X-Men

Near Mint Condition just announced a very welcome reprint that is a major surprise, even if Omar already tipped that we could expect it a few months ago: X-Men – X of Swords Oversize Hardcover!

First, let’s talk about why a reprint of X of Swords is so incredibly needed!

X of Swords was the first (and only!) linewide direct crossover of the X-Men’s Age of Krakoa from 2019 to 2024. The story kicked off at the one-year mark of Krakoa continuity, weaving together threads from Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men (2019) and Tini Howard’s Excalibur (2019). The story massively expanded the lore of Krakoa, Apocalypse, and Otherworld in a totally amazing way. For me, it’s one of the best X-Men event storylines of all time – up there with Inferno and Second Coming!

The original deluxe hardcover of X of Swords was the initial release of the story as a collected edition just months after it wrapped up, in January 2021. That made it the FIRST Krakoa oversize hardcover after HOXPOX; the hardcover collections of single series didn’t hit shelves until several months after this release.

At the time, that made a lot of sense: the single series collections skipped X of Swords, as did the X-Men by Hickman omnibus, so you’d want it on your bookshelf to intermingle with those books.

Even knowing that would be the case, demand for the X of Swords oversize hardcover far outstripped supply – as is the case for just about any X-Men even in hardcover. Prices were already getting wild before Marvel announced the X-Men: Age of Krakoa – Dawn of X Omnibus Vol. 1 for release in September 2025.

That announcement sent fans into wild speculation. Would X of Swords by the Volume 3 of that omnibus line? Or, would Marvel expect you to have already bought the hardcover?

Personally, I thought Marvel would do an expanded X of Swords as “Dawn of X Omnibus Vol. 3” that collected past it to some of the epilogue stories that followed, particular in X-Men (2019) and Excalibur (2019). So, I was surprised when the next Krakoa omnibus after Dawn of X Omnibus Vol. 2 was in fact Reign of X Omnibus Vol. 1. They had skipped X of Swords entirely!

At that point, things were looking a bit dire. Marvel could have announced this reprint to hit at the same time of that Reign of X book this September, but they didn’t. Prices spiked even higher – the book was selling on eBay for $300 or more! [Read more…] about Marvel Reprint Announcement: X-Men – X of Swords Oversize Hardcover!

Near Mint Condition recently announced the first new Marvel omnibus coming in February 2027, and it is a major announcement – X-Men: Age of Krakoa – Reign of X Omnibus Vol. 2!

The announcement of this book isn’t exactly a surprise. Krakoa era omnibuses have proven to be major sellers for Marvel, with the first two volumes of “Dawn of X” both requiring rush restocks to keep up with demand.

The general shape of the contents of this volume are not a surprise, either. Anyone who pays close attention to the mapping of these books (e.g., me) could have told you with 99% certainty that this volume would collect through the end of the original 2021 Hellfire Gala, inclusive of all of the issues that were a part of the Gala.

Personally, I thought this would stretch another 4-5 issues past the Gala to pick up either the Trial of Magneto (2021) mini-series or the first arc of X-Men (2021) by Gerry Duggan. It seemed like grabbing those extra issues would act as a solid epilogue the Gala and would set up the next omnibus to be a reasonable length.

Instead, this ends with the Gala, but does pick up pretty much every minor anthology story from non-X titles it could possibly grab in this period. I think that’s an awesome sign from Marvel that they’re paying close attention to the mapping of these books and are not just copy-and-pasting the Krakoa era release schedule into omnibus.

What does this mean for the following Krakoa omnis? I think we’ll need TWO MORE books to make it all the way to the end of Jonathan Hickman’s run with Inferno (2021) before the act break for The X Lives/Deaths of Wolverine. Just covering the next 2-3 months of issues after this is another 46-issue omnibus, which doesn’t even get us all the way to Inferno (2021) [Read more…] about Marvel Omnibus Announcement: X-Men: Age of Krakoa – Reign of X Omnibus Vol. 2