Human Torch's killer stops in Norfolk

The man who killed the Human Torch is coming to Ghent.

From 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday writer and artist Jonathan Hickman will be at Local Heroes, a comic shop on Norfolk's Colonial Avenue.

"I've been shooting emails back and forth with the guys from Local Heroes for a while, trying to figure out the best time for me to come," Hickman said. "Like any good store, they're pretty aggressive about getting people in there, and as a professional, you love to see that.

"I love healthy, vibrant stores that are passionate about their product, and I think sometimes the least we can do is show up and sign some books."

Hickman is the writer of two titles for Marvel Comics, S.H.I.E.L.D. and FF, Marvel's latest incarnation of its long-running team book, Fantastic Four. The change in title came as a result of Hickman's plot line in which the character of the Human Torch died in battle earlier this year, in Fantastic Four No. 587.

"It was always part of my initial proposal whenever I took over Fantastic Four, so I'm fine with it," Hickman said. "Even though the sales and marketing department latched on to it and turned it into this really big thing, we haven't gotten a lot of outrage.

"For one, readers are savvy, but it was also clearly part of the ongoing narrative and not something that just kind of happened. At the end of the day, I think all the reader cares about is if you tell a good story, and if it's part of the story and it works well, so be it."

Hickman, who lives in South Carolina, entered the comic book game strictly as an artist, but after growing restless waiting for scripts that interested him, he began to write for himself.

"The first project that I wrote and drew completely on my own ('The Nightly News'), I submitted it to Image Comics in the hopes that they would publish it, and they agreed. So I quit my job and lived off my savings until I could finagle this into the full-time career which, thankfully, it's blossomed into.

"Now, whenever I'm having a bad day, I remember how awesome a job I have. That's when I laugh, I let it all go and I get back to making things up for a living and loving every minute of it."

While Hickman regularly signs books at conventions and comic shops, it's events like the one at Local Heroes that bring him the closest to his fans.

"Conventions are definitely different from store signings," he said. "They're all good fun, but they're a little bit crazy, with people coming up in their costumes and everything. Store signings, though, are usually people who are really, really into your work and therefore have read a whole lot of it and kind of understand what you're trying to do.

"But it's all enjoyable, you know? I appreciate every single person who buys a copy of one of my books."

Will Harris, NonStopPop@cox.net