X-Position: X-Editors Reveal Their "Apocalypse Wars" Battle Plan

CBR: This week in X-POSITION, X-Men editors Daniel Ketchum and Chris Robinson join us and answer your questions about "Apocalypse Wars" and touch upon the state of the X-Men line and even the still mysterious "Death of X."

 As opposed to events from the X-Men's past, each "Apocalypse Wars" arc feels like a natural continuation of what's come before as opposed to a total interruption of the ongoing's larger story. What steps were taken to make each arc feel like a natural progression of each book's story?

Ketchum: That's all Cullen, Jeff and Dennis. They took the idea of Apocalypse and personalized it to their books, finding those organic ties to their material. It was really cool seeing how each writer did it, and each one took a pretty different approach. Jeff Lemire takes the stakes of "Extraordinary X-Men," but projects them into a dystopian fantasy world ruled by Apocalypse. Cullen Bunn tells a mystery/horror story in "Uncanny X-Men" that's fueled by Psylocke's desire to help her longtime teammate/sometimes lover, Archangel. And Dennis Hopeless brings his book's mission statement of characters wanting to step out of the shadows of their predecessors to a head when he puts Genesis face-to-face with En Sabah Nur, the child who will one day become Apocalypse. They really did amazing work, marrying the idea of Apocalypse to what they were already doing in their titles.

Dennis Hopeless mentioned in his previous X-POSITION that the X-books would link up a bit more after "Apocalypse Wars." Can you tell us what to expect in terms of how the three major X-books ("Extraordinary," "All-New" and "Uncanny") will affect one another in the future?

Ketchum: I think I'll have to answer this question with the dreaded, "Wait and see!" But I'll tell you that everything really starts with "Death of X." Once that story stars, we'll start to see some big developments in the "X-Men" titles...