Line #99 ComicBook/BlackHammer


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blkhamr_ad.jpg]]
2
3	''Black Hammer'' is a Creator/DarkHorseComics series created by Creator/JeffLemire and Dean Ormston.
4
5	Described by Lemire as his tribute to the {{superhero}} comics he grew up reading, ''Black Hammer'' follows a group of former superheroes who, upon saving the world from a [[{{Multiverse}} multiversal]] crisis, were trapped in a sleepy rural town from which they can't escape. Forced to pose as an average family, the heroes eventually settled into their roles and began functioning [[BecomingTheMask as though they were actually related]], further complicating things.
6
7	The main cast of ''Black Hammer'' includes:
8	* '''Abraham Slamkowski / Abraham Slam:''' A [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] brawler and grandfatherly patriarchal figure of the family.
9	* '''Gail Gibbons / Golden Gail:''' A middle-aged woman forced in eternal youth as a by-product of the [[ByThePowerOfGrayskull the]] [[FlyingBrick superpower]] given to her as a child.
10	* '''Mark Markz / Barbalien:''' A shapeshifting, gay alien warlord from Mars fulfilling the role of {{cool uncle}}.
11	* '''Colonel Randall Weird:''' A cosmonaut desperate to return to his old life; the [[PerilousOldFool weird uncle]] to Barbalien's cool uncle.
12	* '''TLK-E WLK-E / Talky Walky:''' Col. Weird's chatty robot sidekick, and the only one who can't pass for a human.
13	* '''Madame Dragonfly:''' A green-skinned swamp witch with questionable motives who sometimes masquerades as Gail's mother.
14	* '''Joe Weber / Black Hammer:''' The ([[PosthumousCharacter posthumous]]) of ProtagonistTitle who is eulogized annually by the heroes who was super-strong and wielded a hammer to battle.
15	* '''Lucy Weber / Black Hammer II:''' Joe's adult daughter who finds the lost heroes and takes up her father's mantle.
16
17	In true superhero fashion, Lemire has expanded the scope of ''Black Hammer'' to include side stories and tie-ins set within the same world, featuring titles like:
18	* ''Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil'' (2017-2018)
19	* ''Doctor Star and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows'' (2018)
20	* ''Black Hammer: Age of Doom '' (2018-2019)
21	* ''ComicBook/TheQuantumAge'' (2018-2019)
22	* ''Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise'' (2018)
23	* ''Black Hammer '45'' (2019)
24	* ''Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice!'' (2019): A canonical crossover with the ComicBook/JusticeLeague of Creator/DCComics, whom Lemire has written for in the past.
25	* ''Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy'' (2019-2021)
26	* ''Colonel Weird: Cosmagog'' (2020-2021)
27	* ''Barbalien: Red Planet'' (2020-2021)
28	* ''Black Hammer Visions'' (2021)
29	* ''Black Hammer Reborn'' (2021-2022)
30	* ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableUnteens'' (2021)
31	* ''The Last Days of Black Hammer'' (2022)
32	* ''Colonel Weird and Little Andromeda'' (2022)
33	* ''Black Hammer End'' (2023)
34
35	In November 2018, it was announced that Lemire signed an overall development deal with Creator/LegendaryPictures, which includes potential television and/or film adaptations of the ''Black Hammer'' universe, of which he will be closely involved with.
36
37	!!This series provides examples of:
38	* NinetiesAntiHero: Parodied in one issue. To "keep up with the times", the aging Abraham Slam commissions a new armored costume straight out of the Dark Age, complete with bulky shoulder pads, numerous pouches, and a visor reminiscent of Judge Dredd. It just gets in the way and makes him look ridiculous to onlookers, and after wearing it once he decides to never use it again.
39	* AmbiguouslyEvil: Madame Dragonfly. Most notably when Lucy, Black Hammer's daughter, somehow [[spoiler:teleports into the dimension the heroes are trapped in, Madame Dragonfly wipes her memory]].
40	* ArtisticLicenseReligion: In ''Age of Doom'' #11, as [[spoiler:Anti-God returns to the now-hero-less Spiral City]], the news reports that UsefulNotes/ThePope says the strange events may be the beginning of the Rapture. Catholicism explicitly does ''not'' believe in a Rapture; that's more in line with Evangelical Christianity.
41	* AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:Black Hammer's spirit survived the death of his body and now resides in New World alongside Starlok. It's implied that he ascended to godhood.]]
42	* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: the ultimate reason for the heroes' predicament. [[spoiler:When Black Hammer killed Anti-God, he unwittingly broke the cosmic balance between Evil and Good. The universe is trying to correct this imbalance by bringing Anti-God back, and the only way to stop that from happening is for the heroes--who now represent Good as Anti-God represents Evil--to remove themselves from the universe.]]
43	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: In the first issue of ''Visions'', [[spoiler:Gail stops Madame Dragonfly from wiping the memories of Eunice, a teenage outcast who figured out her identity, because Eunice went out of her way to befriend Gail when she first enrolled at the local school.]]
44	* BigRedDevil: When Lucy ends up stranded in Hell, she meets what is heavily implied to be TheDevil: a towering red demon with spiraling horns and enormous bat wings.
45	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Anti-God returns to Spiral City, so to stop him the heroes decide to seal themselves back in the farm and wipe their memories so they can never break out. It works, but they are a lot happier now that their issues are dealt with.]]
46	* BlankBook: Shortly after she arrives on the farm, Lucy goes to the Rockwood library to look up the town's history, only to discover that all the books on the subject are blank.
47	* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: After a long and difficult battle with many casualties, the heroes managed to kill Anti-God and save the universe. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:killing him upset the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil, which the universe tried to correct by bringing him back to life. The only way to prevent this was for the heroes to restore the balance by exiling themselves to another dimension. They can never go home again, lest Anti-God return and destroy everything.]]
48	* CastOfExpies:
49	** Abraham Slam = ComicBook/CaptainAmerica[=/=]ComicBook/{{Wildcat}}
50	** Anti-God = [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths The Anti-Monitor]]/Darkseid/Galactus
51	** Barbalien = ComicBook/MartianManhunter
52	** Black Hammer = Franchise/{{Superman}}/Thor/Steel
53	*** The New World is a pantheon of god/aliens akin the Asgardians and New Gods. There are direct expies of Mister Miracle and Lightray in particular and the leader of the New World is a mix of Highfather and Odin. Another member (who doesn't have an obvious counterpart) also has a blatant stand-in for [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Lockjaw]] as a pet.
54	*** Black Hammer foes Jackhammer and the Demolition Squad are pretty much Thor villains The Wrecking Crew.
55	*** His backstory of a normal man receiving a powerful weapon from dying alien in a back alley is a combination of [[ComicBook/GreenLantern how Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner got their powers]].
56	** Colonel Weird = ComicBook/AdamStrange [[spoiler:with shades of Dr. Manhattan from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}.]]''
57	** Golden Gail = ComicBook/{{Shazam}}
58	*** Gail's old nemesis, Sherlock Frankenstein, is basically a Zombie ComicBook/LexLuthor.
59	** Madame Dragonfly = An Creator/ECComics-style [[Main/HorrorHost host of a house]].
60	*** Her monstrous love interest from before the farm is one for ComicBook/SwampThing.
61	** Doctor Star = ComicBook/{{Starman}}. This example was so obvious that, as of ''Black Hammer Encyclopedia'', his name was changed to Doctor Andromeda.
62	** During Lucy's journey through Dreamland, Lonnie James is a loose expy for John Constantine and the family in the land of Nod is a pretty obvious pastiche for The Endless.
63	** The Quantum League is blatantly meant to be the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes, being a group of teenage heroes in the future whose name all featured variants of "Boy, Girl, Lad," and "Lass." Also, Hammer Lass is a very clear equivalent of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}; she even dates Archive V who is a Brainiac 5 analog. That ''The Quantum Age'' focuses on the League 25 years after most of them died serves as an homage to the infamous "Five Years Later" Legion arc. However, this was ''so'' blatant that in the trade collection of ''The Quantum Age'' the Leaguers all had their names altered except for Hammer Lass.
64	** ''Sherlock Frankenstein'' features more homage characters.
65	*** Wingman is one for ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}, made ''blatantly'' clear by his appearance in his youth, which one could easily mistake for Hawkman.
66	*** Concretestador is a burly RockMonster hero with blue eyes, suggesting influence from [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Ben Grimm/The Thing]].
67	*** The villain Manaconda, while not featured in person, is shown to have clear visual similarities to Batman foe Killer Croc.
68	** ''Doctor Star/Andromeda and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows'' introduces the Star Sheriffs, an organization of aliens inspired by James Robinson's exploits. They are shown to be a diverse group of aliens in close to matching uniforms who all wield the same signature cosmic tool to travel through space and protect the innocent. [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Hmm, why does that sound familiar?]]
69	** The "Pulp Age" heroes each take inspiration from ProtoSuperhero characters.
70	*** Doc Steele is ''blatantly'' a stand-in for Literature/DocSavage.
71	*** The Crimson Fist is less obvious, but he clearly fills the role of characters like Radio/TheShadow.
72	*** Tazara is a JunglePrincess a la ComicBook/SheenaQueenOfTheJungle, with elements of Literature/{{Tarzan}}, such as her name. The obvious divergence is that she's actually a Congolese woman instead of a Caucasian woman.
73	** Skulldigger is a [[ComicBook/ThePunisher controversial, non-powered violent vigilante who kills criminals and wears something depicting a skull]] (though in his case it's a mask instead of on his shirt, which has a skeleton pattern). His costume really does look like an alternate take on Frank Castle or his brief successor Carlos Cruz. Unlike them though, Skulldigger forgoes guns in favor of a weapon themed after his symbol and has a sidekick/helper in Skeleton Boy, giving him some Batman elements.
74	** Mr. Grizzly, for what little we see of him, is very reminiscent of Wolverine.
75	** In the first issue of ''Visions'', Eunice and Barbara are blatant expies of Enid and Rebecca from ''ComicBook/GhostWorld''.
76	%%* CloudCuckoolander: Colonel Weird
77	* CosmicRetcon: When the heroes finally leave the farm [[spoiler:and return to the real world]], it somehow "reboots" reality to create a world where they never became superheroes and superheroes never existed. In this new world, Abe is just a night watchman working at a museum, Mark never left Mars, Colonel Weird was a normal astronaut who went MIA in 1959, Gail is a senile old woman living in a retirement home, Lucy works at a pizza parlor instead of as a journalist, and Madame Dragonfly is (seemingly) a normal soccer mom with two kids.
78	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Colonel Weird's girlfriend was messily torn apart when she tried to enter the Para-Zone. Her skin was ripped right off her body, and her organs went flying everywhere. [[spoiler:Black Hammer died in exactly the same way when he crossed the farm's boundaries. This is not a coincidence.]]
79	* {{Deconstruction}}: Of superheroes in general. Each issue of the opening arc tackles the psychological and emotional effects of being a superhero.
80	* DysfunctionalFamily: Played with, since the cast is not family per se. Since the heroes are trapped on the Farm, they decide to disguise themselves as a family. Unfortunately, their personalities all strongly conflict with one another's, making them this.
81	* EldritchLocation: The Para-Zone is a weird dimension located outside of time. It resembles a starry void full of oversized eyeballs and neurons, and it contains many portals leading to different points in time and space. Anyone who tries to enter the Para-Zone without protection will die a gruesome death, with Colonel Weird being the sole exception for reasons unknown.
82	* EscapedFromHell: Lonnie James strands Lucy in Hell, leaving her at the mercy of the Devil. However, Lucy just recently became the new Black Hammer. She promptly uses her new powers to beat the ever-loving shit out of hordes of the Devil's minions and threatens to continue doing so unless he lets her out. The Devil opens a portal to another realm for her and meekly tells her to "just... just go".
83	* FatalFlaw: Black Hammer's love for his family, particularly his daughter. He once ignored a desperate summons from Starlok because he didn't want to miss Lucy's tenth birthday, an act which implicitly allowed Anti-God to kill off the other Lightriders and put the whole universe in jeopardy. When the heroes later wound up on the Farm, he was so desperate to reunite with his family that he charged into the strange energy field surrounding the Farm without letting the other heroes analyze it first, leading to a gruesome and avoidable death.
84	* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: According to ''The World of Black Hammer Encyclopedia'', Sherlock Frankenstein started out as a superhero in the late 1800s. He turned to villainy after a personal tragedy and spent several decades terrorizing the world, only to give up on this and go straight. Now he's an HonestCorporateExecutive using his scientific and medical knowhow to benefit all mankind.
85	* HeroicSacrifice: Black Hammer sacrificed himself to kill the Anti-God. His hammer is all that's left of him.
86	** Also the decision made by the heroes in the series finale.
87	* IncompatibleOrientation:
88	** Barbalien made advances to his former partner in the police, who reacted ''very'' negatively. [[spoiler: When he attempts again with a priest he thinks is closeted, the exact same thing happens.]]
89	** Gail has feelings for Barbalien, which he's oblivious to. Unfortunately, when he does pick up on them, he attempts to lightly turn her down by pointing out her physical body - a sore spot for her - and his sexual orientation, but she leaves before he finishes.
90	* IntangibleMan: Colonel Weird can float through solid substances like a ghost thanks to his connection to the Para-Zone.
91	* InterruptedSuicide: Gail, already tormented by being stuck in her child form for ten years, decides to end it all after Mark [[IncompatibleOrientation rejects her]]. She writes a brief SuicideNote and prepares to walk into the boundary around the farm, only for Mark--who found her note--to swoop in and stop her at the last moment.
92	* IntrepidReporter: Lucy wants to find out what really happened to her father and the Spiral City heroes.
93	* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler: Black Hammer died almost instantly after being transported to the farm by immediately ramming the force field before Talky could get an idea of what they were dealing with.]]
94	* {{Martians}}: They're red-skinned humanoids with antennae and innate superpowers that include shapeshifting and flight, amongst others.
95	* NonLinearCharacter: Colonel Weird constantly drifts in and out of the Para-Zone, a strange dimension where time is wonky relative to the outside universe. He sees and experiences events out of chronological order as a result, and he is often confused when interacting with his more linear friends, since what is recent for them might be a distant memory or future event from his perspective.
96	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Colonel Weird actually manages to pull himself together and act coherently in the present timeline, the rest of the cast notably freaks out.
97	* PocketDimension: [[spoiler: the farm and the town.]]
98	* PosthumousCharacter: Black Hammer.
99	* PowersViaWeapon: Black Hammer's powers come from his mystical hammer.
100	* PuppeteerParasite: One issue revolves around a bizarre Para-Zone creature which latches onto people's faces and takes control of their bodies.
101	* Really700YearsOld: Gail.
102	* RedSkyTakeWarning: In the backstory, the skies turned red during Anti-God's universe-threatening attack on Spiral City. [[spoiler:When the skies above Spiral City start turning red in the alternate reality created when the heroes left the farm, it's a clear sign to everyone involved that Anti-God is returning to finish what he started.]]
103	* RepetitiveName: The Martians have a naming scheme wherein the last name is the same as the first name, but with a z tacked on. Mark Markz, Lok Lokz, Kev Kevz...
104	* ShoutOut: Doctor Star (the ComicBook/{{Starman}} {{Expy}}) is named James Robinson.
105	* SpeechBubbles: Several of the characters have distinctive speech bubbles. Colonel Weird's speech bubbles have a frayed border and light grey text, reflecting how he's physically and mentally not all there. Talky-Walky has grey bubbles with angular borders and blocky text to emphasize her robotic nature. And Anti-God has black speech bubbles with red borders and text to highlight his nature as the GodOfEvil.
106	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Played with. Gail exhibits this, but she's a 55-year-old woman trapped in a 10-year-old's body.
107	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: It's strongly implied that Black Hammer refusing to come to Starlok's aid so he wouldn't miss his daughter's tenth birthday is what allowed Anti-God to gain the upper hand and kickstart the Cataclysm. This was confirmed in ''[[AllThereInTheManual The World of Black Hammer Encyclopedia]]''.
108	* YearOutsideHourInside: When Joseph Weber first picks up the hammer, he is whisked off to New World for a short chat with Starlok and the Lightriders. Upon being sent back to Earth, he goes home to tell his wife Lorraine about the crazy night he just had—only to learn that he was actually gone for four months.
109	* YellowPurpleContrast: The brother gods Starlok and Anti-God wear gold and purple armor respectively. They are bitter enemies who respectively embody light/good and darkness/evil.

Context ComicBook / BlackHammer