hick

In 2015, Marvel Comics went through a line-wide restart of each of their super hero titles in the wake of the Secret Wars event. While Secret Wars fell short of something akin to a DC reboot, every book and character saw an end of sorts at the dawn of Secret Wars and a new launch upon the descent (assuming they survived the experience). Very few creative teams even remained in tact, with many books being labeled All-New and seeing a very different lineup of both creators and characters. As the event began, and it was obvious that things would look much different upon the (delayed) conclusion, rumors and wishes began to swirl about which creators might end up on which book. A friend and I even played the game of which five books would you want to see coming out of Secret Wars: the description of which would involve a title, character(s), and, most importantly, creators. And my number one desired book was Jonathan Hickman running the mainline X-Men book in his typical baroque manner.

Instead I got, what may have been, the worst era of X-Men books since the late 90s.

Now as 2019 walks its way through Spring, we (or at least I) have seen two additional relaunches of the X-Books Post-Secret Wars as Marvel struggles to figure out how to reinvigorate their former flagship franchise. Well the next answer came last month, seemingly as a birthday present to your humble writer, that Jonathan Hickman would indeed return to Marvel Comics to take Marvel’s Merry Mutants on a redefining whirl. 

Thus four years late, I get my wish, and am struggling to contain my expectations.

Why Hickman?

Jonathan Hickman is presently my most interesting active comic book writer. Grant Morrison may be more deserving, and in the long run I may cherish more Morrison titles than Hickman’s, but as of the past few years, Hick’s writing has been the more exciting trend in my comics.

Why? Well, I first started hearing the fellow’s name on a book titled Secret Warriors that was born out of the Secret Invasion event (so many secrets in comics). Secret Invasion proved (as is common for event comics) a great concept ultimately landing with a thud. However, I kept hearing great things about this Secret Warriors title that expanded some new characters introduced in the event; it was noted as having an intricate twisting plot. While it began as a co-writing project, everything I heard was that Jonathan Hickman was the main brain. And... I logged this tidbit away but read zero issues of Secret Warriors. 

A little later, I was hearing some decent rumblings about what Fantastic Four was doing. And then some not great things. But then an in comic “death” made the national news and I had no interest thinking it a publicity stunt. Next I knew, Fantastic Four had changed their name to FF which seemed silly and I shrugged my shoulders. But then people began raving about this book. Soon Fantastic Four came back and FF continued and the creative team started winning awards for best series, etc. And thus I finally took notice. “Oh yeah, Jonathan Hickman, didn’t he write that Secret Warriors book I kept hearing about?” I said to no one. I found a few of his early Fantastic Four books on sale and thus I began my Hickman reading. 

And I immediately fell in ... interest? While his first story was strong, the subsequent stories felt wandering. The initial art of his run also proved grating, leaving me with a pool of ideas of promise, but no fire... yet. Months later, I would obtain the next trade collection of his issues and then I saw the entire title come together in masterful strokes. And that is Jonathan Hickman: he is always working at big grandiose ideas that may initially feel like murky soup, but as you start to find meat, the whole concoction comes to life. 

Arguably he is more plot-driven than is commonly favored in today’s story, but in my opinion he does not lose sight of his characters amidst the plot. (Many disagree) This shines out best in that through the madness of his swirling plot, Hickman somehow devises a treatise on family. Literally, the Marvel multiverse is saved because the love of the Fantastic Four family, which is then carried into the adoptive family of the Future Foundation. 

Part and parcel of his twisting webs is that his comics are full of creative dynamic world-building, which is just about what I love most in comics (besides characters but that is a category of world-building). He mines the continuity and ideas of the characters and runs ten steps further leaving the landscape significantly altered, usually for the better. He is not always a stickler for rigid continuity adherence which perhaps rankles a little, but it is usually for the good of his story.

All told, Hickman’s Fantastic Four run is my favorite super hero comic of the last decade. And from there on I was on board with the grand idea smorgasbord which is his comics. I have since explored a number of his other titles and worlds, though far from comprehensively. Not everything he has written is resplendent, but all have been thoughtful and well crafted. 

Why X-Men?

This is easy math: x+y=z where x is favorite comic property, y is favorite writer, and z is favorite comic. Now will this math bear out? Most likely not, meaning that it is both easy and terrible math, but obviously math my mind cannot help but compute. 

Beyond that, the X-Books need a creative mastermind to redirect the franchise. They need someone who can hold the whole concept in their head and come up with new exciting worlds to build, explore, and perhaps destroy. They need some new crazy madness the like of which they have not seen since the fore-mentioned Morrison came through and kicked over tables.

I suspect Hickman will do this. And given his standing alongside the hurt the X-titles are facing, I suspect there will be a lot of freedom to go new directions, take risks, anger a few thousand people.

Now will this be good? Will it perhaps unseat Fantastic Four on my comic throne of the decade? Probably not... but my mind keeps whispering, “But what if...”

Where is my excitement taking me?

As no shock to anyone who knows me, my growing anticipation has stirred schemes of response. Schemes that will fade long before Hickman’s books release in July, but...

The first idea was reviewing the books following Secret Wars up to the current status, but I kept desiring to reread some of the preceding titles. Much of this stems from the fact that if I were to separate the years into X-Men eras, I believe I would mark, as jumbled as recent years have been, the current era as fallout from Avengers Vs X-Men in 2012, which also proved the culmination of the preceding era beginning at House of M and Decimation. But there was also the Schism event in 2011 which is a part of that transition... and my mind kept rolling back to, “But then there’s this event and this beginning.” But I needed to have a start point and not fall too far back. Meaning... Schism... Schism will be my starting point. (Except I am prepping a few books that I have wanted to reread and scratching some big events that precede AvX so really I am just hopeless...)

Speaking of hopeless (no, not Dennis Hopeless, one of the X-Men writers in this era) there is another monument of a kind that is approaching. Releasing in June will be the final entry into the Fox branded X-Men movies that have been gracing and/or disturbing the silver screen since 2000. As much as Endgame is being lauded as this culminating celebration of eleven years of mostly enjoyed Marvel movies, X-Men: Dark Phoenix seems to have more the feel of a death knell. Still, it is an interesting thing. The second attempt at one of the most beloved comic book stories of all time. 

I am sure a reread of the Dark Phoenix Saga will occur, maybe I will post a thing. But more, I hope to rewatch the X-Men legacy of rather uneven and oft-frustrating movies. And perhaps I shall review them, too. 

In other words, while the rest of the geek world is, dare I say, marveling at and celebrating the Avengers realm of cinema and comics, I am off in my own little world. Or a typical day in the life of