The Quantum Age

After having explored the origins of Black Hammer (with Black Hammer '45), I then continued on to discover its future.

The events of The Quantum Age take place about 100 years after the disappearances of Abraham Slam, Black Hammer, Barbalien and the rest of the occupants of Black Hammer Farm. 

Now don't be duped by the back cover or what some other collected volumes of Black Hammer related books say. The events in this storyline do not occur 1000 years into the future. It's a typo. I think someone just added an extra 0 and proofread just didn't catch the mistake during the editing phase.

Black Hammer '45 was a tribute to war comics. The Cthu-louise one-shot and Madame Dragonfly FCBD entry were tributes to horror and suspense comics that were noted for their twist endings. And The Quantum Age is Jeff Lemire's love letter to DC's Legion of Super-Heroes and Marvel's mutant titles. 

While I was intrigued by the artwork of Black Hammer '45, I was a bigger fan of Wilfredo Torres's (Marvel Legacy Legion) work in this book. Maybe because it was less impressionistic than Matt Kindt's (Mind MGMT) stuff. Or maybe I'm less of a fan of water colors than I am with more traditional comic book coloring methods. 

There's a bunch of surprises and twists to this book. I had mentioned in a previous review of a Black Hammer collection that there were a couple of characters who I felt that their story wasn't over. Well, I was right. I will not spoil it here. But if you go digging through my other reviews, you'll learn just who those characters were. Well, two of them. Jeff Lemire managed to surprise me with a third reveal that I wasn't expecting.

And there was one character that I fell in love with and I had to read ahead to make sure they survived. I am glad to say that I got my wish. And if I hadn't, man was I going to be pissed!

I actually didn't want this story to end. Or maybe I should say, hopefully, there will be more coming. According to articles I've read, Jeff Lemire plans to close the door on Black Hammer in 2023. So maybe in these next 18 months, I'll get my wish and get to revisit The Quantum Age one more time.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.