Rich Tommaso

I'm in the midst of a week-long project to catch up with the Black Hammer sequel and spin-offs. Up now is the conclusion of the story begun in the first issue.

So this series has repeatedly pretended to make real progress on the last page of one volume only to walk it all the way back for the next in order to drag things out and take more homage detours. This time our heroes reboot without their memories into a world without superheroes. Conveniently, one of them does remember and sets out to show more get the band back together in time to stop an impending apocalypse.

I was hoping that like Alan Moore's Watchmen, Lemire was going to take all his pastiche characters and use them to make a real statement about superheroes or comic books or something, but he seems content to simply wallow in DC Comics nostalgia and invite all his fellow fanboys to join him in the mud. And the mud felt squishy and warm between my toes for a while, but now its drying out and leaving grit in sensitive places.

It really doesn't help that Lemire pulled the bury your gays trope these last two volumes. Ugh. show less

Aw, man. This was so close! Werewolf and vampire witchy goths! Right? I liked the art, actually. But the plot and dialog... not so much. I wasn't confused, it just wasn't there. Some comics can really use the "distinctive art with bare bones plot and dialog" style, but this didn't pull it off. It felt more like an imitation of those other, better comics. The bonus comic at the end was better, though.

Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Part II
Author: Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Rich Rommaso, Dave Stewart, Todd Klein
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Publishing Date: 2019
Pgs: 192
Dewey:
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
Free of the Farm, the heroes of Spiral City have everything they've ever wanted. Or do they. And as they approach the "real" world something is coming after them. Lost in the show more dream of their perfect world, something is off, something is wrong. There's a tinge of darkness in all their stories. And as the new Black Hammer seeks them out to restore their memories...Something that has dogged their steps from the beginning is approaching.

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Genre:
Comics
Graphic Novels
Dark Horse Comics
Superhero

Why this book:
I love the Black Hammer books. The ones focused on the main team. The ones that are about the other characters in the universe haven’t really caught on with me...yet.
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The Feel:
It feels like a Black Hammer story.

Favorite Character:
I love these characters.

I do like the new characters. Inspector Insector is faux classic Silver Age homage goodness. Hellamentals...greatness. Ms. Moonbeam is awesome.

Favorite Scene:
The Colonel Weird page with the eyes and the bubbles featuring all his friends is great. The bubble with who I’m assuming is Abraham Slam crying over spilt milk is awesome.

The surviving limbo characters falling out of Lemire’s ear and the giant Lemire having his head in the clouds. Love it.

Love the hit ‘em with the hammer to jog their memory bit.

Black Hammer’s new world and her getting to see her dad.

Favorite Quote:
“You are definitely Joseph Weber’s little girl.” - Abraham Slam talking to Black Hammer II.

Favorite Concept:
Comic book limbo for unneeded characters. Sadness.

Lead into battle by a goose.

Love the art pieces in this. Great stuff.

Hmm Moments:
Anti-God is a Darkseid analogue. And Black Hammer is Thor-ish.

Weird’s crisis of conscience brought on by the team finding out what was going on doesn’t fit, but it does drive the story along. But it leads directly to the almost reincarnation of Anti-God.

Dreamcasting:
Wouldn’t Peter Fonda have been perfect as Colonel Weird?
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Pacing:
I’m shocked. There were 192 pages in this and it was like melting butter. I went through it at a blazing pace. The fastest paced of the Black Hammer books that I’ve read so far.

Last Page Sound:
Nice ending. But I wish they would’ve beat Anti-God’s ass. Really don’t like where they left everyone.

Questions I’m Left With:
It isn’t really explained how the heroes being in the prime universe causes Anti-God to arise and their not being there causes him to die, become discorporeal.

Was the Man in the Moon smoking and they decided to change it, but the base art was already done? It sure looks like it could have been.

So...is it all just another pocket reality and Anti-God is chasing them through the holes in reality? Maybe.

Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
I understand it, but I hate the way the characters are left at the end of this.

Things I’d Like to See:
I’d love to see a book that goes back to the origins of the original Black Hammer character and tells us those stories.

Author Assessment:
Love Lemire’s writing. And the Black Hammer look.
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A light and amusing collection of comics about two gen-X film students. Peter is a selfish film nut, obsessed with Russ Meyer, Roman Polanski and large-breasted women. Miriam is a nerdy cartoonist who once had a crush on him.