Dark Horse Comics 2017
Written Jeff Lemire
Illustrated & Lettered by David Rubin
Flats by Kike J. Diaz
Lucy Weber, daughter of the Black Hammer, grew up to become an investigative reporter for the Global Planet. Now she's on the hunt for the true story about what happened to Spiral City's superheroes after they defeated Anti-God and saved the world. All answers seem to lie with the dangerous super villain tenants of Spiral City's infamous asylum. As she gets closer to the truth she uncovers the dark origin stories of some of her father's greatest foes, and learns how they tie into the puzzle of what happened to Spiral City's greatest hero.
First of all I love Black Hammer it’s continuously of the strongest, most well written/illustrated and all around fascinating reads to come out each month. Jeff has the mind of a genius and a madman which it seems are kind of one and the same. So I was super excited to see that this was coming out and that Lucy was taking centre stage. I’ve enjoyed her work in finding her father and the others so it’s about time she got her own arc that’s all about here.
I adore the concept behind this story and to see Lucy use not only her prowess as a reporter but also the daughter of Black Hammer in concert with each other, it’s a balancing act that is hard to achieve, without giving any secrets away. I like the way that Jeff brings her to life with the intelligence and fire that she has. The way the book flows and how the stream of information is presented is spectacularly well done.
David does a really great job on the interiors here. The quality and uniqueness he brings to the characters and this world really suits the story. I love the way that he and Jeff use those characters that are familiar to us and brings a different spin to them and the WWII heroes in particular are amazing. The way that page layouts are utilised through their angles and perspective show a really solid eye for storytelling. Oh and that M.C. Escher inspired page is incredible. While yes I’d like to see more backgrounds in use because the ones we see really expand the story immensely.
We’ve seen Lucy’s belief and commitment in that her father and his companions aren’t dead before. Now we’re privileged to see it in a whole new way. In order to find out what had happened Lucy is on a mission to find Sherlock Frankenstein in the hopes of the fact that he’ll have answers to her questions. I like this angle she doesn’t have any of Black Hammer’s contemporaries to turn to help her so she’s looking into the criminals instead. Using her press credentials and her father’s connections she is able to easily enter Spiral Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
This is where the story really begins for us. We are being introduced to the city’s and probably the world’s most dangerous criminals. Through their stories and their interaction with Sherlock Frankenstein is how she plans to find him and figure what he knows about where her father and the others went. What happened to them after their fight with the Anti-God? Does anyone really have the answers she’s looking for and how would Sherlock Frankenstein be able to help her if she finds him? Those are the questions that need answering in the meantime she’ll have to sift through all the information she’s going to learn to find those answers.
Is Lucy strong enough to withstand the onslaught she’s about to encounter, only Lemire knows but one things for sure it’s going to be one hell of a dark and interesting journey! Dark Horse has some of the best of the darker and interesting series on stands.