East of West #1 (2013): Hickman Key Issue Guide

Few launches can be said, more than ten years later, to have delivered everything they promised. East of West #1 is one of them: the issue lays down a world, a map, a horseman and a silence, then the work unfolds those elements through issue 45 without changing writer or artist. For a collector, that is a stronger argument than any adaptation rumor.

As always in this guide, only verified information (creators, issues, dates) is stated as fact; the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of protected pages or dialogue.

The issue: March 2013, Death takes to the road again

East of West #1 carries the March 2013 date on its cover and came out from Image Comics. Jonathan Hickman writes, Nick Dragotta draws, Frank Martin colors the whole and Rus Wooton handles the lettering. These four names make up the team for the entire series, through to the last issue, which is exceptional for a monthly of this length.

The setting is the most singular thing about the issue. The United States no longer forms a single country there but seven nations, and the story looks at them like a broken puzzle in which every piece has its own politics, people and religion. At the center of this world stands Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, shown here as an armed man with the look of a gunslinger, who has left his role for a reason revealed only gradually. The first issue fixes his appearance and the tension between his personal quest and the end of the world that looms.

You will not find a big action scene in this issue in the sense of superhero comics. It is a novel's opening: a territory, allegiances, a visitor moving forward. The reader does not need to know the Bible or the western to follow, but will quickly discover that the story borrows from both and explains neither.

The publishing context: Hickman steps out of Marvel's shadow

At the time of the launch, Hickman is already identified as a writer of grand ensembles, thanks to years on Fantastic Four, as our analysis of the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom run recalls. The writer had also just launched The Manhattan Projects (2012) at Image, drawn by Nick Pitarra, and was already writing the Avengers at Marvel. East of West therefore arrives in a period when the writer is producing, in parallel, work-for-hire series and series that belong to the creator.

This contrast explains the project. At Image, no inherited continuity imposes a character, a costume or a timeline: the creator can build a personal world there, with its own rules. Nick Dragotta, meanwhile, finds there a format that allows wide double-page spreads, landscapes and a clean line, perfectly suited to a western mythology. The whole stands apart from the monthly output of the time, which leaned more readily on already established characters.

Our history of Image Comics shows how this publisher became, after its founding, the place where authors publish their most personal projects. East of West clearly belongs to that lineage.

Why this issue became a key

The main factor is completion. It is rare for a series of this format to reach its end with the same creators: titles of the genre stall, change teams or fade. Here, the series runs from March 2013 to 2019, that is 45 issues, and its ending matches the ambition shown in the opening. That consistency gives the first issue the status of a cornerstone, not a simple launch.

The second factor is the Hickman and Dragotta pairing. It established Dragotta in the public's mind as an artist able to hold an entire world together, and Hickman as an author able to launch a dense work without hanging the plot on a superhero. Collectors who follow either have a natural reason to own issue #1.

The third factor is its place in the reading of Hickman. Our Hickman reading path treats the series as one of the stages of the body of work; here, the interest lies elsewhere, in the object: a 2013 launch that many readers of the series want to own as an original single issue.

What moves the market value: condition, print run, reprints

A 2013 issue has neither the scarcity of an old issue nor the instability of a recent launch. Its market value has settled over several years, with cycles tied to the end of the series, to reissues and to Hickman's news. It is therefore still driven more by condition and edition than by a fad.

The printing number is the first criterion. Image reprinted the launch, and sources differ on the exact number of reprints; what matters is that each one displays its printing number. A first printing carries no mention, and a reprint carries one. The market value difference between the two is real, but it is less spectacular than on launches with a tiny print run, because demand has spread out.

Condition is the second criterion. A copy that came off the newsstand in 2013 has not had the chance to be damaged by decades, but it may have been by handling: a blunted corner, a spine crease, a stain on the edge. Since every grade notch is paid for on a modern issue, a modest condition gap can noticeably shift the price. Always compare with completed sales for the same grade, never with listings.

Recognizing a first printing from a reprint

The gesture is always the same, and it is better to repeat it than to trust memory. The first step is to open the issue to its credits page, where the publisher, the month and any reprint mention appear. If a printing mention is there ("second printing" or equivalent), the copy is a reprint. If there is none, it is a first printing.

The cover is a complementary clue, never proof. Reprints can change tint or illustration, and alternate covers exist from the first printing; the illustration alone therefore does not settle it. For doubtful cases, the signs to check are gathered in our sheet on recognizing a first printing at Image.

Do not confuse the single issue with the collected editions either. The first collected volume reprints the first issues in book form and is not ranked among original single issues. The two objects serve different needs: reading for one, collecting for the other.

Buying pitfalls

The first pitfall is the photo of the front only. A reprint and a first printing can look alike apart from a few details; without a shot of the indicia, you are buying blind. A serious seller provides the interior without being pressed, and one who refuses generally has a reason.

The second pitfall is the "complete series" lot. The 45 issues are rarely all from the same printing, and the listing sometimes values the whole at the launch price while issue #1 is a reprint. Break the lot down, compare issue by issue, and only then negotiate.

The third pitfall concerns signed copies. A signature from Hickman or Dragotta, even authentic, is not a guaranteed gain on a 2013 issue: its value depends on proof of provenance. A signature with no witness or certificate protects you from nothing, and it can complicate any later grading.

Neighboring issues that matter too

Issue 2 and the following ones, released in quick succession, form the start of an arc whose first collected volume is the most obvious entry into the work. They lack the scarcity of the launch, which is good news for anyone who wants to own the entire series without paying for each issue as a collector's piece.

Alongside the series, The Manhattan Projects #1 (2012), also at Image with Nick Pitarra on art, is the natural companion to this launch: same author, same publisher, same logic of a self-contained work. To tie these objects to the rest of the writer's path, our Jonathan Hickman page gathers the milestones, and our feature on the key issues of the Avengers run covers the Marvel period.

What grading changes

Whether to have East of West #1 graded is debatable case by case. For a copy with no visible defect, grading protects the condition and can put the printing on the label, which removes the risk of ambiguity at resale. That second benefit matters most on a launch that has reprints.

Financially, the reasoning is a ratio: the cost of grading and shipping must stay low against the expected gain between a raw and a certified copy. On a modern issue, that gap is sometimes too narrow to justify the step, especially if the grade obtained comes a notch below what was expected. A copy you judge perfect should be looked at twice, because the eye underestimates spine and edge defects.

How to track it in a collection

For a launch that belongs to a 45-issue series, the first decision is to choose what you follow: issue #1 alone, or the whole series in single issues. In the first case, one line is enough, with the printing number read on the indicia, the identified cover, the condition and the grade if any. In the second, keep a per-issue tracker and note the missing ones, particularly the middle issues that sell less often.

Add the date and source of the purchase, and separate completed works from ongoing series in your tracking. East of West belongs to the first category: its market value is now played out over the long term, not while waiting for the next issue. Those who follow the publisher as a whole will find in the Image collecting guide a way to sort their purchases.

Conclusion: a launch carried through to the end

East of West #1 is not a speculative issue in the sense of betting on a one-off. It is a milestone: that of a work begun in March 2013, finished by those who launched it, and whose first issue carries the promise of a coherent world. Its collecting value rests on the printing, the condition and the consistency of the path more than on a first appearance.

If you are looking for a copy, check the indicia, ask for a shot of the interior and compare with completed sales. If you own one, note its printing number today: that single piece of information will make the difference between a reading copy and a collector's piece.

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