Issue four of Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Black Hammer: Age of Doom dropped a huge reveal: What and where is this farm that the heroes of Spiral City have been trapped on? That’s a pretty big revelation considering they have been stuck here for the better part of a decade, and it’s a question that readers have been asking since the very first issue. Needless to say, the reveal changes everything and sends our heroes sling-shotting in another direction entirely.

While the reveal itself didn’t completely throw me for a loop, I knew the reactions from our heroes and the explanation would be where the interesting elements would lie, and I was right. This issue ran the gamut from our heroes being dazed, rational, angered, saddened, and desperate. In a story about connecting and finding those you can connect with, it was a real humdinger of a sharp turn for our lonely, disillusioned characters. Now, I have absolutely no idea where this is going to go.

I could have lived with these heroes on that farm for a decade. Why they were there could have been nothing more than a McGuffin. To me, it was one of the best psychological dramas I’ve read in a while, but Lemire has something else on his mind, and I’m more than willing to follow along. This is science fiction that isn’t content to sit still. Lemire wants to you understand this world on multiple levels; he wants it to continue to expand and grow. He wants to keep us guessing.

Ormston’s art is great. There’s nothing else out there like it, and Dave Stewart is the busiest colorist out there – for good reason. There are a handful of great books on the shelves at any given time, and Black Hammer has been and continues to be one of those books.

Creative Team: Jeff Lemire (writer, creator), Dean Ormston (artist, creator), Dave Stewart (colors), Todd Klein (letters), Daniel Chabon (editor), Brett Israel (assistant editor)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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