Uncanny X-Men #700 Bids Farewell to the Krakoan Age

Marvel.com: This June, creators from the X-Men’s past, present, and future come together to bid a final farewell to the Krakoan Age in X-Men #35, the milestone 700th issue of Uncanny X-Men.

 

X-MEN #35 (LEGACY #700)

Written by GERRY DUGGAN, KIERON GILLEN, AL EWING, CHRIS CLAREMONT & GAIL SIMONE

Art by PHIL NOTO, JOSHUA CASSARA, LUCAS WERNECK, JEROME OPEÑA, STEFANO CASELLI, WALTER SIMONSON, LEINIL FRANCIS YU & MORE

Wraparound Cover by PEPE LARRAZ

On Sale 6/5

In July 2019, the world of the X-Men was shattered and reborn on Krakoa in visionary writer Jonathan Hickman’s HOUSE OF X. In the years since, fans have experienced a golden age of mutant storytelling, filled with bold ideas, astonishing character developments, and revolutionary new takes on the mutant metaphor.

Now, the next seminal shift in the history of the X-Men is on the horizon, but first, Marvel Comics proudly presents the final act of the Krakoan Age this June in X-MEN #35! X-MEN #35 will be the milestone 700th issue of UNCANNY X-MEN and will feature an epic-length story by acclaimed writers and artists who shaped the Krakoan Age, including Gerry Duggan, Kieron Gillen, Al Ewing, Lucas Werneck, Joshua Cassara, and more.

The giant-sized issue will also feature a story of family by X-Men master Chris Claremont and offer a glimpse of things to come in the new X-Men titles launching this summer. It’s a landmark issue for one of pop culture’s most beloved franchises that no comic book fan will want to miss!

All good things must come to an end, and as good of a thing as the Krakoan Era has been for mutantkind… its time has come at last. The tragedy and triumph of FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X, the madness and mystery of RISE OF THE POWERS OF X… they have all come to their end and led to this moment that will change the future of mutantkind for years to come.

On closing out this groundbreaking period of the mutant mythos, Senior Editor Jordan D. White shared, "Being a part of the Krakoan experiment has been a true thrill. Honestly—in many ways—it echoed the experience of mutantkind itself in the era. We worked differently, we tried new things, we survived incredible new experiences. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have worked with such fantastically talented creators throughout the era, and working on the glorious ending is truly bittersweet. I will miss it with my whole heart, but I do know… Krakoa will live on within us forever."

X-Men Monday #223 – Jordan D. White Comes Clear About Betsy Braddock

AIPT!: How do you, as an editor, perceive what worked and didn’t work for Betsy Braddock in the Krakoan era? Despite headlining three different books, two of them were short-lived and didn’t make as much of an impact as other titles in the line-up. Consequently, Betsy has spent months in comic book limbo. What do you think could be done to course-correct this and elevate her once more?

Jordan: OK, do you want me to start with my joke answer? She’s just had a modeling gig and she’s been super busy. She booked a new gig and she was like, “I understand Orchis and all that, but this photoshoot isn’t going to wait. I need to go do this.”

OK, now that you hate me because I made that joke, I’m sorry. Yeah, listen, we’ve already talked a lot about how many X-characters there are. I’m going to kind of reiterate what you just said to make sure I understand it.

We tried three different series about Betsy. And if I’m reading correctly into your interpretation, you’re saying some of those books didn’t do as well as you assume Marvel would like, and your concern is that we are going to put that on Betsy and not other factors that could have made the book not sell well, which obviously also presupposes other things, like that Betsy herself does sell books in a vacuum and that we have to be honest with ourselves about the fact that we didn’t tell a good enough story about Betsy to give her the showcase that she deserves to sell the books that she needs to sell. And with a different creative team, with a different writer, with a different artist, we could make a book that will craft towards the purpose of highlighting and showcasing Betsy in the best possible way.

I mean, I’ve talked many times about how much I love the character of Betsy Braddock. So I hope that you know that I’m a fan of that character. That’s a character I like and care about. But I don’t know that your supposition, that she is a character that needs to be focused on, is necessarily accurate. Yes, she was focused on because we made a choice. We wanted to tell a story about her becoming the new Captain Britain. And we played that story out in Excalibur, then we played that story out a bit more in Knights of X, and then we played it out more in Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain. Obviously, our hope was that Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain, for example, would continue to sell, and that it would become an ongoing series that would be still running to this day. Yes, that is why we did not say, “Let’s make sure she’s in Realm of X, let’s make sure she’s in any of the Fall of X books,” because the hope had been, ideally that book will continue into Fall of X. And that’s where you’ll see what she’s doing. So you were correct about that part of it, but she had that attention on her because that was a story we wanted to tell, and we told it for as long as we were financially able to tell it. And now we are not currently.

I will tell you that, unlike some of the characters we’ve talked about today, I do know where Betsy is going to appear next. I know two different places where Betsy’s going to appear next. She is a character that we care about. And honestly, the fact that she was as important as she was for so many issues does make it a little strange that she has not appeared. But that’s how the cookie crumbled, unfortunately. I wish it had gone differently. We have plans for where she’s going to be next. We will see her again before the Krakoan age is through for certain.

AIPT: And it’s Steve Foxe writing Betsy. He talked about that here recently.

Jordan: Gerry Duggan did tease that Steve Foxe is doing something that will involve her.

AIPT: And Rachel.

Jordan: Yes, though Steve’s not the only one. There are other folks. Anyway, yeah, she’s going to be back. But with Betsy, like, I don’t know what you want… I mean, I think I do know what you want me to say…

AIPT: Based on some of the other questions I’ve seen submitted over these past few months, I believe there’s frustration that when a beloved character like Betsy’s series abruptly ends, there’s no backup plan to get her to the Hellfire Gala or worked into an event as important as the Fall of X.

Jordan: Of course, of course. I mean, we didn’t have a backup plan for Betsy, because again, as much as I love her, it’s Betsy Braddock. She’s not the most important character in the X-Men. If suddenly we had nowhere where Wolverine was showing up, yeah, we’d probably have a backup in place. If suddenly the book that Cyclops was showcased in stopped happening, then yeah, we’d probably go, “Well, we can’t not do Cyclops.”

I don’t think Betsy has reached that status. And this is a tricky one, because I’m extremely glad that we separated Betsy and Kwannon. But I also think it’s possible that the continued existence of Kwannon as Psylocke has hurt Betsy in the sense that she became most popular when she was Kwannon and the trappings of what she looked like and her ninja status. And I understand Betsy retains that, absolutely. I’m not taking anything away from what is great about Betsy. Again, I love Betsy. But to the people who aren’t die-hard Betsy fans, some of them are more interested in seeing Kwannon because that’s what they’re expecting.

And I know some Betsy fans would say that’s because she’s Captain Britain. I think they were more interested in seeing Kwannon than they were in seeing the “X-Men Disassembled” version of Psylocke as well. I still think it’s an extremely positive thing that we made her Captain Britain. I stand by it. And again, I know that’s not what you want me to say either, but I still stand by it and I stand by those books. I edited Excalibur for many issues of it, and I’m extremely proud of those issues. It was then taken over by Sarah Brunstad and she oversaw the rest of Excalibur and then the other two series. And she does great work as well. And it was a pleasure to work with Tini Howard and she does great stories for us.

So I stand behind the work we did. I wish that they had gone over better. I mean, with all books, there are things you could have done better. So I’m sure there are things we could have done better. And I’m not going to litigate those things here. I’m not going to enumerate things that I wish we had done right now. But I do stand by the work we did. It was what we did in the moment and I’m proud of it.

X-Monday: Jordan D. White Admits Captain Britain's Failure and Lack of Plans for Betsy Braddock

In an exclusive interview with AiPT!, the senior editor of the X-Men line finally admitted defeat and acknowledged that Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain was cancelled after just 5 issues due to abysmal sales. What is unsettling is his decision to go public and state that there are still no plans for Betsy, when any reasonable person knew this book was dead on arrival, especially after the poor sales of Knights of X. Marvel's blind faith in Tini Howard and this direction for Betsy once again proved to be a mistake, further evidence the incompetence of those in charge.

AIPT: While we’re discussing solo series, X-Fan Jbenito said with Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain ending soon, could you give us some insight as to what may be next for our psychic butterfly and if we’ll be seeing her during Fall of X? We got a lot of Betsy questions, Jordan.

Jordan: I can’t give you too much right now, unfortunately. That was a book that I’m sad to say is ending at issue 5. We had hoped that it would continue and unfortunately it was not able to. So as a result, things that we had hoped to have happen with her in that book are off the table for now. I’m confident she will pop back up. We will weave her through our plans, but I have nothing I can reveal at this time, unfortunately.

X-Men Monday #185 – Jordan D. White Reflects on 2022 and Teases 2023

AIPT! shares their annual, end-of-year conversation with X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White in which he manages to say nothing interesting at all about Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain.

AIPT: What can we expect from Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain?

Jordan D. White: Well, Betsy’s obviously been a character we’ve been showcasing for the last few years, but giving her her own series is exciting. There hasn’t been a Captain Britain book for a really long time and never one that was hers, obviously. So we’re super excited to have that happen. And the fact that her and Rachel are in relationship is going to be a big part of that, and that’s why Rachel will be right there in it with her. So it’s going to be terrific. It’s going to shift a little bit away from the multiverse aspects and a little bit more towards the Marvel Universe proper. But I think it’ll be really cool.

X-Men Monday #176 – X Me Anything With Jordan D. White

AIPT: Welcome back to X-Men Monday, Jordan D. White! We haven’t had a chance to talk about all those NYCC 2022 announcements, so let’s talk about all those NYCC 2022 announcements! First up, you’re known to be a big fan of Brian Braddock’s classic Captain Britain adventures. What has you most excited about Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain?

Jordan: Well, I’ve been excited about Betsy being Captain Britain since we made that change. I mean, both of those characters are characters I love. I think making her Captain Britain was a really great way to give her and Kwannon some distinction while still allowing us to use what makes both of their characters great.

In addition, I’m a fan of classic Brian Braddock stories — one of the most notable ones is about Betsy being Captain Britain — and it goes extremely poorly for her. So it’s been nice to give her some redemption on that. I wouldn’t say 100% she was a woman in a refrigerator in that story, but it’s certainly refrigerator-adjacent to the extent that it’s a story about her failing. So that’s unfortunate. It’s very much that her being hurt is there to elicit an enormous emotional response in Brian.

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s the spoiler. It’s a classic story where Betsy becomes Captain Britain and Brian is retired from it. He’s like, “Fine, I’ll just go and hang out with my girlfriend Meggan.” And a character named Slaymaster comes up and is fighting Betsy Captain Britain and he pokes her eyes out and blinds her. And Brian, upon hearing this, is enraged and tracks Slaymaster down and kills him. I think Brian smashes his head in with a giant boulder.

It’s nice now to be able to bring her back as Captain Britain and redeem her and be like, “No, she’s not an incompetent character.” Now, obviously, she’s been through a lot since then. She rose to being a huge member of the X-Men in the time since then. But it’s nice that she gets to be Captain Britain again and show that she can in fact handle it. I’m also glad that we figured out a place for Brian, making him Captain Avalon. He’s very much a big part of this series. Tini Howard has been doing a great job shaping Betsy’s destiny over the last few years.

And it’s nice that this time, instead of featuring her in a team book, this is a book about her and gets to really spotlight her and focus in, as well as showing her newly formed relationship with Rachel — a thing that was kind of bubbling in the background of Excalibur and Knights of X that then came to the forefront in Knights of X and now gets to be an official thing that they are an item. I’m really excited for that. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of another X-book that was led by an LGBTQ relationship. Obviously, we’ve had a number led by people who are engaged in a straight relationship. We have one that we just announced — Rogue & Gambit. But it’s exciting that this one gets to be so front and center.

X-Men Monday #171 – X Me Anything With Jordan D. White

AIPT: While on the topic of telepaths, X-Fan Lystra said with Betsy Braddock banned from Britain, claiming Krakoan citizenship, and possibly going on multiverse adventures, what significance do you feel the Captain Britain mantle holds for her? It feels like the name and colors don’t match with her mission statement anymore.

Jordan: I think that’s Britain’s problem. [Laughs] I mean, she was chosen for the mantle and the Captain Britain Corps are bigger than any one country. She was chosen for the mantle and sinister forces within the British government are conspiring to deny her that right. For her to just abandon it would be just giving up and letting them win. And I don’t think that she has any interest in doing that. I also don’t think she’s ready to abandon Britain. So I don’t expect that story’s over. I think you will see future developments on that.

AIPT: When might we see those future developments?

Jordan: I can’t say but it won’t be too long.

X-Men Monday Call for Questions with Jordan D. White

 

AiPT!: X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White is returning to X-Men Monday for another round of questions. Accepting Questions About: Anything X-Men. Click HERE to submit your questions. Deadline: Thursday, September 8, 2022 at 5 PM EST. No spoiler questions will be selected.

We encourage you to send as many questions about Betsy as you can, particularly regarding when we will see her again or the mission statement of her new book. Unfortunately, AiPT! is heavily affiliated with the X-Office (gotta get those exclusives somehow), so any question criticizing Tini Howard's take on Betsy, as polite or valid as it may be, will obviously not be selected.

X-Men Monday #110 – Jordan D. White Answers 'Hellfire Gala' Questions

AiPT!: The second week of the Hellfire Gala has come and gone. X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White is back to answer them.

AIPT: Do you think Coven Akkaba’s opinion on Betsy is somewhat justified. Truth be told, she hasn’t exactly been a great Captain Britain and has been making a lot of mistakes. Definitely more wrongs than rights.

Jordan: Ohhh, well first of all, the answer is no, they’re not right. What’s the job of Captain Britain? The job of Captain Britain is to protect reality, right? So she’s done a pretty decent job of that. And she’s been manipulated a bit, but she’s doing her best. And from a certain point of view, she is all or most of the Captain Britains now. They are like, 99% Betsys at this point. So they’re doing pretty good. Coven Akkaba… well, aside from just being evil! [Laughs]

AIPT: [Laughs] Yeah, they’re pretty terrible.

Jordan: They seem to be talking about Captain Britain like Captain Britain is the mascot of England. And I think Captain Britain would object to that in the same way that Captain America would object to that over here, when the government of America has done things wrong or has gone about things the way that he doesn’t approve of, Captain America goes, “Yeah, I may be Captain America, but I’m not your photo opportunity. I do what I think is right in the spirit of America.” And the same is true with Captain Britain — she’s doing what she thinks is best.

And listen, by the way, Brian screwed up all the time. Like, I love Brian Braddock. I love him. But he screwed up. He was an alcoholic who mistreated his wife terribly. Like, she’s doing all right.

Betsy’s done her best. I do think she’s a good Captain Britain. And I love Betsy. I’m very happy to see her getting to do some the exciting things she’s doing. Also, she’s doing a lot better this time as Captain Britain than she did the first time. I mean when she got her eyes poked out, which didn’t go well.

X-Men Monday #85 – Jordan D. White Answers Your X of Swords Week 10 Questions

AiPT!: Here’s X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White with answers to your X-Force #14, Hellions #6 and Cable #6 questions. 

AIPT: Why can’t Jamie Braddock just resurrect characters like Betsy and Gorgon who died in Otherworld for the X-Men? He’s been shown to resurrect characters before. 

Jordan: Great question. I mean, I guess he could. Jamie has been shown to definitely be able to bring people back from the dead. I mean, I think he did it in Excalibur when Brian died for a moment there. Although that was more of a resuscitating–a death of someone who just died through reality warping means rather than fully bringing back a person who’s been dead. First of all, that might be splitting hairs. But second of all, he’s also been shown, if I’m remembering correctly, to literally create people from scratch. Just be like, “Hm, there’s a person now. Aha. I’m crazy.” I don’t know that that’s the same thing for the people of Krakoa in the sense that–well, it all gets into the question of why they come back differently and what it is that has changed and affected them. I think even among the writers of the X-Office it’s been a discussion. 

You have slightly different theories and they all add up to the same thing because, you know, what happens happens. But the why is a bit of a mystery at this point, and I’m not sure that we’re going to fully define it. That said, something happens, right? So if we’re saying that if a mutant dies in Otherworld and they get brought back through resurrection, which is a means that Krakoa is fully on board with and believes in. I’m sure there are people who have their doubts. I’m not saying that every person is 100% onboard. But generally speaking, Krakoa is fully on board with and believes that this resurrection process brings back the person down to their essence and what makes them them. Right? 

But Otherworld interferes with that. Then I think that that would open up questions about the process that we all are subscribing to brings them back differently and this other process would bring them back normally, is it the same thing? Like would that Betsy that Jamie makes from scratch be the real Betsy if bringing back the real Betsy through the means that we have said would bring back the real Betsy doesn’t bring back the real Betsy, do you know what I’m saying? Is whatever that thing is that got messed up by her dying in Otherworld, is that essence in the version that Jamie makes or not? Definitely I know I can’t say the answer in an interview because the best place to answer that is in the comics. And at least to some extent, that conversation will come up. 

AIPT: I was listening to your recent appearance on the Cerebro podcast and it reminded me how much you love the original Excalibur run, which X of Swords has been compared to. As an editor and a fan, how does it feel to have brought a little of that magic you loved so much growing up to modern comics? 

Jordan: It feels great. Although, first thing I want to say is I don’t want to take all the credit. In the same way that I don’t stop people from using characters I don’t like, I also don’t force them to use characters. Obviously, if we’re putting together an ops team and there’s a question of who should be on it, I can go, “You know who’d be good? Sage.” Like, yeah, that’s because I think about Sage and I like Sage, but I didn’t say to Ben, “You have to use Sage.” He went, “Oh, that’s a good idea.” And then he used Sage. And the same is true for this. It’s not like I was like, “Well, guys–the clock’s ticking, when are we getting to Saturnyne?” 

But with Tini and Jonathan, these are characters that they’re into as well. Like I’m not the only person in the X-Office who loves classic Excalibur, not by a long shot. So I’m thrilled that the folks that I’m collaborating with love it as much as I do and want to bring it into things in the same ways that I do. But it feels terrific. Because it’s definitely something I thought about a lot–what makes Excalibur Excalibur, and is it possible to preserve that while still being part of the X-Men line? Because, you know, the most Excalibur Excalibur things that existed were very separate from X-Men. They took place in a time when the entire team of Excalibur thought the X-Men were dead for most of it. And then even when they found out, for another 20 something issues, they still didn’t really incorporate into ongoing X-Men continuity that much. 

And I mentioned on the Cerebro podcast that when they’re fully integrated into X-Men continuity, I thought, “Oh, this is going to be great.” But I ended up being real disappointed because it ended up robbing Excalibur of so much of what made it special. So how to keep Excalibur feeling Excalibur is something we’ve definitely thought about. So far, I think it’s going well and I’m thrilled to be able to bring in so much Excalibur and Captain Britain-related stuff because I do really love that stuff, but again, I’m not the only one. Tini does, Jonathan does.

X-Men Monday #82 – Jordan D. White Answers Your X of Swords Week 7 Questions

AIPT!: X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White runs through X-Fans’ latest round of burning X of Swords questions.

AIPT: Based on Saturnyne’s interactions with the representatives from Mercator in Stasis, is it safe to assume she herself doesn’t know everything about the post-Secret Wars Otherworld she oversees? 

Jordan: It is very safe to assume that. She has never been in there. I’m pretty sure if you go back to the data page about Mercator, it talks about how it used to be a different kingdom. So she knew about that. But something has happened that has taken over that realm and has sealed it off. And no one from outside has been in since then. So she doesn’t know what happened in there since that time. 

But it does have a familiar name. 

AIPT: Based on Tarot’s reading at the end of Stasis, things seem pretty dire for Captain Britain. What can you tease about Betsy’s future? 

Jordan: What can I tease about Betsy? I love Betsy. I’ve been a fan of Betsy for ages. I think I’ve been a fan of her for a long time, but my fandom for her grew because she was a very prominent character in one of my first ongoing gigs at Marvel, which is the book New Exiles. 

She was a cast member in that. Her and Sage were the two 616 characters in that book. And as a result, both of them have become very close to my heart. Just because, again, I’ve been reading Marvel Comics my whole life and getting a job at Marvel was an absolute dream job. So I was very, very excited, and to jump on New Exiles–as my first issue was Exiles #99, but you know, we were already working on the relaunch for New Exiles at that time. And yeah, it really bonded her to my heart. She’s terrific. 

That was one of many times when we tried unsuccessfully to give her pants. Once in a while we go, “Why don’t we put pants on Psylocke?” And we do it, but then time passes and she just stops wearing them. I don’t know what the deal is. 

AIPT: You pivoted from teasing her future to talking about her past and then pants. So, what can you tease about her future? 

Jordan: So obviously, we’ve got big plans for her. I don’t know what your readers consider spoilers. I mean, there’s an interesting cover, but it also doesn’t quite answer the question. 

AIPT: Are you talking about the one where Betsy appears to be the Queen of England? 

Jordan: That’s the one. Well, again, I wasn’t saying it, because I don’t know, some people consider a few upcoming covers to be spoilers. But yes, I’m talking about the cover of Excalibur #17 where she seems to be the Queen of England. But then the question is, is that her? That’s a good question. There are important things going on with her and I hope everybody enjoys them. 

AIPT: Are the Tarot cards accurate glimpses into the future, or can we never truly trust anything from Saturnyne? 

Jordan: That’s a really good question. I think that, yes, of course, Saturnyne does mess with people, but I don’t think she’s stacking the deck, if you know what I’m saying. Like, I think she is using this Tarot deck that she, you know, had to destroy a sun, I think to get–it’s a big thing. 

She is doing the proper reading that said–well, I don’t want to say as with all Tarot cards, because my belief on how, or whether Tarot cards work in real life is a separate matter entirely. As with Tarot cards in fiction, always, I think the future is in motion and et cetera, et cetera, you know, like, just because it says something will happen doesn’t mean you can’t avoid it, or you can’t change it. And also, as Tini has often pointed out, Tarot cards are not usually telling you, “Hey, tell me what is going to happen in the next three days.” It will be this, this, this, this–it’s more a reading of what the forces of the world are aligned toward, you know? And so it’s telling you about now and where now is headed, but that can then be changed. It’s not a locked-in reading of “Here is what happens in the future.” It’s, “Here’s what will happen from now.” 

That’s a little confusing, but hopefully, it made sense.

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-Men Monday #77 – Jordan D. White Answers Your X of Swords Week 2 Questions

AiPT!: X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White joins AiPT! to answer your questions about "X of Swords", including new details about Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti’s upcoming S.W.O.R.D. series! 

AIPT: In X of Swords: Creation #1, we learn that Otherworld is divided into vassal states and that key characters like Roma, Merlyn, the Fury and Mad Jim Jaspers are hanging around offscreen. Do you think Otherworld has the potential to become the X-Men’s response to Asgard? 

Jordan: Oh, well I hope not, because I think Asgard is real boring–Otherworld is way cooler than Asgard. I mean, yeah, sure. I think that’s a neat idea. I think that there are a lot of ideas. So, I was dancing around Otherworld last week when you were asking me about Jonathan and Tini creating the mythology of things–the backstory of Arakko and Amenth. And I was forgetting that it’s not public knowledge that there’s a lot more going on with Otherworld than we’ve seen in the past. 

There’s a lot in it, and how it’s used going forward, I think will end up being fun. I mean, it’s weird to call another dimension that has these giant realms within it another piece on the board, but it’s another piece on the board. Maybe it’s another 10 boards that were put on the table next to the pieces and yeah, I mean, there’s a lot there and there’s a lot that can be mined from it. Both in this story and in the future.

X-Men Monday #76 – Jordan D. White Answers Your X of Swords Week 1 Questions

AiPT!: The latest, greatest X-Men epic, X of Swords, has finally begun! And while most comics can be devoured in 10-15 minutes, it’s likely you read last week’s Excalibur #12 and X-Men #12, and then immediately reread them again… and again… and you’ll probably read them one more time ahead of this Wednesday’s X of Swords: Creation #1. There was A LOT to absorb in those two issues, and many X-Fans had questions. Fortunately, X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White has answers!

AIPT: Could you clarify the role Otherworld plays in the Krakoa/Arakko/Okkara situation. Lilith asked if Arakko is lost on the same pocket dimension as Otherworld, or if Arakko is only accessible through Otherworld, which works more like an intermediate point. 

Jordan: I think you will know the answer to this a lot more clearly two days from now. X of Swords: Creation #1 should hopefully answer any questions you have about what Otherworld has to do with it and where Arakko is relative to everything else. 

AIPT: Saturnyne has made it clear that being a Captain Britain is more than picking up the Amulet of Right and swearing to serve the British nation. After 12 issues, Betsy still comes off very unsure and lost in the role, even less edgy than she naturally is, which is a direct contrast to her role as Psylocke, where she seemed more comfortable and sure of herself. Is this something Betsy truly wants? 

Jordan: That’s a good question. And I think that’s a question that will be put to Betsy, right? She didn’t choose it at all. It was thrust on her and she reluctantly took it on. Is it something that she’s going to want to stick with permanently or will she eventually see the opportunity to say, great, let me go back to being myself and–well, I mean, she’s still herself, but you know what I mean–to going a different direction and give being Captain Britain back to someone more apt to it or somebody who wants it. And I think that’s very fertile ground for a story as well. And maybe we’ll see some of that in X of Swords.

X-Men Monday #75 – X of Swords

AiPT!: Anticipation for the first major event of the Dawn of X era is at an all-time high, so we at AIPT are proud to bring you this eXtra-large (and ridiculously fun) X of Swords-focused interview.

AIPT: There are a few cases where new writers are jumping onto series or co-writing chapters. How did this idea to mix it up come about and how did those who step into new roles for X of Swords find it?

Jordan D. White: This whole thing has grown out of the story we wanted to tell–it started when the track Jonathan had laid down early on dovetailed with where Tini was going in Excalibur, and when that fusion was brought to the whole group, everyone had ideas to pitch in as to where it was going. There are ideas from all sorts of folks that ended up in other people’s issues, everyone is giving notes and pitches for one another–it’s a very generous collaboration and I think everyone is into it.

AIPT: In the Dawn of X, you had to decide which mutants would sit on the Quiet Council. With X of Swords, you had to decide who the 10 sword-wielding mutants would be. What was the process behind selecting these characters like?

Jordan D. White: I am trying to think if there were a lot of people suggested that DIDN’T end up as Krakoan swordbearers, and I can’t think of many. It was at our C2E2 summit that we made the final list, taking all the ideas and locking it into the 10 swords we ended up with. I can think of one or two that I thought were going to be on there that were not… but there were good reasons, either for the people we ended up with or to NOT include some of the ones we did so we could use them otherwise.

AIPT: X-Fans love a good soap opera. Can we expect some romance in-between all the sword fighting?

Ben Percy: There’s plenty of emotional drama mixed into the mayhem. I can’t share anything too detailed, but there’s a lot of angles on… marriage in this thing.

AIPT: I’m not sure if you all know this, but Betsy Braddock has some very passionate fans who especially care about her relationships with her fellow mutants. Can we expect interactions between Captain Britain and both Storm and Cypher?

Jordan D. White: Well, they are all in this together. All three of them have big things happen to them in this series as a result of the battle they take on together, but we’re not spending that much time on their history compared to moving them forward.

Tini Howard: Betsy is on a weird personal journey right now, and those can be lonely. If it feels like Betsy spends a lot of time alone, hurting, and on missions, and precious little time allowing herself to be comforted and soothed by the people closest to her, well–that’s the Betsy we’ve always known.

AIPT: X-Fans are concerned that X of Swords cover art suggests only a small group of characters play key roles in this event. Is it safe to assume they shouldn’t judge an event by its covers?

Jordan D. White: Only X-Men fans see 20 characters fighting with swords and ask why so many characters were left out. 😛 There are a LOT of characters in this crossover, and more than just the swordbearers are important to it.

X of Swords: Creation kicks off "the biggest X-Men story since House of X/Powers of X"

Newsarama: The X-Men line's first crossover of the 'Dawn of X' era is about to kick off in X of Swords: Creation #1 by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Pepe Larraz, which provides some backstory and lead-up for the Tarot-themed, sword-wielding X-Men event.

Before Creation hits on September 23, Newsarama spoke with X-Men group editor Jordan D. White to discover what's ahead for mutantkind as they grapple with the ominous events of 'X of Swords,' how Tarot informs even the story of the event itself, and a few cryptic secrets about what to expect.

Along the way, we've also got a brand new page from X of Swords: Stasis #1 by Pepe Larraz debuting right here.

Newsarama: Jordan, 'X of Swords' is finally about to kick off, and in the time since it was first announced, the crossover has grown in scope significantly. What led to the expansion?

Jordan D. White: There were a lot of factors. The first and foremost reason is that when we were digging into the story, there was a lot more we wanted to do than we thought we could fit in one month of comics. We were pretty committed to a schedule though, at that point, so we would have made it work... except the publishing schedule being blown up gave us more time to develop things that we wouldn't have had otherwise.

Plus, I think we were looking at the world around us and things were really looking down - I don't need to tell you about all the strife and problems the world was facing, you were there, you know it as well as we do - but we saw all this and said 'Let's do something bigger and make a bigger splash! The world is bad right now. Let's give people somewhere else to be for a while.'

And believe me - we used all the extra time. We've had regular video conferences, gone through drafts and drafts of plots and scripts, worked to make sure everything fits together as seamlessly as humanly possible in one giant 22-part story, not nine connected stories. It was way more work than we were anticipating... but we're so happy with the results so far.

Nrama: With Pepe Larraz stepping back in for X of Swords: Creation #1, I can't help but feel some significance in bringing back one of the artists who helped launch 'Dawn of X' to also kick off its first crossover. What's it like bringing Pepe back together with Jonathan for this one-shot?

White: It was great! Pepe is amazing! If it were up to us, he would never draw anything but X-Books for the rest of recorded history. Seriously - we knew it would be a big deal bringing him back onto this book, and that is on purpose. He, along with RB Silva, defined this new era visually.

He and Jonathan teaming back up is something special, and this is the biggest story Jonathan has done since House of X and Powers of X ended. We all know how amazing Pepe is - if you see him down as the artist of an X-Book, you know it's going to be an important one.

Nrama: The solicitation for X of Swords: Creation #1 reads, ominously, "A tower. A mission. A gathering of armies." What can you tell us about what all that means?

White: The name of 'X of Swords' comes from the Tarot. Tini Howard is our resident Tarot expert, and she came up with the name for the story. As soon as I heard it, I knew it was what we were going with. It is perfect.

When it came time to write the solicits for the series, we decided to lean into the Tarot theme. Tini wrote the solicits as little prophetic fortunes based on what happens in each issue. So, what does it mean? It's up to you to interpret the prophecy... but you'll only know how right you were after the fact.

Nrama: The Tower from the traditional Tarot deck can symbolize a great ruin that can lead to a rebirth. Given the glimpses we've seen of 'X of Swords' so far, and what you just told us, how much should we read into that potential symbolism?

White: Like I said, Tini knows her stuff.

Nrama: Storm has been going through some stuff leading up to 'X of Swords,' and you recently said there would be big things ahead for her. What can you tell us about that? How does all this connect to the techno-organic virus Storm has been suffering in her Giant-Size X-Men one-shot?

White: There is a lot going on with Storm! First off, I don't want to spoil anything from the Giant-Size X-Men: Storm #1 issue! So that'll be the first place you should check out.

She does also have some great moments in 'X of Swords,' especially in Vita Ayala's Marauders #13. But, I think you might be referring to a really amazing Storm development that I cryptically mentioned recently.

That is in the very early stages, but... it's amazing. Unfortunately, it's something that won't be happening until next year. But I think you will know it when you see it - it's pretty huge.

Nrama: Obviously you can't reveal the identity of the 'classified' Swordbearer of Arakko (unless you really want to surprise us!). But what goes into deciding how to put a character fans may already know in a new role like that?

White: There's really no way to answer this without spoiling things! You'll just have to wait until Skids reveals herself as – Damn it, you got me!

Nrama: Huh. We'll take that as a joke... for now.

Mutants have switched sides many times – especially when Apocalypse is involved. Will that come into play here?

White: Apocalypse does seem to always have his secret goals, doesn't he? That said, I don't know if any Krakoans would be willing to change sides, given the stakes that are established in 'X of Swords.' Generally speaking, no one is confused as to what needs to be done, they only disagree on how to do it.

Nrama: There's a criticism that death has become meaningless in superhero comic books, and the X-Men are known for breaking that barrier. But 'Dawn of X' has turned that on its head with the mutant Resurrection Protocols. How do you ensure that death has story weight in a world where you can come back to life? What goes into deciding who dies when?

White: You hit the nail on the head - a lot of the weight of comic character death has dissipated. At this point I think the list of characters who have not died and been brought back can probably be counted on one hand... and I don't even mean that as an exaggeration, as Jonathan literally killed everyone in the universe but one ship's worth of characters in Secret Wars, and the bulk of those have died and returned at other times.

The Resurrection Protocols are an attempt to battle that very thing, by shaking up and changing the game. If a character dies as a part of the normal sequence of events, readers expect they will come back, and now yeah, they will, that's how Krakoan Resurrection works. But we're very early in the life of this idea. There are lots of story possibilities that come from this that bring all new stakes in ways no one is expecting.

And at least one of those will factor into 'X of Swords' in a big way.

Nrama: How did everyone decide which swords to use, and who would wield each blade?

White: Meetings and spitballing!

Honestly, we really have something special going on in the X-Office right now in that all the writers are in much more of a collaborative relationship than I have ever seen across a line before.

We've had our X-Slack in place for a long time, and that has opened everyone up to one another in a big way... but honestly, I think the one good thing to come out of this terrible situation we're all in is that with everyone on Earth doing more video calls, we started up these X-Office group calls and it's been awesome.

We used to get together once, maybe twice a year for an X-Summit. But now we have these calls every two weeks and everyone can share ideas, ask questions or advice, spitball... it really has been so great to see how wonderful everyone has been about it.

To answer your actual question... I think we actually locked in the choices of what characters had what swords back at C2E2. Some were in place long before that, of course, but I think we had more awesome ideas for who it could be than we had open slots.

So everyone was throwing out ideas and then knocking them around, talking about the benefits of this character instead of that one, what awesome things this one could do if they were in the story, what great story beats we would get out of that one, what thing spinning out of the story we'd get if we used the other, all of that.

I have said that the story of 'X of Swords' grew out of the combination of the stories Jonathan and Tini were planting since House of X, and it's true... but even beyond that, I think it would not be the shape it ended up without every one of our writers, because everyone really did hone it together.

It's been a little grueling, but I know all of us are proud.

Nrama: Now that we're right on the verge of X of Swords, what can you tell us that you haven't told anyone else?

White: Not everyone brings the right sword to the fight.