Pax Romana #1
Published by Image Comics
Written with art by Jonathon Hickman

The Nightly News should have come with a CD of brass herald music. It marked the arrival of an unbelievable new talent. With that one mini-series, Hickman threw himself into the upper echelons of comic writers. He showed us that he was going to give folks like Brian Wood, BKV, and Alan Moore a run for their money. This guy is writing (and drawing) some serious, thought provoking comics.

Roman Peace is the Latin translation of the title of his new book. A fitting title, considering that it involves a not so distant future Pope sending a team back to the fourth century to solidify Catholic rule of the Earth. You kind of have to admire a group of people so dedicated to their beliefs that they would be pompous enough to even attempt such a mission. Of course, you are supposed to wonder about an order that would feel it necessary to do such. Much of this issue invovles the Pope being convinced of the merits of the idea. The beautiful thing in Hickman’s writing is that while he taps into the collective unconscious’s archetype of a manipulative Vatican, he is not making an indictment of the church. He leaves things just ambivilant enough to allow the reader to decide the good or bad of what happens on the page. No where is this more evident in this issue then the last two pages, where a decision is made that is at once deplorable and relentlessly logical. That single action also changes the scope of what is to come. I’ve made it known my love for the cliffhanger, this is how it should be done. Leaving you breathlessly anxious for the next issue. It is the mark of brilliance in serial arts.

Hickman’s art is as stunning as his dense informational prose. The lines on his characters are so detailed and steady in all of their monochromtic glory, but the backgrounds with their cut and paste splashes and the innovative layouts give the book an excitement I haven’t felt since I read Wood’s Channel Zero. It’s interesting that both authors would be so concerned with social pragmatism. Hickman’s art is so complementary and intertwined with his writing, it makes one curious about the upcoming Red Mass for Mars. One would hope that Ryan Bodenheim was unaware of Hickman’s work, other wise it could be a daunting task to visually interpret the script.

Jonathon Hickman is a star shining brighter then many of the more experienced writers working today. His intelligent comics are an answer to the Gauntlet thrown down by Moore in the late eighties. He is the future of comics. With this book, he has solidified my placement of his books into must read status. Pax Romana is as good as comics can get.

rating 10 out of 10

review by Lee Newman