Ah, Mike Mignola. Despite how much I bitch about Hellboy in Hell, I go as flip-floppy and wishy-washy as a man running for office after seeing comics like this. I love Mignola’s work. It’s hard to stay mad at a man who has made monsters—in Lovecraftian style at that—invade the popular culture in such a way. He is truly a genius and he apparently doesn’t sleep, as every time I turn around he has a new comic coming out.
Sledge-Hammer 44 #1 (Dark Horse)
Thus, we come to Sledge-Hammer 44. Cue video. I’m sorry, I can’t help it.
It’s so much funnier reading this comic to this song. As Sledge-Hammer annihilates dudes.
Anyway, getting back to an actual critique of the work. Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, with art by Jason Latour, color by “Devious” Dave Stewart (no one actually calls him that) and music by Peter Gabriel. Okay, I swear, that was the last reference.
It’s France, in 1944, and we are with the U.S. troops as they fight the Nazis. Air support drops what appears to be a bomb, but is actually…you guessed it…Sledge-Hammer.
The art by Latour is great for robot enthusiasts. If you like big robots, and WW2, you’re bound to dig the visuals.
As for the writin’, what little of it there is intriguing. We get a crazy battle with large explosions and many spent shell casings followed by a bunch of confused American soldiers trying to figure out what to do with a giant robot, which may or may not be a man.
- Cool robot art
- Interesting WW2 backdrop
- Did I mention the giant robot in a WW2 soldier’s uniform?
- By the time you’re able to say “what the…” the issue is over
Is It Good?
It’s good for sure, but by the time you get into it, this battle is over. Now, I know, comics are only 20 some-odd pages, so it’s tough to make a lasting impression. I don’t claim to know how to have made it better, I just know I finished with a little bit of an “aw man, durn, it’s over,” feeling. Here’s hoping the second and final issue packs the same punch, but ties things up in a nice little steel ribbon, with perhaps a little more explanation into the giant-ass robot.
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