I can see a potential path beginning to form: the possibility of where this may be going. Black Hammer is a psychological superhero mystery. I imagine it would be what the superhero genre would look like if Philip K. Dick had any interest in it. A team of heroes has been stuck on a farm for 10 years. Up until now, the events surrounding this have been a mystery. Instead, we’ve been drawn into this secluded and compartmentalized world in which these characters are ghosts of their former selves simply trying to maintain. It has been ponderous, exciting, heartbreaking, disturbing; it has been a joy to read.

However, a lot of this is going to change… In the last issue, Lucy Weber – who has been investigating their disappearance – found her way to where our team of downtrodden ex-superheroes are trapped. Upon landing, her memory was wiped. I won’t say by whom – you’ll have to read for yourself – but with her arrival, we finally have a reason to find out who Black Hammer was and to some degree how our heroes found their way here. But with answers comes questions… and possibilities.

Who here is good, who is bad, who has each other’s best interests at heart? I imagine nothing is as it seems, and nothing is going to go well for these characters in the end, but now there is forward motion.

Jeff Lemire is an intriguing writer. He’s esoteric in all the great ways, but he cares about his characters and never lets those eccentricities burden his script. There’s a perfect balance of imagination and motivation. Dean Ormston’s art continues to captivate. It feels like something out of the era of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. And yet it ascends beyond those nostalgic roots, finding something darker and grittier, though subtle. A lot of that has to do with the coloring by Dave Stewart.

This is one of the best books on the shelves. I hope you’re reading it!