Tag Archives: jonathan hickman

The Midnight Universe Plunges the Marvel Mythos into Darkness this August

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The light had its turn. For over 80 years, Marvel heroes have inspired hope. This August, that hope dies in the shadows of the Midnight Universe, a new publishing line where top creators unleash haunting new visions of Marvel’s greatest icons. The nightmare begins with three titles: Midnight X-Men by Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte; Midnight Fantastic Four by Benjamin Percy and Kev Walker; and Midnight Spider-Man by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and, in his Marvel Comics debut, artist Scie Tronc.

Dark. Unpredictable. Unmissable. The Midnight Universe draws in longtime fans and newcomers alike to enter a terrifying new world where anything can happen. Interconnected by rich lore-building, Marvel’s most definitive modern creators are given free rein to reimagine heroes with shocking twists and chilling transformations in boundary-less, creator-driven storytelling that will keep readers on edge issue after issue. The X-Men no longer fight for acceptance, they hunger for blood. The Fantastic Four venture into the unknown not to save the world—but to unleash terror upon it. And Spider-Man discovers that with great power… comes something monstrous.

More will be unveiled in the months ahead, but today, the main cover for Midnight X-Men #1 by Dike Ruan is revealed. Befitting the line’s mysterious, ominous aura, the main covers of the Midnight titles will be Cloaked Covers, partially obscured with the full artwork revealed with a turn of the page. With the exception of the debut issues, the full artwork will remain shrouded in shadow, only revealing themselves to readers daring enough to pick them up on stands.

The clock strikes midnight, and it’s the dark dawn of a new era, beginning with MIDNIGHT X-MEN! The shadows of New York City are stalked by vampires and the mutant empyres. The sword of Damocles hangs over the peace between these two species and the factions within them. An outright war is brewing and the unturned will be caught in the crossfire.

Then, in Midnight Fantastic Four, an obsessive scientist delves into the secrets of the universe perhaps best left unknown to mankind, leaving himself and three others warped in strange and horrifying ways. What horrible secrets lie in the new dimensions they have discovered? And can humanity survive the discovery?

And in Midnight Spider-Man, a young Peter Parker is transformed into a hideous spider hybrid by the ruthless Oscorp Corporation in their pursuit for eternal life. When Oscorp begins to use the secrets unlocked by his mutation to create more human-animal hybrids, Peter embraces his grotesque new form to stop them.

Preorder Midnight X-Men #1 at your local comic shop today and stay tuned for the cover reveals for Midnight Fantastic Four and Midnight Spider-Man in the months ahead.

Get a first look at Ultimate Universe: Finale #1

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Marvel has released a first look at Ultimate Universe: Finale #1.

THE ULTIMATE GOODBYE… Following the events of Ultimate Endgame #5, the creative teams of all the Ultimate books come together one last time to say farewell…

Out June 10, it’s by Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri; Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto; Bryan Edward Hill and Stefano Caselli; Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio; and Peach Momoko.

Spider-Man, Punisher, and Hulk Show Each other No Mercy in Jonathan Hickman and Adam Kubert’s Spider-Man: Long Way Home

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This summer, three of Marvel’s most iconic stars barrel towards a brutal confrontation in Spider-Man: Long Way Home. Crafted by Jonathan Hickman and Adam Kubert, the five-issue limited comic series puts Spider-Man, Punisher, and Hulk on a high-stakes collision course as they desperately pursue a missing Cosmic Cube. In the same spirit as 2024’s Wolverine: Revenge, the hit limited comic series by Hickman and Greg Capullo, Spider-Man: Long Way Home offers familiarity while existing apart from the main Marvel Universe, delivering a timeless, evergreen saga for all readers that’s unrestrained by continuity, scope and mercy!

A DARK HOMECOMING AWAITS…

It’s a world before the Punisher. A world where the existence of the Hulk is but a whisper of a rumor. A world where A.I.M. has just developed a Cosmic Cube in the jungles of South America. Frank Castle, Bruce Banner and Peter Parker are all on a mission to keep the Cube out of the wrong hands – including each other’s. In this three-way free-for-all for the power of the cosmos, who will come out on top?

Check out Adam Kubert’s main cover along with a special foil variant cover by Dave Johnson and a sneak peek at interior artwork. Experience Spider-Man: Long Way Home at your local comic shop this summer when it arrives June 17.

Ultimate Spider-Man #24 succeeds because it brings all of what made this book great to a crescendo

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Finally, one of the Ultimate Universe books sticks the landing, and of course, it’s the flagship title Ultimate Spider-Man with Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, David Messina, and Matthew Wilson concluding the series on a suitably heartfelt note. The strength of this series has been its focus on the web (Pun intended) of relationships between Peter Parker and his family and friends, and the extra pages in Ultimate Spider-Man #24 gives plenty of space for character-driven grace notes as well as an exciting battle royale against Kingpin, Mr. Negative, Mysterio, and Earth 6160’s Anti-Venom, who is a gnarly love child of Todd McFarlane spaghetti webbing and John Romita Jr. bulky design with a sleek high tech Hickman twist.

To use a vastly different comic as a metaphor, Ultimate Spider-Man #24 has a nice balance of love and rockets. Checchetto and Messina draw some big, physical action sequences especially when an enhanced Wilson Fisk is involved. However, they and Hickman also make a flashback to when Mary Jane realized she was pregnant with Richard end up becoming the crux of the issue and probably the whole run. There’s a clear throughline to Peter unexpectedly becoming a father and also obtaining superpowers, and it’s been cool to see his relationship with his son Richard develop throughout the series as he takes on the mantle of Spider-Man, er, Venom. (I was kind of sad to see Peter’s interactions with May kind of tail off because her being the only one to know he was Spider-Man was an adorable highlight of early Ultimate Spider-Man issues.) Richard levels up and has a big damn superhero moment in Ultimate Spider-Man #24, but it’s nice that the comic doesn’t end with some big blast of energy instead giving the Parker family some time to breathe and reflect before leaping headlong into the action of Ultimate Endgame in which Peter plays a key role.

Ultimate Spider-Man #24’s excellent rounding out of character arcs doesn’t just apply to the Parkers, but to their friends the Osborns as well. Harry Osborn wants to be a heroic figure like his friend Peter Parker, but he’s caught in the middle between his wife who has merged with four other people to be Mysterio and his father Norman, who taunts him via AI. So, he doesn’t really do anything in the big final battle except watch the Maker’s Council try to rebuild and watch Mysterio consolidate power and not resemble the woman he married in the slightest. These scenes and Harry’s whole arc in Ultimate Spider-Man explore what if your family was a negative influence on you as a hero instead of giving you something worthy to fight for. This search for motivation is what ends up being the last stop for Harry in Ultimate Spider-Man (I’m sure we’ll see him in Endgame.), and it’s cool seeing Peter take up a mentor role in his life as well as being his best friend. In a positive way, it reminds me of Peter and Harry’s relationship in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films sans the James Franco smarminess and with more cool tech because this is in fact a Jonathan Hickman comic.

Without gratuitous guest stars and through an epic broadcast/monologue from those truth-searching newspapermen Ben Parker and J. Jonah Jameson, Hickman, Marco Checchetto, and David Messina align Ultimate Spider-Man with the anti-fascism and capitalism of Deniz Camp and company’s The Ultimates. The narrative captions add a heft and relevance to the book’s extended fisticuffs/whatever is going on with Richard Parker’s web fluid/symbiote. You can see why these characters play a key role in Ultimate Endgame, but as I mentioned earlier, Jonathan Hickman doesn’t focus on big political statements, but every day resistance through the lens of an iconic superhero and his supporting cast.

Ultimate Spider-Man #24 succeeds because it brings all of what made this book great to a crescendo. There’s the action against colorful, tech savvy, ultracapitalist villains, a grounding in family and friends, and even some romance, both mature between Peter and Mary Jane and developing between Richard and Black Cat. Add the gorgeous art from Marco Checchetto and David Messina and solid coloring from Matthew Wilson (He nails the flat colors for the Venom/Anti-Venom fight scene.), and this is a memorable final chapter in this superhero comic for grown-ups that still know has to have fun and will go down as an evergreen run for Marvel’s mighty webslinger.

Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Marco Checchetto and David Messina
Colors: Matthew Wilson Letters: Cory Petit
Story: 8.6 Art: 8.6 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

Jonathan Hickman, Mike Del Mundo, Mike Huddleston, and Nick Spencer’s Three Worlds/Three Moons Universe arrives at Dark Horse

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This summer, Jonathan Hickman, Mike del Mundo, Mike Huddleston, and Nick Spencer’s ambitious science-fiction universe, Three Worlds / Three Moons, comes to print at Dark Horse! Initially published at 3w3m.com, Three Worlds / Three Moons spans comics, graphic novels, and more. Dark Horse Comics will publish all of these stories, in comic shops and bookstores beginning July 2026. The Foundations one-shot, written by Hickman and Spencer, illustrated by del Mundo and Huddleston, and lettered by Rus Wooton, will be the first title published in the line and will set the scene for the sprawling sci-fiworld. 

Across a distant solar system and countless millennia-long cycles, a war has been fought between the forces of magic and science, and order and chaos. When astronaut and explorer Tajo Vallar undertakes a doomed expedition to a dormant moon full of mysteries, the conflict begins anew, and it will be more dangerous than ever before! 

Don’t miss this introduction to the Three Worlds / Three Moons universe and preorder the Foundations one-shot (32 pages) at your local comic shop for $6.99. It will be available in comic shops on July 8, 2026 and will be presented in a prestige, magazine-sized format. 

Christian Ward, James Stokoe, Juni Ba, Ram V, Al Ewing, Steve Epting, Stephen Green, Tini Howard, Phil Hester, and more will be joining the universe in yet-to-be-announced projects, so stay tuned for what’s next in the 3W/3M line! 

Foundations

Ultimate Spider-Man #24 is a pretty solid finale for the series

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THE END OF THE LINE! This is it, folks – the last you’ll see of Spidey and his Ultimate friends by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto!

Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Marco Checchetto, David Messina
Color: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Cory Petit

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics
Kindle

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

The Door Closes on the Ultimate Universe Forever in Ultimate Universe Finale #1 this April

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Ultimate Endgame #1 marked the beginning of the end of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. The five-part event series by Deniz Camp, Jonas Scharf, and Terry Dodson closes out the groundbreaking line of comics that ignited the industry the last two years with its bold storytelling and captivating reinventions of the Marvel mythos. Following Ultimate Endgame’s conclusion in April, Ultimate Universe Finale #1, a special one-shot, brings together all of the Ultimate series’ creators for a final goodbye. April also sees the final issues of Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio’s Ultimate Wolverine and Camp and Juan Frigeri’s Ultimates, with the final issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men concluding in the preceding months. Fans can see the reveals of all of April’s Ultimate releases as the countdown to the end of the Ultimate Universe truly begins!

A two-year project told in real time, the Ultimate Universe was a first-of-its-kind line of storytelling that quickly became history in the making! With an epic can’t-miss conclusion this April, it’ll be able to be enjoyed from beginning to end as a complete, interconnected, and deeply rewarding saga. Read on to learn about its final four chapters! 

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE #16

Written by CHRIS CONDON
Art and Cover by ALESSANDRO CAPPUCCIO
On Sale 4/15

YEAR TWO OF THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE NEARS ITS END IN THE FINAL ISSUE OF ULTIMATE WOLVERINE!

Wolverine and Phoenix track Magik right into the demonic dimension of Limbo for an epic, devastating showdown! To escape Illyana’s realm of dark magic, a final sacrifice must be made, one that will lead directly into ULTIMATE ENDGAME #5!

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE #16

ULTIMATES #24

Written by DENIZ CAMP
Art by JUAN FRIGERI
Cover by DIKE RUAN
On Sale 4/1

YEAR TWO OF THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE NEARS ITS END IN THE FINAL ISSUE OF ULTIMATES!

She-Hulk and her remaining teammates confront the villainous Hulk in a brutal, all-or-nothing battle on Gamma Island!

ULTIMATES #24

ULTIMATE ENDGAME #5

Written by DENIZ CAMP
Art by TERRY DODSON & JONAS SCHARF
Cover by MARK BROOKS
On Sale 4/22

THE END OF THE LINE!

The universe hangs by a thread as our weary heroes face their final, crushing challenge: the ultimate, cataclysmic showdown with The Maker! Everything they have fought for, everything they believe in, will be tested in this pulse-pounding, oversized final issue. There are no more retreats, no more second chances.

ULTIMATE ENDGAME #5

ULTIMATE UNIVERSE FINALE #1

Written by DENIZ CAMP, CHRIS CONDON, JONATHAN HICKMAN, BRYAN HILL & PEACH MOMOKO
Art by ALESSANDRO CAPPUCCIO, STEFANO CASELLI, MARCO CHECCHETTO, JUAN FRIGERI & PEACH MOMOKO
Cover by PHIL NOTO
On Sale 4/29

THE ULTIMATE GOODBYE…

Following the events of ULTIMATE ENDGAME #5, the creative teams of all the Ultimate books come together one last time to say farewell…

ULTIMATE UNIVERSE FINALE #1

Don’t miss out on Miles Morales in his Aliens vs Avenger Suit figure from Hot Toys

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Get a  look at the Miles Morales (Aliens Vs. Avengers Suit) 1/6 Scale Collectible Figure by Hot Toys! In the Aliens Vs. Avengers crossover comic series by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić, Miles Morales faces a nightmarish fate when a Facehugger latches onto him in a dystopian future swarming with Xenomorphs. But instead of being consumed, his suit — revealed to be a symbiote — absorbs the alien parasite and evolves into a hybrid.

The limited-edition Miles Morales (Aliens Vs. Avengers Suit) 1/6 Scale Collectible Figure captures this striking fusion of Spider-Man and Alien mythology. 

This highly poseable figure features over 30 points of articulation and comes with a newly developed masked head plus 3 pairs of interchangeable eye pieces. 

Miles is dressed in a tailored Spider-Man suit made of pearlescent white-colored elastic fabric material, detailed with Facehugger-shaped symbiote patterns and a spider emblem on the chest. Accessories include six strings of webbing in various shapes and lengths, a dark pink spider emblem that is magnetically attachable to Miles’ chest, and a symbiote-bonded Facehugger with bendable wire embedded for additional posing options. The diorama figure base is scattered with Xenomorph remains for an immersive display.

The Miles Morales (Aliens Vs. Avengers Suit) 1/6 Scale Collectible Figure delivers a fearsome and unforgettable twist on the Miles Morales legacy. Available to pre-order!

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Ultimate Spider-Man #23 sets up the big finale and whatever comes after…

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The end is near! This is it, the big battle and finale of Ultimate Spider-Man really kicks off here!

Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Marco Checchetto, David Messina
Color: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Cory Petit

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics
Kindle

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

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