Apocalypse learns the story of Arakko in X-Men #12, by writer Jonathan Hickman, artist Leinil Yu, colorist Sunny Gho, and letterer Clayton Cowles. This issue does a lot of pre-X Of Swords heavy lifting, giving readers some answers to some questions while raising others.

Summoner is still playing his game with Rockslide, Anole, and the others when Apocalypse comes with questions. Summoner sends the others off and tells Apocalypse the story Okkara, the parts Apocalypse knew- the battle against the enemy and Apocalypse’s place in it, what the mutants of Arrako thought and what came next for them in the world of Amenth, where Arrako ended up. He tells a story of war and defeat, as Arrako mutants strive against outside forces and their own before Summoner is sent to find Apocalypse and see if he has raised a mutant army to help. Apocalypse takes Summoner to a gate he’s built so that Summoner can herald his return as Apocalypse prepares the forces of Krakoa for battle, sending Banshee and Unus the Untouchable with him.

There is a lot to unpack in this issue. First off, Okkara was apparently always a mutant land, which sort of makes sense for a mutant island. The threat that sundered it came from another world, and Apocalypse and his Horsemen came to help. They call Apocalypse the “great reseeder,” probably a reference to the Celestial Seed that he found, and the “ first mutant of the second generation of mutantdom,” meaning Okkaran mutants are probably the first generation. From there, the story tells what happened to the Okkaran mutants in the other world they were sent to when Arakko and Krakoa were sundered, the triumphs and tragedies. It’s all wonderfully spelled, as Hickman gives readers a history lesson for something they never suspected.

An interesting tidbit is that Summoner doesn’t know exactly what happened when the Okkara was sundered- his people have many stories, one of which is that Apocalypse betrayed his Horsemen and the mutants of Okkara, sending them into Amenth to save himself and the next generation of mutants. It remains to be seen if this is the truth; Apocalypse seems to want to help the Okkaran mutants and has worked to set things up so that he can… but is there more to it than just altruism? Apocalypse has been much too good lately; he’s always had his own motives. This next chapter in the X-Men mythos will show readers what Apocalypse is all about.

Leinil Yu’s art continues to impress. He does some great close-ups on Apocalypse that give him more facial expression than any other artist ever has with the character. He does a lot of great design with the Okkaran mutants throughout the book as well. A lot of it is the page layout- each page has three large panels that give him a lot of room to work with.

X-Men #12 gets readers ready for X Of Swords, answering a lot of questions and asking even more. Hickman is building something great with this one, and it will be wonderful to see where it goes next. Yu’s art is perfect for this issue, making Hickman’s script come to life. If this issue is any indication, X Of Swords will be great.


Grade: A