Testing, Testing: Build the Guardians of the Galaxy Ship!

Currently swooping into view in newsagents and supermarkets... somewhere in the country (I have no idea where – if you've seen it out in the wild, please do leave a comment!) is this:

Hachette Partworks' Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Ship! It's something I've been working on for the past couple of years: a step-by-step build of the Guardians' – and Avengers' – ship from Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder and indeed I Am Groot, accompanied by a magazine delving into all aspects of the Guardians and cosmic Marvel both on screen and in comics. I wrote and edited the magazine – which was designed by the amazing Amazing15 – and in my capacity as author of Guardians of the Galaxy Ultimate Guide, Marvel Arms and Armour and other Guardians and Marvel books have been advising on the ship, the build, the Guardians, Marvel and multifarious other aspects of the project.

What's appearing in shops right now... somewhere in the UK (again, I really don't know where – I wish I did) is a four-issue test comprising the first four magazines and sets of parts. If the test goes well, then the partwork will launch nationally. So if you want the chance of building a huge model of the Guardians' ship (or the Infinity Saga ship as I like to call it) with working lights and engines, movable wings and tail, and even the auxiliary pod that Thor, Rocket and Groot use in Infinity War and War Machine and Nebula use in Endgame, and you want to know what else I have planned for the magazine, grab yourself an issue or three if it appears in shops near you, or head to the website and subscribe. Believe me, the ship truly is a thing of beauty – and the magazine's a damn good read too!

Marvel Arms and Armour Out Now!

If it seems like all I ever blog about on Existential Ennui these days are books that I've written – or edited – that's because I'm too busy writing – or editing – those books to blog about anything else. For instance, right now I'm in the middle of co-writing a book – on movies for a change, out autumn next year – whilst editing two DC Heroes & Villains Collection volumes and pondering what to write for the two volumes after those. All of which leaves me little time to do anything other than, well, briefly blog about yet another book that I've written:

Marvel Arms and Armour: The Mightiest Weapons and Technology in the Marvel Universe, which is published by DK in the UK today. I posted some spreads from the book back in June, along these lines:

but there's also now a back cover on the Amazon listing, which will give some indication of what the book's about:

My author copies haven't turned up yet, so hopefully when they do I'll be able to find the time to, er, briefly blog about an actual physical copy too.

Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy The Ultimate Guide New Edition by Nick Jones (i.e., me) Is Out Now!

Or rather, Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy The Ultimate Guide New Edition by Nick Jones (i.e., me) is out now in the United States and on Thursday 6 April in the UK. So actually it's out twice! Except 'Out Twice!' looked a bit weird in the blog post title, hence why I went with 'Out Now!' 

I like to think that one day I'll manage to write a snappy opening to one of my posts, but clearly that day isn't today.

Anyway, the gist of all this is I have a new book out – an updated edition of my 2017 book Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide, revised throughout (by me) and with an additional 16 pages (also by me). On first inspection it might not appear to be radically different to the original edition – its splendid new cover aside – but every page has been revised or tweaked in some fashion and/or shuffled around in the running order so that the whole thing is now a tighter, better read. I always intended the book to be read narratively from front to back as well as in a dip-in-and-out manner, and the updates and changes mean that it now does so even more effectively. Plus, the additional pages allowed me to bring the story of the Guardians in comics up to a more natural – and obviously more up-to-date – stopping point, rather than being curtailed two-thirds of the way through the Brian Michael Bendis run.

As well as James Gunn's much-anticipated third Guardians of the Galaxy film, there's also a new Guardians of the Galaxy comic series imminent, so the timing of The Ultimate Guide New Edition is perfect. Basically, if you want to know pretty much everything there is to know about the Guardians ahead of either the movie or the new comic, grab yourself a copy of Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy The Ultimate Guide New Edition (or borrow it from your local library – either works for me).

Guardians of the Galaxy The Ultimate Guide New Edition Coming April 2023

I posted this on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but it deserves a post here as well, if only to raise the consciousness of Existential Ennui from the freezing reefersleep it's slipped into. What can I say: these days I'm back to spending most of my time writing professionally – as opposed to editing, though I also do a fair amount of that – so I don't really have the time to blog here too. But anyway, up for pre-order now – on Amazon, obviously, but it's also available through the likes of WHSmith – is the new edition of my 2017 book Guardians of the Galaxy The Ultimate Guide!

Pleased as I was with the first edition, this new edition is even better, fully updated with new info, images, and even more pages, bringing the story of the Guardians in comics bang up to date – and not a moment too soon either: published on 6 April 2023, it'll be out just ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so if you want to know who Adam Warlock is ahead of the film, Guardians of the Galaxy The Ultimate Guide will explain all. You can read more about the book here, and no doubt I'll be banging on about it at greater length ahead of publication – and about the other book I'll have out later next year, and the other other book I've contributed an essay to.

Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to the Cosmic Outlaws and Ultimate Sticker Collection by... Me!

Well, me and a bunch of editors and designers and picture researchers at DK and Amazing15, not to mention the writers, artists and editors at Marvel – among them Arnold Drake, Gene Colan, Jim Starlin, Bill Mantlo, Steve Englehart, Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Paul Pelletier, Andy Schmidt, Bill Rosemann and Brian Michael Bendis – who had a hand in creating and expanding upon the Guardians of the Galaxy in comics. But anyway; Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to the Cosmic Outlaws and Guardians of the Galaxy: Ultimate Sticker Collection have now been published by DK in the UK and US, and since I wrote both of them, and copies turned up in the post yesterday, I figured they deserved a blog post.

Of the two, I guess I'm proudest of The Ultimate Guide, if only because I put so much into it – a period of five or six months over summer of last year establishing the structure and running order, doing the research (which essentially entailed reading or in some cases rereading a bunch of old comics), selecting images (which again essentially entailed reading or in some cases rereading a bunch of old comics) and writing. (My abiding memory of this period is of pacing round the garden trying to get my brain cells sparking in between feverish bouts at the keyboard.) But it's also the thing of having written a book – not cowritten, as in The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange, or written a bit of, as in my essays in the first volume of Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future and last year's Murder in the Closet or an entry or two in The DC Comics Encyclopaedia, or edited, as in the countless books and graphic novels I've, well, edited; but written. Actually written.

Obviously it's not a peerless work of literary genius or owt, but it's a pretty good read, I think, with hopefully a compelling structure which I strived to make not only chronological – as is traditional in these DK comics guides – but narrative as well, tracing the wider Marvel cosmic events that brought the disparate Guardians of the Galaxy together (about a quarter of the book concentrates on matters to do with Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest, which took place before Star-Lord, Rocket, Gamora, Groot and Drax were even a team), buffeted them and then blew them apart, and taking care on each character spread to only detail those events that had happened to that character up to the point they entered the wider narrative (if that makes sense). Whether anyone will notice or even care about my efforts to make the book something you can satisfyingly read front to back almost as a story as well as dip in and out of – especially the kids the book is aimed at – is open to debate, but I'm pleased my structure made it through the process intact.

As for the Ultimate Sticker Collection, that for me was an exercise in brevity (not something that comes naturally to me, as anyone who's read Existential Ennui can attest), as I tried to squeeze info about the Guardians and their allies, enemies and worlds into 25-word captions in an entertaining fashion. I didn't get as involved in choosing images as I did on The Ultimate Guide – not least because The Ultimate Guide was taking up so much of my time (I was writing both books concurrently) – but I gave what directions I was able to, and the end result is a lot of fun (my three-year-old daughter can't wait to get sticking).

So there you have it. The books exist. You can buy them right now (for instance here and here). And if you're unfamiliar with the Guardians of the comics – not just the Star-Lord-led team but the original 31st-century Vance Astro-led team too – and fancy finding out about them ahead of the second Guardians of the Galaxy movie (which opens in a few weeks), perhaps you'll consider doing just that.

The 2016 Big Long List of the Books and Graphic Novels and Comics I Read This Year

Here, for the sake of posterity, as if anyone's remotely interested, is pretty much everything I read in 2016, in roughly the order in which I read it. Not many novels... lots of comics and graphic novels... lots of Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel space opera (see here for why)... lots of Hickman: this was my 2016 (in reading, anyway). Happy New Year.

Novels, Graphic Novels, Comics
The Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch (Marvel, 2005) (reread)

The '44 Vintage by Anthony Price (Gollancz, 1978)

The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin (Image, 2015)

Pilgrim on the Island by Desmond Cory (Frederick Muller, 1959)

Mills by Manning O'Brine (Herbert Jenkins, 1969)

The Little Prince by Joann Sfar (Walker, 2010)

Crambo by Manning O'Brine (Michael Joseph, 1970)

Copra Round Three by Michel Fiffe (Bergen Street, 2015)

Secret Warriors vols 1–6 by Jonathan Hickman, Stefano Caselli et al (Marvel, 2009–11)
S.H.I.E.L.D.: Architects of Forever by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver (Marvel, 2011)

The 6 ​Voyages of Lone Sloane by Phillippe Druillet (Titan, 2015)

​Secret Avengers: Run the Mission, Don't Get Seen, Save the World by Warren Ellis et al (Marvel, 2012)

No Earth for Foxes by Manning O'Brine (Barrie & Jenkins, 1974)

Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Box by Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi (Marvel, 2009) (reread)

Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis by Warren Ellis and Kaare Andrews (Marvel, 2011)

​Fantastic Four: Dark Reign by Jonathan Hickman and Sean Chen (Marvel, 2009)

Avengers by Jonathan Hickman vols 1–3 (Marvel, 2015–16) (reread)
New Avengers by Jonathan Hickman vols 1–2 (Marvel, 2015–16) (reread)
Infinity by Jonathan Hickman, Jim Cheung and Jerome Opena (Marvel, 2014) (reread)
Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic (Marvel, 2011–12) (reread)
Avengers: Time Runs Out by Jonathan Hickman et al (Marvel, 2016) (reread)
Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic (Marvel, 2016) (reread)

​Revenger: Children of the Damned by Charles Forsman (Bergen Street, 2016)

Ultimate Comics Thor by Jonathan Hickman and Carlos Pacheco (Marvel, 2011)

Ultimate Comics Hawkeye by Jonathan Hickman and Rafa Sandoval (Marvel, 2012)

Ultimate Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man Fallout by Brian Michael Bendis, Jonathan Hickman et al (Marvel, 2011)

Patience by Daniel Clowes (Jonathan Cape, 2016)

Annihilation Conquest Omnibus by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning et al (Marvel, 2015)

Guardians of the Galaxy by Abnett and Lanning Omnibus (Marvel, 2016)

Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash by Dave McKean (Artist's Edition, 2016)

Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam by Simon Hanselmann (Fantagraphics, 2016)

The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin (Orion, 2016)

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man vol 1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli (Marvel, 2012)

Fantastic Four Omnibus vol 1 by Jonathan Hickman, Steve Epting et al (Marvel, 2013)
Fantastic Four Omnibus vol 2 by Jonathan Hickman, Steve Epting et al (Marvel, 2014) (reread)

​The Mighty Thor vol 1 by Matt Fraction and Olivier Coipel (Marvel, 2011)

Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes (Jonathan Cape, 2011)

Nicolas by Pascal Girard (Drawn & Quarterly, 2016)

​"Cash on Delivery"/"Soft Drink"/"Bed and Breakfast": three short stories by P. M. Hubbard (Argosy, 1969–70)

Mooncop by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly, 2016)

​Astonishing X-Men: Exogenetic by Warren Ellis and Phil Jiminez (Marvel, 2010)

Billy Hazlenuts and the Crazy Bird by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics, 2010)

Absolute Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross (DC, 2006) (reread)

Amazing Fantastic Incredible by Stan Lee, Peter David and Colleen Doran (Simon & Schuster, 2015)
The Demon by Matt Wagner (DC, 1987)
"Give Till It Hurts: A Christmas Story" by Donald E. Westlake (Mysterious Bookshop, 1993)
Various Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel cosmic comics​, including: Marvel Presents #3–12 by Steve Gerber and Al Milgrom (Marvel, 1975–77) (part reread); Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino (Marvel, 1990); Annihilation by Keith Giffen et al (Marvel, 2006) (part reread)
Various Marvel comics – research for Marvel Fact Files articles, including: Spider-Verse: Warzones! by Mike Costa and Andre Araujo (Marvel, 2015); Secret Wars 2099 by Peter David and Will Sliney (Marvel, 2015); Civil War: Warzones! by Charles Soule and Leinil Yu (Marvel, 2015), The Ultimates: Omniversal by Al Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort (Marvel, 2016); Moon Knight: Dead will Rise by Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood (Marvel, 2015)

Ongoing Periodical Comics
Kill or Be Killed by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
Velvet by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting (Image)
Criminal 10th Anniversary Special by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
The Black Monday Murders by Jonathan Hickman and Tomm Coker (Image)
East of West by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta (Image)
Sex by Joe Casey and Piotr Kowalski (Image)
Hellboy in Hell by Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)
Captain America: Steve Rogers by Nick Spencer and Jesus Diaz (Marvel)
Captain America: Sam Wilson by Nick Spencer and Daniel Acuna (Marvel)
Guardians of the Galaxy by Brian Michael Bendis and Valerio Schiti (Marvel)
Civil War II by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez (Marvel)
DC Universe: Rebirth by Geoff Johns et al (DC)
Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka and Liam Sharp (DC)
Lazarus by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark (Image)
Jupiter's Legacy by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely (Image)
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard)
Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang (Image)
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
Stray Bullets by David Lapham (Image)
James Bond by Warren Ellis and Jason Masters (Dynamite)
Injection by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey (Image)
Vile by Tyler Landry (Study Group)

Started but Nowhere Near Finished
Found in the Street by Patricia Highsmith (Heinemann, 1986)
A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene (Heinemann, 1936)
War of Kings Omnibus by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning et al (Marvel, 2016)

Linked in this Friday's Forgotten Books round-up.

Blimey I Wrote a Book

Actually I wrote two books... and co-wrote another book... and wrote a bit of another book... and wrote an essay for another book... so I guess in total that adds up to, what, two-and-a-half books or something? All in the space of less than a year. Which, when added to all the writing I've done for the Marvel Fact Files and The Walking Dead: The Official Magazine and the stack of books and graphic novels I've edited over the past however many months – more on those below – might go some way towards explaining why there's been bugger all happening on Existential Ennui of late.

But anyway: the books wot I wrote. The two books written entirely by me will be published spring next year: Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to the Cosmic Outlaws, and Guardians of the Galaxy Ultimate Sticker Collection (the attentive might be able to spot a common theme there). Doubtless I'll be banging on about those nearer the time. The book I co-wrote (and did a fair amount of editing on), alongside fellow authors Billy Wrecks and Danny Graydon, is out now:

The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange, published by DK – an official guide to Marvel Comics' Sorcerer Supreme (soon to be seen, in the form of Benedict Cumberbatch, in cinemas in Marvel's Doctor Strange movie). I got my copy the other day and it's a handsome thing: a hardback with gilt-edged pages, beautifully designed by Amazing15 and DK's Chris Gould, lavishly illustrated with panels and splash pages from across Doctor Strange's fifty-plus year comics career – and the writing's not bad either. It's aimed at kids, but I'll wager the more mature comics fan will find it diverting too (being one myself). Review here.

Also out now is the all-new edition of the DC Comics Encyclopaedia, which I wrote a bit of and did a fair bit of editing on. I haven't seen a finished copy of that one yet, but according to reports it's a great big beast of a book. Review here.

And out later in the year is Murder in the Closet, an anthology of essays examining queer themes in crime fiction that I contributed a piece on Patricia Highsmith to. I haven't seen a copy of that one either, but editor Curtis Evans has chosen some intriguing and sterling contributors (present company excepted, of course), so it should be a fascinating book.

Besides that little lot, I've edited a whole heap of other books and graphic novels over the past year or so:

Top to bottom in that towering pile are Pen and Ink by James Hobbs; Electri_city: The Dusseldorf School of Electronic Music by Rudi Esch; Who Are You? The Life and Death of Keith Moon by Jim McCarthy and Marc Olivent; 5-Minute Sketching: People by Pete Scully; 5-Minute Sketching: Architecture by Liz Steel; Essential Type by Tony Seddon; Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Archives Vols 1–3; Independence Day: The Original Movie Adaptation; Elric Volume 3: The Dreaming City; and Battle Classics Volume 2. There's others besides, I'm sure, plus books and graphic novels I've proofread rather than edited, but I've either filed them away and forgotten what they are or they've not been published yet.

So that's what I've been up to. And who knows? Maybe at some point I'll find time to blog about some of the books I've bought as well...