Black Hammer, Vol. 8: The End

Black Hammer

by Jeff Lemire, Malachi Ward (Illustrator)

The Eisner Award–winning superhero saga returns in this story picking up immediately after the events of the hit Reborn series.

In this multi-timeline, world-hopping adventure, we find new stakes, new heroes, and the long-awaited return to Black Hammer farm with the Weber family reuniting and facing many new challenges and villains in Jeff Lemire’s biggest event in the Black Hammer series thus far!

Collects Black The End #1–#6 and features a sketchbook section and bonus art by Tonci Zonjic, Tyler Crook, Caitlin Yarsky, David Rubin, Max Fiumara, and Wilfredo Torres.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Sequential Art, Fiction, Superheroes, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

176 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2024

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great ending to a fantastic multi-series story. It makes me want to go back and start from the beginning again!

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire closes his run of Black Hammer with a solid final volume.

All the characters you know and love come together for one final epic battle.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had some ups and downs with the Black Hammer series, but I was happy to see that Jeff Lemire was finally going to put an end to the decade-long superhero saga with a big slug-fest that wraps up all the dangling plot lines. And, hey, it actually manages to be a pretty darn satisfying conclusion as all the characters in Lemire's personal little superhero multiverse come together for one more final showdown with Anti-God.

Alas, I see that having tied everything up with a nice bow, he's going to continue to write more tales set in the world of Black Hammer. I'm tempted to use this as a jumping-off point, but I'll probably continue to poke around in the ashes just like him.

[Will McClintock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire killed it with this book. His Black Hammer universe is some of the most fun comics coming out today. Hopefully he decides to make more in this world somehow. Love this stuff

[Wouter Dhondt · Rating 2 out of 5]

They’ve definitely dragged this on way too long. Unsatisfying and unnecessary “end”. In retrospect it should have ended at age of doom.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 years of the Hammerverse. It's a great series the main series is top notch and many of the off shoot mini's grew the lore and exhibited some amazing creative teams. After the reboot I've been kind of Luke warm on this series though it was jarring losing Ormstums art and the story which was very well concluded after volume 4 seemed quite lacking. Either way this volume was a treat and the art was really stepped up a notch or two. I believe it's an artist change, but it looks like they tried to match the style for vol. 5,6,7

I guess Lemire is closing the door on his Magnum Opus and it gets a huge recommendation from me how he manages to write so many Super hero tropes, and bakes all the core elements of comics into the plot lines is such a wonderful homage to the history of comic books. This is such a genius series that has plenty back issues and volumes you could dive into write now

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire and the Black Hammer extended universe return for one final run at Anti-God. Yes, once again, everyone is fighting Anti-God. It's like Lemire had one idea for a villain in his new superhero playground.

Still, there are some small changes here. The characters from the Reborn series have arrived on the farm from the original series, and they've brought their problems with them. Namely, Anti-God has teamed up with evil Black Hammer to take out all the Hammer-wielders across all the worlds, including the ones now on the quiet, peaceful farm.

Meanwhile, a cross-world superhero team are planning a way to take down Anti-God even as he's destroying all their worlds. These two plotlines collide in a giant conclusion that (perhaps finally) ends the series. It's all fine and it looks good and it feels exactly like all the preceding Black Hammer material. It's weird to say, but this big Event Finale is kind of not essential reading.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This volume wraps up this series and gives it the epic and beautiful ending that it deserves. Black Hammer is one of my favorite comic series that Lemire has written and probably one of my favorite comic worlds that I’ve explored. This volume pays off every miniseries and other volume in a way that just had me nodding in approval and enjoyment. Glad to have enjoyed this ride!

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

So after years of building and story, we finally arrive at the end.

What first started as a... semi small story about displaced heroes, has morphed into a multi universe wide anthology/mythology. Jeff Lemire has crafted his own multiverse with Black Hammer, as he creates heroes and teams that not only live within the universe of our main cast, but outside of it as well. And he brings them all in together, to fight Anti God, once more.

I really enjoy the Black Hammer stories, I think what Lemire has been able to do with how he expanded so far from the first story is truly remarkable. I know a lot of writers nowadays write about the multiverse, but Lemire is so good at his craft that he often hits high marks in ways others cant. I will say that this last story is so big, so grandiose, that his usual, more personal story beats were a bit lost by the wayside. I think of Lemire as a writer who will get you in the feels with the quiet moments. The moments where characterization takes over in subtle ways, or emotion overwhelms plot. HOwever, with this one, we don't really get that. We get a bombastic ending - which, don't get me wrong, was pretty awesome. Black Hammer rises again and this time, her future incarnation is with her for the future.

So the door is left open for more, but if Lemire stops here, I would be satisfied with Black Hammer. Highly recommended for fans of superhero comics in general.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a great ending and seriously I loved BH and this volume sticks the end and I love how it focuses on Lucy and her family on one side in the farm where Abe and all are at peace and then you have the other half of the series where the heroes are coming together to form this multiversal team of heroes vs Anti-god and the fight there is awesome and yeah they are losing but they still continue to fight and a great focus on Skulldigger/Spacedigger (Lemire's version of Batman) and then how Black hammer comes in by the end and such a great character portrayal of Lucy and also her daughter and family in that strange way, only Lemire can do this!!

In the face of multiversal carnage, you have a great story about family and legacy and good vs evil and when things seem bleak, heroes come to save you and yeah a great story all around, to bookend this amazing saga he has been writing for a long time now and the ending with them coming together as a team and one earth.. its a perfect homage to COIE and seriously I loved this whole universe, and while its bittersweet to bid adieu, it really was a great read overall from the art to the writing and minis of diff. characters.. just perfect!!

[Jake Kilroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's pretty incredible to build your own multiverse—something glorious, detailed, and engaging. It's also pretty incredible to do it as Lemire, someone responsible for an already ungodly amount of comic favorites. This ending felt wild and sprawling until its climax came shortly and surely, and so ends a really lovely series about superheroes as simple, straightforward individuals to their cores. It takes a lot to fight evil, especially a mondo-monstrous character called Anti-God, but prioritizing your happiness, family, and the rest of your personal world within the larger world within the multiverse can prove more daunting than anything. Is it selfish to choose your kids over a heroic death? Is it selfish to attend couples' counseling when the world may be ending? These aren't questions asked by this volume, or the entire series, really, but it did make me wonder what you have to contend with as someone who carries with them the weight of the worlds. How do you make decisions if you're told repeatedly that you're a cog in the fate of the battle between good and evil? How do you address destiny when you are a person as well as a hero? When will it end? Who are you to the spell of eternity?

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire finishes ten years of the Black Hammer universe with more of a whimper than a bang. It just didn't feel epic enough, even though almost every character from the entire run gets at least some stage time, and the crisis is literally the end of the world(s). Maybe that's the problem--there's too much (some of which is hard to remember) in too little time. Combine this with Malachi Ward's minimalistic artwork, with many splash pages and a lot of pages with only four or five panels, and events seem to just jump from one scene to another without much transition. I will say that Lemire sticks the landing with clear resolutions for all the characters and leaves a crack open for more if he ever decides to return. I especially like Colonel Weird's resolution, a character who has always seemed to be suffering, but is now at relative peace. The emphasis on family unity is a theme that has run throughout the series, so I'm glad that it ends with many family (both biological and found) reunions. The Black Hammer universe is as full as any Marvel or DC universe, and although Lemire did at times fall back onto familiar tropes, he also deconstructed and rebuilt many of those tropes over the years into something unique, entertaining, and thought provoking.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire's ambitious finale for Black Hammer leaps across timelines and pulls characters from almost all of the little spin-off series that have come out during the whole run.

There's an attempt made to keep this feeling very personal, as Lucy Weber and her family are right in the centre, but it doesn't quite manage to keep that balance when the multiverse is falling apart (that old chestnut), so neither set of problems really lands the way they should. The ending's very 'safe', and leaves the door open for more later on if Lemire wants to revisit the characters - there's a nice resolution for Colonel Weird though, who I think has probably been the best character across all eight volumes (except perhaps Madame Dragonfly).

Okay, but...missing something. It makes me wonder if Lemire wanted to finish this stuff off so he could focus on other things and so didn't quite end this way he'd intended.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fitting ending to a great graphic novel series. I absolutely loved the characters pulled into this volume, and will sincerely miss them. Thank you to Jeff Lemire and all of the artists, colorists, letterers, etc. who have worked on this series throughout the years. I highly recommend this graphic novel and this series.

[Steve Portigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mostly enjoyable, a bit hard to keep track of all the threads and random characters and callbacks from 10 years of books, and a lot of people saying to each other 'we've got to do this!' and "he's too strong but we've got to try!' and ultimately it's just rehashing events that have happened before (and before and before) with yet another meta framing on it, but yeah, I enjoyed it.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially V4 of Rebirth, but with a new name (and sadly not collected in the third omnibus/library, despite that being where it obviously belongs).

It's a big slugfest without the depth of most of the previous volumes, but nonetheless it's nice to see the stories from V1-7 all dovetail into this.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the end, it's obvious. There's only one place this story was ever headed: multiverse. At first, I didn't really get what Malachi Ward was doing with the illustration and I found the style too simple and stilted. Then I realized that each world was getting it's one visual style and I appreciated the added visual reinforcement of where/when the scene was taking place.

[uzhuj · Rating 3 out of 5]

It all descends to multiverse madness. There are a few charater beats that I enjoyed, but apart from that, quite straightforward, wrapping it all up.
All in all this series is a disappointment for me. It could not live up to the promise that the first 2 volumes shown.

[Martijn Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Multiverse stories are opt outs most of times. Writers f*ded up and solve this by using the multiverse. Not so with Lemire. This ending of his incredible run of Black Hammer and World of Black Hammer stories feels and reads like it was always meant to be about multiverses (paraverses).

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid ending to one of the best superhero comic of the modern era. Ticked off the boxes as to what happens with the characters, perhaps a little too slavish to comic tropes.

Doesn't match the electricity of the first couple of volumes.

[Adam Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty satisfying end to this second age of Black Hammer, if maybe not quite as successful overall as the first. The art on this volume sadly was really not to my liking -- I found it distracted me from the story rather than pulling me into it, but it is what it is.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 3 out of 5]

un cierre algo forzado, pero mantuvo la tensión hasta el final

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The new Black Hammer were never the same. I didn’t like that one. The humor, the story, even the visual style, nothing really click with me. Sorry!

[Karrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the first book was awesome. Then just confusing from there.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a shrug of an ending...

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loses some of the emotional core, but goes out with a bang.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story got stretched out longer than it should have but it had nice closure for now.

[Kevin MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lemire sticks the landing in this solid conclusion to his Black Hammer mythos, but I’m glad he’s continuing the world in some form!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I'm just multi-versed out, but the ending fell pretty flat for me.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great series. Not sure I would have ended it like this.