We here at Multiversity Comics love rising star Jonathan Hickman, as evidenced by the Friday Recommendation Gil wrote last week, but I feel that his work at Marvel hasn’t quite surpassed his first series, The Nightly News. I mean this in the nicest way possible, for while his work at Marvel has been great and is some of my favorite stuff the company is publishing, it’s just difficult to compete with one of the finest comics I have ever read. Follow the jump to find out more.
The Nightly News is one of those stories that tells a fictional tale while still making the reader think about the unpleasant truths. While we have seen plenty of stories that demonize government, The Nightly News focuses on the deeply flawed media and how it affects the lives of everyone. What I found particularly interesting were Hickman’s now infamous charts (read Secret Warriors and you’ll see what I mean), which collected real information and statistics that tied into what was occurring in the story. While this data wasn’t completely necessary to understand the story (indeed, Hickman even notes that you should skip ahead if you want to continue into the action), it’s always nice to know when a writer does his research.
One of the things that makes The Nightly News unique is Hickman’s eye for design. By conventional standards, the art isn’t great, Hickman having never hidden the fact that he used photos for references. But this isn’t about how the characters are drawn, it’s about something else entirely. The complex layouts, the attention to coloration and just overall how damn cool everything looks is like what you would expect from one splash page in a normal issue. The difference? It’s like this every single page. The lettering is a bit unconventional, but within the first issue or so any level of distraction this may cause will completely disappear. Honestly, look at that page and tell me it isn’t one of the most incredible looking things you’ve seen. I’m waiting.
The most incredible thing about The Nightly News? It’s Hickman’s first comic. Ever. I mentioned this relatively offhandedly earlier, but after all my gabbing I feel it bears repeating. Looking at that single page above may be enough to convince you otherwise, and you certainly wouldn’t believe it after reading the whole thing, but I wouldn’t lie to you. The Nightly News is better than some of the best works by some of my favorite and more experienced comic writers, and it was the very first thing of Hickman’s that was published. That’s simply staggering, and makes it no surprise that Marvel snatched him up when they did. Hickman isn’t just an up and coming writer that you will want to be on the lookout for, he’s a writer that is so good that you will want to pick up everything with his name on it from here on out.
I want to say a lot more about this great read, but seeing as this is a recommendation, I want you to approach The Nightly News with as blank a slate as I did. The only thing I knew before picking up The Nightly News was that Hickman wrote it and that it was considered great. While I’ve obviously spoiled the reader a little bit (thematically, at least), thus giving the reader a bit more of a head start than I had, I guarantee that Hickman’s The Nightly News will blow you away. Whether you’re into a chilling story about revenge or a dark commentary on our media, this will definitely be one of the more gripping things you will read.
I didn’t realize until writing this that Matt already wrote an article on all of Jonathan Hickman’s creator-owned work a few months ago, so check that out if you’ve already read The Nightly News and are interested in more Hickman goodness.
