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Black Hammer/Justice League #1-5
Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice!
DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics present the ultimate superhero crossover event of 2019!
A strange man arrives simultaneously on Black Hammer Farm and in Metropolis and both worlds are warped as Starro attacks! Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, and more crossover with Golden Gail, Colonel Weird and the rest of the Black Hammer gang!
Collects Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice #1-5 and featuring pinup art by Yanick Paquette, Yuko Shimizu, Matteo Scalera, Andrea Sorrentino, Doc Shaner, Jill Thompson, and more!
A strange man arrives simultaneously on Black Hammer Farm and in Metropolis and both worlds are warped as Starro attacks! Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, and more crossover with Golden Gail, Colonel Weird and the rest of the Black Hammer gang!
Collects Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice #1-5 and featuring pinup art by Yanick Paquette, Yuko Shimizu, Matteo Scalera, Andrea Sorrentino, Doc Shaner, Jill Thompson, and more!
168 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2020
5 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Lemire
1,393 books3,874 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
December 1, 2020
Someone is fucking with the Black Hammer/Justice League universes and pulls a switcheroo.
One minute the Justice League is fighting off Starro and the next minute they're on a farm.
WTF? <--says Bruce
Of course, at the same time, our other heroes have suddenly found themselves in a universe that they don't recognize.
Even if you haven't read Lemire's Black Hammer, you'll be able to somewhat understand what's going on here. All you need to know is that somewhere in the multiverse there's a group of heroes who have been trapped in a small town far away from their own universe and they can't get back.
Thery are not happy about that. <--some are more unhappy than others, though
These crossovers are incredibly hit or miss. I think anyone who reads graphic novels would agree with that. This one, however? It was a hit.
I loved it.
LOVED IT.
Recommended.
One minute the Justice League is fighting off Starro and the next minute they're on a farm.
WTF? <--says Bruce
Of course, at the same time, our other heroes have suddenly found themselves in a universe that they don't recognize.
Even if you haven't read Lemire's Black Hammer, you'll be able to somewhat understand what's going on here. All you need to know is that somewhere in the multiverse there's a group of heroes who have been trapped in a small town far away from their own universe and they can't get back.
Thery are not happy about that. <--some are more unhappy than others, though
These crossovers are incredibly hit or miss. I think anyone who reads graphic novels would agree with that. This one, however? It was a hit.
I loved it.
LOVED IT.
Recommended.
November 5, 2020
*yawn* "They do love their big team-ups, don't they?" -- Madame Dragonfly, witch
"They do indeed. But after the fun of the first few punches and quips they tend to drag on." -- Mr. Mxyzptlk, super-villain
With a subtitle like Hammer of Justice!, this Dark Horse / DC crossover book - featuring the meeting of two superhero squads, the upstart Black Hammer and the legendary Justice League - seems to promise a notable, action-packed event. (Also, note to writers / editors - using an '!' to end a title may make an audience recall all of the zany comedy films of the 80's and 90's, like Airplane!, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, and Hot Shots! . . . in other words, we're not gonna take it too seriously.) However, this volume was mediocre - the plotting was 'B'-grade sci-fi, the action scenes were few and far between, the entire Justice League did not show much personality, and I can't say I was too enamored of the newbies from Black Hammer (other than some of the funny dialogue from the oversexed Golden Gail and the argumentative Barbalien), either. Not even a cameo appearance by mistress of magic Zatanna (who, like Black Canary, can - just in my opinion - usually improve a DC story) could help save this one. Maybe it all would've worked better if it had just ripped off Freaky Friday using role reversal / soul exchanges. I think it was rather telling that the dialogue I included above made its way into the book - maybe the production staff was bored, too!
"They do indeed. But after the fun of the first few punches and quips they tend to drag on." -- Mr. Mxyzptlk, super-villain
With a subtitle like Hammer of Justice!, this Dark Horse / DC crossover book - featuring the meeting of two superhero squads, the upstart Black Hammer and the legendary Justice League - seems to promise a notable, action-packed event. (Also, note to writers / editors - using an '!' to end a title may make an audience recall all of the zany comedy films of the 80's and 90's, like Airplane!, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, and Hot Shots! . . . in other words, we're not gonna take it too seriously.) However, this volume was mediocre - the plotting was 'B'-grade sci-fi, the action scenes were few and far between, the entire Justice League did not show much personality, and I can't say I was too enamored of the newbies from Black Hammer (other than some of the funny dialogue from the oversexed Golden Gail and the argumentative Barbalien), either. Not even a cameo appearance by mistress of magic Zatanna (who, like Black Canary, can - just in my opinion - usually improve a DC story) could help save this one. Maybe it all would've worked better if it had just ripped off Freaky Friday using role reversal / soul exchanges. I think it was rather telling that the dialogue I included above made its way into the book - maybe the production staff was bored, too!
May 15, 2020
Surprisingly bland, actually. This takes place when the Black Hammer gang is still on the farm. The Justice League and Black Hammer folks trade places. The Justice League part is really dull. The bright moments are when the Black Hammer crew interact with Martian Manhunter and Aquaman.
August 17, 2020
This has all the trappings that one might expect from a Big House Crossover Event!!! but nothing really happens, actually. The idea is that this is a collaboration between DC and Dark Hotrse Comics. Which could get your attention; okay, it did (sort of) work for me, but I had low expectations, in spite of the fact that I am a Lemire fan and have read all of the ambitious Black Hammer series. So on the one hand, what an opoortunity to bring a Big House together with an alternative comics publisher. But then do something interesting with it, people!
both
This is basically what you have, the premise: The Black Hammer group, with Golden Gail and Colonel Weird and others are in Metropolis and the DC superheroes--chiefly Superman, Batman and Wonderwoman--are at the Hammer Farm and they are out of sync, of course, and some of them expect Something Terrible is Going To Happen. So, parallel universes, sort of, and Starro attacks, okay. They didn't really know anything really cool to do with this process of bringing the two groups together--except a dinner with drinks.
One funny moment: Gail swears a lot but finds when she is in the DC universe that she is not allowed (for DC teen audiences) to swear.
*60-year-old Gail is freed (for a time) from being trapped (for some reason) in the body of a 10-year-old girl; then commences old woman jokes about her, ugh.
*Gail hits on Aquaman, which was mildly amusing.
*Flying killer whales, mainly for the excuse of illustrating flying killer whales
*Eh, the fifth -dimensional imp/villain Mr. Mxyzptlk. Ooh, (not) scary!!
Utterly forgettable. But you can tell it it si abig crossover event in that there are 42 pages of pinups/alt covers, chief illustrator Michael Walsh's sketchbook. Maybe spend more time on a cool story next time?
both
This is basically what you have, the premise: The Black Hammer group, with Golden Gail and Colonel Weird and others are in Metropolis and the DC superheroes--chiefly Superman, Batman and Wonderwoman--are at the Hammer Farm and they are out of sync, of course, and some of them expect Something Terrible is Going To Happen. So, parallel universes, sort of, and Starro attacks, okay. They didn't really know anything really cool to do with this process of bringing the two groups together--except a dinner with drinks.
One funny moment: Gail swears a lot but finds when she is in the DC universe that she is not allowed (for DC teen audiences) to swear.
*60-year-old Gail is freed (for a time) from being trapped (for some reason) in the body of a 10-year-old girl; then commences old woman jokes about her, ugh.
*Gail hits on Aquaman, which was mildly amusing.
*Flying killer whales, mainly for the excuse of illustrating flying killer whales
*Eh, the fifth -dimensional imp/villain Mr. Mxyzptlk. Ooh, (not) scary!!
Utterly forgettable. But you can tell it it si abig crossover event in that there are 42 pages of pinups/alt covers, chief illustrator Michael Walsh's sketchbook. Maybe spend more time on a cool story next time?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2020
Starts out strong, but ends rather weakly, as the plot is reined in by the stories of each particular universe.
It is interesting to me that the Black Hammer characters seem much more interesting and funny than the DC characters, but that could just be the difference between writing for existing and created characters.
It is interesting to me that the Black Hammer characters seem much more interesting and funny than the DC characters, but that could just be the difference between writing for existing and created characters.
June 27, 2020
Black Hammer/Justice League collide to make both a funny and interesting side piece.
If you've been reading Black Hammer this takes place before the events of the last book. It has the DC characters going into the Black Hammer world and the Black Hammer characters going into the DC world. It's funny to see the different life styles and how the heroes react to the situation. And then bending and crossing over actually makes sense somehow.
It's not essential reading for Black Hammer fans but it's a fun stop. A 3 out of 5.
If you've been reading Black Hammer this takes place before the events of the last book. It has the DC characters going into the Black Hammer world and the Black Hammer characters going into the DC world. It's funny to see the different life styles and how the heroes react to the situation. And then bending and crossing over actually makes sense somehow.
It's not essential reading for Black Hammer fans but it's a fun stop. A 3 out of 5.
June 11, 2020
(3,5 of 5 for quite good but completely unnecessary tie-in to Balck Hammer)
Well, after rather letdown experience with BH universe I didn't want to read this, but it's not that long and it was last of my "BH universe reading bundle". And it wasn't bad. I don't know why this existed, it feels like some promo for JL/BH (and grind some money from JL and BH fans along the way) than something that needed to be done. The story is simple - members of switch place with our sorry prisoners on the farm. And then they all try to get back to their universe.
One upside is the art. It looks good; it's the style I like - decent but precise. The plot is fun, I didn't bot bored or annoyed but the whole time I was thinking why this crossover happened.
Well, after rather letdown experience with BH universe I didn't want to read this, but it's not that long and it was last of my "BH universe reading bundle". And it wasn't bad. I don't know why this existed, it feels like some promo for JL/BH (and grind some money from JL and BH fans along the way) than something that needed to be done. The story is simple - members of switch place with our sorry prisoners on the farm. And then they all try to get back to their universe.
One upside is the art. It looks good; it's the style I like - decent but precise. The plot is fun, I didn't bot bored or annoyed but the whole time I was thinking why this crossover happened.
April 6, 2020
A fun mystery adventure, even if the mystery is a bit easy to guess.
This book takes place before Age of Doom part 2, as the Black Hammer team is on the farm and haven't even sent off the probe that eventual leads them out of the farm once and for all. A mysterious man basically switches them with the Justice League. So the JL end up on the farm, thinking they've been there for 10 years, and the BH team end up in metropolis, where the rest of the JL crew are grilling them on what happened. Eventually all is conveniently wrapped up, and everyone returns to their normal place with no knowledge of the events that occurred.
Basically this was a big excuse to have each team meet each other, and see how they interact. It is interesting as the BH characters are based on DC and Marvel characters, so seeing the similarities, and differences, is really entertaining and charming.
If I had to criticize something I would say the villain behind it all was easy to figure out and also on a bigger scale, vastly overused to explain impossible scenarios occurring when they do. However all in all, its a good story that I would mostly describe as fun.
Recommended for fans of either team who want to read something that is not going to affect their own respective continuity.
This book takes place before Age of Doom part 2, as the Black Hammer team is on the farm and haven't even sent off the probe that eventual leads them out of the farm once and for all. A mysterious man basically switches them with the Justice League. So the JL end up on the farm, thinking they've been there for 10 years, and the BH team end up in metropolis, where the rest of the JL crew are grilling them on what happened. Eventually all is conveniently wrapped up, and everyone returns to their normal place with no knowledge of the events that occurred.
Basically this was a big excuse to have each team meet each other, and see how they interact. It is interesting as the BH characters are based on DC and Marvel characters, so seeing the similarities, and differences, is really entertaining and charming.
If I had to criticize something I would say the villain behind it all was easy to figure out and also on a bigger scale, vastly overused to explain impossible scenarios occurring when they do. However all in all, its a good story that I would mostly describe as fun.
Recommended for fans of either team who want to read something that is not going to affect their own respective continuity.
September 25, 2021
I was surprised to find myself enjoying this crossover between the DC and Black Hammer Universes. It's a little amusing and a little thrilling as the pastiche characters meet some of the archetypes upon whom they are based, though I was disappointed we didn't have straight on match-ups between the most direct influences, but that probably wouldn't be very marketable. Sure, it amounts to a very special episode of Gilligan's Island, but it's fun all the same.
After the five issue story, there's basically a sixth issue of nothing but variant covers. Gabriel Hernández Walta wins with his Batman looming on a rusty old water pump windmill. Terry Dodson loses with his aging up of 9-year-old Golden Gail so he can give her breasts to rival Wonder Woman's. It's really skeevy, especially opposite an age-appropriate Gail going head-to-head with Hawkgirl on the left page in an awesome image by Sandy Jarrell.
After the five issue story, there's basically a sixth issue of nothing but variant covers. Gabriel Hernández Walta wins with his Batman looming on a rusty old water pump windmill. Terry Dodson loses with his aging up of 9-year-old Golden Gail so he can give her breasts to rival Wonder Woman's. It's really skeevy, especially opposite an age-appropriate Gail going head-to-head with Hawkgirl on the left page in an awesome image by Sandy Jarrell.
December 8, 2020
Rýchla oddychovka, od ktorej som nečakala nič a dostala zábavných päť zošitov, ktoré ma všetky bavili. Gail je skvelá celú dobu, nakreslené je to super, nie je to zbytočne prekomplikované a napratané zbytočnými dialógami, príjemne akčné a celkovo mi to spojenie oboch tímov v jednom príbehu sadlo. Za mňa 4,5/5 a kľudne by som zniesla ďalších päť zošitov.
February 17, 2020
Fun and perfectly dispensable but honestly what did you expect? This is the kind of story that always leaves the premises as clean as they were when you first came in and it does just that.
Still, though being predictable and all and without breaking any record it's good enough. Fans/completists of Black Hammer will want it in their collection.
Still, though being predictable and all and without breaking any record it's good enough. Fans/completists of Black Hammer will want it in their collection.
February 17, 2021
«ЧМ/ЛС: Молот правосуддя» — кросовер двох світів, який є досить дивним, як не крути. Автором коміксу є Джефф Лемір, художником Майкл Волш.
Зав’язка є настільки простою, на скільки це можливо. З’явився невідомий чоловік в капелюсі на фермі з героями ЧМ і той він же з’явився під час бійки ЛС із Старро в їхньому світі. І магічним способом міняє їх місцями, деяких суперегероїв із DC закидує на ферму, а «чорномолотівців» закидує у бій зі Ста��ро. Думаю легко здогадатися, що це за такий негідник все зробив, але якщо й ні, то коли за сюжетом його особистість розкриється, то вигулькне думка: «Ну звісно!».
Тепер кожна група намагатиметься зрозуміти, що за дупа така відбулася. Мені цікавіше було спостерігати за Суперменом, Диво-Жікою, Бетменом і Кіборгом на фермі, аніж за Ейбрегемом, Варбулцем, Золотою Ґейл і мадам Сурекіт. Адже перші прийняли ролі героїв ЧМ і це було трохи смішно.
Комікс вийшов непоганим, але чогось особливого в ньому немає.
Зав’язка є настільки простою, на скільки це можливо. З’явився невідомий чоловік в капелюсі на фермі з героями ЧМ і той він же з’явився під час бійки ЛС із Старро в їхньому світі. І магічним способом міняє їх місцями, деяких суперегероїв із DC закидує на ферму, а «чорномолотівців» закидує у бій зі Ста��ро. Думаю легко здогадатися, що це за такий негідник все зробив, але якщо й ні, то коли за сюжетом його особистість розкриється, то вигулькне думка: «Ну звісно!».
Тепер кожна група намагатиметься зрозуміти, що за дупа така відбулася. Мені цікавіше було спостерігати за Суперменом, Диво-Жікою, Бетменом і Кіборгом на фермі, аніж за Ейбрегемом, Варбулцем, Золотою Ґейл і мадам Сурекіт. Адже перші прийняли ролі героїв ЧМ і це було трохи смішно.
Комікс вийшов непоганим, але чогось особливого в ньому немає.
June 15, 2020
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
Co-created with the help of artist Dean Ormston, writer Jeff Lemire was finally able to deliver a project that he has been working on for years: Black Hammer. Uniquely distinguished in terms of artistic vision, it also served as a beautiful and intimate love letter to Golden Age superheroes while focused on its own story-line filled with deception and a pursuit for happiness. While the main story-arc is now completed, it gave birth to a large catalog of spin-off series that varied greatly in terms of quality for both the story and artwork. This time around, with a cross-platform movie and television shared universe currently in the works, creator Jeff Lemire now embarks on an adventure that will allow him to crossover his Black Hammer universe with one of the most beloved team-ups belonging to DC Comics: The Justice League.
What is Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice! about? Set in two distinct yet familiar universes, the story introduces an eerily mysterious individual suddenly arriving simultaneously on Black Hammer Farm and in Metropolis. While the six heroes of Spiral City (Abraham Slam, Barbalien, Golden Gail, Colonel Randall Weird, and Madame Dragonfly) continue to dwell in the past as they try to adjust their lives around their unbearable reality where they remain trapped at the farm, and the Justice League heroes (Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg) fight off a Starro invasion, the strange man accomplishes the impossible by warping the two teams into one another's universe. It is only through trust, communication, and acceptance that these heroes can work towards solving this unwarranted anomaly. This stand-alone crossover event collects Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice! #1-5 as well as pinup art by various artists.
Cross-publisher crossover events tend to struggle immensely in developing a coherent and wholesome story. It's inevitable. If the reader is unaware of either universe, there's a significant chance of falling through the cracks and being incapable to understand the appeal of such a story. It wasn't the case for writer Jeff Lemire. He does a commendable job in trying to summarize the grander themes that are usually at play within the Black Hammer universe to try and give these characters some foundation to work with. This issue is also almost non-existent when it comes to the Justice League since their reputation precedes them. This allowed him to quickly establish his characters and focus on the story at hand.
But that doesn't stop this story to find its own share of issues along the way. The premise is excellent and allows a fascinating take on both franchises, revealing the similarities and differences between both casts in an explicit fashion. Writer Jeff Lemire even integrates a few of his metaphysical elements from his Black Hammer universe to maintain that series' identity. However, once the antagonist is revealed, the story goes down a slippery slope, a descent into mundanity. In fact, the action sequences become conventional, the resolution is obvious and predictable, and the dialogue loses authenticity, especially between the characters from both universes.
Partnered with artist Michael Walsh, this crossover event does also succeed in delivering some style to the journey at hand. Complemented by a tricolour scheme, the character designs respected the original source material of each of their universes and offered a coherent vision that justified the crossover event. Splash pages also presented some stunning moments that captured the magic of each of these worlds while also accentuating critical moments in the narrative. On top of that, the artwork was able to convey the emotions of the characters but didn't always go all the way to turn this crossover event into a psychological and individual journey for these characters. If anything, this serves as an entertaining entry point for readers who aren't necessarily accustomed to these heroes.
Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice! is a decent crossover event exploring two distinct yet similar universes.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
January 3, 2021
This might be my favorite of all the Black Hammer content I have read. This is a team up I didn’t know I needed
December 13, 2019
Když tenhle crossover ohlasili, tak se mi v hlave ozvala Jolanda a jeji "A jeje, toho sem se bala!", ale nakonec z toho neni zadnej pruser.
BH/JL se nese v daleko odlehcenejsim duchu nez puvodni rada, kde me popravde opousti prvotni nadseni (coz je moje prirozena reakce na to, kdyz se nekde objevi cestovani v case, alternativni dimenze a podobny veci).
Premisa je hodne jednoducha - jakejsi podivnej chlapek zaridi, aby si oba tymy prohodili role a Justice League se tak ocitne na farme a particka z farmy naopak v Metropolis (asi). JL na farme zapadne do roli puvodnich obyvatel (Clark je smirenej farmar a Bruce naopak zustava ve strehu) a hrdinove z Black Hammer univerza maji naopak co vysvetlovat zbylejm clenum JL v cele s Aquamanem a Martian Manhunterem.
Samotnej pribeh tady nehraje nejak velkou roli a cely to stoji a pada na interakci postav a narazkach na "tropy" obou svetu. Gail nadavky jsou najednou ve svete JL "cenzurovany", Barbalien a Martian Manhunter se dohadujou jestli jsou martani cerveny nebo zeleny atp.
Nakonec se z toho vyklubala fajn oddechovka, ktera se nesnazi bejt tolik deep jako Black Hammer a ani strasne epicka jako vetsina DC crossoveru. Rozhodne je to zabavnejsi nez posledni dve spinoff serie BH. Za me 3,5 a zaokrouhlim nahoru :).
BH/JL se nese v daleko odlehcenejsim duchu nez puvodni rada, kde me popravde opousti prvotni nadseni (coz je moje prirozena reakce na to, kdyz se nekde objevi cestovani v case, alternativni dimenze a podobny veci).
Premisa je hodne jednoducha - jakejsi podivnej chlapek zaridi, aby si oba tymy prohodili role a Justice League se tak ocitne na farme a particka z farmy naopak v Metropolis (asi). JL na farme zapadne do roli puvodnich obyvatel (Clark je smirenej farmar a Bruce naopak zustava ve strehu) a hrdinove z Black Hammer univerza maji naopak co vysvetlovat zbylejm clenum JL v cele s Aquamanem a Martian Manhunterem.
Samotnej pribeh tady nehraje nejak velkou roli a cely to stoji a pada na interakci postav a narazkach na "tropy" obou svetu. Gail nadavky jsou najednou ve svete JL "cenzurovany", Barbalien a Martian Manhunter se dohadujou jestli jsou martani cerveny nebo zeleny atp.
Nakonec se z toho vyklubala fajn oddechovka, ktera se nesnazi bejt tolik deep jako Black Hammer a ani strasne epicka jako vetsina DC crossoveru. Rozhodne je to zabavnejsi nez posledni dve spinoff serie BH. Za me 3,5 a zaokrouhlim nahoru :).
August 18, 2020
This was an interesting story, pairing the perennially cranky Black Hammer team with the Justice League.
A guy walks into the farm, and zap, the BLack Hammer team is in Gotham, or wherever the Justice League was in the midst of a fight against weird, starfish things. The Justice Leaguers are transported to the farm, and experience the same ennui and frustration the Black Hammer team has.
Weird and a few of the other Justice Leaguers begin hunting for a solution, and we’re treated to a short time with the Black Hammer team not limited to the farm.
I would have liked this story more if I hadn’t felt that the writers had Golden Gail acquiescing just too, too easily, to resolve the situation. This is Golden *#*@& Gail we’re talking about!
A guy walks into the farm, and zap, the BLack Hammer team is in Gotham, or wherever the Justice League was in the midst of a fight against weird, starfish things. The Justice Leaguers are transported to the farm, and experience the same ennui and frustration the Black Hammer team has.
Weird and a few of the other Justice Leaguers begin hunting for a solution, and we’re treated to a short time with the Black Hammer team not limited to the farm.
I would have liked this story more if I hadn’t felt that the writers had Golden Gail acquiescing just too, too easily, to resolve the situation. This is Golden *#*@& Gail we’re talking about!
February 28, 2021
Never figured I’d be reading Justice League comics, this is way, way too traditional superhero mainstream for me, but then, of course, they weren’t the main attraction. The main attraction is the other team. So when The Justice League and the other league switch places in a freak occurrence, it provides for all kinds of fun. Will these superheroes get their situations sorted out and manage to hammer out some justice in the process? Read and find out.
This was pretty enjoyable, actually, way more so than the tales of Spiral City or whatever the last one I read was. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a traditional superhero comic, I even watch the movies reluctantly, which is why it took me all this time to finally check out the recent Justice League movies and even then I managed to do it out of order. To be fair, the movies were actually pretty fun, though out of the superheroes whose names end in man, only Aquaman is cast well and I don’t even want to get started on the rest. Anyway, this book was fun in much the same vein. Bright, loud, exciting. And the art was quite good too, actually it was very close to Ormston’s original style but more mainstream. So yeah, whichever team you’re on, this should entertain.
This was pretty enjoyable, actually, way more so than the tales of Spiral City or whatever the last one I read was. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a traditional superhero comic, I even watch the movies reluctantly, which is why it took me all this time to finally check out the recent Justice League movies and even then I managed to do it out of order. To be fair, the movies were actually pretty fun, though out of the superheroes whose names end in man, only Aquaman is cast well and I don’t even want to get started on the rest. Anyway, this book was fun in much the same vein. Bright, loud, exciting. And the art was quite good too, actually it was very close to Ormston’s original style but more mainstream. So yeah, whichever team you’re on, this should entertain.
August 18, 2024
This was fun! I like how the explanation of the universes intertwining played out and I enjoyed the character interactions between these teams. The art style for this one perfectly. Really my biggest complaint was that I just wanted more out of this story. It was great to see Lemire take some of his toys and throw them in the same sandbox as some of the characters that inspired him to create this universe.
October 24, 2021
This was actually better than I thought it'd be. It's a nice fan service while still staying true to both worlds. Pretty fun.
January 5, 2021
A fun mashup of the Justice League and heroes from Black Hammer. The best were the exchanges between Col. Weird, The Flash and John Stewart/Green Lantern. Pretty cool to see Spectre show up as well.
July 13, 2020
While the idea seemed a little out-of-left-field, Lemire's heroes are very much based on DC characters, so this made more sense the more I thought about it. It has the perfect villain for it (who was obvious from practically the first page, but I won't begrudge the reveal halfway through the book), and, aside from a random aside on the Bizarro planet, does a very good job of utilizing the DC Universe to shine lights on the Black Hammer characters. And a little bit of the reverse, too. Some of the DC cameos work really well (Zatanna is well utilized) and Lemire has a fair bit of fun with some of the contrasts, like Barbalien and the Martian Manhunter arguing about what color Martians should be, and Gail basically creeping out the DC universe (her moments with Aquaman are great). Colonel Weird gets a little more spotlighting than usual, and has some of the more unique moments of the series. Art is good throughout; channeling Lemire's style even if it's not actually him doing the work. It all comes back to the status quo unsurprisingly, but it's a fun and strange little adventure that fans of Black Hammer will enjoy; I don't know how much those who haven't read Black Hammer will get out of it, though.
August 11, 2020
The story is so-so (and isn’t helped by the revealing of the main villain), but I enjoyed the dialogue as is usual in a Lemire written book. The snarky quibbling of the Black Hammer group is fun and true to their characters as readers of this series have come to know them. And it’s fun to see several of the Justice League characters interact as normal people and their verbal exchanges were also true to character.
But it was the artwork that pushes my rating up to 4. Who doesn’t like seeing the Big Three of the League in action or posed powerfully across the page? And this book shows them in street wear, driving pickups, and arguing about a tractor in a barn.
In addition to the book’s art, I found the 22 pages of variant covers at the end really enjoyable and impressive. Maybe the best example of alternative interpretations of characters, settings, and moods I’ve seen.
This series has been called a homage to comics history, and therefore a crossover like this must have a big battle scene. But Lemire humorously (and with a self-referential awareness of what he himself is doing) undercuts the whole thing with my favorite lines in the book, this exchange between the villain and Madame Dragonfly:
“Are you going to just let them keep fighting.”
“(YAWN) They do love their big team ups, don’t they?”
“They do indeed. But after the fun of the first few punches and quips they tend to drag on.”
“Maybe so, but all stories end eventually....”
But it was the artwork that pushes my rating up to 4. Who doesn’t like seeing the Big Three of the League in action or posed powerfully across the page? And this book shows them in street wear, driving pickups, and arguing about a tractor in a barn.
In addition to the book’s art, I found the 22 pages of variant covers at the end really enjoyable and impressive. Maybe the best example of alternative interpretations of characters, settings, and moods I’ve seen.
This series has been called a homage to comics history, and therefore a crossover like this must have a big battle scene. But Lemire humorously (and with a self-referential awareness of what he himself is doing) undercuts the whole thing with my favorite lines in the book, this exchange between the villain and Madame Dragonfly:
“Are you going to just let them keep fighting.”
“(YAWN) They do love their big team ups, don’t they?”
“They do indeed. But after the fun of the first few punches and quips they tend to drag on.”
“Maybe so, but all stories end eventually....”
November 25, 2019
Much better than expected.
July 25, 2021
As a kid, I used to love when Marvel and DC did the occasional "crossover" issues, like when the Teen Titans teamed up with the X-Men. To be fair, not all crossovers were successful or memorable. It was just fun seeing heroes from DC and Marvel together.
Jeff Lemire, creator of the Dark Horse comic book series "Black Hammer", decided to try his hand on a cross-over with DC's Justice League. It's awesome.
Lemire's saving grace is showing respect to the DC universe while also poking fun at the whole genre, which he did well in his "Black Hammer" series. Indeed, there is more humor in this limited series than there is the obligatory spandex-clad superhero action.
The villain is Mr. Mxlptlplk (forgive my spellling, but I don't think it matters), pronounced phonetically "Mix-ill-plik". I always thought he was the silliest of Superman's villains, which is perhaps why Lemire chose to use him as the villain.
Great stuff.
Jeff Lemire, creator of the Dark Horse comic book series "Black Hammer", decided to try his hand on a cross-over with DC's Justice League. It's awesome.
Lemire's saving grace is showing respect to the DC universe while also poking fun at the whole genre, which he did well in his "Black Hammer" series. Indeed, there is more humor in this limited series than there is the obligatory spandex-clad superhero action.
The villain is Mr. Mxlptlplk (forgive my spellling, but I don't think it matters), pronounced phonetically "Mix-ill-plik". I always thought he was the silliest of Superman's villains, which is perhaps why Lemire chose to use him as the villain.
Great stuff.
June 22, 2020
The calmest volume in the Black Hammer universe.
This was a cute little nod to the universe these characters are probably based off of. I can see this being a favor to DC as well lololol. It’s not bad but it’s not nearly as deep as the other Black Hammer stuff. A little fun, the art work and coloring is really the prize here. Besides that, I wouldn’t say it really progresses the BH storyline. Still not a bad read.
This was a cute little nod to the universe these characters are probably based off of. I can see this being a favor to DC as well lololol. It’s not bad but it’s not nearly as deep as the other Black Hammer stuff. A little fun, the art work and coloring is really the prize here. Besides that, I wouldn’t say it really progresses the BH storyline. Still not a bad read.
April 26, 2023
I try not to judge books on missed potential.
BUT THIS I CANNOT STAND!
THEY BROUGHT TOGETHER BARBALIEN AND MARTIAN MANHUNTER, BUT DID NOT MAKE GOLDEN GAIL MEET SHAZAM/CAPTAIN MARVEL!?!
I swear, whoever wrote this spent 30 minutes maximum doing a Wikipedia deep dive into DC heroes to try and make this thing work...and it sure didn't.
BUT THIS I CANNOT STAND!
THEY BROUGHT TOGETHER BARBALIEN AND MARTIAN MANHUNTER, BUT DID NOT MAKE GOLDEN GAIL MEET SHAZAM/CAPTAIN MARVEL!?!
I swear, whoever wrote this spent 30 minutes maximum doing a Wikipedia deep dive into DC heroes to try and make this thing work...and it sure didn't.
November 18, 2021
Wow! I really liked this quick read. The best crossover I can recall, but I do forget a lot...
November 29, 2021
I wanted to love this one so much but sadly it just felt like nothing happened. The artwork was great though :)
October 1, 2024
Chrises on Infinite Earths: Wonder Woman Mom Jeans
This is an excellent cross publisher crossover, with the just right number of high jinks. Lemire excels at scrips with the just right number of words, so a book can be a quick read while still being compelling.
This is an excellent cross publisher crossover, with the just right number of high jinks. Lemire excels at scrips with the just right number of words, so a book can be a quick read while still being compelling.
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