East of West #6 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Nick Dragotta (Artist), Frank Martin (Colorist)

The Story: Solomon becomes the target of the council, as he himself decides to seek the help of someone else to deal with them.

The Review: It’s a great time to be a Hickman fan. His event and his general Marvel work is going strongly without seeming to be losing steam for the time being and this goes the same for most of his indie work. With Manhattan Projects still going on and Secret supposedly continuing soon, his star is continually on the rise, yet it seems it never is enough as Hickman continues his ongoing projects.

One of his latest is East of West, an ongoing story featuring an alternate take on American history with a splintered U.S.A in three factions. Continuing the ambitious style of storytelling Hickman is known for, there are a lot of elements put in place with each issue as the world-building is never completely done with. However, does this issue continue to use this new setting in inventive ways or did the concept run a bit fry after explaining its premise in the first five issues?

It is my delight to affirm that the world-building still continues and find ways to continue being utterly fascinating. Putting Death and the other horsemen away for this issue, Hickman instead focus on the politics and some of the history of this different America he has created to great success. Focusing instead on Solomon and Chamberlain, Hickman starts yet another subplot as the treachery and the motivations between some of its characters become apparent and mysterious at the same time.