Broader events and universe landmarks
No. 143 — Longer term

X of Swords

Jonathan Hickman · Tini Howard

Story era 12 · King in Black and the Krakoan Age

X of Swords establishes Arakko and its history through a contest whose consequences continue into Ewing’s later work.

0 of 1 book owned720 pages23 full issues

Setup & reading order

Required setup along this run

These earlier stories explain events this book builds on. Reading checkpoints show where to switch books during a crossover.

  1. After X of Swords: Destruction #1

    Return to X-Men by Hickman at #16.

Optional context & path

Path: The Krakoan era. Related projects that read well in this order; the order is a suggestion, not a requirement.

Useful background and earlier stops: X-Men by Jonathan Hickman — Krakoa spine · Hellions by Zeb Wells.

Only required setup and earlier volumes in the same project affect the queue. Everything here is optional.

About these books · 4 sources

Publisher and reference pages describe the editions. Reviews and reader discussions offer different views of the stories.

The books

UnownedX of SwordsJonathan Hickman · Tini Howard720 pp

X of Swords

Oversized hardcover · 720 pages · Unowned

Book 1 of 1 · King in Black and the Krakoan Age

X of Swords follows Hickman’s X-Men #11 and establishes Arakko’s role in Ewing’s later stories.

Required setup

House of X/Powers of XUnowned

X-Men by Jonathan Hickman OmnibusUnowned

See reading checkpoints
Due 2 Feb 2027 · 720 pages · Pepe Larraz cover9781302970888Planned edition
X of Swords: Creation (2020)#1
X-Men (2019)#12–15
Excalibur (2019)#13–15
Marauders (2019)#13–15
X-Force (2019)#13–14
New Mutants (2019)#13
Wolverine (2020)#6–7
Cable (2020)#5–6
Hellions (2020)#5–6
X-Factor (2020)#4
X of Swords: Stasis (2020)#1
X of Swords: Destruction (2020)#1
Earth-616 Primary

Hellions #5–6 repeat from Wells’s Hellions collection. Read those two chapters here when following X of Swords across titles, then skip their repeat when returning to the team’s own book.

Edition sources

Each ISBN identifies a specific printing and cover. “Owned copy” identifies the edition on my shelf; “Planned edition” identifies the edition listed for collecting.

Duplication across this project

These books share full issues or parts of issues with other books in the plan. Open the lists below to see which stories repeat.

2 shared full issues — X of Swords ↔ Hellions by Zeb WellsThese books share full issues; the list identifies the repeated stories.
Show exact issuesHellions (2020) #5Hellions (2020) #6