Marauders #14 – X of Swords, Chapter 13 Preview

Marauders #14
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Art by: Stefano Caselli
Cover by: Russell Dauterman

The Story:

X of Swords – Chapter 13

A toast. A dance. A dinner served: Part I.

In Stores: November 4, 2020

X-Men #14 – X of Swords, Chapter 12 Preview

X-Men #14

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Art by: Mahmud Asrar

Cover by: Leinil Francis Yu

The Story:

X of Swords – Chapter 12

The Lovers. A Garden. A chasm of secrets.

In Stores: November 4, 2020

X of Swords: Stasis #1, Chapter 11 Art

X of Swords: Stasis #1, Chapter 11 Spoilers

Spoilers: Saturnyne sends an emissary to all kingdoms of Otherworld inviting their representatives to a parliament. Once all are reunited in the Starlight Citadel – including Roma, Merlyn, Mad Jim Jaspers, Jamie Braddock, the Furies, etc. – most provinces vote against Blightspoke’s request for open border movement between the 10 provinces. Famine and Pestilence claim that the seat that once belonged to Dryador, now belongs to Amenth. Saturnyne warns that they should be concerned with their contest against Avalon first. Jamie Braddock announces that his Champions will be arriving soon. Back in Krakoa, the Swordbearers – Magik, Wolverine, Storm, Cypher, Cable, Captain Britain and Captain Avalon – are joined by Apocalypse and Gorgon, who place their swords on the casting circle. 

A flashback sequence shows how each of the Swordbearers of Arakko were convinced to fight in the tournament and raise their swords at Annihilation’s behest. Summoner and the Horsemen reach out to Redroot the Forest, Pogg Ur-Pogg, Bei the Blood Moon, the White Sword and Isca the Unbeaten. They are joined by Solem, Death and War. The Champions of Arakko are now assembled. 

Back to the present, the Champions of Krakoa are teleported to the Starlight Citadel. Brian warns them to beware of Saturnyne’s little games while Apocalypse asks for their patience. Saturnyne welcomes them and Betsy demands to know what are her rules. Saturnyne sends them to their chambers to freshen up as they will meet their fellow combatants during the feast. Saturnyne has placed a tarot card for each Champion in their bedchambers: 

Captain Britain – Nine of Swords;
Cypher – Two of Cups;
Gorgon – A hidden card;
Captain Avalon – Knight of Pentacles;
Magik – Page of Wands;
Cable – The Fool;
Wolverine – Strength;
Storm – Death;
Apocalypse – The Lovers.

Apocalypse is greatly upset about what he sees in the card and demands an explanation from Saturnyne as he has had enough of her games. Saturnyne taunts Apocalypse and says he’s too old to be that impatient. Saturnyne then leads Apocalypse to a secret chamber where Annihilation is waiting. Annihilation reveals herself as Genesis, Apocalypse’s long-lost wife, now wearing the golden helm of Amenth. The Lovers face each other again.

X-Men Monday #81 – Jordan D. White Answers Your X of Swords Weeks 5 & 6 Questions

AiPT!: Welcome, X-Fans, to another uncanny edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT! Jordan D. White discusses not one, not two but five chapters of X of Swords! So without further ado, here’s Jordan talking–deep breathe—Hellions #5, New Mutants #13, Cable #5, Excalibur #13 and X-Men #13. Phew. 

AIPT: Welcome back, Jordan! Marvel’s been teasing the sword battles to come: Captain Britain vs. Isca the Unbeaten, Magik vs. Pogg Ur-Pogg, and most recently, Cable vs. Bei the Blood Moon. X-Fan Michael Que was curious how you all decided which Swordbearers would face off against one another? 

Jordan: How did we decide? Hm… I don’t know. That’s kind of like asking where do ideas come from. We just thought about what would be a good story and then the writers wrote it. There are cool things that happen in each of those battles. 

AIPT: Well, obviously with characters like Solem and Wolverine, they’re kind of matched up from the get-go. Would you say that applies to other Swordbearers of Arakko? Were they all kind of designed to be opposites to the Swordbearers of Krakoa? 

Jordan: No. I mean, even Solem and Wolverine, I wouldn’t say they’re designed to be opposites. Now, obviously, we’ve said he’s a foil for Wolverine and that thing about him being kind of like a Loki to Wolverine’s Thor in a certain way–they’re not brothers–spoiler. 

But I think the characters came about in different ways. I mean, I think we’ve said Pogg Ur-Pogg came about in going, “We’ll have a monster. Pepe, draw someone.” And he drew someone awesome. And so then we developed a character around that awesome drawing. So some of the characters came from story ideas. Some of them came from visual things. Some of them came from things we wanted them to do in fights. Some of them came from things we wanted them to do a post-X of Swords and they were kind of back-engineered, I suppose. 

So each of those, in particular, I’m trying to think if they all were the same. Yeah. Those all kind of came about for different reasons. The Betsy and Isca one has a very specific goal for what that battle is about. I mean, basically, all of them have very specific reasons why those two fight, but they’re very different outcomes as to what we get from each of them. Because I think there’s still a lot of surprises to come in this and I don’t think anybody really knows what’s going to happen–by which, I mean, I’ve seen a lot of speculation and well, certainly nobody has been right about what’s going to happen. But I think some of it, people are not even thinking in the right direction, which is good because that means we’ve misdirected them well. 

AIPT: The first portion of X Of Swords has largely been character profiles. How did you all decide on this approach to the beginning of the event? And will the next portion follow its own theme? 

Jordan: Yeah. X of Swords: Stasis is definitely a turning point where things will be going slightly differently. I mean, and again, generally speaking, I think people can tell what direction that is, but it has a different feel and different pacing and a different, I don’t want to say a different style, it’s all the same story, but you know what I mean. It’s got different goals than the first half does. And I think that that was the case all the way back to our original conception of X of Swords, even when it was two-thirds the size it is now, it was always going to be the first half is about finding the swords or training. And then the middle point happens and everything after that is the second half. So it’s going to read differently and, I will be honest with you, it will read much more as one thing. 

The first half of it has been a lot of, I don’t want to say side stories because they’re not, but parts that seem a little bit like, well, OK, here’s a story about Storm getting ready. Here’s the story about Doug getting ready. But I wouldn’t think of those as separate stories. I would think of those more as when you read a good novel where there is, let’s say, more than one perspective to it that isn’t just one character you’re following the whole time. You will read a lot of times the first half of the novel–there will be characters doing things in chapters that you’re like, well, these aren’t even connected yet. And then everything starts coming together more in the end. The second half of this is going to be much more “this issue follows directly after that issue.” And again, I think in a way that will bring together all of the threads from the first half. So it is one big story and is intended to be one big story for sure. 

AIPT: In Excalibur #13, Saturnyne refers to the Amulet as a relic. Does Saturnyne completely reject Merlin and Roma now and, will we ever discover more about Merlin and Roma’s current status? 

Jordan: Well, you’ve heard a bit about it in the data pages about their realms or their provinces, I suppose, of Otherworld. But yes, the balance of power has reversed. She is now the ruler of all of Otherworld. And each of them are, I wouldn’t say subservient to her, but at the very least lower on the power ranking than her. So yeah, she’s higher up in the tree of Otherworld power than they are. As a result, she does not need to bow to their ways of doing things anymore. That is, as she said, a system that Merlin set up–she doesn’t care what Merlin set up anymore. It’s now hers to set up so she can do it however she wants to. 

AIPT: We’ve been learning about Otherworld’s status post-Secret Wars. Originally, Otherworld consisted of two islands, Avalon and Tír na nÓg, so where do all these realms come into the picture? Was the whole island of Avalon divided into 10 kingdoms or are the other nine kingdoms located outside of Avalon? 

Jordan: So they’re talking about the fact that maps of Otherworld pre-Secret Wars were the British Isles, right? Otherworld has changed in a big way, though. I would say it is not that Otherworld is now the British Isles divided in 10. I would say now Otherworld is 10 times bigger than it used to be, or infinitely more than that even. Everything that we have ever known as Otherworld pre-Secret Wars is reflected in what we are calling Avalon now. And the rest of Otherworld is completely never seen before. 

AIPT: We know changes were made to “The Hanged Man” page in the Free Comic Book Day X-Men comic. Is the same true of the page with the 10 Swordbearers of Krakoa? Also, X-Fan Anonseed246 asked if there’s a chance we’ll be surprised by the identity of the 10th swordbearer of Krakoa? 

Jordan: As I’ve said before, we produced those pages very early in the process because Free Comic Book Day comes early. But let me put it this way: there are definitely folks out there who know the answer to this one who have sussed it out because all the information is right there. So they definitely have 10 magic swords that they are going to be wielding in this tournament. And the question of the 10th swordbearer, I suppose, is still lingering, but there are folks who have spotted the answer. 

AIPT: What can you tease about this week’s lone X of Swords chapter: Stasis? 

Jordan: So, two days from now, Stasis comes out and it’s the only one. And like I said, it’s a big turning point. There’s a lot of really cool stuff in it. If you’ve been curious about these Swordbearers, there’s going to be a lot of fun stuff to learn in there and we’ll be moving into the next phase. 

I actually also have another thing I can tease, which is fans who have been fans of X-Men for a long time, or just fans who are fans of the long history of X-Men–there is actually a big announcement coming up tomorrow, Tuesday, that I think a lot of you will be excited about. So keep an eye open for that as well. So Tuesday, a big, big, big thing that I think people will like, and Wednesday, Stasis–a turning point in the series. And then from there into the back half of X of Swords, which is going to be bananas.

X of Swords: Stasis #1, Chapter 11 Preview

X of Swords: Stasis #1

Writer: Jonathan Hickman & Tini Howard

Art by: Pepe Larraz, Mahmud Asrar

Cover by: Pepe Larraz

Design Variant Cover by: Pepe Larraz

Variant Cover by: Coax

Variant Cover by: Mike Del Mundo

Variant Cover by: Humberto Ramos

Variant Cover by: Jesus Saiz

The Story:

X of Swords – Chapter 11

A ritual. A parliament. A game begins.

In Stores: October 28, 2020

X-Solicits for January 2021

	Excalibur #17 Tini Howard (W), Marcus To (A) Cover by: Mahmud Asrar Queen Elizabeth III?!? Opportunities and opportunists. Two heads-of-state seek to restore the state of things.
	X-Men #17 Jonathan Hickman (W), Brett Booth (A) Cover by: Leinil Francis Yu Marvel Vs Alien Variant Cover by: Russell Dauterman Storm The Empire! When the Shi'ar Empire asks the X-Men for help, Cyclops, Storm and Marvel Girl answer the call.
	Marauders #17 Gerry Duggan (W), Stefano Caselli (A) Cover by: Russell Dauterman Marvel Vs Alien Variant Cover by: Salvador Larroca Rematch! Storm versus Calisto. This time, it's personal.
	New Mutants #15 Vita Ayala (W), Rod Reis (A/C) Once More Into The Crucible! As Karma and Dani delve deeper into their nightmares, a spider sets his eyes on the most vulnerable of the New Mutants...Meanwhile, in the Wild Hunt, children play at being adults and prepare for the fight of their lives.
	X-Force #16 Benjamin Percy (W), Joshua Cassara (A/C) Marvel Vs Alien Variant Cover by: Salvador Larroca Terrors of The Deep! Forge, Wolverine and Quentin Quire brave the depths of the sea, where a deadly discovery reveals a dark side of Krakoa.
	Hellions #8 Zeb Wells (W), Stephen Segovia (A/C) Smile! It was a simple mission: retrieve Nanny's ship and create a new containment armor for the recently resurrected Orphan-Maker. But the emergence of an old enemy and his deadly warriors make their renewed life a hell on Earth for the Hellions!
	X-Factor #6 Leah Williams (W), David Baldeon (A) Cover by: Ivan Shavrin Death Scream! Siryn is dead. Again. And again. And again.
	Children of The Atom #1 Vita Ayala (W), Bernard Chang (A) Cover by: R.B. Silva Variant Cover by: Bernard Chang Design Variant Cover by: Tom Muller Hidden Gem Wraparound Variant Cover by: Jim Lee Variant Cover by: Todd Nauck When Did The X–Men Get Sidekicks?! Now! Don't miss the debut of the greatest teenage super hero team of all time! They've learned from the best, now they're ready to be put to the test! But who the heck are these kids, and where do they come from? Guest-starring the X–Men!

Excalibur #14 Variant Cover by Lucas Werneck

 

Excalibur #13 Art

 

Excalibur #13, Chapter 9 & X-Men #13, Chapter 10 – X of Swords Spoilers

Excalibur #13, Chapter 9

Spoilers: Captain Britain welcomes Brian and Jamie at the Starlight Citadel at Saturnyne’s behest. Brian offers Betsy the Sword of Might as it was named in the prophecy, much to Betsy’s dismay. Betsy is upset with Brian for treating her Captain Britain’s tenure as simply a favor to him. Betsy thinks that if he wanted the Amulet of Right back, he should have asked her. Saturnyne makes her entrance and takes the Braddocks to the Memorial Garden, in honor of the fallen Captain Britain Corps. Betsy reminds her that there is a Captain Britain Corps. Saturnyne dismisses her remark as she doesn’t acknowledge the rogue Captains Britain created by Jamie. Betsy brings up the Starlight Sword and Saturnyne orders her to leave as she thinks Betsy is not meant for the mantle. Brian follows Betsy, and the two argue again over the Sword of Might. Brian explains that he doesn’t want to draw the Sword in anger for a cause he doesn’t recognize and that he didn’t expect Betsy to be Captain Britain for the long term. Betsy is furious because he had not even considered that she maybe would want to. As the night falls down, Jamie’s rogue Captains Britain – Rogue, Gambit, Rictor and Jubilee – freed themselves and attack him in his dorms. Betsy and Brian overhear the fuss and run towards Jamie’s room. Jamie overwhelms all four of them and decides to kill Jubilee to make a statement. Betsy urges Brian to draw the Sword of Might, but he refuses. When Gambit throws his cards at Jamie, Brian defends his brother with the sword. As the scabbard burns down, Brian finally claims the Sword of Might and dons a new costume, becoming Captain Avalon, a hero destined to protected the Kingdom of Avalon and the Braddock family. Saturnyne storms her way into the room and orders all fraudulent Captains Britain arrested, including Betsy. Before Saturnyne can retrieve her Amulet of Right, Betsy unleashes her psychic powers and destroys the talisman. As the rogue Captains are taken to the Citadel’s cells, Saturnyne invites Brian to her bedchamber. All alone in her cell, Betsy decides to lead by example instead of twisting minds and sneaking off. She reaches out for the other Captains, and assures Gambit that she will come back for them. Jamie telepathically asks Betsy to jump out of the window and rescues her riding on his Griffin. In Saturnyne’s bedchambers, the Majestrix draws the Starlight Sword from her scrying pool, a blade forged from the Citadel’s very walls. Saturnyne urges Brian to claim the Starlight Sword and become her Captain Britain. As Brian seduces Saturnyne, Betsy and Jamie sneak into her room. Brian asks Betsy to claim the sword, and so she does, becoming Captain Britain again. Saturnyne realizes she has been fooled by the siblings as she did not expect Brian to find his purpose with the Sword and Might and the Braddocks to choose for themselves. Betsy chastises Saturnyne for attempting to tear them apart with her prophecy. Betsy Braddock – Captain Britain – and Brian Braddock – Captain Avalon – return to Krakoa standing tall and proud and place their respective swords on the casting circle. 

X-Men #13, Chapter 10

Spoilers: In Krakoa’s Healing Gardens, Apocalypse’s wounds are tended to by Healer, Cecilia Reyes and Beast. Xavier suggests that Hope enhances Healer’s powers to fast-track the process while Polaris restrains Apocalypse’s body. In the meantime, Apocalypse tells the story of Okkara and how it was split by the enemy’s Twilight Sword. Apocalypse tells of Genesis, his wife, who led a great army and defeated many of her enemies. As the demon forces dwindled down, the dark creatures of Amenth asked for a parley and brought the golden helm of their god Annihilation; it is said that whoever wears the mask rules over Amenth but, in turn, is possessed by the primordial elder god. Through their god, the demons proposed to offer something to the Arakki mutants. As Isca, Genesis’ sister, had betrayed them and sided with the demons, Genesis decided to lead the Arakki into the breach and urged Apocalypse to find others, the fittest, to stand against their enemy. Once Apocalypse is healed, the travels to Egypt and heads to the Temple of the Horsemen, where he retrieves his Scarab sword.

Excalibur #13 – X of Swords, Chapter 9 Preview

Excalibur #13

Writer: Tini Howard

Art by: R.B. Silva

Cover by: Mahmud Asrar

Variant Cover by: Lee Garbett

Nightcrawler Timeless Variant Cover by: Alex Rossross

The Story:

X of Swords – Chapter 9

Opposition. Despair. The dark night of the soul.

In Stores: October 21, 2020

Marauders #14 & Excalibur #14 Variant Covers

Marauders #14 Variant Cover by Cully Hamner

Excalibur #14 Variant Cover by Jesus Saiz

Hellions #5, Chapter 6; New Mutants #13, Chapter 7 & Cable #5, Chapter 8 – X of Swords Spoilers

Hellions #5, Chapter 6

Spoilers: Empath is resurrected at Krakoa and welcomed back by Xavier and Hope. Two days later, the Quiet Council holds a meeting where Mr. Sinister proposes to send his Hellions to Otherworld as none of them were among the chosen champions. He wants the Hellions to steal the Arakki champions’ swords to force a forfeit. Shaw, Msytique, Exodus, Emma Frost and Sinister himself vote in favor of his plan. Exodus proposes that Mr. Sinister leads the Hellions, much against his wishes. The Hellions regroup, and Havok warns that whoever dies in Otherworld cannot be resurrected. Meanwhile, Mr. Sinister plans to send his own clone to Otherworld instead. The uncooperating clone forces Sinister’s hand and both play rock paper scissors to decide who will go to Otherworld; otherwise, the clone will expose Mr. Sinister’s illegal clone farm to the Council. We never learn which Mr. Sinister went to Otherworld. Upon crossing the gateway, Sinister asks for King Jamie Braddock’s permission to travel through Avalon. Jamie accepts it and gives them a horse as a gift. Jamie requests Sinister’s cape in exchange to seal their deal. The Hellions soon find out that Jamie played them as the horse was stolen property of Saturnyne. Sinister asks Empath to manipulate Saturnyne’s guards into cooperating with them. Empath agrees only if they let him use his powers to turn Greycrow into his pet. Sinister accepts Empath’s conditions and soon the Hellions embark on a journey to the Kingdom of Dryador towards Arakko.

New Mutants #13, Chapter 7

Spoilers: It’s been an open secret for some time that Doug’s best friend, Warlock, was joined with him as his artificial arm. However, Saturnyne’s prophecy specifically called for both of them to take part in the tournament, with Warlock as Doug’s blade. With the exception of Warlock, no one believes that Doug is up to the task, not even Doug himself. Krakoa made two attempts to keep Doug on the island, in part because Krakoa will not have a voice in Doug’s absence. Exodus made a more violent attempt, and suggested that he would kill Doug to prevent his departure. Only the interference of Warlock and Krakoa forced Exodus to back off. For her part, Magik tried tough love with Doug by putting him through a crash course in swordplay. Magik remembers Doug’s death, when he was killed in part because his powers of language aren’t always useful in battle. Over the course of the issue, Doug was able to use that ability to read Magik’s body language. He even showed real improvement. That gave Doug a boost in confidence, and forced Magik to bring him down to Earth. The Arakkii are a warrior race who have fought every day of their lives in the darkest parts of Otherworld. Against an enemy like that, Doug can’t hope to win. The best he can do is try not to die and stay close to Magik when the fighting begins.

Cable #5, Chapter 8

Spoilers: When Saturnyne left a mental message that led Cable, Cyclops, and Jean Grey to the Peak, it turns out that may not have been meant to help the mutants. The former headquarters of S.W.O.R.D. was powered down and abandoned for a reason. And almost everyone on board was slaughtered by a brand-new threat. Jean encountered the lone survivor, and she soon learned about the Vescora, an alien race that acts like a virus given humanoid form. They want to "cleanse, dissect, and learn.” But if that’s not alarming enough, the survivor told Jean that the Vescora are “enemies that are not bound to our laws of physics." They invade, replicate, and move on. Under normal circumstances, the Vescora would be an extinction-level threat just by themselves. In the middle of a war with the Arakkii, their arrival is a recipe for disaster. Cable was able to remove the Light of Galador from the Peak’s engine, and once again depower the station. However, the portal to the Vescora’s realm remains, and it looks like it was created from the bodies of the Vescora themselves. At best, this is only a temporary solution for a problem that may soon get out of hand. Following their ordeal on the Peak, Jean and Cyclops seemed uncharacteristically calm and collected. Cyclops even assured his son that “we’re gonna be okay.” Somehow, that wasn’t very convincing. As for Cable, he took his place as the fifth champion of Krakoa.

X of Swords Handbook - Captain Britain (Betsy Braddock) Profile

Cable #5 – X of Swords, Chapter 8 Preview

Cable #5
Writer: Gerry Duggan

Art & Cover by: Phil Noto
Variant Cover by: Ivan Shavrin

The Story:
X of Swords – Chapter 8
A hand held aloft. A mystery in the stars. An ace up the sleeve.

In Stores: October 21, 2020