Jonathan Hickman?

[Alski]

I have been reading quite a bit of his stuff via the Ultimate Universe, and wondered what people thought?

I tried his FF run recently, and to be honest found it confusing as hell. His Ultimate stuff is also getting more and more tangled as it goes on.

[Evil Pants]

Good topic.

I think he's one of the strongest writers in comics today, though his superhero work isn't quite as strong as his indie titles.

You mentioned his superhero work, but it's his indie stuff that I love. Nightly News was his first series, and it blew me away the first time I read it. To me (and Adventurer disagrees with me ) this was a game changer. He pushed the medium here, IMO, and there's more than a few storytelling devices in NN that I've never seen anywhere else.

He hasn't quite matched up to that early promise yet. But most of his other work was with other artists, and I think that took him a while to get used to.

Pax Romana is quite frankly the best sci-fi premise never published by 2000AD, but the decision to go with as much text as he does here leaves some people cold. I liked it as a styilstic choice. Red Mass, Red Wing, and Transhuman to me are lesser works, but again, he didn't draw them. It wasn't until the first issues of The Secret and Manhattan Projects that I felt as if he had really figured out how to write for a different artist (on the indie stuff).

As for his superhero work...it's ok. I don't think it's his real strong suit, but I do think it's gotten better with time. His Secret Warriors was good. And his Fantastic Four/FF run has been strong, though I still prefer Mark Waid's run. I've thought that his Ultimates run has been solid, though nothing special per se.

He's also got a new graphic novel coming out this year that I'm looking forward to.

[The Adventurer]

I either love or hate Jonathan Hickman's work.

I hate The Nightly News and Pax Romana. I love Red Mass for Mars, The Red Wing, and Manhattan Projects. He's weird science fiction comics are fun and imaginative. His 'secret history' conspiracy thrillers are obtuse bores.


I tried to get into S.H.E.I.L.D, and at first I liked it. But when he basically made every famous historical inventor the Reed Richards Marvel genius of their age I thought it was getting stupid.


Gotta get around to reading Transhuman at some point, as that appears to be more in the Red Mass/Manhattan Projects camp.

[LARF]

I either love or hate Jonathan Hickman's work.

I hate The Nightly News and Pax Romana. I love Red Mass for Mars, The Red Wing, and Manhattan Projects. He's weird science fiction comics are fun and imaginative. His 'secret history' conspiracy thrillers are obtuse bores.


I tried to get into S.H.E.I.L.D, and at first I liked it. But when he basically made every famous historical inventor the Reed Richards Marvel genius of their age I thought it was getting stupid.


Gotta get around to reading Transhuman at some point, as that appears to be more in the Red Mass/Manhattan Projects camp.

I agree with this, but I did think that Red Wing was just one big Future Shock.

[Link Prime]

I picked up the first leg of his Fantastic Four run (up as far as FF # 1) in a Comixology sale a few months ago, and have to admit I really liked it. Some nice "think big" ideas... I'll definitely pick the rest of it at some stage (at a similarly tempting €0.79 per issue price of course).
As for his Image stuff- mostly great. I haven't (and never will) read any of his Ultimate universe comics, just cause, ye know.

[The Adventurer]

I haven't (and never will) read any of his Ultimate universe comics, just cause, ye know.

I know.

[Chris Fain]

The thing with Hickman, is that, his superhero comics in general are a slowburn. He will mention things early on, and then never touch on them again for months, but often, when he does eventually bring something back up, it turns out to have been very important. Generally, it isn't a good idea to jump into the middle of his Fantastic Four run because of this. Everything sort of seems convoluted.

But, as said before, he is definitely one of the best writers working in comics today.

[Dandontdare]

by strange coincidence I just got the first 3 TPBs of his FF run last week and really enjoyed them. I'll be getting book four soon. It's true that if you've not read them all, plus some of the previous run, you'd be a little confused about the whiole Nu-earth and council of Reeds stuff, but he really does capture that "we're a family not a super-team" ethos that underpins the FF.

I thought I had most of the ultimate stuff - what did he do in the ultimate universe?

[a chosen rider]

I thought I had most of the ultimate stuff - what did he do in the ultimate universe?

The Ultimate Thor and Hawkeye miniseries, plus the latest two volumes of Ultimates after the relaunch.  (But he's off that book now/soon I believe, and is leaving the F4 books in October, for an as yet unspecified offer he couldn't refuse; rumour is he's probably getting the Avengers books after Bendis finishes his run.)

I haven't read any of his Ultimate titles or his independent work yet, but mostly because all my money has been going on 2000 AD lately; I've been following his Fantastic Four and FF run all the way through and it's been a spectacular ride.  (And all the more impressive coming straight after Mark Millar dragged the title down about as low as it's been for decades.)  I also enjoyed the first volume of S.H.I.E.L.D. way more than I expected, though the second one's gone off the boil a bit with the delays.  Secret Warriors didn't do too much for me I must admit, though I read the TPBs in rather haphazard order so it's hard to say.  On the whole I'd say his writing has been getting steadily stronger as he goes.  I'm a big fan.

[GordyM]

I really like most of his stuff. Nightly News is in my top ten comics.

[SmallBlueThing]

In waterstones today, with possibly the very last fifteen pounds i will have to spend on myself, like ever, this thread sprung to mind. I very nearly bought his Ultimate Ultimates, or whatever its called. But in the end a facebook conversation between two friends about Massimo Bellardinelli kicked my brain towards the collected Black Hawk, so i got that instead.

So i very nearly had something to contribute to this thread.

SBT