X-Men: X of Swords: Stasis Written by Tini Howard and Jonathan Hickman. Art by Pepe Larraz and Mahmud Asrar.

This is chapter 11 in the X of Swords crossover.


What went before: Mutants have united and live nearly all on the island of Krakoa. Apocalypse has revealed that he has tried something similar before, on the island of Okkara, but a demonic invasion forced him to sacrifice his wife, his children and half the island, splitting Okkara in Krakoa and Arakko. Arakko was thrown into another dimension and now the demonic armies, lead by Apocalypse's children, the four original Horsemen, have returned for revenge and conquest. Their army is stopped in Otherworld by the magic of the Omniversal Majestrix, Saturnyne. She gets both the Horsemen and the X-Men to agree to a duel: 10 champions of each side, each armed with a special sword will face each other on the battlefield in Otherworld.


Plot: This is a one-shot in the middle of the crossover and does a thing I like, all chapters before have been focusing on the X-Men and their allies gathering their 10 chosen swords (but as it turns out not 10 champions, as Gorgon wields two of the 10 swords by himself). This one-shot gives focus to the antagonists of the story, fleshing out their characters, motivations and internal relationships.

Famine recites the prophecy delivered to her by Saturnyne that determines their chosen swords for the fight, Pestilence notes that they don't know all the blades and Death and Ware are not pleased, as some of the names on the list imply having to make allies out of current enemies, but their leader overrules their concerns.
War, Death, Summoner (Apocalypse's grandson who betrayed him in the first chapter of this story) and their unnamed leader are already in place as chosen champions, they are sent out to gather the others:
- Redroot; as Douglas Ramsey acts as the voice of Krakoa, translating its wishes to its mutant population, Redroot acts as the voice of Arakko and like Krakoa their only concern is reuniting the two halves of the ancient living island. Redroot seems to despise violence and is insulted by the endless lies Summoner tells her, but in the end reunification is her final goal and this duel seems the way to that one way or another.
- Pogg Ur-Pogg; a giant beast (looks kinda like the Egyptian god-beast Ammut) who only joins Arakko's Champions for the promise of wealth and plunder.
- Bei the Blood Moon; a large female warrior joins for the promise of battle.
- The White Sword; the first champion of Okkara, traveled with 100 champions to stop the demon invasion of Earth and has stood against the hordes for millenia. He is opposed to the Horsemen, who have joined the demon hordes and sees them as traitors. He joins them, because Death and Pestilence beg for his help.
- Isca the Unbeaten, sister-in-law to Apocalypse joins without any word.
(We don't get to see Solem, another champion of Arakko in this one-shot, but as he wields the sword Muramasa and Wolverine wields another sword Muramasa, I guess he appeared in his title).

The Champions of Krakoa arrive as guests of Saturnyne and are taken to their chambers. Each of them are given a Tarot card that will predict their future and role in the duel (a bit in the end explains with the mutant Tarot of the Hellions explains the meaning of the cards):
- Elisabeth Braddock aka Captain Britain finds the 9 of Swords, showing her being stabbed with 9 different swords. A card signifying that you are stopped by your own fears and doubts.
- Douglas Ramsey aka Cypher gets the Two of Cups, showing him sharing drinks with a large woman (Bei the Blood Moon?). A card signifying young love. He's confused by what the card means.
- Gorgon's card is not shown, he's seen throwing the card away with a dismissive gesture.
- Brian Braddock aka Captain Avolon receives the Knight of Pentacles. A card signifying practicality and prosperity. He's wondering about the game Saturnyne is playing with them.
- Illyana Rasputin aka Magik receives the Page of Wands. A card showing a trickster but reliable ally. She is pleased with it.
- Cable is offended: he's dealt the Fool card, but the Fool card is not an insult, it signifies the beginning of a journey from ignorance to wisdom.
- Wolverine receives the card Strength, showing him being strangled by the Summoner. Strength signifies the strength to endure hardship and pain rather than offensive strength, so this seems to fit Wolverine as well.
- Storm receives the Death card which concerns her, but Death does not mean her death, rather change, but that is also something that would concern her.

Apocalypse crushes his card in anger and storms of to meet Saturnyne and demanding what the meaning of the card is. Saturnyne repairs the damaged card and it shows The Lovers. Saturnyne takes her to her own meeting: the leader of Arakko awaits and removes the Golden Mask she is wearing to reveal herself as Genesis, the wife of Apocalypse.

The Good: We get more insight in the forces of Arakko or the Amenth and we get to see that they are not the monolithic power they appear to be. I think I like Redroot, who doesn't seem to be the single-minded murderer most of the others seem to be, is my favourite of the bunch, but others who are only doing it for money or personal satisfaction also make the group more interesting than just "these are the bad guys, they are all the same" as we see too often.

I always like Tarot cards as foreshadowing story elements, even if I don't usually like prophecies in stories. Mostly because the cards tend to be more broad and vague. The implications of some of the cards I find fascinating; Apocalypse facing the woman he loves, was something I did expect, but Douglas apparently finding love in battle is interesting. Then again Douglas has always attracted women around him and his skill is communicating rather than fighting, so not completely out of left field.

The Bad: It's a middle chapter in a long story, so if you haven't been following the whole story or at least some of it, you will be pretty lost.

7/10: Middle chapter with some potential interesting implications for the upcoming second part of the story and it fleshes out the story's villains.