The Quantum Age happens in the future of Black Hammer…or does it? My mind bent at the end of this issue. There are two Black Hammer series running at once, and I have no idea how the two series are going to wrap around in on themselves.  What I do know is that something occurred that somehow got everyone to where they are in this series, and whatever happened in that series or after that series is affecting this series and maybe this series will affect that series. I’m dying to know! The end of this and the previous issue have left me breathless and gleeful. We’re seeing pieces of the puzzle completely out of order, and my mind loves puzzles.

There is a time when heroes find it in themselves to step up. The heroes in the Black Hammer universe are so broken and so world weary that when they do step up, even in the smallest of ways, these are moments in which you cheer. It’s rousing because you want these characters to succeed and break free from the emotional or psychological chains that weigh them down. They feel trapped in a maze of their own misery, but writer Jeff Lemire is smart enough to not let this weigh our experience down. He cracks the characters open to show you that, regardless of how sad they are, they are sad for a reason – very human reasons.

In issue 4 of Quantum Age, the heroes begin to gather and answers become clear to them. They have a goal, and they are working as a unit. Where this takes them, I can’t even guess. Next week, the next issue of Black Hammer will release, and… I just don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen next!

I’m so thrilled.

Creative Team: Jeff Lemire (writer), Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston (creators), Wilfredo Torres (art), Dave Stewart (colors), Nate Piekos of Blambot (letters), Ethan Kimberling (designer), Daniel Chabon (editor), Brett Israel (assistant editor)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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