If reading this post is the first time you are hearing the name of Jonathan Hickman, then you should remember this moment. You are about to "meet" for the first time one of the best new writers in comics in a very long time. Imagine being introduced to the works of Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman for the first time. This is the type of feeling that you get when you read your first Hickman book, and discover this new voice in comics that is SO bright and SO unique that he deserves a much better moniker than "The next (fill in the blank)".



Jonathan Hickman is not just a great and innovative writer, he is also a super accomplished artist, illustrator and most of all designer. When you open the first pages of a Hickman-drawn book, you realize this is going to be special because it looks like NOTHING you have ever seen in comics. Hickman has a huge bag of tricks, including graphs, mono-colored line art, blocks of text, web page designs, and comic book art that has hints of Travis Charest and has an impressive negative space usage, reminiscent of Sin City-days Frank Miller and Eduardo Risso's 100 Bullets work, and the "design elements" that Brian Wood is known for. Each project has its own "VIBE" that is unique to itself and to the writer/artist who produced it. Even on projects where Hickman relinquishes the art duties to other artists (such as Red Mass for Mars and Transhuman), you can still totally feel the "Hickman" design structure and style.



But the most important thing about Hickman's work is his ability to create truely unique and diverse works of comic book fiction every single time he creates a new project. From the "Domestic Terrorism against the Media" of Nightly News, to the "Revisionist, alternate history through time travel" of Pax Romana, to the "Race for Human mutation through the eyes of a Documentary" of Transhuman, every Hickman book is a unique piece of work, never before tried in the world of comics.

Hickman fans are still few but they are very vocal and they are growing in numbers every day. Next week, when his first Marvel work, Secret Warriors, comes out, the greater comic book audiences will discover Jonathan Hickman for the first time. Next week will be a TRULY special week because of this, and I can't wait for it to happen.

This book (Dark Avengers #1) comes out on Wednesday. It will be 100% returnable for our subscription customers and I SUPER HIGHLY recommend it. Imagine Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts written by Bendis, with a twist and you got the idea.

If you are not reading this series, you are missing out on stuff like this (preview of the 2nd issue)

Comic books meet Politics, or rather a politician who loves comic books. Our new president-elect Barack Obama is on the cover and inside next week's Amazing Spider-man. It's not the regular cover for the book, it's an incentive cover, we had to order a ton of the regular cover (about 20-25% more than our usual number) to QUALIFY to order those covers.

Labels: 583, barack obama, comic book, cover, president elect, presidential election, spider-man

For Collector's Paradise Subscription Service members:
(to read more about our sub service, please visit HERE)

January 09 titles have been added to the online sub manager and are available for subscription. I had made a list of notable first issues for this month from the top 4 publishers (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse & Image Comics). Please take a look at them in the sub manager by putting the name in the search box. Some of you will notice some of these added to your subscription, please remember we try to match to your existing titles, and will add based on likeness. You are never obligated to try out these titles, this is our way of recommending them to you.

NOTABLE TITLES FOR JANUARY 09:

BATMAN BATTLE FOR THE COWL #1
BATMAN BATTLE FOR THE COWL COMMISSIONER GORDON #1
GOTHAM GAZETTE BATMAN DEAD #1
AZRAEL DEATHS DARK KNIGHT #1
ORACLE #1
SUPERMAN THE WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #1
STRANGE ADVENTURES #1
REBELS #1
SOLOMON GRUNDY #1
RESIDENT EVIL #1
KILLER DEMONS #1
BLACK VAULT #1
DARK TOWER SORCERER #1
STAND AMERICAN NIGHTMARES #1
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK #3
DARK REIGN ELEKTRA #1
DARK REIGN FANTASTIC FOUR #1
NEW AVENGERS REUNION #1
ASTONISHING TALES #1
HULK BROKEN WORLDS #1
MODELS INC #1
WAR OF KINGS #1
WAR OF KINGS DARKHAWK #1
X-FORCE CABLE MESSIAH WAR PROLOGUE #0
X-MEN QUITTING TIME #0
X-MEN SWORD OF BRADDOCKS #0

If you come to our store, I am pretty sure you already know that all 3 of us (Joseph, Nick and myself) are pretty huge fans of Ed Brubaker. I know most of you know that I always say that the current run on Captain America is probably one of the best things published right now, or about how perfect Criminal is. This brings me to the topic of this post.

INCOGNITO is the latest effort by Ed and his long time collaborator Sean Phillips, who is known to most of you as the artist of Marvel Zombies. The team of Bru/Phillips has to this point already done two amazing books: Sleeper, and incredible look at a hero trapped in a criminal underground, with the world thinking that he turned (soon to be a movie), and Criminal, considered by many one of the top 2-3 finest books of our time and a perfect film-noir comic. Picking your favorite with those books is like choosing one of your children, I have never seen books that excelled so much at what they accomplished. And with the first issue of INCOGNITO, the team just gave us the beginning of their third Masterpiece.


The basic concept is brilliant. Imagine you are a Villain, an all powerful and morally corrupt individual who revels in his superiority over the "common guy". Consequences mean nothing to you, until one day something happens and you can no longer show your face to the people who are even more evil and "super" than you are. You make a deal with the government, take a pill that, if used regularly, removes your powers, and go into witness protection after putting your boss in jail. Now you are a common stiff, sorting paper work at a typical firm, with typical loser co-workers. You have become the type of "grunt" that you despised when you had your powers. How long can you last in this situation, until the urges and fond memories make you try to find a way to get back to your past glory?


Oh, and did I mention that we are making the first issue 100% RETURNABLE? Need I say more?

Labels: Captain America, comic book, Criminal, Daredevil, Ed Brubaker, noir, Sleeper