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I was near enough to Mile High Comics a couple of days ago to go ahead and just do an impulse drop in. Wanted to support the shop by getting hardcover collections of the Hickman run of X-Men, only to realize after leaving the visit empty handed that they're not out yet. Well, I guess HoXPoX is out but there weren't any copies available at Mile High.
I find it kinda unusual there's not more Dawn of X available in hardcover yet...
I find it kinda unusual there's not more Dawn of X available in hardcover yet...
Over 8 months now since Hickman has spoken to the press about anything at all. It's pretty bizarre that he's not even talking about his upcoming mini. The last time he was on AIPT is.... beginning of Dec last year? I think he gave one other general interview after that and that was it...
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With the substack news, I'm definitely not holding my breath for Hickman to be writing anything for Marvel after Inferno.
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I'm still not sure I'm parsing it correctly but it's a glorified newsletter platform with a dodgy business model. Creators are jumping on it, apparently because they're getting sizable advances.
Here's a thread, although I guess legitimately has skin in the game :
I can't say I'm feeling any of this.
To be honest, my heuristic at the end of the day is "Bro, is your shit available on Comixology or at my LCS"
Eh, I'm pretty sure that logo Muller is making is gonna be for a Hickman ongoing starting after Inferno. The Marvel money is solid and the Substack stuff can fall apart quickly if it doesn't take. Howard and Ewing aren't leaving Marvel, so why would/should he?
Anything is possible, but yeah, it's easier to build a case against than it is for.
Something else people need to consider is the context of when Hickman left Marvel after Secret Wars. He wasn't just doing East of West, he was fielding offers from both DC and Marvel AND some of his stuff got optioned for film/TV and Hickman did write scripts for that stuff.
He had money coming in and he's back at Marvel in part because that's gone. Brian Bendis is the very last time DC spends a boatload on a writer, so it's not like they're looking to poach Hickman or fight Marvel for him. If he leaves Marvel he only has Substack. Maybe he has savings and the Substack is gonna blow up bigger than I could ever guess, but that seems like an insane risk to me, particularly for a married guy with kids.
This all makes sense and I hope you're right.
His newsletter post doesn't make it sound like he's burning bridges, but he doesn't mention he'll keep working for Marvel (or elsewhere)
The Hickman Substack thing doesnt sound like a big new Hickman project. Like I think other creators are going to be jumping in after he writes the initial issue or whatever they are lol.
It also sounds like there will be some sort of newsletter, so hopefully Hickman uses that to keep people updated on future projects and whatever is happening with the X books.
I could see Inferno being a good place for Hickman to exit, but man would I be disappointed. Only because they havent even teased what could come after, but that could also be because they are saving it.
It also sounds like there will be some sort of newsletter, so hopefully Hickman uses that to keep people updated on future projects and whatever is happening with the X books.
I could see Inferno being a good place for Hickman to exit, but man would I be disappointed. Only because they havent even teased what could come after, but that could also be because they are saving it.
This all makes sense and I hope you're right.
His newsletter post doesn't make it sound like he's burning bridges, but he doesn't mention he'll keep working for Marvel (or elsewhere)
I read it this morning, yeah.
They're being really cryptic about Inferno, but I realized after that last batch of traders they're just doing what they did with House/Powers before. The only thing that was really discussed in detail was the format of the books. Actually reading them was quite an experience with a whole lot afterward, obviously..
I still feel like if Hickman were leaving Marvel would be milking the shit out of it to pump up orders
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In regards to DC is this why every book I'm looking at over there is written by someone I've never heard of?
Maybe I'm reading too much into it but the Marvel references here all feel past tense, in both the literal sense and the figurative "I'm over that now" sense.This all makes sense and I hope you're right.
His newsletter post doesn't make it sound like he's burning bridges, but he doesn't mention he'll keep working for Marvel (or elsewhere)
Yeah, ATT is apparently not wild about spending a ton of money to hire writers/artists because they're big names. It wouldn't surprise me if we get a year of filler/test runs on Batman. Tynion almost certainly made little on that book despite it being Batman. Makes all the sense in the world that he's leaving now that he's really blown up.
This all makes sense and I hope you're right.
His newsletter post doesn't make it sound like he's burning bridges, but he doesn't mention he'll keep working for Marvel (or elsewhere)
That reads like he's still there, imo.
Okay, this feels like an Ace Attorney cross examination and Dalek has changed his username again, this is overwhelming lol
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I mean, isn't this quote 100% meaning he's done? Definitely past tense.
"Also, as much as I love working with a bunch of writers (like I've done at Marvel on the X-line), I'm really not interested anymore in replicating the assembly-line structure of how those books are made."
"Also, as much as I love working with a bunch of writers (like I've done at Marvel on the X-line), I'm really not interested anymore in replicating the assembly-line structure of how those books are made."
No. Context is important. In this context he is talking about the new thing he is doing and how it is different from normal collabs and why he is doing it this way. He is not interested in replicating what he did/does on the X-line in this indie iniative. That's all. He might or might not be done with Marvel, we still don't know.
But it does sound like he's bored and wanted to shake things up, so I don't see him staying as Head of X for more than another year if he is still onboard...
Imagine Hickman completing his F4 and Avengers groundwork, only to never finish Time Runs Out into Secret Wars. I think everything is adding up to me that he may hand over the keys not too long after Inferno. Hickman is such a big picture writer that always has his ending planned out that it'll be tragic if we never get to see him finish out this era of X-Men.
In any case, it's really telling that he can get a series he's always wanted to work on, head the whole thing getting the power to do whatever he can imagine, and the MU structure is still too unsatisfying to work under.
In any case, it's really telling that he can get a series he's always wanted to work on, head the whole thing getting the power to do whatever he can imagine, and the MU structure is still too unsatisfying to work under.
He might be ok just handing the status quo off at this point if it's a long term thing (which I hope it is) and then coming back for a finale if and when they decide to go with a new one.
I agree. The whole point of this was to get the X line off the neverending "mutant genocide of the week" stuff. With this, they can go many places for many years. Space stuff? Sure. Otherworld? Great, just don't die. Other editors want some big event without the X-men? "That's a human matter, we don't need to be involved."
For as meandering and lifeless alot Children of the Atom was, it ended very heartfelt and lovely.
I was honestly surprised at how reasonable the father was.
Absolutely... I guess I just found it non-essential. The kids were interesting enough, the story was fine (if a bit meandering)... and it absolutely makes sense that there would be mutant fanboys and fangirls. I just think that the book was stretched out a bit and largely didn't really have a lot of impact.
Yeah, I hope this isn't the last we see of these characters, I like them a lot.
So much of Children of the Atom is just characters standing in a room and talking and it doesn't have the writing chops to keep that interesting. They really needed to incorporate some of that character development into actual events happening. Besides that, the alien tech angle just isn't interesting, doubly so for how long they tease it as a mystery.
I think Children of the Atom would have been a lot more interesting if it had happened during a different part of X-Men history. Like maybe during the Decimation. "No more Mutants, but WAIT, who are these kids who suddenly showed up claiming to have mutant powers? Does this mean mutants are coming back?"
The Hickman era has so much other interesting stuff going on that a bunch of high school wannabes is... meh.
The Hickman era has so much other interesting stuff going on that a bunch of high school wannabes is... meh.
Another issue was that they kept trying the gates even though they knew they weren't really mutants, it was a dumb mystery set up for us that lead nowhere.
Well, the "mimicking mutant powers via technology" thing did happen during Decimation - it was a New Warriors run IIRC, letting depowered mutants be heroes again. Which is one of the reasons why the reveal was so damn disappointing to me - it had been done before, and no one really gave a damn even back then. That plus never learning anything about the ship or its former alien occupants, literally every other possible explanation being a cooler one, and the big buildup for nothing all deflated my feelings for the series. I did dig some of the characters and appreciated the attempt to touch on cultural appropriation, at least.
Didn't they steal DNA from that friend they suspected was a mutant to try and game the gates? That guy they had dinner with that got really mad at them and kicked them out. I think that's what was going on.
I just got caught with reading this but did Magneto kill Wanda to try to resurrect her and thus Marvel is trying to retcon her as a mutant again?
The first issue of Trial of Magneto comes out tomorrow.