bmaackreadscomics's reviews
46 reviews

Black Hammer, Vol. 1: Secret Origins by Dean Ormston, Jeff Lemire, Dave Stewart

emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Writing: 1.0 / 1.0
Lemire absolutely nails these first 6 issues. Compelling characters, a mysterious plot, relationships, hopes, dreams. An entire world is already established when some series take 12 issues to do half as much.

Art: .75 / 1.0
Dean Ormston’s art is unique and definitely fits the type of story that Black Hammer is. My only gripe is that it’s just not my favorite kind of style. I appreciate the heck out of it, but I just don’t fully love it. The Para Zone stuff was awesome though.

Characters: 1.0 / 1.0
Abraham Slam, Golden Gail, Madame Dragonfly, Barbalien, Colonel Weird, and Talky Walky are all shaping up to be excellent characters. The fact that I remembered all their names without having to go back and look them up proves that they’re compelling and fleshed out. Very excited to see how they all develop further.

Enjoyment: 1.0 / 1.0
What can I say? I love off-brand superhero stories, I love Jeff Lemire, so there’s no way I wasn’t going to love this trade. I’m excited not just for the continuation of the story now that everyone’s origins are out of the way, I’m also excited to check out all the spinoff series as well.

Originality: 1.0 / 1.0
For being an off-brand superhero story, the main plot of these first 6 issues contain a very minimal amount of superheroing which worked perfectly. Similar to how video game designers need to test some of their ideas in a vacuum, I believe that seeing a superhero live their life outside of the costume is critical to properly establishing the character.

Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Writing: .5 / 1.0
I think after having read The City We Became and now Far Sector, I have a better understanding of Jemisin’s writing conventions. She tackles immense subjects in plain English. She’s a nerd and proud of all the references she can sprinkle everywhere. I think the topics that Jemisin writes about (i.e. systemic oppression, restorative justice, etc) are incredibly important to discuss, however, I personally find Jemisin’s writing to be far to “telly” and not enough “showy”. The reader is not given a chance to come to their own conclusions about anything. Every single subtlety must be brought up either in dialogue, recap, or narration.

Art: 1.0 / 1.0
The real star of this trade was Jamal Campbell’s art. Just a gorgeous swathe of colors and shading constantly in use. Absolutely no issues with any of the art, just wish it got more chances to shine without walls of text.

Characters: .5 / 1.0
Sojourner, @Canhaz, Syzn, and Marth were distinctive enough from one another. But as I mentioned before, everything is so on the nose. So much expository dialogue about the plot or the characters’ interests or beliefs.

Enjoyment: .25 / 1.0
Unfortunately, I think Jemisin’s writing style just bounces off of me. Maybe it’s revolutionary for people who are new to the big ideas being presented, and maybe it’s actually better to have more in-your-face approaches to messages and themes, but it just doesn’t work for me all that much.

Originality: .5 / 1.0
Perhaps the story is original for a Green Lantern story, but ultimately N.K. Jemisin decided to just take some real world issues and put them on an alien planet. The nuances of the story had the exact same answers that they have here on Earth, except there were a lot of conveniences that helped move things along in the story to achieve a happier ending.

Pretty Deadly, Vol. 2: The Bear by Emma Ríos, Kelly Sue DeConnick

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced