Black Hammer volume 2 - The Event

Black Hammer, Vol. 2: The Event by Jeff Lemire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lucy Weber, The Black Hammer's daughter, starts trying to piece together the mystery of The Farm and the town of Rockwood but someone doesn't want her to find the answers she's looking for...

Black Hammer volume 2 has fallen into my hands and it's a whopper.

The tale of the Black Hammer is finally told and it's an homage to a slew of Jack Kirby creations like Thor, the New Gods, and the Inhumans. Talky-Walky's origin is also revealed, another Mystery in Space type of adventure, just as something sinister happens to Talky-Walky back on the farm.

More of Golden Gail's past is reveals, as it the nature of the Event that led to the heroes arriving at The Farm to begin with. More of Abraham Slam and Barbalien's pasts are also revealed. Lucy unravels the mystery of Rockwood and meets her destiny. What the hell are Madam Dragonfly and Colonel Weird up to?

Yeah, a lot of shit went down in this volume and it has me salivating for the next one. I love the depth Lemire has achieved in such a short number of issues. The world of the Black Hammer feels like it's been around for decades. The mystery surrounding Rockwood and the Farm is tantalizing and I'm ready to find out just what the hell is going on. Dean Ormstrom's moody, Mignola-esque art is perfect for the series.

I really don't have any bad things to say about The Black Hammer. The slow burning mystery of what the hell is the deal with the Farm and Rockwood has me hooked. I'll be sad to see the series end in the next volume, if that's what happens. Four out of five stars.

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Black Hammer: Secret Origins

Black Hammer, Vol. 1: Secret Origins by Jeff Lemire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Spiral City's seven greatest heroes disappeared in battle ten years ago and awoke in a small town they couldn't leave. Will they ever find their way back home?

I've been hearing about Black Hammer for the last couple years and finally decided to give it a shot. I wish I would have been on board at the very beginning because this is some good shit.

Basically, analogues of Captain America, Mary Marvel, Martian Manhunter, Adam Strange/Captain Comet, Madame Xanadu, and Robby the Robot from Lost in Space are stranded in a bizarre town and unable to leave. Black Hammer, the Thor analogue of the group, has vanished. When the book begins, they've been stranded for ten years.

This omnibus introduces the heroes and their plight. Abraham Slam, the Captain America analogue, spends his days working on the farm and pining over Tammy Trueheart, the waitress at the local diner. Golden Gail is a seventy year old in the body of a super powered nine year old girl. Barbalien struggles with being an alien outsider and also being gay. Madam Dragonfly keeps herself apart from the rest of the family at her mysterious cabin. Talky-Walky, the robot, resents being the housekeeper and will probably snap sometime in the future. And Colonel Weird spends most of his time muttering and going in and out of the para-zone, the bizarre space between dimensions.

Most of the characters have origin stories in this volume. Much like Astro City, Vol. 1: Life in the Big City, there's a tremendous sense of history to the universe Lemire has created, like there's a stack of old Black Hammer comics in a musty basement someplace I've never read.

Dean Ormston's art has a moody, gloomy feel, perfect for a book depicting super heroes trapped in a town they can't escape. The town's origin is hinted at and possible salvation arrives only to have its legs cut out from under it.

Black Hammer: Secret Origins has whet my whistle for the rest of the series. If you're into super hero stories that are more than guys in spandex punching each other, give it a read. Four out of five stars.

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