Review: X-Men #13 (2020)

X-Men #13
W: Jonathan Hickman
A: Mahmud Asrar/Sunny Gho
Publisher: Marvel
Arc: X of Swords Part 10

Story turns back to Apocalypse, who’s still recovering in the Healing Gardens from the start of the X of Swords. Hope gives Healer a boost of power to help heal Apocalypse; while they are healing him, we get more of the history of him and his wife, Genesis.

The first group of mutants took on creatures from the Dark World, which were trying to breach the Earth. The mutants were able to defeat their enemy. They met the leader of the enemy, which led to Genesis and the 4 Horseman taking Arakko through the breach to prevent another attack. Genesis told Apocalypse to stay, that he wasn’t strong enough for this battle, and to prepare the strongest of the next attack.

The issue ends with Apocalypse retrieving his sword – Scarab. Apocalypse broke the blade after Arakko was gone and put the pieces inside the tombs of his original 4 horsemen.

Hickman knows how to write a well crafted tale. He’s been building this story since Dawn of X started, planting little seeds in all of the titles (much like he did setting up Secret Wars). He’s continuing the infographics too, which I find helpful, for the different swords; you get a history for them, along with details about why the sword is important.

The art is solid. There are a lot of details to each panel and they aren’t difficult to figure you. At the same time, some of the panels give you a little bit of a retro feel (Healer and Hope working on Apocalypse, with Xavier and Magneto in the background).

Something else that Hickman has introduced to the X-Men line, that I think is important and underrated, is the reading/release order of the books. I check it every week to make sure I’m reading all the books in the order they suggest.

X-Men is in the upper echelon of the Dawn of X books; not the top tier (Marauders, X-Factor, Hellions), but the second tier stuff. Many of the stories have been 1 and done, but each one is part of the bigger picture.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5