left cosmically vague。 A lot of the reason the Marauders issues are so good is that Gerry Duggan gets to write Wolverine as the why-are-we-even-in-this-crossover guy: his frustration is at least partly the readers。In the end X Of Swords works， just about。 The bookend issues have enough excitement and solid payoffs to elevate the padding。 The Marauders and Hellions issues are excellent。 The new status quo complicates the Krakoan setup in ominous ways （though this isn’t made clear until the post-crossover issue of X-Men）。 The art is varied and strong throughout。 It’s the best Apocalypse story since the big one （this is not a hard bar to clear）。 It is a good time - it’s just there’s rather a lot of it。*here instead is a Small Spoiler: The X-Men finally get to save the world by means of a dance-off， and they didn’t get Kieron Gillen to write it。 For shame， Marvel。 For shame。 。。。more

Joshua Lawson ，

Okay。 I read every Dawn of X trade going into this。 Everything。 So this huge collected 22-chapter crossover was very much a test as to whether reading every X-book coming out is worth it and having read everything directly preceding X of Swords I often had no idea what was happening and only very rarely could grasp why something was happening。Like， the whole thing， I still don’t understand why。 You can tell me the Twilight Sword of the enemy split so and so in two over and over I still don’t tot Okay。 I read every Dawn of X trade going into this。 Everything。 So this huge collected 22-chapter crossover was very much a test as to whether reading every X-book coming out is worth it and having read everything directly preceding X of Swords I often had no idea what was happening and only very rarely could grasp why something was happening。Like， the whole thing， I still don’t understand why。 You can tell me the Twilight Sword of the enemy split so and so in two over and over I still don’t totally get who the enemy is or where they come from etc， etc。 One thing reading comics， particularly the work of Grant Morrison， has taught me is that sometimes you have to take a staring at face value。 Sometimes a statement is an answer and invites no further questions beyond the speculation of your own imagination。 Sometimes “the sky is red” means the sky is red， y’know？ So with that in mind there were plenty of occurrences here that I tried to take at face value， that I tried to accept as answers to themselves， but nah man， nah。But I had fun， and while reading all the other Dawn of X stuff didn’t help me understand anything I do thing reading all the other Dawn of X stuff was the only reason I was able to have fun。 Big ups in particular to the two Hellions chapters of the crossover， which were excellent。 And big ups to every time a great artist draws an awesome page of a team of psychos I never met in my life and then the next page is a breakdown of each psycho with a brief bio that’s just real grade-A imagination fodder。Anyway if whatever the hell Otherworld is， and I’ve read two trades and a 22-chapter crossover on it and I still have only the loosest sense of that， could never come up again I’d be totally fine with that no big deal。 But this was fun， and I think just the right amount of material to sate my X-thirst until the next wave of collections come out in August or whenever。 。。。more

Sarah Smith ，

I like the characters， I love the plot and everything about this book。 Good job writer！ If you have some great stories like this one， you can publish it on NovelStar， just submit your story to hardy@novelstar。top or joye@novelstar。top

Fernando Delgado ，

Un evento espectacular， aunque excesivo en su extensión: la mitad de los capítulos sobran por completo， hay dos o tres subtramas bastante prescindibles。 Pero lo que es el tronco， y en particular los números de Pepe Larraz， son impresionantes visualmente y hacen avanzar la historia de los Mutantes y Krakoa a su próximo capítulo。No es un cambio de statu quo como lo fue House of X， es más bien la apertura del siguiente episodio。 El resultado es continuista， pero continuando algo que ya iba muy bien Un evento espectacular， aunque excesivo en su extensión: la mitad de los capítulos sobran por completo， hay dos o tres subtramas bastante prescindibles。 Pero lo que es el tronco， y en particular los números de Pepe Larraz， son impresionantes visualmente y hacen avanzar la historia de los Mutantes y Krakoa a su próximo capítulo。No es un cambio de statu quo como lo fue House of X， es más bien la apertura del siguiente episodio。 El resultado es continuista， pero continuando algo que ya iba muy bien。 。。。more

Christian Zamora-Dahmen ，

Two stars the first half。 Four stars the second one。This was an odd event。 It involved too many issues and wasted half of them on this search for these swords that had very little to do with the characters and ended up adding nothing to the main plot。 It’s evident Tini Howard has her thing about fantasy and stuff， which is fine， but she forced these ideas into a story that didn’t really had a place for most of this stuff。Also， this first half was plagued with a serious narrative problem: “tellin Two stars the first half。 Four stars the second one。This was an odd event。 It involved too many issues and wasted half of them on this search for these swords that had very little to do with the characters and ended up adding nothing to the main plot。 It’s evident Tini Howard has her thing about fantasy and stuff， which is fine， but she forced these ideas into a story that didn’t really had a place for most of this stuff。Also， this first half was plagued with a serious narrative problem: “telling instead of showing。” Every issue had these huge text descriptions of the worlds， their leaders， their hierarchy。。。 when the story was actually about something else。 They were part of it， of course， but none of that information mattered in the end。 Not in a way that it got built into the story。 That was a distracting waste of space and momentum。The second part was odd in a different way。 The battles were something different than what we were thought to believe。 For starters， the swords didn’t matter at all。 And it became a bit corky at times， but that’s okay， I can roll with the punches。 As a whole， I expected way more of this event。 I could feel that Hickman was not that involved and the lack of his guiding hand was way too obvious。 On the other hand， Tini Howard got a lot of room， but you have to take a look at her Excalibur issues before this event， and you get the idea how she approaches these stories。So， for me， it’s a mixed bag。 There were some beautiful moments， lots of wasted time， and most of the first half could have been one single issue。 。。。more

Nick Hayes ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The endless eternity of lockdown has at least given me a lot of time to read comics， something I previously hadn't indulged in beyond a few graphic novels。 Since I have a lot of time to read， this has led me to binge reading a chunk of marvels back catalogue。 One thing I have noticed is that regardless of which series you're reading at any given time， it's inevitable that some sort of crossover event will occur - some sort of big in-universe event that crosses the stories of multiple series。 Som The endless eternity of lockdown has at least given me a lot of time to read comics， something I previously hadn't indulged in beyond a few graphic novels。 Since I have a lot of time to read， this has led me to binge reading a chunk of marvels back catalogue。 One thing I have noticed is that regardless of which series you're reading at any given time， it's inevitable that some sort of crossover event will occur - some sort of big in-universe event that crosses the stories of multiple series。 Sometimes these seem to be handled with almost petulant resignation by some of the writers and make the barest attempt to link up， while others are clearly much more thought through。 X of Swords is the first big crossover event in the X-men's latest set up， and I am happy to say it is very much in the latter category。 I'd actually read a few issues of this previously， mainly in the newest Excalibur series and one brief interlude in the new X-factor series （both very much worth checking out if you're into those kind of things）。 I didn't realise that it was quite such a big event - it turns out it covers 22 issues， which would explain why I didn't really know what was going on。 I found the entire series at a big old discount so I bought it， and I'm glad I did。 Being able to read the whole storyline as one work made it （unsurprisingly） feel a lot more cohesive， and you can see how all the different issues fit together （also， it means you don't have to be simultaneously reading about 5 or 6 different comic series）。 Ultimately， the premise is that in order to avoid an interdimensional war， the mutants must participate in a tournament consisting of a series of challenges and duels， which in turn are being manipulated by their organiser， the somewhat motivationally ambiguous Saturnyne。 One of the things about the series I enjoyed most was seeing Apocalypse as a protagonist - as someone who grew up with the X-men in the 90s I knew him only as a villain， so seeing him on the other side was quite an interesting experience。 Seeing Saturnyne， who throughout most of the story was an unflappable chessmaster realise she has screwed up her own game is also quite satisfying。 Much of her reasons for manipulating the tournament was to get the former Captain Britain （Brian Braddock） back and as her consort， Captain Britain's position currently being held by his sister Betsy （aka Psylocke， sort of）。 Despite all her machinations， she fails to achieve this， which is quite satisfying given what she puts our protagonists through。 X of Swords has definitely changed my view on crossover events - previously I had not read one as a whole cohesive story， getting only bits and pieces of them。 With the next big marvel crossover event coming up， The Hellfire Gala， I'm definitely now a lot more interested in branching out。 I have fallen to the forces of commercialism。 Curses。 。。。more

Matthew Quann ，

I read the much-anticipated big X-event of 2020 on the Marvel Unlimited comics app which let me get all set up with the necessary lead-ins。 The most important being one of my favourite reads of last year， House of X/Powers of X。 While lots of the mutant books have dealt with challenges faced by the mutants， this is the first real threat against Krakoan dominion。 Before we go into the event， here's what I recommend reading of the new series as a lead-in to this main event:-X-Men-Excalibur-Maraude I read the much-anticipated big X-event of 2020 on the Marvel Unlimited comics app which let me get all set up with the necessary lead-ins。 The most important being one of my favourite reads of last year， House of X/Powers of X。 While lots of the mutant books have dealt with challenges faced by the mutants， this is the first real threat against Krakoan dominion。 Before we go into the event， here's what I recommend reading of the new series as a lead-in to this main event:-X-Men-Excalibur-Marauders （my favourite of the new status quo）X of Swords pulls on one of the threads from Hickman's big relaunch: the separation of Krakoa and Arrako。 Primarily， this series zeroes-in on Apocalypse's long history with the realm and his familial ties to the mutants left behind。 The main event is framed as a tournament of swords between ten mutants of Krakoa and ten of Arrako to be settled on the shifting ground of Otherworld。Hijinks ensue and the series actually has a pretty whimsical bent during the competition。 Occasionally it'll veer into the more serious， but it saves the real dramatic moments for the last few issues。 It is a good collection of comics with some tie-ins that could have been cut （Hellions， I'm looking at you）， but doesn't get near the heights achieved by Hickman's Hox/Pox。 Glad to have read this and I'm very excited to see where the world goes next！ 。。。more

Tim ，

This ruled

Rylan ，

This was a hefty read， originally X of Swords was intended to be 12 issues but covid hit and for some reason they thought adding 10 more was a good idea。 I think they should’ve stuck with 12 the story is way to drawn out and unnecessarily confusing at times。 I will say I am a sucker for tournament arcs so I did enjoy the story for the most part and Storm was an absolute badass in here I love seeing her get some spotlight。

Matty Dub ，

This is a hard one to review。 I think it’s important to mention I had access to the whole event and so I wasn’t subjected to the weekly wait which I can only assume enhanced my experience greatly。 This is big and for the most part very entertaining。 I didn’t feel any bloating since most of the issues that didn’t really drive the narrative forward were very fast reads and were usually followed by good issues。For the first half this is very much a 5 star event， despite not feeling like a classic H This is a hard one to review。 I think it’s important to mention I had access to the whole event and so I wasn’t subjected to the weekly wait which I can only assume enhanced my experience greatly。 This is big and for the most part very entertaining。 I didn’t feel any bloating since most of the issues that didn’t really drive the narrative forward were very fast reads and were usually followed by good issues。For the first half this is very much a 5 star event， despite not feeling like a classic Hickman event （I’m still waiting for that one）。 The stakes are high and the buildup is tense and had me super excited。 Also worth noting is that even the X-series I don’t usually care for were great in this event， everything felt natural moving from their regular narratives into this story。With the exception of one uncharacteristically bad issue by Asrar （X-Men #15）， this book is gorgeous to look at。 The visual storytelling on display is stunning and if I’m honest， those Larraz issues make the event worth the price of admission alone。Now the bad。 Saturnyne and her whims， her silly contests that make absolutely no sense half the time cheapened everything， made the tension disappear and really turned the whole thing into a farce。 The issues where that takes place is where the bloat is。When the rules of engagement are set by her at the beginning， you except something that looks a lot more like the ending of the event and a lot less like her juvenile whims displayed from part 13 to 21。That crap sucks but it’s not enough to drag this book below 4 stars。 The characters are all voiced super well， I almost always had fun while reading it and every X-book was good for the duration of the event。*edit*I forgot to say are much I appreciated the work done on Apocalypse。 He’s one of my favorite villains and this story added so much quality backstory to him and it all lines up super well with his known history。 👌 。。。more

Kevin Duvall ，

Marvel just can’t help themselves when it comes to overstuffing the X-books。 The entire first half of this 22-issue crossover is all about different characters obtaining swords。 Between that and a couple issues in the second half that feel like filler/excuses to sell some extra copies of lower-selling X-Men series， I found myself thinking maybe 12-14 issues would’ve reined in this story to its benefit。 As padded as X of Swords is， though， it ends up pretty satisfying。 It’s really nice to see the Marvel just can’t help themselves when it comes to overstuffing the X-books。 The entire first half of this 22-issue crossover is all about different characters obtaining swords。 Between that and a couple issues in the second half that feel like filler/excuses to sell some extra copies of lower-selling X-Men series， I found myself thinking maybe 12-14 issues would’ve reined in this story to its benefit。 As padded as X of Swords is， though， it ends up pretty satisfying。 It’s really nice to see the X-Men event books move away from the “mutants are on the verge of extinction” plot。 And though the subversion of what most readers probably expect in the second half is a bit jarring at first， I ended up appreciating that it went in a stranger direction than simply having a string of fights。 When it does get to that big ending battle， though， it makes good on the payoff。 。。。more

Marcus ，

why do I keep reading these things

Clint ，

An ambitious， fun， regularly spectacular-looking crossover event that surprised me most of all by making me really care about what was happening amidst its apocalyptic stakes。 The premise suggests several sword duels to the death， which sounds like it would quickly get monotonous and also bump into the constraints of any Big 2 comic event to not actually kill off half the stars of the series involved。 Instead， Hickman and the other series’ writers built this crossover from two equally entertaini An ambitious， fun， regularly spectacular-looking crossover event that surprised me most of all by making me really care about what was happening amidst its apocalyptic stakes。 The premise suggests several sword duels to the death， which sounds like it would quickly get monotonous and also bump into the constraints of any Big 2 comic event to not actually kill off half the stars of the series involved。 Instead， Hickman and the other series’ writers built this crossover from two equally entertaining halves。The thrilling first half chases down the swords needed for the competition while providing interesting background on the opposing team from Arakko。 The back half twisted my expectations with an imaginative and varied format for the competition that made me tense in anticipation， thrill at certain outcomes， and laugh a ton。 I love that there’s actually subtle foreshadowing and payoffs that avoid the unearned deus ex machina that this sort of event tends to use to wrap up a blockbuster climax。 There’s also some actual consequences， most interestingly in the form of new relationships or new dynamics to old relationships， though there’s also an obligatory handful of cast absences going forward that will presumably return at some point。Even the past unevenness of a few of the individual series is handled well， with artists swapping across titles， adding art I loved to series I’ve been cooler on （like Phil Noto drawing Excalibur！） Excalibur is still the weakest series here， which might seem like a problem given the event’s heavy tie to Otherworld happenings， but I found it surprisingly easy to invest in the emotional stakes of the story and characters without really caring about Otherworld or Captain Britain stuff。 The similarly just-okay-so-far X-Factor only gets 1 of the 22 issues。 Beyond those， I really looked forward to each issue of the other series involved （Wolverine， X-Force， Hellions， Cable， X-men， New Mutants， Mauraders， and the three event one-shots） and the slightly different tone and casts they all offered。And now I’m already looking forward to the first wave of trades for Reign of X in a few more months！ 。。。more

Paul E。 Morph ，

Despite my feelings about Hickman’s bowdlerisation of the X-books， this particular crossover wasn’t too awful。 There were as many things I liked about it as there were things I disliked， so the story averaged out OK。 The art was largely pretty good。My next book: Atlantis Attacks Despite my feelings about Hickman’s bowdlerisation of the X-books， this particular crossover wasn’t too awful。 There were as many things I liked about it as there were things I disliked， so the story averaged out OK。 The art was largely pretty good。My next book: Atlantis Attacks 。。。more

Diego ，

Se salva por los impresionantes artistas que ilustran la saga ， pero valiente tontería que se alarga durante 22 números y que en realidad se resuelve en 5。

Bat Man ，

you're damn right i loved X OF SWORDS you're damn right i loved X OF SWORDS 。。。more

Jason ，

5This was very good。 Lots of unexpected twists and turns and a lot of really interesting character development for a lot of characters。 This newer X-Men status quo has created a rich story-telling environment that Hickman and co。 are absolutely taking advantage of。 I have no idea what'll next， which is such a great thing。 5This was very good。 Lots of unexpected twists and turns and a lot of really interesting character development for a lot of characters。 This newer X-Men status quo has created a rich story-telling environment that Hickman and co。 are absolutely taking advantage of。 I have no idea what'll next， which is such a great thing。 。。。more

Kyle Dinges ，

This is X of Swords in its entirety。 Like the rest of the line since Hickman took the wheel， it's a flawed， but mostly successful story。The story takes place over 22 issues。 A jaw-dropping number， to be sure。 Unlike most events， this doesn't really qualify as a crossover。 With most events， you get about 6-8 issues of primary plot and a host of tie-ins that may contribute to the story but are largely ancillary。 X of Swords is an ambitious undertaking in that the vast majority of the 22 issues mak This is X of Swords in its entirety。 Like the rest of the line since Hickman took the wheel， it's a flawed， but mostly successful story。The story takes place over 22 issues。 A jaw-dropping number， to be sure。 Unlike most events， this doesn't really qualify as a crossover。 With most events， you get about 6-8 issues of primary plot and a host of tie-ins that may contribute to the story but are largely ancillary。 X of Swords is an ambitious undertaking in that the vast majority of the 22 issues make up one narrative through line and feel mostly essential to the final destination。 It's a credit to the editors， writers， and artists that the story feels of the same piece and not stitched together despite the varying creative teams attached to the individual issues。If you are up for the investment in time and money， you'll probably find something to like here if you are an X-Men fan。 X of Swords brings in most of the fan favorites and then some。 The narrative is pulling in the same direction but there is some storytelling diversity among the individual issues。（view spoiler）[ My big complaint with X of Swords is that the contest Hickman and company spend more than 12 issues （！） building towards is quite anticlimactic until the final few issues。 This was intentional。 I did chuckle a bit at the subversion of the expectations and choice to shift from such a dire tone as the contest actually began。 Having said that， it left me with the feeling that the contest itself was filler to stretch between the first 1/2 of the event and the final 2-3 issues。 I think the ending saved the story， but it's certainly not a 22-issue tour de force。 （hide spoiler）]I read the issues as they were released on Marvel Unlimited， so there is certainly something to be said for the ridiculous cost to admission for those who didn't。 I can't say I'd be thrilled at having to buy 15 issues of something I might not have been reading to get the full story in a way that's even more obtrusive than normal comics event storytelling。 The format has its merits， but should be used sparingly or it will surely lead to even more cash-grabs。X of Swords is ambitious， well put-together， and， largely， a good X-Men story。 The current lineup of X writers， artists， and editorial has proven to know what they're doing and if you like the X-Men I'd recommend picking this up （but probably while it's on sale）。 。。。more

Erica ，

I only read about a third of these， mostly bc I was just reading the other X-men stories anyway， but Marvel's crossover events are really really not my thing。 None of the stories were going in this direction， they just suddenly stopped to have some weird gladiator competition。 Why。 Stuff like this honestly makes me want to cancel all my Marvel subscriptions。 I only read about a third of these， mostly bc I was just reading the other X-men stories anyway， but Marvel's crossover events are really really not my thing。 None of the stories were going in this direction， they just suddenly stopped to have some weird gladiator competition。 Why。 Stuff like this honestly makes me want to cancel all my Marvel subscriptions。 。。。more

Bart Allen ，

Diría que es como ver un tren descarrilar a cámara lenta， pero no。 Descarrila super rápido。No se salva ningún tie-in， como evento pasa a ser un sinsentido absurdo pasada la mitad y gráficamente sólo es interesante un 10% del total。

Nicholas Burge ，

They don't have the guts to make this into a movie， that is all。 They don't have the guts to make this into a movie， that is all。 。。。more

Andres Pasten ，

Para ser un mega evento Marvel， está sobre la media de los últimos 5 a 6 años。 El arte es muy bueno， pero creo que 22 números es mucho。 En 12 partes habría quedado bien。 En alguna parte se pierde un poco la esencia del torneo， así como la noción de las espadas y sus portadores。 Me queda la idea de que muchas cosas dependen de historias anteriores de Excalibur， que solo queda aceptar y seguir leyendo。 Luego de HoX/PoX， este evento cambia algo del status quo en Krakoa。 Veamos cómo sigue。

Luke Stacks ，

Mostly good art （there are a few clunky fill-in artists） with a fun， dopey premise。 In order to stop an extra-dimensional invasion， Krakoa's mutants must collect a bunch of powerful swords and enter a contest of champions。 This story has three main positives: 1） Collecting the dumb swords is super fun， and involves some absolute highlight stories for Psylocke and Storm。 Even Wolverine's is somewhat decent。 2） Apocalypse gets an extreme makeover as a tragic family man and it totally works without Mostly good art （there are a few clunky fill-in artists） with a fun， dopey premise。 In order to stop an extra-dimensional invasion， Krakoa's mutants must collect a bunch of powerful swords and enter a contest of champions。 This story has three main positives: 1） Collecting the dumb swords is super fun， and involves some absolute highlight stories for Psylocke and Storm。 Even Wolverine's is somewhat decent。 2） Apocalypse gets an extreme makeover as a tragic family man and it totally works without invalidating anything we've already learned about him。3） We get some brief but very enjoyable scenes of a healthy and assured Cyclops， just doing the best for his family regardless of the costs。 After all the rotten things he's been through， it's good to see him doing so well。However， some parts I didn't enjoy so much:1） Hickman's humor bounces right off me， especially during a contest that we're assured has life-or-death stakes。2） The story is highly dependent on our interest in the Captain Britain mythos。 I have to admit mine is a little rusty， but the story struggled to independently characterize Saturnyne and the ten regents in ways that felt fully fleshed out。 You probably needed to read the most recent Excalibur series to feel on steady footing， and I did not。 This was especially an issue with the ultimate resolution of the final battle。3） This is related to both of my previous points， but the actual contests subverted expectations to such an extreme degree （and not in a clever， there-all-along fashion） that it amounts to malpractice。 If you're making a 22-issue series about swords， I would hope for more than one good fight using them （Storm's fight， for the record）。4） Moira's absence was *not* palpable。 There was no indication whatsoever if X of Swords fit within her complicated plans for the future， unless it was buried at less-than-a-wink level。 Given that her machinations have powered the previous year of the X-titles， I'm really curious and would have appreciated a sign that my attention to this matter was being rewarded。 。。。more

Oliver ，

This went in a direction I did not expect around the halfway point， although in hindsight that unexpected section was the best part， and I missed its levity in the last couple issues。

Marek Michalak ，

This set of stories， as read in single issues of various X-men comics， was my second attempt to get into what Hickman is currently doing with the "X titles"。 And it， once again， left me cold。 The story starts off strong in the first half， only to get very muddled in the middle and by the end， left me not caring。 It， to me at least， shows that there are way too many mutants around for any writer to attempt a cohesive and interesting story。 Most of the original X-men are sidelined here， left with This set of stories， as read in single issues of various X-men comics， was my second attempt to get into what Hickman is currently doing with the "X titles"。 And it， once again， left me cold。 The story starts off strong in the first half， only to get very muddled in the middle and by the end， left me not caring。 It， to me at least， shows that there are way too many mutants around for any writer to attempt a cohesive and interesting story。 Most of the original X-men are sidelined here， left with not much to do （like Jean grey and Cyclops， wandering around some of the issues with not a very strong reason behind it）。 Also the MacGuffin of the story - the big tournament， a fight of the champions of two worlds - attempts to be so clever it actually waters itself down， making the stakes of the story much less exciting。 The only thing I actually liked was the arc written for Apocalypse， as it got interesting， personal and actually went somewhere。 I also enjoyed much of the art and some of the first few issues regarding gathering the individual swords。 But that's about it。 I got into the new X-men because of Hickman， but now I'm just no longer interested。 Shame。 。。。more

Malum ，

A hard one to rate。 This book made me literally roll my eyes and groan in exasperation， and yet I couldn't put it down。 So， first the main things I hated。 The plot revolves around finding ten champions and having them get ten magic swords so that they can compete in a life or death tournament。 That by itself is really dumb and sounds like the plot of a video game。 But， what's worse， when the tournament starts the swords don't matter at all。 The book turns into a comedy where， instead of sword fi A hard one to rate。 This book made me literally roll my eyes and groan in exasperation， and yet I couldn't put it down。 So， first the main things I hated。 The plot revolves around finding ten champions and having them get ten magic swords so that they can compete in a life or death tournament。 That by itself is really dumb and sounds like the plot of a video game。 But， what's worse， when the tournament starts the swords don't matter at all。 The book turns into a comedy where， instead of sword fighting， they mainly have arm wrestling matches， drinking contests， dance offs （I'm not kidding， either）， and other stupid shenanigans。 There are some sword fights here and there， but mainly the first half of this huge event， where these swords are all anyone talks about and risks everything to get， are pointless。 They have a throwaway line where they handwave this by saying that the swords are really just keys to the tournament， but it doesn't really sit right with me。 I expected sword duels and got riddle contests and spelling bees （again， not exaggerating）。 The swords were a macguffin used solely to pad this thing out to bloated proportions。 Another mild annoyance is that all of the big SHOCKER reveals could be seen coming from a mile away （view spoiler）[like the big bad turning out to be Genesis。 You can figure that out within the first few issues of the event without having to rub two brain cells together （hide spoiler）]。 Finally， we are only about 15 issues into these new X runs and we already have a huge status shakeup。 I generally like the episodic nature of modern comics vs the one-off， monster of the week nature of older comic books， but I would much rather have one issue stories than changing the established lore every single year。 But once I got past those frustrations， this event was really fun。 I loved the art， the characters， most of the single issues， and the action。 Even some of the stupid contests ended up being interesting （like the staring contest with Wolverine。 Again， you think I'm kidding about these stupid contests but I'm really， really not）。 Despite my problems with this， it was charming enough to force me to like it。 Just go into it with the right expectations。 。。。more

Chris Lemmerman ，

The hordes of Arakko are on their way - but to trample Krakoa， they must pass through Otherworld， and the Lady Saturnyne has something to say about that。 Instead of all out war， she proposes a contest。 To the winner， the spoilers。 But first， the competitors must assemble their swords。X Of Swords is a 22 issue crossover， with something like 6 of those issues being over-sized。 It's an ambitious project， with a huge number of people involved to make sure that the moving parts come off right。 You'd The hordes of Arakko are on their way - but to trample Krakoa， they must pass through Otherworld， and the Lady Saturnyne has something to say about that。 Instead of all out war， she proposes a contest。 To the winner， the spoilers。 But first， the competitors must assemble their swords。X Of Swords is a 22 issue crossover， with something like 6 of those issues being over-sized。 It's an ambitious project， with a huge number of people involved to make sure that the moving parts come off right。 You'd think it'd fall apart under its own weight， but aside from a little misstep， it's actually surprisingly cohesive all the way through。The first half of the book， the assembling of the swords and the niceties that Saturnyne forces the X-Men and Arakko's swordsmen to go through is great。 The way in which the swords are assembled is varied and clever， and draws on all of the involved X-Men in some unique ways。 Then throwing them all together in a big mix gets the blood pumping before the tournament begins。 That little misstep I mentioned is the tournament itself - the third quarter of the story gets bonkers fast， as what we thought was just a swordfight turns into something else， with more and more ludicrous contests and score rulings making things seem overly padded and daft。 It all pulls itself together for the final quarter though， with the last three issues or so being a truly perfect endcap to everything that went on in the rest of the book。I was very pleased to see that most of the books involved in this crossover didn't lose their individuality as the story went on either - issues of Marauders focused on Storm， Cable's solo issues were about him， etc。 So even though there were a myriad of titles swept up， they all still felt important without just becoming Part X of 22。The artwork was all phenomenal as well - most of the artists assigned to each X-book showed up， while Phil Noto even pulled double duty and pencilled some additional issues as well。 The three book-end issues were Pepe Larraz in all his glory， who really has become the era defining artist for Hickman's X-epic。X Of Swords isn't perfect。 But given all that it is， and all that went in to make it， it's also far better than it has any right to be。 It flags a little around the midway point， but it recovers nicely and manages to be entertaining and easy on the eye almost all the way through。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=X of Swords

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=X of Swords&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,X of Swords&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0