by Zachary Clemente
“The last story of the Greatest Generation”
Don’t let the semi-snarky headline fool you – I love me some Hickman Madness. Secret with artist Bodenheim was one of my favorite short series releases of the past two years and I adore both Manhattan Projects and East of West. Beyond his actual work, what really excites me is that Hickman seems to be utilizing Image’s platform in a way (or at least at a rate) that I wasn’t expecting. I shouldn’t be surprised though; he’s been doing it from day one. After releasing The Nightly News in 2006 with Image, we saw Hickman crank out Pax Romana, Transhuman, Red Mass for Mars, and The Red Wing all within a few years. It’s explosive and exhilarating and hopefully a trend that other creators will be afforded.
New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Jonathan Hickman (EAST OF WEST, THE AVENGERS) teams up with explosive artist Ryan Bodenheim (RED MASS FOR MARS, SECRET) for an all-new adventure series fraught with mystery, intrigue, and exotic end-of life care in THE DYING AND THE DEAD, coming from Image Comics on January 28.
The adventures begins in THE DYING AND THE DEAD #1 when a murder at a wedding sets off a series of reactions, unraveling secrets hundreds of years old. At great cost, a man with a dying wife is given the opportunity to save her. A lost tribe is reborn in another time. Seemingly unconnected events that force relics from the Greatest Generation to come together for one last hurrah.
“It’s not often that you work on something that feels almost perfect from day one, but working with Ryan again and how we’re both so in sync regarding the story, it really does feel like it could be something special,” said co-creator Hickman.
THE DYING AND THE DEAD (Diamond Code NOV140534) is a massive, over-sized, 60-page Indiana Jones-style high adventure that arrives in stores this 1/28 and will be available for $4.50.
How about some praise for the daring way master designer Hickman elected to use only half of the available cover space?
@snark The fact that he only used half the cover is the reason he is a master designer.
As much as i love Hickman’s stories, his book design is really tired and dated. I get that he’s trying to do a personal branding thing, but he’s approaching it in the most rigid of ways. You don’t have to repeat the same design moves for every single project to create a recognizable brand for yourself. It really affects how i view his books, and what to expect, since the cover’s are so repetitive and sterile. Sometimes that works for you, but i feel its starting to work against him. Who wants to buy the same book over and over again? Spread your wings, show me this is something unique and interesting instead of creating new IP that’s on-brand. Each time he does this, it just becomes exponentially less interesting.
I love reading Hickman’s work, but I hate his safe, ‘one-idea’ design.
If you didn’t want the headline to fool us, why go with such a snarky headline in the first place?
@Joey – I totally get where you’re coming from on the cover design but I’ve always loved the fact that he’s had a signature – which even shows up in his Marvel work such as Secret Warriors. What I love about his design is the spine continuity: http://i.imgur.com/rvK5xnZ.jpg (My copies of his other books are on loan.)