This format truly makes the experience phenomenal. All the stories--and there are many in this binding--are arranged in such a way to augment the stories after it. Looking at the regular trades, I think this is far superior to the ordering. "Pancakes" is the first one, for instance; makes a lot of sense.

More than that, the stories are more interesting overall than the first binding. Though slightly more necessarily uneven artwork-wise, because of the numerous different formats being put in it, the quality of the storytelling is far more compelling. Loved this. And the oversized format, again, just an incredible experience.

The new direction isn’t something I’m super excited about. The first part especially, with the retelling of WW2 in this universe. I just do not care at all about war/military fiction generally, but then WW2 as well. I’ve had enough of it.

The second part was better. A futuristic version of the universe we know. The narrative tension is fine, not great. Eventually a let down when you get to a certain part. But the finale rekindled some momentum. Because I have my brothers copy of the oversized edition of the next one, I’ll continue on. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t.

What a bounce back. One of the best omnibus collections I’ve ever read. The first story is Captain Weird’s backstory, which is done in an American Pastoral way. His childhood is out of a Steinbeck novel, and then it goes into timey-whimey wildness, explaining how he became Weird. It is so Damn good.

And then, out of left field, a Barbalien backstory that is queer as hell. Scenes briefly touched on are brought in—his time as a cop, discovering he is queer, gay liberation during the AIDS pandemic. All of it is incredibly well handled. I found it really effecting and moving. Rather than vaguely draw comparisons to his literally being an alien, he feels much more rooted in the world and history, and it is an origin story on par with old favourites, like Superman.

And for once, the artwork is incredible across the board for both stories. Great paneling, not a dull moment. Great plot. If you’re going to read any Black Hammer at all, make it this one.

An all-around solid series. This one even more macro, reducing previously more granular events to shorthand as days become years, tracing the final trajectory of the generation we have spent our time with. This, mostly, worked for me.

The prose lack what I personally prefer. It lacks description and is accessible in its diction, but this creates a fairly bland, out-of-the-way style. It’s just invisible. There are some moments that definitely landed in the past, usually well plot beats that go granular due to their importance. It still kind of does this, but less often. Epic in scope, it zooms in less, and it simply has to, or risk not chronicling everything it wants to. Because I rarely felt connected to the characters, and I get my fix via the drama, this was like consuming 6 seasons of a tv show, mainlined. At first it’s a bit overwhelming, but then it’s momentum is apparent and hard to put down.

As a side note: I really hope the TV show happens because Lee does not do much to set a scene. Relying on the reader to populate everything themselves. I’d love to see a visual representation of this world. Especially in the past, where more than its toes are dipped into historical fiction.