Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast · SKTCHD

Committed to Beef with Jonathan Hickman

May 5, 2025·1 hr 13 min·5 clips

Jonathan Hickman calls his X-Men run the most disappointing creative experience because he didn't finish his story.

Jonathan Hickman is back after a long gap, and David Harper makes that absence part of the setup. He points back to the previous group conversation around Three Worlds, Three Moons and the earlier one-on-one from 2021. The mood is easy and familiar. Hickman knows he does not do many appearances now, and Harper has enough old rapport to make the catch-up feel earned. Marvel work is there early: Ultimate Spider-Man, Aliens vs. Avengers, the upcoming Imperial, and Three Worlds, Three Moons on Substack. The conversation gets sharper when it turns to pitching. Hickman says working with the Fox people on Aliens vs. Avengers was smooth, especially once the project came into focus. He also talks about what he leaves out. Themes, structure, and the pieces people need to trust the story can go on the table. The big beats, surprises, and climaxes stay tucked away. That split is the interesting part. For Hickman, a pitch is one of the few chances to see a story hit people before it becomes a comic. Harper follows that thread well. He asks whether pitch reactions have ever surprised him, which moves the talk from craft theory into the live pressure of the room. Hickman brings up New Avengers as polarizing, then ties that response to the Secret Wars material and how the resistance eased once the bigger shape made sense. Ultimate Spider-Man gets a similar pass. Hickman remembers bringing alternate versions to a retreat, with the choice framed as a real fork instead of a loose direction. The draw here is Hickman enjoying the act of making people feel an idea before the pages exist. Harper mostly gives that space. The episode stays inside the work, even when it wanders into jokes and asides.

As heard by us

A comics conversation about pitching big ideas, protecting the page, and reading the room.

Jonathan Hickman spends most of the conversation on how he pitches a comics project, what he chooses to reveal, and what he keeps back for the page.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a smart comics chat about pitching huge Marvel ideas and how those pitches land.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast