Oh! My new library has all the newer Black Hammer books that my old one didn't. Time for a week-long project of catch-up.

When last I saw the mopey heroes of the Black Hammer universe, they were moping around a farm being mopey. Despite their best mopey efforts to remain mopey, the secret of the farm is at last revealed and the status quo gets status broke. However will they mope now?

Along the way we get a pastiche within the pastiche as one character takes a trip into DC's old Vertigo imprint to meet some slightly askew versions of John Constantine and the Endless and also, according to the end notes, The Ramones, though I did not recognize them as such in the story.

This was borderline 2-stars for me, but I'm relieved that some progress has finally been made and am actually curious about the next book. ( )

https://shawjonathan.com/2020/02/24/jeff-lemire-and-others-black-hammer-vols-3-4... ( )

More amazingness!!! I LOVE the retro feel, the story was great, the characters are great. The only thing I don't like is that all the male characters look the same and all the female characters look the same. All the men have long rectangular faces with the same eyes, all the women have round faces with the same eyes and pouty lips. It's distracting and at times confusing, because I can't tell who's who. It seems like it might have been brought up during the creation of the comic. It's so obvious that I almost thought it was "a trick", like in the end all the women were going to be revealed to be the same person and then the men too. ( )

Black Hammer, Vol 3: Age of Doom, Part One
Author: Jeff Lemire (Author), Dean Ormston (Illustrator), Dave Stewart (Illustrator)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Publishing Date: 2019
Pgs: 136
Disposition: Hoopla e-book
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
The all new, legacy Black Hammer has arrived at The Farm. Lucy Weber, daughter of the original Black Hammer, isn’t accepting that the prison they’re all in is inescapable. She sets out to find her way out and how to rescue the others. For her trouble, she gets a trip through the mystical and genre-ish aspects of comics. From Hell to where stories live, she has to get back to The Farm. She knows what it is. She knows who is responsible. She isn’t going quietly.
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Genre:
Comics
Graphic Novels
Dark Horse Comics
Superhero
Horror

Why this book:
Because I really enjoyed the other volumes in the set.
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Favorite Character:
The new Black Hammer, Lucy Weber, if freaking awesome.

The Pagecounter is a helluva character design.

Favorite Scene / Quote/Concept:
“Better make it three drinks.” That’s a great line in a great scene as Barbalien, Abe, and Gail start comparing notes.

The escape from Hell is well done. Love Black Hammer’s escape giving glances into other genres of comics.

LOL. The heroes stealing library books and sitting down on the library steps to read them.

Abe coming out to his girlfriend in his costume after they’ve been in bed is greatness.

Colonel Weird’s ship flying through the Para-Zone is an awesome visual.

Hmm Moments:
So the villains are all trapped too. So...the heroes purgatory is smalltown 1950s midAmerica and the villains purgatory is a sleazy dive bar with a live bad. Live being a relative term used here.

Jack Sabbath is an interesting character. Love that name. Great nomenclature for a hero fallen into Hell.

WTF Moments:
Okay...who the hell was that guy? The sheriff is messed up. If your SO’s ex showed up and started acting like that you’d expect Rod Serling next. Of course, this is kinda the Twilight Zone with superheroes.

The Sigh:
I don’t want any of these characters to be in on “it”. Over the course of the previous books, they’ve grown on me. Meaning, of course, that they are doomed. The Colonel and Dragonfly are up to something.

Juxtaposition:
Still getting that Dr Doom having the Fantastic Four trapped in Littleton with the Puppet Master’s help.

Ah...I thought that Storyteller and kin were like Cain and Abel in the House of Mystery, Secrets, Witching Hour vein, but now I see that they are based on the Endless.

The Unexpected:
Dragonfly and Weird know more than they are letting on. Question is if they are in on it or if they are making the best of a bad situationand trying to help the others survive… … ...Gail is going to kill them.
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Pacing:
Damn! Page 2 and the new Black Hammer is already ripped away. And Colonel Weird is about to let the cat outta the bag. Love the pacing on this.

I’m sick of watching comic book paint dry in the interest of extending the page count. They’re freaking comic books. Stuff needs to blow up. Stuff needs to happen.

Last Page Sound:
Damn. I was right. But damn.

On principle, I hate cliffhangers. This one is well done.

Questions I’m Left With:
Why didn’t I think they were in hell before?

Author Assessment:
Will definitely be reading more.

Editorial Assessment:
Well done.
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After a couple of side trips into world expanding spinoffs from the main Black Hammer series, Jeff Lemire is back with the main characters and storyline. This one picks up exactly where the second volume ended.

Lucy Weber (now Black Hammer) tells our stranded former superheroes that she knows where they are and what happened.

Then, "SHRACKK!!' She's gone.

The story then divides into two storylines. One follows Lucy into a different world where she has to find her way back to the Farm and the others.

At the Farm and in Rockwood the superheroes are still stuck but things are definitely not the same.

This volume absolutely ends up answering the questions of where the superheroes are and how they got there after the cataclysmic event 10 years ago however that answer just raises a completely new set of questions.

I'm definitely looking forward to Volume 4.

The art by Dean Ormstron and Dave Stewart is vivid, interesting and creative. I just love the interesting little details they manage to add to the panels. I particularly liked the little nod to Lemire's Sweet Tooth series.

Even if you don't think you like superhero comics, you should give this series and its expanded world a try. ( )