Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy

The World of Black Hammer #7

by Jeff Lemire, Tonci Zonjic (Illustrator), Steve Wands (Letterer)

Spiral City finds itself trapped in a vicious cycle of crime, corruption, and violence.

With the heart of the city at stake, a vigilante rises in Skulldigger. However, when the nefarious Grimjim escapes from prison, will Skulldigger and his ward, Skeleton Boy, be enough to save Spiral City? From the world of the Eisner Award-winng Black Hammer series comes a dark tale of tragedy!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 22, 2021

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

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puts a new spin on the Batman / Robin / Joker dynamic by putting a Punisher spin on Batman. Skulldigger comes across a kid whose parents have just been murdered and takes the Joe Chill character out permanently. You'll need to read the rest yourself to see where the story heads. One of the best of the Black Hammer spin offs.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great. Jeff Lemire looks at the child sidekick trope from a new angle with an ending that made me grin so widely the top of my head nearly fell off. Needless to say, Tonči Zonjić‘s artwork is superb.

Definitely one of the best Black Hammer spin-offs. Recommended.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadman and Robin.

3.5 stars

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another volume out of Jeff Lemire's increasingly impressive Black Hammer/Spiral City world, and this is his take on the superhero-teen sidekick trope, specifically the Batman story.

“Spiral’s always been a sucker for a cape.”

Jeff Lemire and Tonci Zonjic's spinn on the Batman origin story. It took me awhile to get in sync with the art style, which was lighter than most of the recent Batman stories, it feels abstract, original, but I came to like it. And then there are some interesting twists in it, some clever ideas.

"Who ever heard of the Crimson Fist?" (Not me. .. ) But he's a bad guy.

The Skulldigger is active in protecting Spiral City, but violently so. He just wants to kill bad guys. But be witnesses the killing of a twelve-year-old boy’s parents and then decides to intervene on his behalf and take him under his wing as a mentee. He's Skeleton Boy, in a matching costume. But Spiral City wants to stop Skulldigger (that name, so you guess he's not a completely nice guy, eh?) which is to (ironically) say, kill him and rescue the boy, who has his own anger/revenge issues, having seen his parents killed. I got Punisher vibes from this dude.

Grimjim is Lemire’s psycho Joker: "Is Spiral City falling into darkness? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

As with every Lemire story, we tap into father-son--and this time also grandfather--elements, and that is entertaining, though it is not warm and fuzzy and nostalgic. But over all it is well done, interesting. I like it.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire's take on Batman & Robin join the Black Hammer universe in a tale that deconstructs the Batman/Robin/Joker/Gordon paradigm into something completely different, with some unexpected developments and an ending that you'd never see coming.

Zonjic's artwork hits that classic feel without lacking in detail (think Cliff Chiang), and some of the layouts are beautifully rendered. The sketchpad section in the back of the book is particularly enlightening.

The Black Hammer magic strikes again.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh. Another Jeff Lemire comic creation with daddy issues.

This grim-and-gritty '90s sequel to Black Hammer riffs on Frank Miller and Batman as a violent vigilante takes an recent orphan for his protege. Lemire's take on Renee Montoya is the police detective trying to stop Skulldigger and get Skeleton Boy out of his clutches before he's collateral damage in a battle with figures from Skulldigger's past.

It looks nice (especially compared to the sample pages in the back where Lemire toyed with drawing it himself), but the story is too predictable and flat for me to work up any enthusiasm.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I thought he was the hero. I thought he was saving me. Little did I know he was the real enemy all along.
...And he would be the first man I would kill."

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It must be in Jeff Lemire's contract that he can only write stories about family. Fortunately, Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy is also about a guy in a skeleton suit smashing thugs with a skull on a chain. It's Ghost Rider meets the Punisher, if I'm being honest, but I dug the hell out it.

Skeleton Boy is a little lost boy (his parents are gunned down on page one) who ends up the ward of Skulldigger. The duo undertake a rough master/apprentice relationship that's torn to shreds when Grimjim breaks out of jail and begins a terrifying, Joker-esque crime spree. There's also a struggling cop who can't seem to get the kid out of her head and a former hero turned politician who might have a history with Skulldigger and Grimjim.

Affairs escalate somewhat predictably and Skeleton Boy learns the expected lesson (this is a Lemire book about family, after all), but the real star of Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy is Tonci Zonjic's artwork. He knocks it straight out of the solar system with stunning action scenes, sharply realized intimate moments, and a palette of characters who leap off the page. All the stars.

[Aron · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars. Very good, and hard to put down. I've been looking forward to this book since it came out in the floppies. Great story, and fantastic artwork. I read the main Black Hammer series & loved it and although this is set in the Black Hammer Universe it's not necessary to have read BH before reading this.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Punisher was more like Batman? Lemire did with this spin-off of Black Hammer.

From the classic tragedy of parents shot for no reason to the questionable ethics of 90s comics comes this series. With the optimistic heroes missing, the grim and gritty vigilantes come in.

The problem comes from how these kind of characters really aren't good people, no matter how hard they try. The Skeleton Boy for example, he seems to be a genuine psychopath. At first I thought he was just shocked, but the more I saw his thoughts, the more I felt the bloodlust coming from him. This kid didn't want to be around Skulldigger for a power fantasy, he wanted to be feared and eventually steal the fearsomeness of his boss.

Skulldigger certainly fits the mold of a ruthless vigilante driven by bloodlust. He was genuinely trying his best to help the Skeleton Boy the only way he knew how. He even took the lessons from the mentor he had a falling out with to heart.

Then there's that detective Amanda Reyes. She certainly means well and tries to be the voice of reason. But at her core, she's just as driven by her traumas. Despite her desire to get between Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy and the commentary criticism of vigilante heroes she's supposed to represent, there's little difference between Skulldigger and her. Reyes is just a lesser evil.

Despite all the smart stuff, it was a little jarring to see the last issue happen differently from the cliffhanger of the penultimate issue. Maybe there was a point to it all especially in relation to Black Hammer as a whole, but it just felt out of left field.

[Nate Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was torn between giving Skulldigger a 3 or 4 because as good as the story is, it could’ve and should’ve been drawn out to at least 12 issues. Why? Because every aspect and character of the series are 2 dimensional. There’s very little character development, background, or explanations—Skulldigger lacks depth giving the annoying impression we the readers are only skimming the surface. There’s a lot left to be desired and you’ll still have hundreds of questions in the end. Hopefully Lemire continues this series and dives deep the individual characters—especially Skulldigger.
The speed at which these Black Hammer stories are coming out and because they all connect, I’m sure somehow, some way, some time down the line the gaps will be filled in whether it be from another Skulldigger series or other hammerverse stories referencing Skulldigger. I believe this will happen, so in that spirit I gave it 4 stars. Either way it’s a great read and an enjoyable play on comic book vigilantes like Batman and the Punisher.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat twist on the classic Batman-Robin-Joker dynamic, but that ending was a bit underwhelming.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the grittiest entries in the Black Hammer canon, Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy maintains the familiar genre awareness and adventure storytelling, while also turning its attention to the darker corners of the superhero mythos.

Examining cycles of trauma, violence, and family--and asking hard questions about vigilantes who take on child sidekicks--Skulldigger works both as an exiting superhero adventure full of moral greys and sinister villains and a criticism of violent men who take ideas of justice into their own hands.

Lemire's complex character writing remains strong, but Zonjic's remarkable art creates the story in striking ways. With shifting styles, creative paneling, and situational color palates the action and emotional crisis points leap of the page in dramatic fashion. For fans of the World of Black Hammer, this is an exciting new chapter in the expanding saga. And for those who haven't stepped into this world before, Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy is self-contained enough that it could make for a great starting point for those who want to test the waters.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy» ще один мальопис у всесвіті «Чорного Молота». Сценаристом є Джефф Лемір, а художником — Тончі Зойніч.

Спіраль Сіті опиняється в замкнутому циклі злочинності, корупції та насильства. І в серці міста з’являється сумнівний герой Черепокопач (Skulldigger), який намагається хоч якось виправити ситуацію. Однак, коли злочинець Ґримджім втікає з в'язниці, чи достатньо буде Черепокопача, щоб врятувати місто. Але волею випадку у нього з’являється підопічний Хлопчик-Скелет, якого він врятував та навчає боротьби із негідниками.

Думаю ті, хоч трішки знайомий із всесвітом Marvel, то помітять омаж Черепокопача на одного із героїв Marvel. Сюжет простий, але читаєть��я все добре, бо ще малюнок Зойніча створює відповідну атмосферу. Але я не розумію мету створення цього коміксу, який на дрібку навіть не дотичний до основних подій. Тому цей факт вибиває сильно з розуміння напрямку Леміра. Але якщо в майбутньому ці герої будуть використані в основному сюжету, то все буде Леміру прощено.

Та загалом можна читати.

[Václav · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3,7 of 5 for another side-story to Black Hammer universe)
I feel that the BH universe is a bigger bite than Lemire expected. I see it mostly on the main storyline, which went annoying pretty fast and so far not recovered from that. On the other hand, there is a handful of side stories that are much better. Some of them are quite excellent, I think. Skilldigger won't sneak into the excellent category, but it's not total tedium and drag either. As standalone it works pretty nice, you don't even need to know anything from the BH universe to get into it. It's just the story of the Punis... the Skulldigger with Lemire's favourite people problems - father/son issues. The story is actually nice, but it suffers from an apparent lack of space because in some parts it becomes very rushy. Especially at the end. So the whole thing is actually a good read, but it doesn't feel right to me. This is a shame, the art is fine and this could be one of the shiny stones in the brownish mud of the BH universe.

[Valéria. · Rating 5 out of 5]

K tomuto by som prijala možno o pár zošitov viac, pretože vývoj postáv bol strašne natlačený na veľmi malom priestore. Každopádne, stále ma to neskutočne bavilo, panely na niektorých stránkach a celé stránky boli úplne úžasné a nádherne kolorované. Koniec ma milo prekvapil, celé to bola zábavná jazda a jeden z najlepšách BH titulov, ktoré vyšli.

[Alex Sarll]

Essentially 'What if the Punisher had arrived just in time to kill Joe Chill and adopt the freshly orphaned Bruce Wayne?', and not as cool as that sounds, but still a lot better than the great mass of Black Hammer spin-offs.

[Luca Masera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy Jeff Lemire espande l’universo del Black Hammer con una discesa cupa e brutale nella giustizia vigilante, che riecheggia i toni più crudi di The Punisher e Batman. Insieme ai disegni potenti e spigolosi di Tonči Zonjić, Lemire ci trascina in una spirale di violenza urbana e traumi irrisolti, dove il confine tra eroe e carnefice è sempre più labile.

Il racconto si regge sull’inedita coppia formata dal feroce e silenzioso Skulldigger e un giovane orfano che ne diventa riluttante apprendista: una dinamica che interroga il concetto stesso di eredità e redenzione. Visivamente, Zonjić opta per un tratto netto e cinematico, con tavole essenziali ma cariche di tensione e perfettamente in linea con l'atmosfera tesa e brutale del racconto.

Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy è una riflessione matura e disturbante sulla giustizia, la vendetta e le ferite dell'infanzia. Lemire, come spesso accade, scava nella psicologia dei suoi personaggi, restituendo un noir supereroistico denso, malinconico e spietato.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lemire is just so great. Black Hammer universe stories are some of his best. As someone who loves Batman, this parallel to the dark hero-sidekick story is so refreshing. The characters are vivid and the imagery is violent and crisp. A great read.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a few comics out there, now, that exist solely to represent a self-contained version of the superhero landscape you’d ordinarily find across the whole publishing lineup of Marvel or DC. Kurt Busiek’s Astro City is perhaps still the best-known one, but Jeff Lemire has been plugging away at Black Hammer for a number of years at this point, and should at least be considered a worthy rival.

The thing is, arguably his best material isn’t in the Black Hammer comics themselves but the spinoff miniseries material. This, for instance, is Lemire’s take on Jason Todd.

Jason Todd, for the uninitiated, is the second Robin, boy wonder and sidekick of Batman. Jason isn’t nearly as famous as Dick Grayson, the first one (and really, none of the others are, either; after Jason there’s been a whole line of them, one tumbling after the other, with the most sensational one actually Batman’s son, Damian Wayne).

In the span of a few years, after a character revision to better distinguish Jason from Dick, he became most famous for his bad attitude and, well, his infamous death. (How Robin can die and nobody really understand, outside the comics, that it was one and not the other, well, that’s just how it works.)

And then a few decades later Jason returns and becomes, well, Skulldigger and/or Skeleton Boy, a violent vigilante known as Red Hood (a name previously employed by the Joker, who also happened to be Jason’s murderer).

The great advantage of superhero comics is that logic is sometimes spectacularly insular.

It’s sometimes a disadvantage, too. If anything Lemire is almost too straight in this storytelling, much too much to the point, blunt. That’s the line these things always walk. Even Watchmen, which so famously took the whole genre in a more sophisticated direction, did so in fairly straightforward terms. All the nuance Moore took to his story was at the expense of pretty black and white thinking.

And so we have a Batman story as we’ve never really seen before, with Batman effectively pushed off to the side, inconsequential to the ending, a decision made in spite of him. And it’s pretty interesting, and you wish it hadn’t been so streamlined getting there, and you’re grateful someone finally did something like this.

That’s Black Hammer in a nutshell.

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Black Hammer book in a while, and maybe overall. This Batman pastiche is a better Batman comic than any actual Batman comic I’ve read. A repeating theme in Batman shows him worrying over the decision to take in Robins to fight alongside, but it also seems obvious that he’s an overwhelmingly positive influence on them and they’re rarely in any genuine harm, leaving the ethical conflict feeling overwrought. Skulldigger, by contrast, doesn’t seem especially conflicted about involving an emotionally damaged child in his efforts, aside from making sure he’s properly trained and capable. He’s clearly an unhealthy influence on Skeleton Boy, and his lack of expressed concern about that is only more worrying. GrimJim is also one of the best Jokers I’ve read, truly unsettling and menacing with a hint of mischief, but none of the pulled punches Joker ends up being written with so often. All that, plus the limited series nature of this story lets its ending be true to what Batman stories often try to say, but are hampered from effectively portraying given the general requirement to not upset a long-term status quo too much.

As well written as I think this is, Zonjic’s art might be even better. He’s equally adept at strikingly composed static images and pulse-pounding action scenes, brutal kinetic motion and wordless expressions that say much more than a packed word bubble ever could. I love his eye-catching character designs, too.

“Why do you want to come with me? Why do you want to do this?”
“Because they all need to pay. Because I want to hurt them. I want to hurt them all.”
“Good boy. Let’s go then…”

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy feels like a Punisher comic mashed up with Batman and Robin. There are some other comparisons to be made but I'll stop it there for fear of spoiling things. The art is great. It really matches the tone of the book and fits the story. The character designs are nice. I especially liked the padding on the helmet of Skulldigger and the design of the protagonist, GrimJim (also that's a great name.)

The story starts off strong and I was really enjoying it. Unfortunately, the beginning of the story wrote checks the end did not cash. There is a pretty major point of foreshadowing in the first issue that never comes to fruition at the end. That's pretty glaring. Perhaps the idea is to resolve this in a later volume but if that's the case, I would say this volume should not have ended with The End. In the absence of more information, I will assume it's done and that is just kind of sloppy.

Additionally, the transition between issues 5 and 6 is similarly jarring. At the end of issue 5 you are expecting conflict between 2 characters only it does not happen. I was actually happy to not have the expected conflict. Then to start issue 6 at the moment issue 5 ends and the conflict is now there. It just does not makes sense and it makes me wonder what the heck is going on here.

Jeff Lemire is a great writer. I read just about everything he writes and I am especially committed to the Black Hammer Universe. I'll just write it off as the plans changed and things had to be changed because outside of these complaints, it was perfect comics.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Black Hammer spinoff that uses a "Punisher vs the Joker" premise for an examination of childhood trauma.

Skulldigger is ostensibly a hero, albeit one who kills street criminals with a steel-encrusted skull on a chain. (It seems unwieldy to me, but he makes it work.)

The story begins when he arrives too late to save a husband and wife from a mugging--they go down, Wayne style--but he is able to save their son. The boy becomes a ward of the state. Skulldigger reappears to offer him a different path, one filled with neglect, brutal training and perhaps some possibility of vengeance.

Jeff Lemire does a good job evoking a grim and gory setting--the lead villain is even named GrimJim, and he does some pretty dark stuff. I thought it was generally well crafted, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

The art by Tonči Zonjić is excellent: dark, detailed and evocative. But GrimJim raises the Joker question ("why would a dude this bad be allowed to keep running around, even if they note he's immortal?), and the ending doesn't feel totally earned.

[Jamie Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best of the black hammer universe. But at this point I'm so invested all the black hammers books are winners I think. 4 stars.

[Chad Jordahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good story and top art. Love the page layouts, panel compositions, character designs. (There are a few copy editing errors, which always surprise and irk me)

[Alexander Lisovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Крутая мини-серия в мире "Чёрного молота", ко��орая будто бы не имеет к этому миру никакого отношения (разве что действие происходит в том же Спираль-граде). Отгадку даёт вики: на самом деле это одна из опор фундамента для будущего продолжения (и заодно полного финала серии, который ожидается где-то в 2023 году).

Серия сделана с явным приветом "Карателю", и тут нужно понимать, что в настоящем мире антигерой претерпел любопытные трансформации, когда целые полицейские управления в Штатах вдруг начали цеплять на себя символику черепа, сигнализируя, что они приняли всю эту карательную идеологию на вооружение — при том, что авторы по идее задумывали её, наоборот, как предостережение (но немного заигрались, да и вообще грань тут довольно тонкая).

В общем, Лемир, разумеется, всё это учитывает и даёт как бы свой мягкий мета-комментарий по ходу дела. Тем не менее, на мой взгляд, серия в целом остаётся верной своим основополагающим принципам экшена, триллера и трагедии. Разве что я не уверен насчёт финала, ну да посмотрим, как всё обернётся в итоге.

В отличие от основной серии, здесь ко всему прочему ещё и превосходный арт. Прикладываю небольшое превью.

[Michele Monteleone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire per mettere un altro tassello all'universo narrativo a cui ha dato vita con Black Hammer, mesce una parte di Batman e una del Punitore, per scrivere una storia che è un cocktail moderno, ma dal gusto retro, una riflessione amara e dura su quanto in effetti sarebbe spaventoso essere il giovane sidekick di un supereroe e sul peso schoacciante delle colpe dei padri. Il tutto con gli straordinari colori e disegni di Tonci Zonji, autore dal tratto tothiano, la linea pulitissima e una narrazione incredibilmente fluida impreziosita da un uso emozionale del colore e lampi di colori fluo. È un vero peccaro che non sia mai arrivato in Italia.

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good addition to the Black Hammer universe, a bit more on the side of this universe, but good characters and a fun story, maybe not the most original one, but I like the way Lemire got into it and what he did with it!

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great self-contained story. It takes place in the Black Hammer universe, but you don't need to have read that series to understand this. There are references to Batman and the Punisher, but I liked what was done in this story. I thought the artwork was really great.

[Andrew Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the world of Black Hammer. An origin story pulls a little bit from a lot of other different stories, a young boy watches his parents' murder and joins with a violent vigilante. Lemire states in the bonus material that he wanted to draw this himself, but based on the sketches included, he made the right decision to bring in Tonci.