The Hammer: The Complete Series

by Kelley Jones

Against the crawling corruption of the darkest pits of the universe stands only one man. A hero whose knowledge spans the limitless depths of both the Necronomicon and the Betty Crocker cookbook. The salvation of our world rests in the greasy hands of a morally ambiguous, fried-food craving zealot for good. His enemies and his friends fear him, his grocer loves him. He is The Hammer.

Genres: Comics

234 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 21, 2014

About the author

Kelley Jones is a comic book artist best known for his work on Batman with Doug Moench and The Sandman with Neil Gaiman. A critically acclaimed artist throughout his career, Jones’ recent work includes Swamp Thing: The Dead Don’t Sleep

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hammer is about an extra-dimensional being that comes to our world to combat ancient, awakening evils. I read Kelley Jones' first Hammer miniseries back when Dark Horse published it in 1997. I had loved Jones' striking interpretations of Batman, Deadman and others, and his style of art in general, but was a little disappointed with the humorous tone of this series. I wanted serious horror and instead got a somewhat lighthearted pastiche. The Hammer is inspired by Lovecraft, but it's Lovecraft by way of Stuart Gordon. You can almost see Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton in the lead roles of the first story. It put me off then and I didn't read any of the follow-ups until now.

But I couldn't resist a full collection of Kelley's art, so I decided to give it another look. The humor still grated at times, but at least I was prepared for it. There are enough of his other qualities--shadowy scenes, voluptuous women, grotesque monsters and general weirdness--to make it worthwhile. 3½ stars.

[michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The weird hero

Love the art and the visual angles. This is a good read of an of beat characters. A step away form modern superheroes. I'd like to see him return or at least guest shot in hellboy or something. Jam

[D. M. Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5