‘Black Hammer: The End’ will bring ‘a whole new beginning’ to the Black Hammer story

Jeff Lemire and Malachi Ward continue the story from ‘Black Hammer Reborn’ in August.

Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Black Hammer universe will continue in August with Black Hammer: The End, which, despite the title continues the ongoing story and picks up right after Black Hammer Reborn. Lemire will write the series, with Malachi Ward providing the art.

They’ll be joined by letterer Nate Piekos for a world-hopping adventure that will bring a return to Black Hammer Farm, the place where everything started.

Black Hammer Reborn left the Black Hammer Universe on quite a cliffhanger,” said Lemire,”and now we’ll find out what happens next! Black Hammer: The End is a story I’ve been building across the various Black Hammer books for years now. It will pull storylines, and characters, from all the various series into one massive story which will both be a conclusion of all we’ve been doing, but also usher in a fresh start, and a whole new beginning, for the Black Hammer Universe!”

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Jeff Lemire reveals future plans for ‘Black Hammer,’ ‘Bone Orchard Mythos’ + more

The prolific creator also revealed print plans for ‘Fishflies’ and a few new projects to look forward to.

Jeff Lemire has proven to be one of the most prolific comic creators in recent years, and it looks like he has no intention of slowing down. In two different posts to his Tales from the Farm Substack newsletter, Lemire revealed his upcoming plans for The Bone Orchard Mythos, his ambitious publishing initiative with Andrea Sorrentino, as well as projects like Black Hammer, Fishflies, Royal City and more.

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Jeff Lemire announces a new Black Hammer title on his Substack

The weekly series ‘Colonel Weird & Little Andromeda’ will feature the work of a variety of artists.

Black Hammer co-creator Jeff Lemire has announced another comic set in the universe he created with Dean Ormston — Colonel Weird & Little Andromeda, which will appear weekly in his Substack newsletter for paid subscribers.

The new comic is written by Lemire, Ray Fawkes and Tate Brombal, and will feature art by a variety of creators, including Ariela Kristantina, Andrea Sorrentino, Marguerite Sauvage, Yuko Shimizu, Dani, Tyler Bence and Nick Robles.

“We describe this new story as ‘Little Nemo’ Meets ‘The Little Prince’ Set in the World of the Eisner Award–winning Black Hammer Universe,” Lemire posted on Substack. “This new weekly original comic brings together a host of creators to tell self-contained stories of beloved Black Hammer characters Colonel Randall Weird and Dr. James Robinson in a series of dimension-hopping cross-world capers!”

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Jeff Lemire announces ‘The Last Days of Black Hammer’ graphic novel

The writer teams with artist Stefano Simeone for the 100-page story.

As a part of Comics Day on Substack, Jeff Lemire has announced and launched The Last Days of Black Hammer, a new graphic novel with artist Stefano Simeone.

Lemire was one of the first wave of creators last year who began offering a paid tier for his Substack newsletter, Tales from the Farm, with plans to post new comics content for premium subscribers. Those plans included new Black Hammer stories and a graphic novel written and drawn by Lemire called Fishflies (the second chapter of which Lemire recently began posting).

Unlike Fishflies, Lemire says that The Last Days of Black Hammer will be available for free for all subscribers, not just the paid ones.

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Jeff Lemire signs an exclusive deal with Image Comics

The deal will not impact the Black Hammer comics published by Dark Horse or the content on his Substack newsletter.

Jeff Lemire has signed an exclusive deal with Image Comics, his publisher for projects like Ascender, Descender, Gideon Falls, Primordial and more, for an undisclosed amount of time.

“Having worked with Image on so many projects over the last decade, I’ve come to appreciate the complete creative freedom and support that they’ve provided me,” said Lemire. “I’m excited to make Image the exclusive home for all my projects in the years to come, both solo projects that I will draw myself, and my various collaborations. Bone Orchard and Little Monsters are just the start of what I have planned this year and beyond.”

The deal does come with a couple of asterisks, though — Lemire clarified in his Substack newsletter that it will not impact the Black Hammer line of books he co-created at Dark Horse. “I have an exemption in my Image deal to finish the last few Black Hammer series as planned,” he said.

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Mail Call | Doctor Strange journeys to the ‘Nexus of Nightmares’ in April

Check out news and updates from Marvel, DC, Image, Jeff Lemire, Brian Michael Bendis and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

Although Doctor Strange might currently be dead in the Marvel Universe, Marvel still has stories to tell about Stephen Strange’s past. April brings not only rain this year, but also Doctor Strange: Nexus of Nightmares, by Marvel veteran Ralph Macchio and artist Ibrahim Mostafa.

The one-shot will feature the Sorcerer Supreme taking on Nightmare and Baron Mordo, as they attempt to use Strange’s own nightmares against him. The one-shot comes out April 20, with a cover by Todd Nauck.

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Jeff Lemire joins the Substack Revolution, will syndicate ‘Fishflies’ through the service

Subscribers will also receive access to new Black Hammer stories.

Jeff Lemire is the latest creator to announce he will move his online newsletter to the Substack premium model, with plans to post comics and more through the service.

As part of his premium service, he plans to begin posting his next big project. Fishflies, through Substack, along with short stories set in the world of Black Hammer.

“I don’t even know what to call it really, ‘newsletter’ seems much too limiting for what I hope to do on this platform,” Lemire wrote in his, er, newsletter. “My intention here is to create something akin to an online studio; a new platform to publish new comics and a meeting place to share all my work in progress with you and also offer lots of exclusive new material. I want to create a direct link between me and my readers. So, this will be a place that I can share each step of my creative process with you and a platform to actually create and publish new comics too.”

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Lemire + Crook break the fourth wall in ‘The Unbelievable Unteens’

The Black Hammer miniseries will debut in August.

Jeff Lemire and Tyler Crook will reunite for another comic set in the Black Hammer universe, which Lemire co-created with artist Dean Ormston. The Unbelievable Unteens is described as a “meta team superhero saga” that will introduce a new superhero team.

The Unbelievable Unteens is a Black Hammer story that I have been working on for a few years and was just waiting for the right time and the right collaborator,” said Lemire. “After doing Colonel Weird with Tyler Crook I knew he would be perfect to bring the creepy and wonderful teenage super hero world of the Unteensto life. This series stands alone but will also tie back into the new Black Hammer: Reborn series in unexpected ways!” 

Black Hammer: Reborn will debut in June and will feature Lucy Weber, the new Black Hammer.

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‘Black Hammer’ returns with a new art team in June

‘Black Hammer: Reborn’ will feature art by Caitlin Yarsky, Dave Stewart, Malachi Ward and Matt Sheean, who will work with writer/co-creator Jeff Lemire.

Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s Black Hammer series will return later this year with a new ongoing series, Black Hammer: Reborn, but Ormston won’t be drawing it.

Instead, artist Caitlin Yarsky will join Lemire for the first four issues of the new series, which picks up 20 years after the events of the previous story arc, Age of Doom. Dave Stewart will color it. Malachi Ward and Matt Sheean will then draw issues #5-8.

The new series will focus on Lucy Weber, who took up her father’s mantle and became the new Black Hammer. But what happened to Ormston? Don’t worry — Lemire revealed in his email newsletter that Ormston is drawing a sister title to Black Hammer: Reborn, which will focus on the character Madame Butterfly. He said it would launch later this year.

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What Are You Reading? Squirrel Girl, Grendel and more!

See what the Smash Pages crew has checked off their “to read” list lately.

Hey, Happy Easter! The Easter Bunny stopped by the blog and brought not only delicious chocolate eggs, but also brought back one of our favorite features — What Are You Reading? Like the title suggests, it’s a casual look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately. So without further ado …

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Black Hammer-verse expands with ‘Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy’

New six-issue series kicks off in December.

With phase one of the Black Hammer story wrapping up with Black Hammer: Age of Doom #12 next month, the obvious question is, what comes next? Dark Horse Comics answered that question about the Jeff lemire/Dean Ormston this weekend at Comic-Con International with the announcement of Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy.

Lemire will team up with artist Tonci Zonjic and letterer Steve Wands on the project, which kicks off in December.

Skulldigger & Skeleton Boy is not only the next book in the Black Hammer Universe, it’s also the first book in the next phase of Black Hammer projects we will be announcing over the coming months,” Lemire told Newsarama. “I’ve been incredibly lucky to work with amazing artists on Black Hammer, and Tonci Zonjic is no exception. His storytelling and artwork in this series is going to blow people away.”

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Comics Lowdown: Eric M. Esquivel fired from ‘Nightwing,’ ‘Border Town’ cancelled

Plus: Free Comics Book Day, George Freeman, Marie Javins and more!

Although it wasn’t yet announced, DC Comics has said Eric M. Esquivel will no longer co-write Nightwing. The news that Esquivel was writing the book was to be revealed today in DC’s January solicitations.

The news follows the cancellation of Border Town, a well-reviewed series Esquivel wrote with artists Ramon Villalobos and Tamra Bonvillain. Both Villalobos and Bonvillain announced on social media they had quit the title after allegations of sexual abuse against Esquivel became public. In a piece titled “X, my experience with my abuser,” toy designer Cynthia Naugle detailed a history of abuse by a co-worker at a comic shop, who has since been identified as Esquivel.

Neither DC Comics nor Vertigo have commented directly on the abuse allegations. Esquivel, who had changed his Twitter account to private following the allegations, has now made it public again and posted several tweets in response. At Book Riot, writer S.W. Sondheimer says she will no longer cover Vertigo titles as a result of their silence on the matter.

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