Black Hammer: Visions #1

Black Hammer: Visions #1

Dark Horse Comics 2021

Written by Patton Oswalt

Illustrated by Dean Kotz

Coloured by Jason Wordie

Lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot

Explore the life of youthful super heroine Golden Gail on the Black Hammer Farm before the beginning of Black Hammer #1, and her struggle to maintain sanity as a middle-aged woman trapped in the unchanging body of a superpowered grade- schooler.

Originally I wasn’t sure I was going to be getting this one but with Patton writing it my curiosity got the better of me. The man is a kind of mad genius and has a way with words whether they are written or spoken so it is no surprise that when he wants to unleash this imagination and creativity it comes out this effin darn good. I have to say that I’m impressed with this is an understatement and the route that we see taken here is pure genius because it is never expected. To see and learn about Gail in this manner is something that is rather quite refreshing.

I am rather enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. I have to admit that learning about Gail through two girls who knew her when and who knew only a brief moment in the grand scheme of things. The character development is sensational! I am really enjoying seeing the conversation, dialogue, between these two girls as much as I am between Gail and the others we see. The pacing that we see here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story we really are treated to a great read.

I am enjoying the way that we see this being structured. How the layers within the story pick up threads and create new ones is really rather inspired work. Then there’s how we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow which is just utterly marvellous in its own right. I will wholeheartedly admit that this single issue has changed the way that I see Gail and how we can better understand her outside of the whole bitterness that came with this time in exile. Kudos to Patton for this because I wasn’t sure that anyone could actually change my opinion of her and yet here we are.

Dean does some really great work here on the interiors as well. There is definitely a style happening here and it works beautifully with this world, these characters and this story. The linework is fantastic and how we see the varying weights being utilised to create the detail work is really well rendered. The faces and the facial expressions are sensational and help to further the characterisation as well. That we see backgrounds being utilised as they are to expand the moments and bring us some lovely depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story cannot be beat. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a strong and talented eye for storytelling. Jason’s work on the colours here is rather divine. This watercolour effect and how we see some pieces that appear faded, as memories tend to do over time to details, is brilliantly showcased. The way we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a clever understanding of how colour can and does work.

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This is the beauty of a franchise such as Black Hammer. It is a great world with some truly interesting characters that have captured our mind, imagination and creativity and as such fans of this world like Patton, Dean and Jason want to play in this particular sandbox. This leads to some great storytelling that comes along and has the power to change how we see and feel about it’s characters.