Black Hammer Review: Jeff Lemire’s Superhero Deconstruction
Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston's melancholy, Eisner-winning superhero saga.
By Web Admin
What happens to superheroes after the last battle is won? Not the triumphant montage, but the years afterward — the boredom, the regret, the slow ache of a life that peaked long ago. Black Hammer, written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Dean Ormston, asks exactly that. Published by Dark Horse Comics starting in 2016, it strands a team of once-great heroes on a small farm they cannot leave, and turns their exile into one of the most moving and inventive superhero stories of the last decade. It won the Eisner Award for Best New Series. This is our full review.
What is Black Hammer?
Black Hammer is a creator-owned superhero series written by Jeff Lemire, drawn by Dean Ormston, and coloured by Dave Stewart. It debuted at Dark Horse in 2016 and won the 2017 Eisner Award for Best New Series. The setup: ten years ago, a team of heroes saved the fictional Spiral City from an apocalyptic threat called the Anti-God — and in the process were mysteriously banished to a quiet rural town they physically cannot leave. Cross the town’s border and you die. So they wait, and age, and pretend to be an ordinary farm family, while the world they saved moves on without them.
Volume 1, “Secret Origins,” collects the first six issues. It introduces the team through slow, character-driven vignettes that gradually reveal who they were, how they got here, and why one of them — the hero called Black Hammer — didn’t make it. The mystery of the farm and the fate of the team drives the whole saga.
The story: a mystery told through melancholy
Lemire structures the first volume as a series of quiet character studies rather than a plot sprint. We meet Abraham Slam, an aging golden-age hero who has quietly made peace with farm life; Golden Gail, a fifty-something woman trapped in the body of a nine-year-old girl and forced to attend elementary school again; Barbalien, a shape-shifting Martian wrestling with loneliness and identity; Colonel Weird, a space adventurer unstuck in time; and Madame Dragonfly, a horror-host witch with a terrible secret. Each is a loving riff on a classic archetype, and each is quietly heartbroken.
The larger mystery — why they’re trapped, what really happened in the final battle, and whether they can ever go home — unspools patiently across the series. When Black Hammer’s daughter, Lucy, arrives in town looking for answers, the plot finally accelerates toward revelations that recontextualise everything.
The art: gothic, grounded, and gorgeous
Dean Ormston’s artwork is a huge part of why the book works. His style is heavy-lined, slightly gothic, and deeply human — perfect for a story about faded glory and small-town melancholy. He grounds even the most fantastical characters in real weight and texture, and Dave Stewart’s masterful colours (autumnal on the farm, vivid in flashback) give each era its own emotional temperature. The contrast between bright, silver-age superhero memories and the muted present is the whole book in a single visual idea.
Homage and deconstruction
Part of the pleasure of Black Hammer is spotting its influences. The characters are affectionate analogues of comics history: Abraham Slam evokes the golden-age mystery men, Golden Gail is a riff on Captain Marvel/Shazam, Colonel Weird channels Adam Strange, Barbalien recalls the Martian Manhunter, and so on. But Lemire isn’t just playing spot-the-reference. He uses these familiar shapes to examine what the superhero genre usually ignores: aging, regret, mental health, and what heroism costs the person under the mask. It’s homage and critique at once, and it never curdles into cynicism.
Meet the team
- Abraham Slam — the elder statesman who has, unsettlingly, come to love the farm.
- Golden Gail — a grown woman stuck as a child, the book’s most tragic figure.
- Colonel Weird — a spacefaring hero adrift in time and memory.
- Barbalien — a Martian shapeshifter grappling with identity and belonging.
- Madame Dragonfly — a witch whose past holds the key to their exile.
Content warning
Black Hammer is a mature series, though less graphic than much of Lemire’s other work. Expect some violence, and heavier emotional themes including depression, grief, isolation, and identity. It’s a melancholy book by design; readers looking for pure escapist superhero action should know that the mood here runs sad and reflective.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A fresh, moving take on a well-worn genre
- Beautiful, atmospheric Ormston/Stewart art
- Rich characters you genuinely come to love
- Launches a sprawling, rewarding shared universe
Cons
- Slow, mood-driven pacing early on
- The story sprawls across many spin-off series
- Melancholy tone won’t suit action-first readers
How it compares to other superhero deconstructions
The obvious comparison is Watchmen, and it’s fair up to a point: both take the superhero apart to see what’s inside. But where Alan Moore’s classic is cold, clinical, and political, Black Hammer is warm, sad, and personal — less an autopsy than an elegy. If you loved the way Watchmen reframed the genre, our guide to comics like Watchmen maps the rest of that territory, and Black Hammer earns a spot on it. For the broader canon, see our best superhero comics list.
As a creator-owned book, it also stands with the best modern independent comics. Fans of Lemire’s other work — like Sweet Tooth — will recognise his gift for finding tenderness in genre material. It sits comfortably beside the best of our best Image comics picks in the wider indie conversation.
Which edition should you buy?
The core series runs a few volumes, but the wider “Black Hammer universe” includes numerous spin-offs. Here’s how to start without getting lost.
| Edition | Collects | Approx. price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vol. 1: Secret Origins | Issues #1–6 | ~US$15 | Trying it out |
| Black Hammer Library Edition (HC) | Multiple volumes, oversized | ~US$50 each | Showcasing the art |
| The World of Black Hammer Omnibus | Core series + spin-offs | ~US$40+ | Best value binge |
Start with Volume 1 to see if the mood grabs you. If it does, the oversized Library Editions or the omnibus collections are the most satisfying way to read the whole universe in order.
AmazonCheck price on AmazonIs it a good first comic?
It can be, especially for readers who know superhero tropes from the movies and want something that plays with them. That said, some of the pleasure comes from recognising the archetypes being subverted, so a little genre familiarity helps. Total newcomers might warm up with our best superhero comics guide first, then come to Black Hammer for something more thoughtful.
The verdict
Black Hammer is one of the most quietly essential superhero comics of its generation — proof that the genre still has new emotional territory to explore. It’s beautifully drawn, deeply felt, and it kicks off a shared universe worth living in. It ranks high on our best superhero comics list and, as another Lemire triumph, belongs in the wider Indie & Image hub. If you want capes with a heavy heart, start here.
Frequently asked questions
Is Black Hammer a completed story?
The core Black Hammer saga has a definitive ending across its main volumes, though the wider universe includes many ongoing and completed spin-off series. Volume 1 is the place to start.
Do I need to read the spin-offs?
No. The main series stands on its own. The spin-offs — like Doctor Star and Sherlock Frankenstein — enrich the world but are optional side stories.
Is Black Hammer connected to Marvel or DC?
No. It’s a creator-owned book published by Dark Horse, with its own original characters — though they’re affectionate homages to classic Marvel and DC archetypes.
Did Black Hammer win any awards?
Yes. It won the 2017 Eisner Award for Best New Series, among other nominations, and is widely regarded as one of the best superhero comics of its decade.
Next, explore more genre-bending capes in our comics like Watchmen guide, or browse the full best superhero comics list.
