X of Swords (Summer X-Over)

[TooFlyToFail]

White Sword cost his team 12 points. Literally the worst.

Come to think of it, he's basically Arakko's Vincent Vega.

Yeah, he was never loyal to his side.

[FluffyCyclopsRLZ]

Yeah, he was never loyal to his side.

Mmm. I might have to take back the Vincent Vega analogy. Dude was loyal, just really bad at his job. But then again, White Sword is the coolest dude in the room and yet no sane individual would want him on their team.

[Godlike13]

It was a good death. This crossover is seesawing between silly and serious. It’s a bit disorienting.

[ZephyrSurf]

Know what, here. Lemme try doing this event in the frame work of the unorthodox nature that's prescribed, but with it having the same level of gravitas that the first half implemented. Yeah yeah, fanfic i know, whatever, just hear me out

Isca vs Betsy - Same decisiveness, same outcome but rather than pivoting to a wedding, we linger on Betsy being 'dead' and how serious the fight actually is for krakoa. Maybe only five pages dedicated to the fight and the rest to the chilling reality of this competition. Arakko win

Wolverine vs Summoner - The same fight, but again like the above, stretched out to a full issue. Just have Cassara extend what looked like a really compelling fight to a complete issue. Book end with the cliff hanger that is the twist of Wolverine winning being a loss and give the readers the idea that this tournament isn't the standard affair that it seems. Arakko win
saturnyne: That's what you get for trying to gut me you hairy manlet

Magik vs Pogg Ur Pogg - Following up from Wolverine and Summoner we get Magik vs Pogg Ur Pogg. Again, the same fight. Just now we're changing the length and context. This is now a serious fight that further punctuates the oddness of this tournament as Magik now has the fight the seemingly dominating giant Pogg ur Pogg without use of her sword. Same essential ending, but have it be a long grueling fight for Magik where she wins by realizing pogg ur pogg's treachery and then beating down the real Pogg Ur Pogg. Krakoa Win

War vs Doug - The first real big change I'd make in terms of story beats. Have Doug in a situation where he's certain he's going to die to War who is so completely and totally out of his league... onl for the fight to be cut hilariously short by Saturnyne declaring a point to Krakoa on account of War being disqualified. Punctuating it by Saturnyne telling war that this is the appropriate result of her underhandedness.Krakoa Win

Interlude - Second big change I'd make. We're given a moment of reprieve wherein the Krakoans and Arakkii are allowed to mingle again. Here we can have Storm and Wolverine intoxicated to the point of near uselessness (This being actions from Death with the aide of Jaspers). We can also better sow the relationship of Bei and Doug at this point. No marriage, but they're clearly infatuated with each other. War demands a fight, actually incensed at her lack of being able to fight and discovering that her Son is dead. Solem digs into her verbally until Saturnyne obliges and makes the two duel. Also first indication that Betsy isn't actually dead.

Solem vs War - Instead of Solem tagging out immediately, Solem and War actually do have a real fight... and War is actually kicking Solem's ass. For as petulent, underhanded, and hotheaded as War is... the hype is warranted. This leads to Solem calling in his debt and rather than Wolverine taking Solem's place, he and Solem fight together to manage to cut war's hand off... only for Saturnyne to award a win to Arakko. Arakko Win


Brian vs Redroot - Same situation. An unorthodox fight in the form of a race, however we change it a bit. Instead of a normal race, it's a maze through the crooked Market to find the exit on the other end. Brian is clearly far more atheltic, but again Furies are conveniently tying him up. Red Root opts to forgo trying to navigate the maze and uses her mutant power (remember those? This event sure doesn't.) and just wantonly decays a straight path to the end. We then get the same situation with Jaspers like in the official fight with Saturnyne offering Brian a deal whilst Redroot is imprisoned by Jaspers.Arakko Win


Storm vs Death - Sameish fight as before, but extended. Don't have Death's sword just randomly break, but instead have Storm disarm him. Also instead of reflecting the death stare back at him, have Storm shut him down before he even manages to take the helmet off, being aware of what he could do from the first banquet. Krakoa Win

Cable vs Bei - As with many before, the same fight, but extended and this time and actually, Cable wins. Also keep the entire what's happening on Krakoa section. Krakoa Win

Gorgon vs The White Sword - Same fight just... you know give it to someone not Noto. Arakko Win


Arakko - 5
Krakoa - 4

[JTFSXX]

Nah, the dude called mommy and daddy after losing.

Noto can't draw action, so this issue just didn't cut it.

Storm beating Death, while drunk, was....underwhelming. That's how the most interesting Horseman dies?

Look, I'm not saying it was good...again, this whole series is ridiculous...but this was the best offering of the week. I like Badass Storm owning death without her powers, and the Summers family dynamic is much more interesting to me than the Apocalypse or Braddock family crap they keep trying to push. Yawn.

[FluffyCyclopsRLZ]

Arakko - 5
Krakoa - 4

So... a delayed tie?

[ZephyrSurf]

So... a delayed tie?

It was always gonna end in a tie / near tie. Cause you know tension.

[Devaishwarya]

It was always gonna end in a tie / near tie. Cause you know tension.

I love your versions of the battles.

I can only imagine just how awesome it would have been to see all the combatants using their powers and skills and knowledge to win over the course of 21 pages...with the outcomes being totally unpredictable to how the story unfolds. This was a squandered opportunity for all the writers including HiX-Man, involved.

[Vordan]

It was a good death. This crossover is seesawing between silly and serious. It’s a bit disorienting.

This more than anything feels like the main problem. It’s supposed to be the mutants fighting for their lives and the lives of all those on Earth. It’s also a wacky event where Logan pouts about having to participate in a modeling competition. The tones just don’t mesh well.

[pkingdom]

Its so irritating that this event has gone on this long, throwing ever other series out of wack, and its just SO. BAD. Its hard to pin down who to blame exactly, because there's been so much bad spread through so many issues.

Storm wins her fight while drunk, with no powers, and using the sword she betrayed Wakanda for like a mirror. Didn't even use its actual powers. Death was one of the few Horsemen built up to be a threat.

The magic mutant depowering booze doesn't work on Wolverine, because his mutant power is healing. That's a logic ouroboros.

Saturnyne continues to change the rules whenever she wants.

Art shows Krakoa winning the eating contest and then the data page says otherwise

Largely off-panel Xaolin Showdown nonsense give Arrako a huge lead, despite being built up as major warriors they are somehow great at puzzles, modeling and the like. Lead is thrown away at the last minute in order to act like there's still tension.

Only person to actually die in this deadly serious competition is Gorgan, who was the most disposable and has done nothing but look cool this entire relaunch. White Sword apparently decides not to use his powers on him because Gorgan asked him not too.

[lefthanded]

Haven’t liked Hellions at all after giving the first few issues a try, as its tone/voice swings all over the place. Would have skipped it, except this issue was included as part of X of Swords. This issue fits a more classic definition of an event tie-in, but having it included as one of the numbered main story line is circumspect. I could have skipped the issue without missing a beat, which is what tie-ins normally are. Still not a fan of Hellions, as I don’t care for the direction or characters.

This event has definitely become not what I expect from a Hickman event - well thought out, well paced. His Avengers methodically built to Infinity, and then built to Secret Wars. The events themselves followed a good flow of information and developments. Same thing with his Fantastic Four series - there was a careful pace of development.

In contrast, this week and last week feel like massive dumps of plot development without much care. I enjoyed the montage of contests (in the panel of Gorgon and Magik assembling puzzle pieces, I was trying to figure out what comic that is supposed to be from, as I see Colossus on there), but this event seems to just have become a montage itself.

[CGAR]

Well Logan getting drunk. Take into account it’s otherworld, magic and Mad Jim Jaspers (a powerful reality warper) gave them the drinks. I find it forgivable.

I get why people are frustrated; I was kind of frustrated and I do wish there was more action and I don’t like Tini Howard‘s writing but I see what they’ve been trying to do and I appreciate that they are trying something different.

I think some characters weren’t really used best in this event and tossed aside really quick.

[Slicknickshady]

Glad this will be done next week.

[baxer]

Its so irritating that this event has gone on this long, throwing ever other series out of wack, and its just SO. BAD. Its hard to pin down who to blame exactly, because there's been so much bad spread through so many issues.

Storm wins her fight while drunk, with no powers, and using the sword she betrayed Wakanda for like a mirror. Didn't even use its actual powers. Death was one of the few Horsemen built up to be a threat.

The magic mutant depowering booze doesn't work on Wolverine, because his mutant power is healing. That's a logic ouroboros.

Saturnyne continues to change the rules whenever she wants.

Art shows Krakoa winning the eating contest and then the data page says otherwise

Largely off-panel Xaolin Showdown nonsense give Arrako a huge lead, despite being built up as major warriors they are somehow great at puzzles, modeling and the like. Lead is thrown away at the last minute in order to act like there's still tension.

Only person to actually die in this deadly serious competition is Gorgan, who was the most disposable and has done nothing but look cool this entire relaunch. White Sword apparently decides not to use his powers on him because Gorgan asked him not too.

Gorgon dying was very predictable.

storm fight should hae been a lot more emotional with her almost losing.It was too easy.

The event seems to be brainstormed and most of ideas made into pages, that is why it is so messy

[Rnap22]

Things were definitely better this week, but still some questionable choice in “fights”. Dance off? Eating competition? Catwalk runway? Seriously?