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Jonathan Hickman

Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 Review!

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Jonathan Hickman is a name associated with high concept science fiction and the exploration of flawed men losing themselves in the pursuit of a greater good. Hickman’s Marvel work is held in high regard with Secret Wars being one of the most memorable cross-overs in the Marvel era, and his entrance on the X-Men with House of X/Powers of X breathing new life into the line and the fandom. Hickman is a name that objectively holds weight, which is why Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers The Complete Collection volume one comes out at such an interesting time to explore what makes a Jonathan Hickman comic a Hickman comic.

For an author known for such complete runs, it’s an interesting time to take a look at how Avengers begins, figuring out how Hickman collaborates with artists on tone between titles, what kind of stories he wants to tell, how much of that comes across at the very start of this run and how we’ve seen all of this develop since then. [Read more…] about Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 Review!

SUPERPOWERS REVIEWED: Telepathy (and Professor X)

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This Installment: Telepathy

“We are inclined to suppose…this knowledge has transferred from him to her…through unknown ways and with exclusion of the communication methods that everybody knows. Therefore, our conclusion should be that thought transmission exists.”— Sigmund Freud

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NEW AVENGERS #32 Review: “Are You There, Beyonders? It’s Me, Thor!”

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For a series touting “Everything Dies” as its mantra since inception, there is some pretty clear intent. However, the make-good on that promise doesn’t ease the blow any – no matter how much it’s projected. After thinning some of the support cast last time, this week writer Jonathan Hickman turns to the Multiversal Avengers, culling from Earth’s Mightiest in “The Fall of Gods.” [Read more…] about NEW AVENGERS #32 Review: “Are You There, Beyonders? It’s Me, Thor!”

AVENGERS #42 Review: “Oh, Wait– Aliens Still Hate Us…”

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This week’s Avengers recovers a lot of buoyancy lost over the last couple of installments. Packed to the gills with scene changes and cast galore, Jonathan Hickman goes into overdrive crunching Marvel’s multiverse toward the Summer 2015 Secret Wars. With his run on Earth’s Mightiest wrapping in April, the writer’s renewed urgency is ably accompanied by some of artist Stefano Caselli’s strongest work. It’s such a well-paced visual delight that you almost forget a coalition of intergalactic empires is heading to Earth to pre-emptively end it. [Read more…] about AVENGERS #42 Review: “Oh, Wait– Aliens Still Hate Us…”

AVENGERS #41 Review: “The Other Shoe”

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Continuing the recent trend of stealth-releasing chapters of Jonathan Hickman’s epic, this week’s Avengers has the added distinction of being the most speculated installment yet. Curiously featuring the repurposed cover to 2002’s Ultimates 1, there is actually very little interior content that could otherwise prepare the reader for what’s in store without ruining massive surprises. Narratively, it’s a bit of a sidestep from the usual splintered dysfunction of Earth’s Mightiest, focusing instead on other aspects just as integral to the bigger picture of the upcoming Secret Wars. [Read more…] about AVENGERS #41 Review: “The Other Shoe”