Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Black Hammer universe is an incredible work of fiction that is dark, character-driven, and wildly interesting. The recently collected Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice! also proved how strong this is for superhero fans. It’s a commentary and reflection of important comic book stories of the past.
Lemire told us as much in our recent interview about his latest Black Hammer offshoot Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy drawn by Tonči Zonjić. As Lemire put it,
This series was really my love letter to Frank Miller, and specifically all the work he did on Batman and Daredevil in the ’80s. I am also a huge Punisher fan, so that played I as well, but I think we’ve been able to move beyond those initial influences and create characters that are unique to the Black Hammer universe. So, I would say that Frank Miller and his storytelling influenced the story more than any one character. That’s at least my point of view. Tonči may have brought totally different influences with him.
And so he did, with inspirations covering more than just Dark Knight Returns #1, and, “…at the end of the day, the story is in charge, and influences take a back seat,” Zonjić said.
The story follows a street-level vigilante character known as Skulldigger and also about the origin of Skeleton Boy. The story is deeply emotional as it looks at the way violence can affect children whilst supervillains run amock and hidden truths of the past reveal themselves.
Read the first issue of Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy below. The complete collection of the six-issue miniseries is set to be available in October and can be preordered now.
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