Black Hammer '45
Jeff Lemire & Ray Fawkes, story; Ray Fawkes, script; Matt Kindt, artist; Sharlene Kindt, colorist; Marie Enger, letterer
Dark Horse Books, 2019
Yet another cool corner of the Black Hammer universe: the World War II era Black Hammer Squadron. Four ace pilots, led by Hammer Hawthorne--but they're more than that. They are more like adventurers, just as likely to parachute down to the ground and continue the fight there. They do not have super powers, but are both preternaturally skilled and extraordinarily lucky. And they do interact with some of the Spiral City heroes: both Golden Gail and Abraham Slam make appearances (there were references to wartime experiences in the Black Hammer series). In the final showdown with the Nazi ace the Ghost Hunter the mechanized Soviet Unit called the Red Tide is a factor (and another surreal element in an otherwise realistic war story). But in the end it is Hammer versus the Ghost, and we finally see the conclusion to the war memorial story that has threaded through the story: the past and the present come together. This is the first Black Hammer story that Jeff Lemire did not write, but the authorial voice feels authentic. Matt Kindt's art is more of a disruption. Not that it doesn't work for the story, just that it is so distinctive that the comic can't help but feel like a Kindt story. The collection concludes with several interesting sketchbook pages, showing the transition from pencils to inks to colors.
Replies
I read and really enjoyed this comic. It still definitely felt like a Black Hammer story. I liked it despite the Matt Kindt art which I am not a fan of.