I have absolutely no idea what’s going on in Black Hammer right now, but it looks like we’re about to find out! The beginning of this story arc had the newly transformed Lucy Weber, now Black Hammer, exclaim that she knew what was going on, and then she was teleported away. Infuriating to say the least! The last two issues have seen our heroes, who have been trapped on a Twilight Zone-style farmhouse, move forward with renewed hope. After only seeing them in states of malaise, it’s been a welcome change. Meanwhile, Lucy has tumbled through some strange realities. If our heroes in their youth represent the Golden Age of comics, and our heroes now represent the indie world of comics, then these alternate realms have represented the ’90s!
Lemire and Ormstom have been intent on turning the tables on what comics mean. When we read a comic, we’re looking at lives being lived on the page. Comics like The X-Men, The Avengers, Justice League, Cyber Force – these aren’t just stories of heroes being heroic, these are stories of families finding ways to be heroic together. By taking the heroes out of Spiral City and trapping them, Lemire and Ormston have managed to peel away the heroics, so all that we see is the family. All we see are people who don’t fit in trying desperately to figure out who they are. There’s an earnestness to it all, and levels of heartbreak follow . . . and like other superhero teams, we see an allegory begin to untangle itself from the heroics. We see the universality of what’s happening to these characters that we care about – their struggles, their wants, and their desires. The desire to simply fit in, not just to the world around you, but your own freaking skin, has never been so poignantly put on the page.
I urge you to find your way into this brilliant comic book series.
Creative Team: Jeff Lemire (writer, creator), Dean Ormston (artist, creator), Dave Stewart (colors), Todd Klein (letters), Daniel Chabon (editor), Brett Israel (assistant editor)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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