To quote Gail, “Ah, crap.”
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Michael Walsh
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
What They Say:
DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics present the ultimate superhero crossover event of 2019! A strange man arrives simultaneously on Black Hammer Farm and in Metropolis, and both worlds are warped as Starro attacks! Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, and more crossover with Golden Gail, Colonel Weird, and the rest of the Black Hammer gang!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’ll admit, I was apprehensive going into this book as much as I love Black Hammer and enjoy Justice League in general. Crossovers can be dicey and two big name teams doing so definitely could be problematic in the wrong hands, what with Black Hammer being creator-owned. Thankfully, Jeff Lemire has spent more than enough time writing for DC to be able to capture the two well, but then it comes down to style and proper blending. Michael Walsh steps in on the art duties for this, and the color work, and I really like that he leans into the Dean Ormston style for Black Hammer to tell the tale, making it clear that this is more of a Black Hammer story than anything else. I am curious for a more “DC house style” interpretation of the Black Hammer team, though.
Taking place before current events in the Black Hammer series, we get the easy introduction of life on the Farm for the group and seeing how Talky Walky is tearing apart the factor, much to Abraham’s chagrin. The dynamic between these characters, ten years stuck inside of a self-contained place, works well as they’ve figured out a balance that allows for flare-ups. What becomes fascinating is that by the end of the book we get the same exact sequence happening but with the Justice League characters involved. Though it plays to a ten years thing as well, it’s hard to imagine Bruce, Diana, and Clark would operate in the same way that the Black Hammer team does. We don’t get too deep down the rabbit hole with this but the snippets of it we get in recreating the start are definitely fascinating.
What happens in between? This comes in the form of a mystery man that approaches both teams in their respective world and essentially offers them a vacation into something different. For the League, we get the downtime sequence above as they come across as filling in those roles. That’s a radical shift from how we first see them as they’re fending off a new Starro attack. For the Black Hammer team, it’s far different as they’re now in Metropolis as Starro attacks and some of them are unable to use their abilities, such as Gail, until they learn how to operate within this world. It’s interesting seeing them react to the situation since they’re finally off the farm but they’re still unable to be who they used to be. And they’re obviously quite rusty, which isn’t going to be helpful in going up against a big villain like Starro.
In Summary:
While I’m still not sure it’s quite a necessary crossover, Hammer of Justice gets underway pretty well and I’m curious to see how both sides operate for a bit before the expected team-up aspect. Strangely, I’m probably more interested in seeing how the League handles being on the Farm than seeing the team deal with being in Metropolis after stuck on the farm for so long. I’m definitely glad that Lemire is able to chart this course since he obviously knows every character involved well enough and can ensure the right kind of continuity for his creator owned team. Michael Walsh was a great pick on the art side as I like how he leans into the Black Hammer style but gives it the right application with our DC heroes. I’m not expecting huge things from this storyline but I’m definitely expecting to get a fun time, great interpretations of both teams, and some pretty amusing looks at all of them in unexpected settings. It’s a solid debut that has me curious for more when I was leaning away from sampling it at all since it was first announced.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: July 10th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
