I read Hickman's Avengers, I remember how bored out of my mind I was when we got descriptions on the Ivory Kings, Black Priests, Mapmakers and whatever the hell else he introduced
Arakko and Amneth and all of these Swordbearers actually make sense
I read Hickman's Avengers, I remember how bored out of my mind I was when we got descriptions on the Ivory Kings, Black Priests, Mapmakers and whatever the hell else he introduced
Arakko and Amneth and all of these Swordbearers actually make sense
More often than not the World building is more for Hickman and his story rather than for the fans or the implication that it might be reused somewhere down the line. He just likes to create very authentic and detailed worlds. I think a comic book writer foremost thought is to create a creative work of fiction that's memorable rather than hoping that some writer somewhere down the line is going to reuse their concept and most likely butcher it.
Again, the Final Host. Or even the stupid god robot from Fallen Angels! It spent most of the 'fight' with Psylock just begging her not to kill it. Big mystical threats don't tend to matter much in the long run. Essentially, villains with more personal presences and characters like Trask end up having more of an impact.
That just sounds like he's not good at dealing with the medium he's working with. How many of his big idea concepts have actually stuck around or been used or referenced later on? This just feels like yet another layer of nonsense on Apocalypse' backstory to make him an even more confusing character, and it will all be ignored later.
To be clear, it might still be a good story in and of itself. Its just not quite as original for me as it might sound. And I'm well aware most of the others here are enjoying Hickman's work more than I am
I still wanna know how Surtur's sword got on Earth.
There's one thing I'm still trying to figure out. How did this all go down in Moira's 9th life?
We know most of it took place thousands of years ago, so things happened exactly the same up until Moira's birth at the very least.
The timeline in HoXPoX says that Moira and Apocalypse "rescued" the original Horsemen in the year 24 (HoX takes place in the year 52).
The Summoner mentioned that they had been holding out the horde for a hundred years, so even 28 years ago they would still be under siege.
I guess it's possible that 28 years ago, Arakko was still holding relatively well, and Apocalypse and Moira simply rescued the Horsemen, without much trouble.
Which also makes me think we may see Moira in this crossover. Perhaps Magneto or Xavier will ask her what she knows about Arakko.
To be completely serious for a second...
Scourge?
Send me a pm with a list of your favorite characters. I can let you know when they turn up, and folks who dig the current story can just keep right on trucking.
Win/Win
Those are fair points and it does ultimately come down to every reader's personal taste on what ever they let themself get enamored by the world and visions he creates here or feel uninterested or at least less excited by it (or at least for some of it's parts)
The thing for me personal, is just that after years of following the comics, i do see the X-men and their world as one of a long continuity of stories and characters, in which various new minds add pieces or build on existing ones.
Of course there are stories which can be argued to be "timeless classics" that work easily without knowing continuity. With readers capable of just puzzeling all important backstory details together from the dialoge. But there are also those which require a good understanding of previous continuity or at least the willingness to go to wikipedia or fan sites for long articles to understand why characters are where they are and why the whole situation is the way it is at that point.
Which i would argue is what Hickman's current status quo for the X-men is based on after all.
The whole Nation of Krakoa setup and even the lives of Moira X are centered around using the past 50 years of continuity to his world building advantage (by also dropping a massive retcon on them though). Without all these stories, the good and bad, which shaped the X-men and their continuity, this setup wouldn't wouldn't be able to work.
Not saying a complete fresh (non-X-men) story couldn't start from the same position, but that in a different pre-existing story, he couldn't have as easily established the current status quo.
We can't unbound this story from continuity when it's heavily based on it. It's not just his creative work, it's a pre-existing one he is working with. His creative vision in this case is not unbound or standing on it's own, but having a basis by which it could be compared.
Even an out of continuity story will end up compared to the stories in continuity if they use the same foundation of setting and characters.
So i think, it's also fair to assess the value this current story has to the continuity and X-men mythos going forward.
And in this case i see a complex world build but for something which doesn't feel like having much staying power or the ability to stay on it's own outside of the long continuity the writers are using to form it.
However only the end of this crossover will allow to determine what ever it was "memorable" and/or "successfull" as a story, which is also a personal preference after all. With the added dimension of the end of the entire Moira X saga potential requiring to reflect on this part of it a second time.
But until then there will be those for whom this is all great, all bad and the various viewpoints in between. Nobody should be discouraged by my comment to enjoy the story, while i stay sceptic on it's overall quality and value.
Last edited by Grunty; 09-16-2020 at 05:56 PM.
Okay, yeah I'm confused. I have no idea what I just read . LOL! Something about Apocalypse, some swords and Amenth or however it's spelled. I haven't seen Apocalypse since the whole Resurrection of powers ritual. Do I need to pick up Excalibur to understand what's going on in this issue. I love Hickman and his world building, I've been a fan of his since his awesome stint on Fantastic Four, but this issue was a bit hard to follow.
Thought the same about the first generation of mutants possibly being the Externals.
Moreover, loved the issue, Hickman has a vision for the X-men and while I personally don't agree with some choices. Such as lack of meaningful interactions between characters who would normally be a lot more familiar or at least polarizing on a consistent basis. That aside his ideas are top notch and hasn't been as heavily featured amongst the X-franchise since Morrison.
For that I can at least tune in to see where or how far this goes, excitement for Swords of X increased.
I'm curious to see if X of Swords will become more or less complicated from this point on.
Actually enjoyed this issue. Granted it was more informational than action but it is my hope that less pages will be required in the X of swords books now describing back story and we can move more quickly with the current story. Only time will tell though.
I actually think that Apocalypse is going to be in for a rude awakening though. It feels that Summoner is setting him up and planning to betray him. Think when the truth comes out Apocalypse is going to have some serious explaining to do.
I thoroughly enjoyed this issue!
Man, tho...Poccy making all these sacrifices, and it’s all gonna blow up in his face.
I wonder if we’ll have a Definitelypermanantlyuntilweneedhimagain dead Poccy after X of Swords...or, more shocking perhaps, a CONTRITE one who admits he messed up...