7 Big Questions About The All-New All-Different Marvel Lineup

Where is Jonathan Hickman (and a few other folks)?

There’s quite a bit of top notch writing talent helping to put together All-New All-Different Marvel. Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Charles Soule and Jeff Lemire are all writing multiple titles. Stalwarts like Mark Waid, James Robinson and Peter David are along for the ride, as are relatively newer voices like Gerry Duggan, Al Ewing, Nick Spencer, G. Willow Wilson and Warren Ellis. Just kidding on that last one, but Warren Ellis is writing Karnak. How can you not at least be curious?

Mysteriously absent from all 45 titles is the man whose fingerprints were all over the Marvel line for the last few years, Jonathan Hickman. As a friend of mine said on Twitter, “five years of leading into the company’s biggest event ever probably takes a toll, but I’d like to see him around.” So would I.

We’ve already discovered that Rick Remender is taking a year off from Marvel, and a few others are drifting away for the time being. But Hickman’s absence is the most conspicuous. If there had been some kind of rift between the writer and Marvel, Bleeding Cool or one of the other ace investigative sites would have caught wind of it by now. Besides, I’m told that Secret Wars series he has out right now is kind of a big deal.

The likely answer here is that he’s simply stepping away to recharge the batteries. Marvel has all but come right out and stated that the 45 series already announced aren’t necessarily all there will be, so bet at least a little on Hickman working on something for later in the fall. It’s hard to picture the new Marvel Universe without the man who helped blow up the old one.

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