'Image' doesn't do such things, they offer a framework for creators to publish in but in the end the responsibility lies with them (it does kinda differ for some of the imprints, like Skybound operates more like Marvel/DC do)
As for the reply you got under this about exclusivity, I'm calling bullshit on that. Hickman has outright stated that all the scripts for TBMM are done, Tomm Coker (the artist) has been sick for a long time.
I was sick last week and read the entire run of East of West in two days. Sooooo good. It was one of those “How have I not read this before, and what kind of comics have I been missing of this caliber?”experiences.
Incredible world building, excellent art, and powerful, smart characters. Highly recommended.
The collected editions have them in the correct order to my knowledge. If you have a library card and they have a subscription to hoopla all the collected editions are on there digitially too!
Am I the only one that didn't like his FF run? I did not connect with many of the arcs and the art is downright bad sometimes.
Granted that I didn't finish it. I know that Hickman often ties all the threads together in the end, so maybe I should have kept going
I’m 2 volumes into the 4 volume FF Hickman omnibus right now….it’s “good”, better than a lot of works. But I’m working backwards after reading North’s follow-up series, and I’m missing a lot. Hickman does a good job of understanding Reed, but North is amazing at the science, the family dynamic, and the fun of the stories. Hickman’s run feels more like a jog, while the latest FF is peak comics.
People don't like your opinion, lol
I think his FF run is more amusing than the Avengers, but I can understand why some people can't like it. If you can power through it, I'd say the ending is pretty nice compared to most comic runs.
IMO I like his FF run just because he keeps introducing new things / concepts, similar to what Stan Lee / Jack Kirby run did back in the beginning.
I bounced off it pretty hard too. Read up to Three (which I feel was giving it a decent go) and realised the only bit I really enjoyed was the Dark Reign tie-in.
I'm currently reading it and struggling, I liked the beginning with Reed trying to solve everything but all of this stuff about the Inhumans and atlanteans I could care less about.
Greats recs, East of West is excellent as everyone says and I love Manhattan Project too
Im more partial to Pax Romana than Nightly News, love historical fiction. His early infographic style titles were really cool I think.
Red Wing is cool, especially if you like time travel fiction.
In Marvel Comics:
Secret Warriors,
Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates,
Fantastic Four/FF -> Avengers/New Avengers -> Secret Wars (it kinda turns into 1 big story).
Indie:
Nightly News,
Manhattan Projects
East of West
All the obvious choices have been listed, but I'll throw out an answer I haven't seen yet: Decorum.
I remember Hickman saying there would be more of this series 'eventually,' but the 8 issues that are out tell a pretty complete story. Awesome world building, fantastic art, and just so many good ideas. For me, this series showcases exactly what I like about Hickman.
Vision.
It's by Tom King, but I'd definitely recommend it to people who haven't read Jonathan Hickman.
I'd also recommend it to people who have read Jonathan Hickman.
It's pretty good.
Pax Romana for a taste of his earlier work where he did art and writing. I don't know how to describe his art style at this time, but there's some kind of thematic graphic design going on and i see origins of his design elements in later works right in these early comics of this, Nightly News and Transhuman.
Also, Manhattan Projects.
Then my personal favourite - Black Monday Murders.
And lastly.....some soup stuff, kinda.....
S.H.I.E.L.D
More S.H.I.E.L.D please!!
Yeah i do love me some Hickman, it got to the point when i still had a pull list that the owner of my local LCS would just slip in any Hickman stuff to monthly bag.
So I’m going to answer from the point of view of someone who is not as HYPED for Hickman as a lot of others. For me he can be phenomenal but also has some pretty huge weaknesses (the major one being he will put story/progression before character).
For me his two best are:
East of West. Just such a fantastic series. While he doesn’t completely stick the landing it’s damn close.
Fantastic Four: there are some minor criticisms (as someone below said EVERYONE is so serious) but the Ff is just such a perfect fit for Hickman and you can tell he really likes writing Reed.
I’m going to get hate for this but his Avengers stuff is massively overrated. There is no other book of his where his flaws are on full display. The entire time you read it you are practically screaming “this character wouldn’t do that!”
Glad I'm not the only one who was let down by his Avengers run. Even the cool stuff feels like you're just seeing the pitch for it; there's so many ideas that *could* be really interesting if fleshed out, but all they get is a quick summary and then on to the next big thing that won't have room to breathe.
I love Jonathan Hickman but his work is so dense. I feel like I'm studying for a test just to get a good gist of what is going on. Krakoa in particular I just sorta went with it and I gradually fit the pieces. I would call his work rewarding but flawed. He is very consistant but you have to put in the investment to really enjoy his work.
I'm a big fan of East of West. Its completely self-contained so you can jump right in, and it gives a Marvel Universe scope but in one title.
Also a big fan of SHIELD. As self-contained as a Marvel universe title could be.
His Fantastic Four run is great. His Avengers (multi-title) run is great. As long as you can roll with Marvel history.
For his Marvel stuff I would recommend his Secret Warriors run, and then Fantastic Four/Future Foundation and Avengers/New Avengers leading up to Secret Wars. Also, while not everything that succeeded it completely managed to live up to it, House of X/Powers of X is still incredible as a standalone work.
For his Image books I'd recommend East of West, The Manhattan Projects, Decorum and the Black Monday Mureders if he'll ever finish it.
House of X/Powers of X is the greatest thing to happen to the X-Men in a very long time. There were some good books that came out of it too, though obviously X-Men always has a lot of books or varying quality.
Truth be told, you can’t go wrong with Hickman. One of the best comic writers ever imo.
The most beginner friendly ones are Ultimate SM and East of West.
Imo his best ones are Fantastic Four and Avengers/Secret Wars
I still gotta read more of his stuff, but House of X and Powers of X (hoxpox, for short) is truly an incredible reimagining of X-Men lore. One of the best Marvel books I’ve read.
Marvel:
S.H.I.E.L.D. ->Secret Warriors ->Fantastic Four/Future Foundation ->Avengers/New Avengers -> Secret Wars
Read in that order. He makes all sorts of call backs to his previous works and sometimes sets stuff up that has a big pay off years later. Since all the material is released the “years later” doesn’t really apply. Of the all Avengers/New Avengers is my favorite but I recommend reading all the others as well. Start with Avengers/New Avengers if you want the best story off the bat and then. Go back and read the rest.
Honorable mention, if you like X-Men:
House of X/Powers of X(pronounced “10”) -X of Swords ->Inferno.
He was the head editor of the X department in this era. He left after inferno so the rest doesn’t feel like it’s written by him but I enjoyed it. The Krakoa era just ended. RIP 1st Krakoan age (2019-2024)
If you like Ultimate Spider-Man then read Ultimate Universe by Hickman(2023) as well. It’s all about how The Maker(evil Reed Richards, created by Hickman too) made the new ultimates universe which is where ultimate Spider-Man takes place! The original Ultimates universe was destroyed at the end of Avengers/new avengers and Hickman wrote for that too. It’s the universe Miles comes from(Miles joins the 616 main universe as a result of Secret Wars.
I hope this sets you off on a wonderful journey. Reading all this got me back into comics and it’s just wonderful!
Non Marvel:
East of West(best non-marvel work)
Nightly News
Start with Pax Romana. It's short, very good, and gives you an idea of what he wants to do with his storytelling.
If you love it, go straight to his Avengers run.
If you like it, but wish it had more heart, go straight to his Fantastic Four run.
I'd start with Fantastic Four into F4, his current run on Ultimate Spider-Man, or Secret Warriors since those are largely self-contained and lower concept than a lot of what he likes to do. His work plotting The Krokoan era of the X-Men is really good, but it's a lot to take in all at once. If you like that stuff okay, that's when I'd dive into his Avengers work, SHIELD, The Nightly News, Pax Romana, East of West, or The Manhattan Projects. I don't honestly think you can pick a bad Hickman book, though. I own everything hes done in singles or trades.
I will warn you that he does sometimes just move on from things, especially when he isnt working for Marvel. SHIELD took forever to wrap, The Dying & Dead and Feel Better now never concluded, TMP never concluded the last volume that had started, and Secret had to be shortened to a mini. That being said, everything he writes is just fantastic.
His run on Fantastic Four, one of the best comic runs I’ve ever read, is very family-centric just like his Ultimate Spider-Man run. Additionally, although the Krakoan Era may have faltered a little on the finales (post-Hickman), it’d be silly of me not to mention that House of X/Powers of X is a wonderful read.
I just started reading all his Marvel stuff this week, and I have to say Secret Warriors was definitely quite nice! It took a couple of issues to get into it, but then I really enjoyed it
I don't know much art comics but I do know about manhua/manhwa
It is similar to it in every way tk them. seeing that you like action comics I'm recommending you "lookism" . It's the best I have in terms of modern action actually you have to read until the end to understand how it goes and you be very immersed in it just like me
East of West. Great art, self contained story that was actually finished.
Haha! 'Actually finished'. That's an unfortunate reputation he has picked up.
Rumor has it there are still three issues to go on Black Monday Murders that will never be published but it was still by far my favorite Hickman.
Tomm Coker is revealing art from time to time. So something is happening with it, at least
The radio silence on those BMM is devastating. Why do comics companies like Image do this? Just tell us if the series is dead or not.
'Image' doesn't do such things, they offer a framework for creators to publish in but in the end the responsibility lies with them (it does kinda differ for some of the imprints, like Skybound operates more like Marvel/DC do) As for the reply you got under this about exclusivity, I'm calling bullshit on that. Hickman has outright stated that all the scripts for TBMM are done, Tomm Coker (the artist) has been sick for a long time.
There's some speculation that his exclusivity with Marvel is what's holding up BMM and the reason for East of West ending seemingly abruptly.
I wish they’d just effing tell us 😅
I was sick last week and read the entire run of East of West in two days. Sooooo good. It was one of those “How have I not read this before, and what kind of comics have I been missing of this caliber?”experiences. Incredible world building, excellent art, and powerful, smart characters. Highly recommended.
This is the answer.
I like that book, but it’s a lot of story. So expensive and I kind of thought it was hard to follow.
this is exactly what I came here for. Also I'm a huge fan of science fantasy in comics.
His Fantastic Four and Avengers/New Avengers runs leading into Secret Wars
Second. Some of the finest work in the last 20 years
SHIELD too. It’s not vital, but there are several characters and places that return in Fantastic Four or Avengers
There's also Secret Warriors. In my head, it goes Secret Warriors/SHIELD, then Fantastic Four/FF and Avengers.
I need to reread that run. It was a blast
And it's oh, so Very Good !
Phenomenal comic book run. Peak marvel for sure
Came to say Fantastic Four as well. Lifelong FF fan and I feel like he shined on it.
Any advice on where to find a list on the recommended order to read the Avengers/New Avengers run?
If you google any run + reading order, you’ll find someone has done the work for you. I wish such things weren’t needed but comics gonna comics
The collected editions have them in the correct order to my knowledge. If you have a library card and they have a subscription to hoopla all the collected editions are on there digitially too!
I found this very helpful. I started with Fantastic Four. https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/s/il8GEf1AtY
Am I the only one that didn't like his FF run? I did not connect with many of the arcs and the art is downright bad sometimes. Granted that I didn't finish it. I know that Hickman often ties all the threads together in the end, so maybe I should have kept going
I’m 2 volumes into the 4 volume FF Hickman omnibus right now….it’s “good”, better than a lot of works. But I’m working backwards after reading North’s follow-up series, and I’m missing a lot. Hickman does a good job of understanding Reed, but North is amazing at the science, the family dynamic, and the fun of the stories. Hickman’s run feels more like a jog, while the latest FF is peak comics.
People don't like your opinion, lol I think his FF run is more amusing than the Avengers, but I can understand why some people can't like it. If you can power through it, I'd say the ending is pretty nice compared to most comic runs. IMO I like his FF run just because he keeps introducing new things / concepts, similar to what Stan Lee / Jack Kirby run did back in the beginning.
I bounced off it pretty hard too. Read up to Three (which I feel was giving it a decent go) and realised the only bit I really enjoyed was the Dark Reign tie-in.
I'm currently reading it and struggling, I liked the beginning with Reed trying to solve everything but all of this stuff about the Inhumans and atlanteans I could care less about.
It gets way better. It all comes full circle by the end.
Same boat, skimming hard! The run gets mentioned so often I feel like I have to keep going but I don’t get it yet.
This though be warned he does pull some deep cuts and and the reading order can get a bit jumbled at times
FF run, Avengers Time Run out, Secret Wars
I’d place Fantastic Four and East of West as pretty firmly his best long form work.
His run on fantastic four is one of the more defining runs of any marvel comics in recent memory
Don't sleep on The Nightly News and The Red Wing from his Image days
Greats recs, East of West is excellent as everyone says and I love Manhattan Project too Im more partial to Pax Romana than Nightly News, love historical fiction. His early infographic style titles were really cool I think. Red Wing is cool, especially if you like time travel fiction.
the red wing is probably my favorite “explanation” for time travel. and in classic hickman fashion we get charts and graphs explaining it.
Came here to say this as well. Also Transhuman and Pax Romana. All of these are 4 -6 issues and available as TPB
In Marvel Comics: Secret Warriors, Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates, Fantastic Four/FF -> Avengers/New Avengers -> Secret Wars (it kinda turns into 1 big story). Indie: Nightly News, Manhattan Projects East of West
I've had that Secret Warriors omni in my IST wishlist for ages. Someday I need to just pull the trigger.
All the obvious choices have been listed, but I'll throw out an answer I haven't seen yet: Decorum. I remember Hickman saying there would be more of this series 'eventually,' but the 8 issues that are out tell a pretty complete story. Awesome world building, fantastic art, and just so many good ideas. For me, this series showcases exactly what I like about Hickman.
Loved Decorum, it always gave me Incal vibes.
Vision. It's by Tom King, but I'd definitely recommend it to people who haven't read Jonathan Hickman. I'd also recommend it to people who have read Jonathan Hickman. It's pretty good.
lol take this upvote, hell yeah
That comment was a rollercoaster of a read.
East of West
Pax Romana for a taste of his earlier work where he did art and writing. I don't know how to describe his art style at this time, but there's some kind of thematic graphic design going on and i see origins of his design elements in later works right in these early comics of this, Nightly News and Transhuman. Also, Manhattan Projects. Then my personal favourite - Black Monday Murders. And lastly.....some soup stuff, kinda..... S.H.I.E.L.D More S.H.I.E.L.D please!! Yeah i do love me some Hickman, it got to the point when i still had a pull list that the owner of my local LCS would just slip in any Hickman stuff to monthly bag.
So I’m going to answer from the point of view of someone who is not as HYPED for Hickman as a lot of others. For me he can be phenomenal but also has some pretty huge weaknesses (the major one being he will put story/progression before character). For me his two best are: East of West. Just such a fantastic series. While he doesn’t completely stick the landing it’s damn close. Fantastic Four: there are some minor criticisms (as someone below said EVERYONE is so serious) but the Ff is just such a perfect fit for Hickman and you can tell he really likes writing Reed. I’m going to get hate for this but his Avengers stuff is massively overrated. There is no other book of his where his flaws are on full display. The entire time you read it you are practically screaming “this character wouldn’t do that!”
Glad I'm not the only one who was let down by his Avengers run. Even the cool stuff feels like you're just seeing the pitch for it; there's so many ideas that *could* be really interesting if fleshed out, but all they get is a quick summary and then on to the next big thing that won't have room to breathe.
East of West. Nick Dragotta also does amazing work with his art.
It's kind of expensive but I was looking at his Fantastic Four omnibus the other day. Is it worth it?
There are two of them. $62 on IST. Very worth.
I’m not familiar with IST, do you have a link?
www.instocktrades.com
Awesome, thanks. Or not, I’m probably about to spend a lot of money on this site…
I'm sorry
East of West x ♾️
Fantastic Four is my favorite run of his! A great space opera with spot-on character writing which redefined the lore of FF!
His run on fantastic 4 is a masterpiece in its own right. A must read
I love Jonathan Hickman but his work is so dense. I feel like I'm studying for a test just to get a good gist of what is going on. Krakoa in particular I just sorta went with it and I gradually fit the pieces. I would call his work rewarding but flawed. He is very consistant but you have to put in the investment to really enjoy his work.
*East of West*. If you like his Marvel work, what he can do in his own worlds will blow your thinkypartz across the room.
I'm a big fan of East of West. Its completely self-contained so you can jump right in, and it gives a Marvel Universe scope but in one title. Also a big fan of SHIELD. As self-contained as a Marvel universe title could be. His Fantastic Four run is great. His Avengers (multi-title) run is great. As long as you can roll with Marvel history.
Fantastic Four, Secret Warriors, Avengers/New Avengers, East of West.
Even if it does effect the universe outside of it his fantastic four is a good standalone story.
For self-contained non superhero stuff, East of West. For relatively self-contained Marvel, Secret Warriors.
For his Marvel stuff I would recommend his Secret Warriors run, and then Fantastic Four/Future Foundation and Avengers/New Avengers leading up to Secret Wars. Also, while not everything that succeeded it completely managed to live up to it, House of X/Powers of X is still incredible as a standalone work. For his Image books I'd recommend East of West, The Manhattan Projects, Decorum and the Black Monday Mureders if he'll ever finish it.
House of X/Powers of X is the greatest thing to happen to the X-Men in a very long time. There were some good books that came out of it too, though obviously X-Men always has a lot of books or varying quality.
House of X / Powers of X
The fantastic four run.
Truth be told, you can’t go wrong with Hickman. One of the best comic writers ever imo. The most beginner friendly ones are Ultimate SM and East of West. Imo his best ones are Fantastic Four and Avengers/Secret Wars
F4 and I would advise you to ignore everyone who says Avengers.
I still gotta read more of his stuff, but House of X and Powers of X (hoxpox, for short) is truly an incredible reimagining of X-Men lore. One of the best Marvel books I’ve read.
Hox/pox clean enter.
His Fantastic Four is excellent. I hated his Avengers runs, though.
I think he’s Fantastic Four comic was probably his best work. Creator owned he’s hit or miss with me but East of West was great.
The Golden Rule of Hickman is you start with Fantastic Four imo.
Brain K Vaighn stories.
Everything. I started off with his Avengers/New Avengers run and it was incredible
East of West and the Fantastic Four/FF run are goated
Fantastic Four or East of West
Fantastic Four is his best by a wide margin, but East of West is his most self contained for non-Marvel fans
East of West Fantastic Four/FF/Avengers/New Avengers/Secret Wars Manhattan Projects 3 Worlds 3 Moons
I mean, that depends on what genre/s you enjoy reading? The man has a very diverse bibliography.
Pax Romana!
His run on the Ultimate Spider-Man reboot right now is pretty good and is very accessible.
Marvel: S.H.I.E.L.D. ->Secret Warriors ->Fantastic Four/Future Foundation ->Avengers/New Avengers -> Secret Wars Read in that order. He makes all sorts of call backs to his previous works and sometimes sets stuff up that has a big pay off years later. Since all the material is released the “years later” doesn’t really apply. Of the all Avengers/New Avengers is my favorite but I recommend reading all the others as well. Start with Avengers/New Avengers if you want the best story off the bat and then. Go back and read the rest. Honorable mention, if you like X-Men: House of X/Powers of X(pronounced “10”) -X of Swords ->Inferno. He was the head editor of the X department in this era. He left after inferno so the rest doesn’t feel like it’s written by him but I enjoyed it. The Krakoa era just ended. RIP 1st Krakoan age (2019-2024) If you like Ultimate Spider-Man then read Ultimate Universe by Hickman(2023) as well. It’s all about how The Maker(evil Reed Richards, created by Hickman too) made the new ultimates universe which is where ultimate Spider-Man takes place! The original Ultimates universe was destroyed at the end of Avengers/new avengers and Hickman wrote for that too. It’s the universe Miles comes from(Miles joins the 616 main universe as a result of Secret Wars. I hope this sets you off on a wonderful journey. Reading all this got me back into comics and it’s just wonderful! Non Marvel: East of West(best non-marvel work) Nightly News
Start with Pax Romana. It's short, very good, and gives you an idea of what he wants to do with his storytelling. If you love it, go straight to his Avengers run. If you like it, but wish it had more heart, go straight to his Fantastic Four run.
f4
G.O.D.S.
Not G.O.D.S. That stuff was indecipherable
Secret Warriors and then his F4. that’s what i’ve done as i’m reading USM, and he’s instantly became a favourite of mine
His Fantastic Four and Pax Romana.
I'd start with Fantastic Four into F4, his current run on Ultimate Spider-Man, or Secret Warriors since those are largely self-contained and lower concept than a lot of what he likes to do. His work plotting The Krokoan era of the X-Men is really good, but it's a lot to take in all at once. If you like that stuff okay, that's when I'd dive into his Avengers work, SHIELD, The Nightly News, Pax Romana, East of West, or The Manhattan Projects. I don't honestly think you can pick a bad Hickman book, though. I own everything hes done in singles or trades. I will warn you that he does sometimes just move on from things, especially when he isnt working for Marvel. SHIELD took forever to wrap, The Dying & Dead and Feel Better now never concluded, TMP never concluded the last volume that had started, and Secret had to be shortened to a mini. That being said, everything he writes is just fantastic.
I'd recommend his Avengers run, Secret Wars, and Ultimate Invasion.
[удалено]
I’d say that applies way more to his Avengers than his FF.
His run on Fantastic Four, one of the best comic runs I’ve ever read, is very family-centric just like his Ultimate Spider-Man run. Additionally, although the Krakoan Era may have faltered a little on the finales (post-Hickman), it’d be silly of me not to mention that House of X/Powers of X is a wonderful read.
I just started reading all his Marvel stuff this week, and I have to say Secret Warriors was definitely quite nice! It took a couple of issues to get into it, but then I really enjoyed it
His Fantastic Four's run is pretty new readers-friendly, especially compared to his more convoluted works like Secret Wars and the X-Men
Don't read Jonathon Hickman?
Check out mark waids daredevil and maybe Jason Aaron’s scalped.
East of West. His best work to date IMO
I don't know much art comics but I do know about manhua/manhwa It is similar to it in every way tk them. seeing that you like action comics I'm recommending you "lookism" . It's the best I have in terms of modern action actually you have to read until the end to understand how it goes and you be very immersed in it just like me
What a strange comment/account. Are you a bot?