Tensions continue to rise in the real world and across the multiverse.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Malachi Ward
Colors: Bryce Davidson
Letterer: Nate Piekos of BLAMBOT
What They Say:
Family turmoil takes a toll on Black Hammer Farm as Lucy and Rose go head-to-head over their family legacy while at the same time multi-dimensional conflicts emerge that may pull our heroes out of limbo.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Black Hammer works through more of what’s going to be the final series of this little intriguing universe to a close and it does so with a great team. Lemire’s got a knack of expanding and introducing things while playing off the core material – and the classic comics of decades from long ago – and that makes for an intriguing turn of events. For this series, Black Hammer has Malachi Ward and Bryce Davidson on the art duties and it provides its own distinctiveness to it. It still feels very much in the world of Black Hammer as established previously, but it also is its own thing in some really good ways. Ward’s layouts look good but I really dig the character placement and movement of the camera around situations in order to deliver a really good experience as a reader.
With a lot set up in the previous issue, events continue to move forward here but at a slower pace. The multiversal side is a lot of fun as we see the team being assembled from across the timelines to deal with the Anti-God. The nods to the past exist about how there was one timeline where he was put to sleep but also how the collision of timelines has woken it up, causing this new problem. The team isn’t one that gets along well for a lot of reasons but I like the variety and nods to different ways this core cast could have been done. The discussion about how the Black Hammer line itself has been destroyed across the timeline is reinforced well and it reminds us why Lucy was so important and how her putting down the hammer. The small bits and pieces we get, such as the Gail of this version who has lost her powers and talks about being as helpful as she can, hits a sweet spot for longtime readers to be sure.
On the “real” world, we get to see things moving slower but with some good character moments. Lucy’s time with her daughter Rose is not going well as Rose feels like thee’s a real sense of purpose to her own life and that her mother has denied her any agency in it by bringing them to this place. The tension is high there and we see that with her husband as well, which is where Abe talks to him about it and offers some advice. It’s good to see those elements still being tugged on and worked at as well. Rose definitely is going to be a catalyst here at some point as we see her figuring out a huge clue that was missed by others about their situation and she’s smart enough to get Inspector Insector to help out and work it out with her. Between that and her brother starting to tell young Gail and young Sherlock about the past and awakening their memories of who they are, things are about to start changing fast.
In Summary:
Black Hammer doesn’t go into some really big fights or huge moments here as the biggest moment is the reveal at the very end that’s just a bit of text. But what this issue does is to deliver some good character material and highlight the scale of the battle ahead. More time with this cobbled-together team is intriguing but there’s also the power of the argument between Lucy and Rose which showcases how Lucy has done her best to just not be involved with all of this, often for good reason, but the ripple effect of it as well. I’m not looking forward to losing more stories of these characters when this series ends but I’m enjoying the time I get to spend with them here and seeing them work through all the complications that come from everything that has happened before. Definitely exciting times ahead.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 27th, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
