X-Men: Die by the Sword is a five-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in 2007. It was written by Chris Claremont, drawn by Juan Santacruz, and inked by Raul Fernandez.
The story featured the teams New Excalibur and Exiles.
Publication history
The events of the mini-series take place following New Excalibur #24 (the last issue of that series) and between the issues of Exiles #99 and #100. Due to a minor delay in publishing New Excalibur #24 was actually released one week after X-Men: Die by the Sword #1.
This mini-series served as a conclusion to both Exiles vol. 1 and New Excalibur, though Captain Britain and some of New Excalibur continue on in Captain Britain and MI: 13, part of the Secret Invasion crossover event. Exiles was later restarted as New Exiles.
U.S. release dates
Exiles #99: October 3, 2007
New Excalibur #24: October 17, 2007
Issue 1: October 10, 2007
Issue 2: October 24, 2007
Issue 3: November 14, 2007
Issue 4: December 5, 2007
Issue 5: December 12, 2007
Exiles #100: December 19, 2007
Plot
Issue 1 "The Sword is Drawn" The story starts with all of the members of New Excalibur celebrating their recent defeat of Albion. Captain Britain answers the door and is surprised that it is his sister, Psylocke, because he believed her dead after she defeated the Shadow King. She tells him that she was part of the Exiles for a while, and she introduces her teammate, Thunderbird, to Captain Britain. Thunderbird wanders through the party, and when Nocturne sees him she jumps on him and gives him a kiss while expressing her surprise that he's alive. (This is because the last time she saw him he was lying in a bed apparently brain dead while she was pregnant with his child.) Psylocke explains to Captain Britain what the Exiles do, and he is slightly offended because protecting the multiverse is something that he, as the leader of the Captain Britain Corps, is in charge of, and he was angry that someone else had taken over the job.
Most of the first issue focuses on James Jaspers. He is dealing with the fact that he had been killed by The Fury, a creature of his own creation, but somehow he is still alive. He is approached by Merlyn for a deal, but before the deal is explained their meeting is interrupted by three members of the Captain Britain Corps. Jasper is easily able to defend himself, and he turns two of the Captains into green creatures resembling The Fury. The third Captain is killed by one of the Fury-like creatures. After the battle is over Merlyn proposes an alliance between the two of them.
There is a one-page interlude where Roma tells Saturnyne to summon the Captain Britain Corps and prepare them for battle, because "The time has come to face the reality that all things—perhaps even all people—are ultimately finite. And must someday come to their end."
Back at the party Pete Wisdom gives Dazzler a brand new motorcycle, Thunderbird and Nocturne have a long conversation as they restart their relationship, and Captain Britain goes to answer another knock at the door where he is stabbed by Rouge-Mort, who is accompanied by multiple figures in black military gear.
Issue 2 "First Blood" The second issue starts with Psylocke attacking Rouge-Mort in retaliation for attacking Captain Britain. Psylocke is able to hit Rouge-Mort numerous times but they do not seem to affect her, and Rouge-Mort is able to send Psylocke flying with a hard hit. Sage and Thunderbird join in and are able to easily defeat the henchmen in black while Nocturne gets all of the civilians out of the club. Nocturne tries to possess Rouge-Mort, but her armor prevents that from happening. However, Captain Britain is bleeding profusely because the stab wound is very close to his heart. Dazzler uses her power to create a blinding flash of light as a diversion so New Excalibur and the two Exiles can all be teleported to the Panoptichron.
In the Panoptichron Nocturne is reunited with her friends Morph and Blink, who are extremely happy to see her. Dazzler is reunited with Longshot, but his memory has been erased by Mojo so he does not remember that they are married. Because of this Dazzler contemplates jumping to her death but Mystiq talks her out of doing so. Sage is able to work with the computer of the Panoptichron to help save Captain Britain's life and bring him to a stable condition. Cat checks Roma's headquarters to see what is happening to the rest of the Captain Britain Corps, and the issue ends with the entire Corps attacking James Jasper and his two Fury-like monsters.