10 Marvel Creators Who Should Dive Into The Absolute Universe

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Marvel is full of creators firing on all cylinders at all times. The company has to be in one of its strongest eras as of late, dominating the charts through its From the Ashes initiative for the X-Men and the new attempt at an Ultimate Universe. But competition isn’t far behind—DC is attempting to outpace them with their All-In initiative covering the entirety of their main universe and their new Absolute Universe serving as competition for Ultimate.

With these changes, DC has had some big names from Marvel come to write for them in 2025, such as Deniz Camp, Al Ewing, and potentially Dan Slott. With that in mind, the gates are open for any other hot names to join DC, specifically in their endeavors to shape the new Absolute Universe.

10

Phillip Kennedy Johnson Returning To DC Could Be Welcome

Greatest Hits: Action Comics, The Incredible Hulk, Alien, Green Lantern: War Journal, The Last God, Low Road West

While Phillip Kennedy Johnson is writing a Hulk run that fans are more than enjoying at the moment, that isn’t the source of his recent surge of popularity. It stems further back than that, as PKJ is credited with writing one of the best Superman stories of the modern day—potentially ever—with his run on Action Comics. What was collected as the Warworld Saga is a fan-favorite story, having received trades, a compendium, and a soon-to-be omnibus collecting both Warworld and the short stories he did before and after.

PKJ has also recently wrapped up a run on Green Lantern: War Journal, a title dedicated solely to John Stewart and his family. While he is at Marvel now, returning to DC sometime down the line could be a treat for fans, perhaps when the Absolute line has persisted for a few years to find its footing.

9

Steve Lieber Has Simple Though Incredibly Expressive Art

Greatest Hits: The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, The Fix, Underground, Hawkman

The current Absolute Universe is grim and tragic. This isn’t a bad thing, of course, and it’s pretty apparent why that is: Darkseid has created a world entirely in his image, one where he is in command, and the heroes have cast in much more unfortunate positions than usual. Everything here is on a bend for the worse, and Absolute’s grittier aura is very understandable. However, a talent like Steve Lieber’s could brighten up the universe’s atmosphere in one way or another.

Lieber’s art style isn’t too complex but captures mundanity in a hilariously endearing fashion. All his characters emote very clearly, have distinct faces, and feel like people you could meet on a random day. He also has phenomenal paneling, which creative writers like Al Ewing and Nick Spencer take advantage of. Lieber could work on an Absolute series a little closer to the ground with a somewhat lighter tone, though his work is quite versatile, like many artists.

8

Ryan North Could Show His True Potential

Greatest Hits: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, The Fantastic Four, Jughead, Power Pack, Adventure Time

As is typical in many modern comics, the stories written for the medium are long-running epics written for the trade, with arcs and plot beats measured by how many collected editions they can fill out. This seems to be the case with the Absolute Universe, their initial arcs spanning five to six issues. However, there is the opportunity to take a different approach and focus on stories of a shorter length in the meantime.

Ryan North tends to write more lighthearted comics, but his work stands out in how episodic it is. North doesn’t hesitate to write with some Silver Age sensibilities in mind, focusing on shorter adventures while still delivering some top-tier writing and widely acclaimed character work. Perhaps the Absolute Universe could use brief insights into various corners of the world, small vignettes fleshing out characters who may or may not get their own series in the universe—all while allowing North to experiment with tone.

7

Spencer Ackerman Has A Unique Perspective

Greatest Hits: Iron Man, Reign of Terror, The Plot to Hack America, Waller vs. Wildstorm, The Nib

The Absolute Universe is a miserable one to live in, a sensical creative choice because it is entirely sculpted by Darkseid in his image. Heroes have backgrounds that are wild pivots from their typical ones, and they are often placed in positions worse off than usual, with terror lurking around every corner. There’s a cynical aura to it all, even if it isn’t super overt, and this is something that could easily be tapped into to great effect in a future title for the universe.

Cue Spencer Ackerman. He’s relatively new to the comic scene but a capable writer all the same, making a name for himself before his Iron Man for his writing on national security, even winning awards—a Pulitzer among them—for his work on global surveillance disclosures, the biases in the FBI’s training materials, and even worse instances of real-world evils. Ackerman’s perspective is valuable, and he isunafraid of questioning the foundation of an institution and incorporating that in his work.

6

Sabir Pirzada Is An Up-And-Coming Star

Greatest Hits: The Sacred Damned, Spirits of Vengeance, Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, Cult of Carnage: Misery

Last year, Image Comics launched an initiative called “The Horizon Experiment,” a series of one-shots that allowed writers to take the bare concept of an iconic fictional character and imbue them with their own culture. Some examples included an Asian James Bond and a North African werewolf, but the fan favorite of the pitches was by far Sabir Pirzada’s The Sacred Damned #1, a take on a Muslim John Constantine.

It was shown to readers of The Sacred Damned immediately that Pirzada has a twisted, Vertigo-esque sense of humor and identity, imbibing his writing with uniquely horrifying and witty writing that calls back to the ’90s of DC. Since then, Pirzada has gotten onto Spirits of Vengeance, yet another supernatural demonic book he’s absolutely crushing, with his style applying perfectly to superhero works. It’s only a matter of time until Pirzada blows up, with some fans wondering where he can go from here—and Absolute is the perfect avenue for his more unchained style.

5

Daniel Warren Johnson’s Dynamicism Is Unmatched

Greatest Hits: Do A Powerbomb, Space Mullet, The Ghost Fleet, Beta Ray Bill, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Transformers

Dynamic, bold, and full of vivacious energy, Daniel Warren Johnson’s art is pure eye candy that packs a wallop to anyone who gives it a look. He has to be one of the best artists working in comics at the moment, with a career trajectory that would make most anyone envious—he has very little published, only three Big Two titles under his belt while the rest are indies, yet is a beloved creator who has won many awards already, and that’s not even mentioning a film adaptation of his Jurassic League series potentially being in the works.

DWJ made it big at Marvel for his Beta Ray Bill series and is now at Image working on the Energon universe via Transformers. But he’s due to leave the series soon, which leaves the future open—potentially to return for DC, maybe even as a talent for one of the Absolute books. With his strengths as both a writer and artist, DWJ could handle an Absolute book on his own and deliver yet another modern masterpiece.

4

Cody Ziglar Brought Shōnen To Spider-Man

Greatest Hits: Amazing Spider-Man, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Deadpool, Goobers, Spider-Punk

Miles Morales is a character that’s been taking the world by storm recently, a fan-favorite whose prominence has been boosted by the Spider-Verse films and Sony’s Spider-Man games. For the past few years, the character has been handled by none other than Cody Ziglar, who has been bringing Spider-Man to new heights. Ziglar’s work is pure fun, bringing a Shōnen-inspired edge and bounce to his stories.

Ziglar emphasizes the supporting cast as a key part of his superhero stories, something many stories in the genre have been missing, and he also has a fantastic grasp of stakes. He constantly outdoes himself to raise them withoutgetting too ridiculous. But perhaps the biggest draw with his comics is his action. Paired with several fantastic artists, Ziglar is top-tier with scripting dynamic action sequences. While the action in the current Absolute books is already great, especially in Absolute Batman, Ziglar crossing over could bring one to the next level.

3

Jed MacKay Excels With Mystical Characters

Greatest Hits: Moon Knight, The Avengers, Black Cat, Doctor Strange, X-Men, Man Without Fear

The Absolute Universe has touched on some supernatural elements via Absolute Wonder Woman, the titular heroine fighting mythological creatures from the beyond with the powers of a witch, all to protect Gateway City from total destruction. But out of the six total titles announced for the line, that’s just about the extent of what Absolute is to cover in the magical realm.

Bringing in a writer like Jed MacKay could be a way of fixing this. Jed is skilled at bringing the magical aspects of Marvel to life, from Moon Knight to Doctor Strange, fleshing out both the systems and characters that occupy them. Most importantly, his skill in psychological analysis of his characters grounds their mystic adventures in tangible emotion. He’d be a phenomenal pick for a character like Etrigan, Deadman, or Zatanna if they were handled in the Absolute Universe, using a title focusing on one of them to jump into a new realm of possibilities.

2

Peach Momoko Has A Beautiful Range

Greatest Hits: Ultimate X-Men, Demon Days, Shaman Himiko, Tohko

A recent talent in the comic business, Peach Momoko has skyrocketed to be one of the most in-demand artists of the 2020s, and it’s pretty obvious why that is. Momoko’s style is warm and appealing, relying on a signature use of watercolors and washes. But what’s most important about Momoko’s work is her pure range. Not only with her ability to draw both covers and interiors but also her subject matter.

Peach Momoko’s art can go from cute and simple to heavily detailed and grotesque in an instant. She has a skill for the macabre she enjoys showing off, whether on horror-themed covers or the interiors of comics like the current Ultimate X-Men. It’s always an unexpected departure from what one would expect from her style, but it packs a prolific punch all the same. She’s also a remarkable writer, as evidenced by her scripts for the aforementioned Ultimate X-Men. While she relies on a slow burn effect for her stories, all these talents could be a boon for DC’s Absolute Universe, treating readers to a horror we’ve yet to see in this new world.

1

Jonathan Hickman Can Play The Role Of Architect

Greatest Hits: Avengers, Fantastic Four, East of West, The Manhattan Projects, X-Men, Ultimate Spider-Man, The Black Monday Murders, G.O.D.S.

The Big Two have always had creative architects at the helm of their most ambitious endeavors, guiding the forefronts of their creative universes with expert precision. Marvel’s current architect, in a sense, has to be none other than Jonathan Hickman, and one would be hard-pressed to argue that point. Hickman has masterminded some of Marvel’s most premiere sagas over the past decade, carefully plotting out every aspect of these epics across multiple titles to give readers a truly top-tier experience.

Hickman has had Secret Wars, the start of the Krakoa era, and now the new Ultimate Universe under his belt, each one met with wild acclaim from both fans and critics alike. As such, he’d be a top-tier creative for DC to poach from Marvel. There has been speculation from fans that he may step back from Ultimate Spider-Man after a time, and perhaps that would be the golden opportunity for him to bring his talents over to DC for the Absolute Universe. All the books belonging to it have been excellent so far but lack a vision or threat binding their stories together—something Hickman could draft up or provide on a future title.

“}]] Superstar creators like Jonathan Hickman and new talents like Sabir Pirzada could all bring something exciting to DC’s developing Absolute Universe.  Read More