Jonathan Hickman - Recommendations and Essential Reads

Jonathan Hickman Is The Ultimate Writer Marvel Needed - Walt's Comic Shop

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People will often tell me “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon!” whenever I get impatient about a project I am working on. But MAN, if anyone has taught me this by example – it’s Jonathan Hickman!

Jonathan Hickman – The Architect of Modern Marvel

Jonathan Hickman is a master planner. I will admit – I often picture him like a master villain, sitting in a dark lair, surrounded by pinboards and strings like the Riddler during Snyder’s Zero Year, plotting his next masterstroke in the next grand story.

Jonathan Hickman plotting his next story, probably

If you need someone to bring a new life into your franchise, it’s Hickman you want to call. Truth be told, he will turn it all upside down, infusing it with high-concept sci-fi themes and abstract ideas, but he will make it so delicious, fresh and new! He’s done it with the Fantastic Four, he’s done it with the Avengers, the X-Men, and he’s about to do it once more with Cosmic Marvel too!

Grounding Grand Stories in Humanity

I was discussing great comic writers with a friend once, and he told me that it’s unfair to use Hickman since he is a sci-fi writer working in comics – and this is pretty true! Hickman stories often veer into the territory of the best science fiction works. He gives his readers vast worlds you will want to explore, fully realized societies and philosophical themes that will leave you tossing and turning at night.

However, the thread that always grounds these larger-than-life topics and figures is their humanity. Hickman loves writing about families and their ties – fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, grandparents and grandkids – everything is fair game, and everything will pull on your heartstrings.

Hickman understands well that, for people to follow his long-term stories (and trust me – his stories can have pay offs that happen years after he started), the characters carrying the stories on their backs need to be entertaining and endearing. And somehow, he manages to do it every time!

The Nightly News

The Nightly News was Jonathan Hickman’s debut comic – and he hit the ground running. An act of violence spirals into a war on media at an anti-globalization rally in NYC. A terrorist cult called the Brotherhood of the Voice believes everyone is complicit in the system – the government uses the media to indoctrinate regular people.

The idea of the book is simple enough – the effect of modern media and how it is used to convey a message is familiar to everybody. Hickman also doesn’t focus on characters too much here – they are archetypes. What is good about this book – and the thing Hickman paid attention to – is the satire of the media and the world we live in. Hickman poses the question “What’s so different between media and cults?” and the story is subversive enough to keep you entertained!

It's the art and presentation that stood out for me, though. The book does away with traditional comic panels and pushes HARD on something that will become a staple of Hickman’s work – info charts! Every page seems like one, with things to explore and notice in every corner.

Hickman’s art also reminded me of a mix of Chris Bachalo and Andrea Sorrentino – moody, with stylized figured and heavy shadows popping out from monochrome backgrounds. It works extremely well, serving as a somewhat extension of his infographics, offering an entertaining if short (6 issues only) read, and a great first foray into the word of comics – winning him an Eisner Award nomination for “Best Limited Series”.

Pax Romana

Even shorter story, Pax Romana was his next step with Image Comics and his second creator-owned limited series. In this story, you can explore Hickman’s sci-fi roots, as he (and the Catholic church) sends 5000 soldiers and weapons into 312 A.D. Rome, and things go south fast.

Artistically, he tried to steer a bit closer to a traditional comic book here – with panels popping up here and there between his charts and graphics. His figures remain the same, but he did start playing with colors too – replacing the single-colored blocks with more painterly, watercolor or smoky effect. It’s definitely a visual treat worth checking out.

Secret Warriors

After the success of his independent titles, Hickman was invited to write for Marvel in 2009. The first challenge he needed to tackle was Secret Warriors (co-plotted with Brian Michael Bendis).

In the wake of Secret Invasion, no one could be trusted. S.H.I.E.L.D. is no more and Normal Osborn’s Dark Reign is about to begin. Nick Fury is now an Agent of Nothing, and with nothing more to lose – there is also nothing to stop him from doing what must be done to keep the world spinning.

I am trying to be very careful and cryptic here, because my G.O.D.S. the story of this book is insane! This is a classic spy thriller through and through – secret agents, double crosses, action and affairs and intrigue galore! It’s quite a page turner, and easy to pick up since most of the characters were relatively new, unknown players that Hickman could build up and work on. The team is an eclectic bunch who has issues working together (like every good team-up book), and they will need to learn how to function as a unit, or they will perish.

The art is tackled by Stefano Caselli in the first half and Alessandro Vitti in the second (he takes over from issue #17). Caselli’s art is very dynamic and a great fit for the action taking place. His faces are very expressive and carry the story forward with easy – and this is important due to the size of the cast both good and bad.

Vitti’s art is a bit more grounded, yet gritty and emotional. It’s a perfect switch for when the story takes a darker turn, flashing back to the early days of Nick Fury’s career and examining just how much the man has lost protecting the planet.

The Secret Warriors Omnibus is one of my favorite recommendations for people who want a one-and-done story, might not know much about the Marvel Universe or are not too keen on capes. It’s a thrilling read that I like going back to every now and again, and I recommend it to everyone!

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nobody can take a concept and flip it on its head like Jonathan Hickman can, and that’s nowhere as clear as it is in his S.H.I.E.L.D. series. You are given the task of writing about Marvel’s top-secret organization. What do you do with it? You could never guess what Hickman decides to do!

Instead, Hickman follows the secret organization called the Brotherhood of the Shield, tracing its origins Imhotep and the Brood invasion in 2620 B.C. The series then connects this thread to people like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo, Newton, Tesla to the Cold War.

The series is weird, it’s sci-fi, it’s everything you want from a Hickman book. Art is predominantly done by Dustin Weaver and colors by Christina Strain, and they work well alongside Hickman. The style is realistic enough to ground the story in reality (which is very much needed) while still being able to elevate the whimsical and the weird.

The publication, though, was a bit odd. The first 6 issues were released as S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2010, and a collected edition bears the title Architects of Forever, but it has been printed in 2011 and was never seen again. The book was then rebooted with a new #1 in 2011 under the same title, only to be renamed to S.H.I.E.L.D. by Hickman & Weaver for issues 5 and 6. The second part of the story (6 issues of volume 2 and S.H.I.E.L.D. Infinity) are collected in trade in S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Human Machine.

Luckily, the omnibus editions of the whole story are coming in October as S.H.I.E.L.D. By Hickman & Weaver Omnibus. I for one am excited to delve into this weird world once more this fall!

Fantastic Four

When I first came to Berlin looking for a comic shop, I went into Walt’s and asked if they had two very specific omnis – and it was Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman. The rest is history.

While Secret Warriors and S.H.I.E.L.D. were exemplary works of both spy thrillers and sci-fi genres, it was Fantastic Four that would launch Jonathan Hickman into Marvel stardom. Picking up the title after Mark Millar in 2009, Hickman is faced with Dark Reign.

After the superhero Civil War tore the team up, and the Secret Invasion did more to push them away from each other, Dark Reign sees Norman Osborn take the power of the Marvel Universe and push his Dark Avengers forward. In this new world, Reed Richards is faced with the impossible task – trying to Solve Everything (you can read more about it in our article on Mr. Fantastic!) In his quest for answers, he builds The Bridge – a device that lets him peer into other universes – and meets the Council of Reeds who will offer help, if he gives up on his family…

Hickman’s writing is always about family, and Marvel’s First Family brings this to the forefront. The title also lets Hickman flex all his writing muscles. The sci-fi shines in his introduction of different alien cities and the cultures inside. His long-form storytelling gets mined as he plants the seeds that bloom into fantastic flowers at the end of the run.

And he tests each of the members of the Fantastic Four in different ways – Reed will struggle with responsibility to intellect versus family, Sue will need to step into a leadership role while also dealing with personal tragedy, Johnny will grow and become more mature, and Ben will need to learn the true meaning of strength. Hickman also expands on the family too – cementing the Future Foundation as an integral part of Fantastic Four and exploring Franklin and Valeria Richards like never before.

If you want a taste of the story, check out Fantastic Four by Hickman: Solve Everything collecting the first 9 issues of the story.

Otherwise, the complete run can be read in the trade paperback format:

or as omnis:

And don’t forget – Everything dies, and All hope lies in Doom!

The Avengers

Soon after finishing Fantastic Four in 2012, Hickman was tapped in to help bring new life into another Marvel property, right after their big screen debut – The Avengers. Brian Michael Bendis, his previous collaborator on Secret Warriors, has been running the show since 2004, and after many internal and external conflicts with various factions of the Marvel Universe, it was time for a change.

Where Hickman focused the Fantastic Four in family, his approach to the Avengers was to go big - bigger than ever before. However, one team and one universe were not enough for them!

The story starts with Captain America and Iron Man deciding that the threats the planet is facing are too small for a team of (often) six people. Therefore, they build “The Avengers Machine” – a roster of heroes that constantly evolves and expands, ready to face any threat possible. Hickman introduces new characters like Ex Nihilo, Abyss and Smasher, and brings the classic staples into the mix (meanwhile writing perfect Sunspot and Cannonball).

In the shadows, however, Hickman plants a dark seed that will undo it all in the pages of the New Avengers. Where Bendis’ New Avengers serves as a counter-thesis to the old Avengers, Hickman’s team consists of Illuminati, discovering a terrifying threat of Incursions – the multiverse is compacting, and Earths from different universes are colliding with one another. This cannot be stopped – the only way to save the planet is to destroy the other, until only one remains. Would you kill another Earth to save your own?

The stories run parallel, with introductions of characters like Thanos’ Black Order (which appeared in the movies soon after!) until they hit the epic conclusion with the event Time Runs Out and Secret Wars. This story seems to serve as the basis for the next Avengers movies (with Illuminati already appearing in Doctor Strange 2 and Incursions being teased), so now is the best time to pick up and read the story!

The run is collected in the complete collection series of five trades:

There are also two omnis collecting the main Avengers title:

These do not collect the Secret Wars event. That was released recently in omni format along the Time Runs Out issues of Avengers as Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus.

The Manhattan Projects

After Secret Wars in 2015, Hickman stepped away from Marvel to focus on his independent projects. While working on the previous title, he was also working on a few amazing books that should be on every shelf, and the first is The Manhattan Projects.

In this book, Hickman with artist Nick Pitarra ask a simple question – what if the people behind the Manhattan Project didn’t stop with just the atomic bomb. What if they decided to push things a little further… and everything went wrong.

Pitarra draws like Hickman writes – detailed, evocative and visceral. The art is reminiscent of Quietly’s work on the New X-Men, but Bellaire’s work on colors makes the art truly stand out. The scenes which only use shades of red and blue are especially memorable and will keep you asking for more.

The story is collected in two hardbacks:

East of West

East of West joins Hickman with the artist Nick Dragotta and marries Hickman’s signature sci-fi with dystopian western. In this version of America, all hope lies in the hands of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – traditionally negative figures, now become the heroes of this new world.

Hickman loves his themes, and in this book, he explores the interplay of despair and hope. He examined how things that divide people often win over the things that unite us, but that at the end, hope will still be there.

Dragotta’s task was to merge the western and sci-fi, and his bold choices do the job really well. With bold shapes and dynamic composition, every page bursts with energy – and I especially love what he and the colorist Frank Martin do with the textures – sci-fi is about new and unexplored, and evoking the sense of touch in the comics and the genre is always great.

East of West has been collected in a series of ten trade paperbacks:

I always go for collected editions, but the hardcovers of the series are so hard to find nowadays. That’s why I cannot wait to get my small grabby hands on the new East of West: The End Times Compendium.

X-Men

After 4 years away from Marvel, it was time to shake up their next property – and this time, it was the X-Men. With House of X/Powers of X came a simple message: “Humans of the planet Earth. While you slept, the world changed.”

Hickman introduced the new status quo, moving all Mutants to the nation of Krakoa, establishing their new society, values and goals as well as their resurrection protocols in the pages of House of X. Meanwhile, in the pages of Powers of X, he brought back his signature sci-fi and explored possible futures of Mutantkind depending on the decisions they will make.

Artists Pepe Larraz and R. B. Silva were on top of their game too, firing out on all cylinders. Their work on each title (House and Powers) is clean, with Marte Gracia’s colors completing the amazing picture. I could take any page from those comics and frame it up on the wall, and I love past Petar for grabbing the hardcover version while it was out. Luckily, the reprint is coming, so if you can be patient – make sure to preorder it as soon as the option hits the shop!

Hickman would push the X-Men further in his X-Men title. Each issue explored the new corner of the universe, introducing new threats, taking a look at a new character, focusing on the extended Summers family. It was collected as a part of the X-Men by Hickman Omnibus, as well as a set of two trades:

The Mastermind would then take the team and the Mutants through X of Swords and Inferno events, before bowing out and leaving the reigns to other creators to play with.

G.O.D.S.

The next thing Hickman focused on was the more mystical side of Marvel universe, joining his previous Avengers collaborator Valerio Schiti (and Marte Garcia on colors) to examine the cosmic hierarchy of the Marvel Universe.

This series follows the avatars of The Natural Order of Things and The Powers That Be as they compete for power – and fight against a force that wants to upend the current order. And – of course – amongst the chaos, Hickman takes time to examine a love story connecting these two warring factions. The story was collected in G.O.D.S. by Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti.

Aliens Vs. Avengers

The Brood have been a part of the Marvel Universe for quite some time – a blatant approximation of the Xenomorphs, they were a menace for the X-Men since Claremont (in a fantastic Brood saga!). Once Marvel acquired the rights to Aliens, the playground expanded further.

Hickman is joined by artist Esad Ribic to tell the tale of Aliens Vs. Avengers. What will happen when the perfect organism meets the Earth’s Mightiest Superheroes? Who will survive and who will perish? You will find out in the pages of Aliens Vs. Avengers!

Decorum

Decorum scored Hickman the fourth Eisner nomination for his independent work (after 2008’s Nightly News, 2013’s The Manhattan Projects and 2014’s East of West and The Manhattan Projects) in 2021. This limited series follows the most well-mannered assassin in the world that’s full of them.

Mike Huddleston does wonders on art in this book. One page will give you a painterly visage, and another will be a black and white illustration. Hickman has had luck working with some outstanding talent in the industry, but Huddleston probably takes the cake due to his versatility and storytelling abilities. It’s no wonder that Decorum is sold as an Oversized Hardcover!

Imperial Architect of Marvel Universe

And there you have it – a not-that-short look at Hickman’s work, both in Marvel and out. The next step for the great architect seems to be to shake up Marvel’s cosmology, with the Imperial event announced recently, and it was about time. I am excited for it and will be reading it as each issue comes out (hoping to see some great Billy and Teddy writing) – what about you?

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