Pilot Season: The Core

Jonathan Hickman and Kenneth Rocafort launched this single-issue Image Comics one-shot in 2008 as part of the publisher's Pilot Season initiative. The story introduces a high-concept sci-fi premise centered on a mysterious, planet-sized object and the team assembled to investigate it, showcasing Hickman's trademark big ideas and structural storytelling. Though it remained a standalone issue, it stands as an early glimpse into the ambitious, design-driven approach that would define Hickman's later work.