Jonathan Hickman: Where to Start

Hickman writes stories whose final pages answer the first ones, sometimes five years later. That way of building makes the choice of a first book more decisive than for other writers: a wrong entry point makes the author seem cold and abstract, while the right one shows an architect who paces every effect. This guide does not tell a career story. It offers a reading order, with the reasons for each step.

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.

Why reading order matters with Hickman

Three traits recur from one work to the next and explain the path proposed here. First, construction: a stake set up in issue 3 may not pay off until issue 40, so reading sparingly and skipping the quiet episodes loses the effect. Second, the taste for pages of data, diagrams, maps and timelines, which are part of the story and which collected editions reproduce better than newsstand issues. Finally, the flow of ideas between Image and Marvel: techniques tested on a creator-owned series return, transformed, in a publisher-owned series.

The path below therefore ranks the works by the effort they demand: prior knowledge, number of issues, density of the story. It does not follow publication chronology, which would lead a new reader to start with early experiments before reaching the major works.

Step 1: House of X and Powers of X (2019)

Twelve issues, six from each series, published starting in July 2019: House of X is drawn by Pepe Larraz, Powers of X by R.B. Silva. The two titles are read in alternation, one issue of one and then one issue of the other, in publication order, because each episode answers its counterpart. The story establishes Krakoa, a sovereign mutant nation, and follows several eras of mutant history in parallel.

It is the most accessible entry for three reasons. The whole is closed: twelve issues, a beginning, an end. It requires little prior knowledge, since the stake is to redefine what a mutant is. And it shows everything Hickman can do: the structure of the narrative, the design pages by Tom Muller, the revelations planted from the first episodes. It suits readers who know the X-Men from the films or the animated series and want a modern starting point.

To read it, choose the collected edition that respects the alternation. The single issues have their collecting interest, detailed in our entry on the key issues of the saga, but they force you to interleave the two series yourself. The natural follow-up is the X-Men series launched in October 2019, drawn by Leinil Francis Yu, which shows what becomes of Krakoa.

Step 2: The Manhattan Projects (Image, starting in 2012)

Nick Pitarra draws this alternate history in 25 issues, published by Image: what if the program that produced the atomic bomb had secretly funded far stranger research? Real figures of twentieth-century physics, Einstein, Fermi, Feynman, Oppenheimer, are reinvented here with gleeful cruelty.

This step serves as a bridge. The tone is darker and funnier than at Marvel, and the reader discovers Hickman with no continuity to know: no hero, no timeline, a finished work whose ending is known. It suits readers who prefer creator-owned stories to superhero series, or who want to test Hickman's writing before committing to hundreds of issues of a shared universe.

To read it, the volumes published by Image are the obvious format: the series is finished, and single issues add nothing to the reading.

Step 3: Fantastic Four (2009-2012)

From 2009 to 2012, Hickman writes Marvel's flagship series, from #570 to #611, then the FF series, launched in 2011. Dale Eaglesham draws the first arcs. The project is clear from the start: treat the Fantastic Four as a family of explorers, with Franklin and Valeria Richards at the center, and prepare developments that will only conclude in Secret Wars.

This step is more demanding than the previous ones because it is the first link in a chain. It features the "Council of Reeds," a gathering of alternate versions of Reed Richards, and the unexpected relationship between Valeria and Doom, which our analysis devoted to the run and Doctor Doom examines in detail. But it can also be read on its own: a family science-fiction story, without the dark side of step 2.

It suits readers who already know the team, or who are ready to learn the basics in the heat of the action. To read it, favor the omnibuses: the run covers more than forty issues and several series, and the inherited numbering complicates the search for single issues. Keep in mind that Secret Wars, in step 6, is its culmination.

Step 4: East of West (Image, 2013-2019)

With Nick Dragotta, Hickman delivers in 45 issues a sweeping epic in which the United States has fractured into seven nations, and in which Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, leaves that role to pursue a quest of his own. Science-fiction western, political fiction, biblical tale: the mix is dense, with many characters and a world whose geography is learned as you read.

The step takes its place here because it is long and rewards patience. It suits readers who enjoyed Manhattan Projects or House of X and want a broader work, entirely controlled by its creators, free of publisher or continuity constraints. It is also a chance to see what Hickman does when no shared universe imposes a character.

To read it, opt for the collected editions: the series is finished, linear reading is essential and the map of the world is easier to read in a larger format. A second reading illuminates more than the first, which is a good sign for the collector: the work keeps its value on the shelf.

Step 5: Avengers and New Avengers (2012-2015)

Here is the great Marvel ensemble: Avengers (#1 to #44) and New Avengers (#1 to #33), seventy-seven issues written between 2012 and 2015. Jerome Opeña draws the first issue of Avengers, Steve Epting that of New Avengers. The first series follows an immense team facing threats of cosmic scale; the second follows the Illuminati confronting the Incursions, those collisions between universes in which one must disappear.

The step is demanding for a simple reason: the two series cannot be read separately. The safest approach is to follow the publication order of the single issues, or to choose collected editions that interleave the two titles, rather than reading one whole series and then the other. The two threads meet as the "Time Runs Out" arc approaches. Our guide to the key issues of Hickman's Avengers run gives the map and the collecting milestones.

It suits readers who have already worked through step 3, because the Fantastic Four part echoes here, and who accept reading without reassurance until the end. This is not a run to dip into: the text demands to be read continuously, and the slow episodes are the ones that feed what follows.

Step 6: Secret Wars (2015)

Esad Ribić draws the nine issues of Secret Wars, which gather the threads of Fantastic Four, Avengers and New Avengers in a patchwork world ruled by Doom. Our entry on the key issues of Secret Wars details the releases around the series, including many tie-ins you do not need to read to follow the main story.

This is the most demanding step, because it serves as the point of arrival: without steps 3 and 5, some twists lose their weight. But the complete reading has a logic of reward that is rare in American publishing, where readers are almost never asked to hold so many elements in memory. It suits readers who have finished the two previous ensembles and want to see their outcome, rather than those looking for an isolated event.

To read it, the nine issues fit in one collected edition; add the related titles only if you feel like it. For a collection, the main series is enough to represent the event.

What the path leaves out

Several works are deliberately off the route, without being minor. The Nightly News (Image, 2006) is the first published story, which Hickman also illustrated; Pax Romana (2008) is a time-travel tale mixing politics and religion. In the Marvel universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. (2010) with Dustin Weaver and Ultimate Invasion (2023) with Bryan Hitch each have their audience, but are not required stops. The Black Monday Murders (Image, 2016) with Tomm Coker continues the vein of dense stories.

Hickman's return to the X-Men line is a work in progress: our analysis of Hickman's return to the mutants takes stock, and the Midnight X-Men series, with Matteo Della Fonte, had not yet been released as of October 1, 2026. It therefore has no place in a reading path, only in a watch list.

How to read: single issues or collected editions

The choice depends on the goal. For reading, collected editions win almost everywhere: they preserve the alternation of House of X and Powers of X, the interleaving of Avengers and New Avengers, and the design pages at reading size. The Marvel omnibuses gather the Fantastic Four run and the Avengers run into large volumes; always check the contents in the catalog before buying, because the breakdowns vary by edition and language. The Image series are found in volumes.

For collecting, single issues make sense if you are aiming at a specific milestone: a first issue, a first appearance, a cover. They complicate reading when the series calls for alternation or parallel reading. Our guide to omnibus or single issues helps you decide, case by case.

One method avoids costly duplicates: before buying a collected edition, list in your inventory the single issues you already own from the same range, and count what the collection adds, often little for reading but a lot for preservation.

Recap: the recommended order

1. House of X and Powers of X (2019), in a collected edition, in alternating order.
2. The Manhattan Projects (Image, starting in 2012), in volumes.
3. Fantastic Four (2009-2012), from #570 to #611, then FF, in omnibuses.
4. East of West (Image, 2013-2019), in collected editions, in order.
5. Avengers and New Avengers (2012-2015), following the publication order of the two titles.
6. Secret Wars (2015), nine issues, as the point of arrival.

If you only have one evening to judge, open the first issue of House of X. If you are looking for the most personal work, it is East of West. If you want the summit of the Marvel edifice, you will first have to cross steps 3 and 5.

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