Was Paul's apostleship a special version? How did he get it?

Paul was not one of the original 12 disciples of Christ, a fact his critics made much of. Yes, he claimed to have received his apostleship specially (Galatians 1:11+), and it was indeed a "special version," to the point that he describes himself in 1 Cor 15 "as one abnormally born." To read three accounts of how the Lord called him, see Acts 9, 22, and 26.