Jonathan Hickman


Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for his creator-owned series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as his lengthy stints as a writer on Marvel's Fantastic Four, The Avengers and New Avengers. Hickman's other notable work at Marvel includes the S.H.I.E.L.D. limited series, the creation of the Fantastic Four spin-off title FF, as well as two crossover limited series, Infinity and Secret Wars, both of which acted as centerpieces for the eponymous company-wide crossover storylines.
Between 2019 and 2021, Hickman spearheaded the "Dawn of X", a relaunch of various X-Men-related titles for which he provided the core storyline and concepts. This relaunch began the Krakoan Age of which Hickman was the early main architect. This relaunch began with the dual comic book miniseries House of X and Powers of X written by Hickman.
In 2023, Hickman also helped spearhead the relaunch of the Ultimate Universe, kicked off with the four-issue miniseries Ultimate Invasion written by Hickman, and since 2024, he is writing a rebooted Ultimate Spider-Man.
As part of his Marvel work, Hickman co-created the characters of the Black Order and its members, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Black Dwarf, and Supergiant.

Early life

Jonathan Hickman was born and raised in South Carolina. He graduated from South Florence High School in Florence, South Carolina. After high school, Hickman earned a degree in Architecture.

Career

Before breaking into comics, Hickman worked in the fields of Web and CD-ROM development and later, advertising. Between 2006 and 2008, Hickman published his debut comic book series The Nightly News and Pax Romana, both of which he wrote, drew, colored and lettered, through Image. Soon after, he was invited to write for Marvel, and, in 2009, Hickman launched his first ongoing series Secret Warriors which followed Nick Fury and a group of superpowered operatives as they undertook espionage operations in the wake of the company-wide crossover storyline "Secret Invasion". The following year, Hickman wrote the S.H.I.E.L.D. limited series which detailed the secret history of the eponymous spy organization operating within the Marvel Universe. During this period, he continued to publish various creator-owned projects through Image: Transhuman with artist J. M. Ringuet, A Red Mass for Mars with artist Ryan Bodenheim and The Red Wing with Nick Pitarra.
In 2009, Hickman began his run on Fantastic Four with the Dark Reign: Fantastic Four limited series, illustrated by Sean Chen, taking over the series proper with issue #570, drawn by Dale Eaglesham. In the storyline "Three", which concluded in Fantastic Four #587, the Human Torch appeared to die stopping a horde of monsters from the other-dimensional Negative Zone. The series ended with the following issue and was relaunched as simply FF. Hickman finished his run on the Fantastic Four and became the writer of The Avengers and New Avengers as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch in late 2012. Hickman's run on the titles spawned two company-wide crossover storylines, "Infinity" in 2013 and "Secret Wars" in 2015.
After taking a leave from Marvel to focus on his long-form creator-owned titles, Hickman returned to the publisher for "Dawn of X", the 2019 relaunch of the X-Men family of titles, which began with the House of X and Powers of X limited series that laid out the new status quo developed by Hickman that would define the Krakoan Age. He subsequently wrote the core X-Men series while the creators of other titles worked closely under his supervision. Hickman announced his departure from writing X-Men in August 2021.
In August 2021, Hickman was among a group of creators with whom fellow comics writer Nick Spencer formed a deal with the subscription-based newsletter platform Substack to publish creator-owned comics stories, essays, and instructional guides on that platform. Hickman indicated that he would collaborate with artists Mike del Mundo and Mike Huddleston and writer Tini Howard on a new series, Three Worlds / Three Moons, which will give readers a behind-the-scenes look at the process of building a fictional universe.
In February 2023 it was announced that Hickman would write the miniseries Ultimate Invasion, with Bryan Hitch doing artwork and the premise revolving around the Maker attempting to bring back the Ultimate Universe, the aftermath of which will lead to a brand new line of Ultimate Marvel comics, which Hickman is helping to spearhead. In September 2023, it was revealed that Hickman would write Ultimate Spider-Man, a relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man in 2024, with Marco Checchetto serving as artist.
In March 2023, it was announced that Hickman would work with artist Valerio Schiti on a brand new series at Marvel, entitled G.O.D.S., which involves a new character named Wyn teaming up with Doctor Strange in order to stop a new threat. Hickman mentioned that he wrote the series bible for G.O.D.S. alongside House of X when he first returned to Marvel.
In April 2024, it was announced that Hickman and Esad Ribić would reunite for the miniseries Aliens vs. Avengers, which pits Earth's mightiest heroes against the Xenomorphs. The first issue debuted in August 2024.
In May 2024, it was announced that Hickman would write a new miniseries starring Wolverine which will be drawn by artist Greg Capullo. The miniseries, titled Wolverine: Revenge will release its first issue in August 24, 2024 and will feature a red band version that will contain extra violence.
In December 2024, Marvel announced a new cosmic focused project to be written by Hickman called Imperial. In March and April 2025, more details about Imperial were revealed. It will be a 4-issue event limited series, written by Hickman and drawn by artists Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello. The first issue will release on June 4th, 2025. The series will focus on several galactic leaders being eliminated causing new space empires to arise and a radical reshaping of Marvel's cosmic landscape. The main characters will be Hulk, She-Hulk, Amadeus Cho, Black Panther, the Nova Corps, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as featuring Professor X and Lilandra Neramani trying to rescue their daughter, Xandra.

Awards and nominations

  • 2008: Nominated for "Best Limited Series" Eisner Award for The Nightly News.
  • 2011: Nominated for "Best Continuing or Limited Series" Harvey Award for Fantastic Four
  • 2013: Nominated for "Best Continuing Series" and "Best Writer" Eisner Award for The Manhattan Projects
  • 2014: Nominated for "Best Continuing Series" for East of West and "Best Writer" Eisner Award for East of West, The Manhattan Projects, The Avengers, and Infinity
  • 2021: Nominated for Best Limited Series for Decorum and the Best Writer Eisner Award for X-Men, Giant-Size X-Men, and ''Decorum''

    Image Comics

  • The Nightly News #1–6 collected as The Nightly News
  • Popgun Volume 1: "Black Circle White: The Recycle Soul Project"
  • Pax Romana #1–4 collected as Pax Romana
  • Transhuman #1–4 collected as Transhuman
  • A Red Mass for Mars #1–4 collected as A Red Mass for Mars
  • Pilot Season: The Core collected in Pilot Season 2008
  • Comic Book Tattoo: "1000 Oceans"
  • The Red Wing #1–4 collected as The Red Wing
  • Feel Better Now
  • The Manhattan Projects:
  • * The Manhattan Projects collected as:
  • ** Science. Bad.
  • ** They Rule
  • ** Building
  • ** The Four Disciplines
  • ** The Cold War
  • * The Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars #1–4 collected as The Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars
  • Secret #1–7 collected as Secret: Never Get Caught
  • Liberty Annual :
  • * Liberty Annual '12: "Which Came First?" collected in CBLDF Presents: Liberty
  • * Liberty Annual '14: "They Say..."
  • East of West collected as:
  • * The Apocalypse: Year One
  • * The Apocalypse: Year Two
  • * The Apocalypse: Year Three
  • The Dying and the Dead #1–6
  • * The series has been solicited through issue #9.
  • The Black Monday Murders collected as:
  • * Volume 1
  • * Volume 2
  • ** Issues #9 and 10 were solicited for a 2019 release but never came out.
  • Frontier
  • * The series has been solicited through issue #4 before the first issue was pulled from schedule.
  • Decorum #1–8 collected as ''Decorum''

    Marvel Comics

  • Legion of Monsters: Satana: "mustDIE/eatSOUL" collected in Legion of Monsters
  • Astonishing Tales: Mojoworld #1–6: "Bobby and Sam in Mojoworld"
  • * First published in print as a feature in Astonishing Tales vol. 2 #1–6
  • * Collected in The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman
  • Secret Warriors and Mirko Colak collected as:
  • * Secret Warriors: The Complete Collection Volume 1
  • ** Includes the "Declaration" short story from Dark Reign: New Nation
  • ** Includes the Dark Reign: The List—Secret Warriors one-shot
  • * Secret Warriors: The Complete Collection Volume 2
  • ** Includes the Siege: Secret Warriors one-shot
  • * Secret Warriors Omnibus
  • Fantastic Four:
  • * Dark Reign: Fantastic Four collects:
  • ** Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #1–5: "The Bridge"
  • ** Dark Reign: The Cabal: "...and I'll Get the Land"
  • * Strange Tales vol. 4 #2: "Enlist Today" collected in Strange Tales
  • * Fantastic Four, Steve Epting, Barry Kitson, Ron Garney, Mike Choi, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Ryan Stegman collected as:
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Volume 1
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Volume 2
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Volume 3
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Volume 4
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Volume 5
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Volume 6
  • * FF, Juan Bobillo, Nick Dragotta, Gabriel Hernández Walta and André Lima Araújo collected as:
  • ** FF by Jonathan Hickman Volume 1
  • ** FF by Jonathan Hickman Volume 2
  • ** FF by Jonathan Hickman Volume 3
  • ** FF by Jonathan Hickman Volume 4
  • * In all subsequent collected editions, both series are compiled in the original release order :
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Volume 1
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Volume 2
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 1
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 2
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 3
  • ** Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 4
  • * Fantastic Four Fanfare #2
  • Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu: Black and White: "The Annual Race to Benefit Various and Sundry Evil Organizations, and Also the Homeless... Now with Beer and Hot Dogs"
  • * Collected in The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman
  • * Collected in Deadpool Classic Companion Volume 2
  • Breaking into Comics the Marvel Way! #2: "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"
  • S.H.I.E.L.D. :
  • * S.H.I.E.L.D. #1–6 collected as S.H.I.E.L.D.: Architects of Forever
  • * S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Human Machine collects:
  • ** S.H.I.E.L.D. Infinity
  • ** S.H.I.E.L.D. vol. 2 #1–4 and S.H.I.E.L.D. by Hickman and Weaver #5–6
  • Ultimate Comics:
  • * Ultimate Comics: Thor #1–4 collected as Ultimate Comics: Thor
  • * Ultimate Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man Fallout includes:
  • ** Ultimate Comics: Fallout :
  • *** "Thor"
  • *** "Tony Stark" and "The Hulk"
  • *** "Reed Richards"
  • *** "Nick Fury" and Mitch Breitweiser
  • * Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates and Luke Ross collected as:
  • ** Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates by Jonathan Hickman Volume 1
  • ** Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates by Jonathan Hickman Volume 2
  • *** Issues #10–12 are scripted by Sam Humphries from Hickman's plots.
  • * Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye #1–4 collected as Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye
  • Avengers vs. X-Men #4 and #6 collected in Avengers vs. X-Men
  • The Avengers:
  • * The Avengers vol. 5, Andy Kubert, Dustin Weaver, Mike Deodato, Jr., Stefano Caselli, Leinil Francis Yu, Esad Ribić, Salvador Larroca and Mike Mayhew collected as:
  • ** Avengers World
  • ** The Last White Event
  • ** Prelude to Infinity
  • *** Issues #12–17 are co-written by Hickman and Nick Spencer.
  • ** Infinity
  • ** Adapt or Die
  • ** Infinite Avengers
  • ** Time Runs Out Volume 1
  • ** Time Runs Out Volume 2
  • ** Time Runs Out Volume 3
  • ** Time Runs Out Volume 4
  • * New Avengers vol. 3, Valerio Schiti, Kev Walker, Szymon Kudranski and Mike Perkins collected as:
  • ** Everything Dies
  • ** Infinity
  • ** Other Worlds
  • ** A Perfect World
  • ** Time Runs Out Volume 1
  • ** Time Runs Out Volume 2
  • ** Time Runs Out Volume 3
  • ** Time Runs Out Volume 4
  • * Avengers World #1–5 collected as Avengers World: The Complete Collection
  • * In all subsequent collected editions, the issues of The Avengers vol. 5, The New Avengers vol. 3 and the 6-issue crossover limited series Infinity are compiled into one continuous story:
  • ** The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Volume 1
  • ** The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Volume 2
  • ** The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 1
  • ** The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 2
  • ** The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 3
  • ** The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 4
  • ** The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Volume 5
  • Infinity #1–6 collected as Infinity
  • Secret Wars collects:
  • * Free Comic Book Day 2015: Secret Wars
  • * Secret Wars #1–9
  • Secret Wars Too: "Sraw Terces" collected in Secret Wars Too
  • X-Men:
  • * House of X/Powers of X collects:
  • ** House of X #1–6
  • ** Powers of X #1–6
  • * Marvel Comics #1000: "The First Horsemen" collected in Marvel Comics 1000
  • * X-Men vol. 5, Matteo Buffagni, Mahmud Asrar, Phil Noto, Brett Booth and Francesco Mobili collected as:
  • ** Volume 1
  • ** Volume 2
  • ** X of Swords
  • *** Also collects the X of Swords: Creation one-shot
  • *** Also collects the X of Swords: Stasis one-shot
  • *** Also collects the X of Swords: Destruction one-shot
  • ** Volume 3
  • ** Hellfire Gala
  • * New Mutants vol. 4 #1–2, 5, 7 collected as New Mutants Volume 1
  • * Incoming!: "X-Men" collected in Road to Empyre
  • * Giant-Size X-Men by Jonathan Hickman Volume 1 collects:
  • ** Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost
  • ** Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler
  • ** Giant-Size X-Men: Magneto
  • ** Giant-Size X-Men: Fantomex
  • ** Giant-Size X-Men: Storm
  • * Free Comic Book Day 2020: X-Men
  • * Empyre: X-Men includes:
  • ** Empyre: X-Men :
  • *** " Plants vs. Zombies"
  • *** "Un-Ring"
  • * Infinity Comics: X-Men Unlimited vol. 3 #1–4 published in print as X-Men Unlimited: Latitude
  • * Inferno #1–4 and R. B. Silva collected as Inferno
  • The Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle: "Part One" collected in The Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer Omnibus Volume 1
  • Moon Knight: Black, White and Blood #1: "Anubis Rex" collected in Moon Knight: Black, White and Blood
  • Amazing Fantasy #1000: "You Get It"
  • G.O.D.S. #1-8
  • Ultimate Universe
  • * Ultimate Invasion #1–4 collected as Ultimate Invasion
  • * Ultimate Universe #1
  • * Ultimate Spider-Man #1–24