Comic Info
Comic Name: Black Hammer: Age of Doom
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Dean Ormston
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2019
Black Hammer: Age of Doom #3 Variant
Reprints Black Hammer: Age of Doom #1-5 (April 2018-September 2018). Lucy knows the truth of what is happening on the farm, but Dragonfly and Weird can’t let the truth come out. Finding herself whisked away to a strange world with no apparent exit, Lucy must find her way back to the farm and expose the truth. Meanwhile Abe, Barbie, and Gail are discovering the world they live in might not be as it seems…but as everything seems to be going well, disaster strikes!
Written by Jeff Lemire, Black Hammer Volume 3: Age of Doom—Part 1 is a Dark Horse Comics superhero comic book collection. Following Black Hammer Volume 2: The Event, the collection features art by Dean Ormston and is a continuation of the original run of Black Hammer.
With the final issue of Black Hammer ending in a cliffhanger, jumping into Black Hammer: Age of Doom wasn’t a question. In classic comic book fashion, the story takes an immediate detour and what you expected to happen in the first issue doesn’t happen…but Lemire smartly doesn’t keep you waiting long.
Instead of a big throwdown between Lucy (the new Black Hammer), Dragonfly, and Weird, Lucy is jettisoned off to more adventures in Lemire’s world of quasi-comic books. Lucy teams with a very Deadman-esque Jack Sabbath and voyages to the world of the Sandman (or Storybook as seen here). Not only is it a clever homage to multiple comics, it really does dovetail back into what is really potentially happening…leaving you questioning what is reality in the comic book.
Black Hammer: Age of Doom #5 Variant
The previous collection was very focused on the individuals of the farm, but here, it is more evenly balanced. Characters like Abe, Gail, and Barbie all get their time, but it is less focused and drives the plot instead of just enforcing the plot. The world that was starting to slip and slide is sheered up and both Abe and Barbie get the answer they hoped for…but Gail’s desire for escape overrides it.
I trust Jeff Lemire, and Black Hammer is a good example of why he’s earned that trust. The story is strong, the characters are interesting and while it is a new story, it is rooted in classic comic pasts. It feels like this collection was “the big reveal” and now I wonder where the series will go from here. For the past two collection, you had an inkling of what was occurring, but not the big picture. It was half the fun since you were picking a mystery apart…the mystery is exposed and now what happens next is the driving force. Black Hammer 3: Age of Doom—Part 1 is followed by Black Hammer 4: Age of Doom—Part 2.
Related Links:
Black Hammer 1: Secret Origins
Black Hammer 4: Age of Doom—Part 2
