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100 Months: The End of All Things
The final work of a comics visionary, this intense, hallucinatory story with artwork of breathtaking intensity is a true graphic novel, engaging ultimate themes of life, death, and salvation
The late John Hicklenton was one of Britain's leading comic book artists, famous for the brutal, visceral draughtsmanship he brought to the 2000AD/Judge Dredd titles and Nemesis the Warlock. His final graphic novel is a parable of environmental devastation, depicting the quest of Mara, Warrior and Earth Goddess, as she seeks revenge against the Longpig: a Satanic personification of capitalism, red in tooth and claw, whose followers, a legion of the damned, look quite a lot like us. The world of the Longpig is rich in killing fields and scenes of mass crucifixion that recall Goya, Blake, and Bacon, and represents a true crossover of the graphic novel form with fine art. John took his own life with the help of an assisted dying group, following a heroic struggle with multiple sclerosis. This book was drawn and written in foreknowledge of his imminent death, and its insight into universal themes of life, death, salvation, and damnation seems to come from a place between worlds. Its words those of a prophet, its artwork transcending the comic book form, 100 Months will redefine the adult graphic novel.
The late John Hicklenton was one of Britain's leading comic book artists, famous for the brutal, visceral draughtsmanship he brought to the 2000AD/Judge Dredd titles and Nemesis the Warlock. His final graphic novel is a parable of environmental devastation, depicting the quest of Mara, Warrior and Earth Goddess, as she seeks revenge against the Longpig: a Satanic personification of capitalism, red in tooth and claw, whose followers, a legion of the damned, look quite a lot like us. The world of the Longpig is rich in killing fields and scenes of mass crucifixion that recall Goya, Blake, and Bacon, and represents a true crossover of the graphic novel form with fine art. John took his own life with the help of an assisted dying group, following a heroic struggle with multiple sclerosis. This book was drawn and written in foreknowledge of his imminent death, and its insight into universal themes of life, death, salvation, and damnation seems to come from a place between worlds. Its words those of a prophet, its artwork transcending the comic book form, 100 Months will redefine the adult graphic novel.
170 pages, Hardcover
First published November 18, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
September 18, 2011
The story of a faceless androgynous figure wielding a sword, hacking their way through legions of monsters in order to slay the Pig God is a fascinating one. What you see is an artist facing his own mortality, his own illness, his own death and fighting it with his art. Anger and frustration manifest themselves on the page through some of the most metal paintings you've ever seen and are easily some of Johnny Hicklenton's best stuff. In the same way that Ed Norton's furious monologue to himself in the mirror in the film "25th Hour" which starts slowly and gradually grows into a maelstrom of anger against everything he perceives is wrong with the world, "100 Months" sees the protagonist set off on the journey to presumably Hell until eventually the words and images swirl and take in aspects of our own modern 21st century culture. I got the feeling the book was cathartic for Hicklenton as he worked through his own feelings of impending death as the book finishes in a beautiful way that I won't spoil for the reader.
Uncompromising, brutal, incredibly visceral and bare, "100 Months" walks the line between genres like horror and fantasy to acquire the tones of philosophy and spiritualism. I remember first seeing Hicklenton's artwork in Nemesis the Warlock from 2000AD when I was a 13 year old and it blew me away. He had a style that was instantly recognisable and completely unforgettable and I loved picking up a copy of 2000AD and finding a strip he'd drawn, especially if it was Dredd. It's always sad to see great artists go and Johnny Hicklenton was one of the great ones. It's wonderful though that before he chose to leave he left us one final masterpiece to treasure. A unique and mind blowing book. RIP Johnny.
Uncompromising, brutal, incredibly visceral and bare, "100 Months" walks the line between genres like horror and fantasy to acquire the tones of philosophy and spiritualism. I remember first seeing Hicklenton's artwork in Nemesis the Warlock from 2000AD when I was a 13 year old and it blew me away. He had a style that was instantly recognisable and completely unforgettable and I loved picking up a copy of 2000AD and finding a strip he'd drawn, especially if it was Dredd. It's always sad to see great artists go and Johnny Hicklenton was one of the great ones. It's wonderful though that before he chose to leave he left us one final masterpiece to treasure. A unique and mind blowing book. RIP Johnny.
March 4, 2018
The artwork in this graphic novel is absolutely incredible. Within two pages, I was writing down the name of the ebook to look for a physical copy, but it turns out the only ones are hardcovers for about $100. For good reason, though. Absolutely stunning. It was a little hard to read the handwritten words at times, even with my kindle for PC screen as wide as I could make it, but I was so hooked, I didn't mind having to spend longer looking at each of the images. The author's story is very compelling as well and I'll definitely be looking into the documentary about him. I had never heard of him before and only stumbled across this book on my library's ereading app. I understand why some wouldn't be interested in a book like this, but it got me.
October 28, 2015
100 Months is probably the most bad-ass graphic novel that I own, a book that was described as “beautiful and powerful” by Neil Gaiman, a man who has beautiful and powerful down to a tee. John Hicklenton, the author of this piece of work, went on to take his own life at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich.
This book, then, is effectively his own foreshadowing of the 100 months leading up to his death, a story told through metaphor and allegory and a haunting array of black and white pictures that you won’t want to look at for too long, in case you recognise the truth in them.
If you’re a lover of the darker side of the human psyche and imagination, then this is the book for you – beautifully written, beautifully drawn and beautifully haunting. An excellent and lasting memorial to a man who’s sadly no longer with us.
This book, then, is effectively his own foreshadowing of the 100 months leading up to his death, a story told through metaphor and allegory and a haunting array of black and white pictures that you won’t want to look at for too long, in case you recognise the truth in them.
If you’re a lover of the darker side of the human psyche and imagination, then this is the book for you – beautifully written, beautifully drawn and beautifully haunting. An excellent and lasting memorial to a man who’s sadly no longer with us.
April 28, 2022
5/5 for the art no question, but I simply could not figure out why Jesus was in this
August 18, 2023
Ralph Steadman meets Sam Keith?
July 23, 2023
An epic poetic story with full page loose drawings. Very evocative and moody. Created while Hicklenton was suffering from multiple sclerosis and after he had decided to use assisted suicide to end his life.
I definitely need to check out more of Hicklenton's work from 2000AD.
This was certainly worth a read and its a book I'll be revisiting again in the future.
I definitely need to check out more of Hicklenton's work from 2000AD.
This was certainly worth a read and its a book I'll be revisiting again in the future.
December 30, 2015
The artwork is simply incredible, and would certainly find a home within the liner notes of a heavy metal album. The artist stretches and mutilates the human form, showing just how fragile and pathetic we really are.
The ebook version I read had tiny writing and did not offer the option to zoom, so I missed out on some of the text when I simply couldn't decipher it. that said, the storyline was the weakest link in my opinion, and it's more about the gruesome imagery.
The ebook version I read had tiny writing and did not offer the option to zoom, so I missed out on some of the text when I simply couldn't decipher it. that said, the storyline was the weakest link in my opinion, and it's more about the gruesome imagery.
May 7, 2012
Looked and read like the inlay booklet for a bad 1990's black metal band.
April 4, 2015
I feel like I would have liked this book a lot more not as an ebook. This one doesn't translate well to a digital format.
July 5, 2017
Dark, brutal, and grotesque, as I suppose befits the final work of a tortured horror artist immediately before taking his own life. Extraordinarily dynamic imagery, though not exactly entertaining.
April 15, 2019
The only thing I really liked about this novel was the illustration style, I didn't like all the illustrations, mind you, but the style is interesting and gives the piece great movement. I also liked the choice to use a limited color palette.
However, I didn't like the choice to not show the main character's face almost at all. It makes it difficult to connect with her as a character.
I also didn't like her clothing or whatever. Either go fully nude or give her some actual clothes, I hate the weird in-between that her dress is. Always shifting and showing butt or side boob.
It was SUPER annoying that the author chose to at "eth" to the end of words. For seemingly no reason. Perhaps just to sound pompous? The actual story and words would have enough impact on their own.
However, I didn't like the choice to not show the main character's face almost at all. It makes it difficult to connect with her as a character.
I also didn't like her clothing or whatever. Either go fully nude or give her some actual clothes, I hate the weird in-between that her dress is. Always shifting and showing butt or side boob.
It was SUPER annoying that the author chose to at "eth" to the end of words. For seemingly no reason. Perhaps just to sound pompous? The actual story and words would have enough impact on their own.
August 25, 2018
Both stunning and grotesque, this graphic novel is intensely visual, while also being minimalist in presentation. The message in the text is straightforward and flows between feeling like a direct dialogue with the reader and a dialogue within the text itself. It's a fast read, but it lingers with you. Disturbing, beautiful, hopeful, and an honest expression of a feeling I think many people feel, I think it's well worth the read.
February 13, 2025
I’ve settled on a 3.5 star for this one.
The artwork in here is equal parts beautiful and grotesque, and it has some really interesting commentary on religion, capitalism, and death. From my understanding the author wrote this confronting his own imminent passing.
What didn’t work for me was the heavy use of metaphor and symbolism in the commentary so a lot of it went over my head, but that’s totally on me.
The artwork in here is equal parts beautiful and grotesque, and it has some really interesting commentary on religion, capitalism, and death. From my understanding the author wrote this confronting his own imminent passing.
What didn’t work for me was the heavy use of metaphor and symbolism in the commentary so a lot of it went over my head, but that’s totally on me.
July 19, 2017
Finished this only a few minutes after getting home from the library! While it is short, with minimal text the art is breathtaking. The story itself, is dark and beautifully stark. A wonderful and brutal story of the endtimes.
September 23, 2022
Art is raw & expressive, but I don’t get what it’s expressing. The vengeful spirit of Gaia is manifest in a faceless female in rags who lusts to defeat a Pig God representing ? because humans killed Jesus?
Really gory…
Really gory…
April 27, 2019
Nope. Basically some crazy teenager’s pseudo-metal school notebooks. Maybe if I played “Raining Blood” while reading it...nah. While his personal story is tragic...this just isn’t worth the time.
January 15, 2021
A metal masterpiece of brutal finality.
April 9, 2021
The illustrations are marvelous and mind blowing 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻✌🏻
July 24, 2024
Beautifully and horrifically illustrated. Love the anatomy of the movement.
August 26, 2023
Brutal. A graphic depiction of pain and suffering.
November 28, 2021
Not sure of what I think of this...The art is stunning in a brutal way, the texts made no sense at all
February 19, 2017
I really have no idea what I just read. What I can tell you is it was beautifully written and illustrated with gore, violence, and a high quality creep factor. I really don't know if I understood what the story was about (I was understanding it was about the destructions of humans for destroying the world), but for some reason, I understood Mara's anger.
There was one thing that did really bother me, and this is probably nit-picky... but sometimes she would be illustrated with her hands and feet wrapped and other times, not. And often times it was on one page she had the wrappings on her hands and feet, but then on the very next page, she didn't. I wish it would have been more cohesive all the way through.
I LOVED the page where Mara had her amazingly creepy Armageddon grin. So righteous.
There was one thing that did really bother me, and this is probably nit-picky... but sometimes she would be illustrated with her hands and feet wrapped and other times, not. And often times it was on one page she had the wrappings on her hands and feet, but then on the very next page, she didn't. I wish it would have been more cohesive all the way through.
I LOVED the page where Mara had her amazingly creepy Armageddon grin. So righteous.
April 25, 2016
"Fear me, all who obey the coin."
And with a killer line like that, this amazing book begins. Using gorgeous artwork, this serves as an excellent metaphor of global warming. While the scenes depicted are probably more horrifying than even the worst case scenarios of GW, it's still a vivid picture of the greed, gluttony, and sloth that contribute to environmental destruction in general and global warming specifically. It's really more of a spiritual vindiction of global warming than science or policy and even references the Bible frequently as part of the overall metaphor. It's not an argument, it's an allegorical call to repentance for rampant and wasteful materialism. One that we all need.
Favorite quote:
"Be silent, fucker."
And with a killer line like that, this amazing book begins. Using gorgeous artwork, this serves as an excellent metaphor of global warming. While the scenes depicted are probably more horrifying than even the worst case scenarios of GW, it's still a vivid picture of the greed, gluttony, and sloth that contribute to environmental destruction in general and global warming specifically. It's really more of a spiritual vindiction of global warming than science or policy and even references the Bible frequently as part of the overall metaphor. It's not an argument, it's an allegorical call to repentance for rampant and wasteful materialism. One that we all need.
Favorite quote:
"Be silent, fucker."
January 6, 2014
This was a fascinating one. 100 Months is an environmental warning in the form of apocalyptic mythology. Being far from what I'm used to hearing about global climate change (self-righteous or hysterical non-fiction), 100 Months was both a breath of fresh air and yet also fairly unsettling; I was unprepared for the grimness of the storyline, the intensely macabre mood of the book. This is all of Mother Earth's apoplectic, vengeful anger at the abuse and betrayal by her own children poured out on paper. The art is every bit as kinetic and chaotic as it is practiced and beautiful, seething with violent emotion.
July 10, 2012
It is a dicey proposition, eavesdropping on the catharsis of another person, particularly someone with a death sentence shadowing the work. This is razor thin on plot, more of a poem, really, but it is razor sharp in its rage and impotent wrath. Acres of aestheticized doom & gloom. Hicklenton's raging against the dying of the light, his fury at the easy ascendence of the longpig, these are howling declarations of love/time/life lost.
April 29, 2014
This was interesting and very different from what I expected just grabbing it off the shelf. The artist is working though some serious emotions (which is understandable when you know your death is imminent) and it is a fascinating ride. Its a heap of symbolic struggle with modern morality, death, and a dash of spirituality. The art is perfect for the story being told with all its brutality but in many places underlying beauty.
November 11, 2012
This book was like a written version of heavy metal. A return to the heavy metal awesomeness that was the comics and the movie. Unfortunately, for me, this particular book missed the mark. It was too much art and words with too little substance for me. It's all good though. Enjoy the art, enjoy the story, but don't expect a new life motive or anything.
December 13, 2014
Wow! A parable and an ode and a monologue all in one. The fact this story was created by a man on his death bed only adds to the power of this story. Sweeping brush strokes are matched by sentences of violence and declarations of war. This is the world's wake up call to us all, coming from the heart and soul of a man facing his own demise. Did I say 'wow'? Let me reiterate: 'Wow!'
December 13, 2015
I was not terribly impresse. I found the story to be a bit confusing and the art definitely waas not as exciting as I expected. It felt like some images were very well thought out and others seemed to be done without much planning. The characters offer appeared to be in the same poses throughout the book and I felt some images were a bit stagnant. Overall it's intriguing.
January 24, 2011
I understand that people think this is fantastic... am I missing something? I know that the author/artist made it while he was dying. His angst is apparent and the artwork is striking but I don't think the "story" is particularly thought provoking.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews