Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy

The story of Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy is the Black Hammer universe's version of Batman and Robin. There's also some element of Hit Girl from Kick-Ass. But when you throw in the arch-villain of the sadistic Grimjim, this story is definitely of the Dark Knight with Jeff Lemire flair. 

An unfortunate but inadvertent dropping of this book resulted in me seeing a scene that looked rather tragic and sad. So I held off on reading this library find for a while. But it's time for the books I checked out to go back, so I had to read it. I'm very glad I did. 

This is an extremely gritty book. But I enjoyed the heck out of it. The violence was gratuitous and there were a couple of scenes that show body parts exploding. This typically isn't my thing (and the main reason I've never seen the film Scanners) but for some reason, I was hooked. It felt like the sort of film Tarantino and Sam Peckinpah would have made if they ever decided to get together to do a superhero flick.

I was also a big fan of the artwork. Tonci Zonjic's artstyle is just so minimalist and classic. It reminds me of the late Darwyn Cooke. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. If I'm not mistaken, in the sketchbook section of this read, Jeff Lemire likens Zonjic's work to that of Darwyn Cooke's and I could not have agreed more. 

I really don't feel like this story is over. However, news reports claim that Jeff Lemire is closing the doors on the Black Hammer universe in the next year or so. If that's the unfortunate case, then I really hope Jeff Lemire brings Skulldigger back. There's just so many unanswered questions, like what was Detective Reyes' past history with the vigilante? She mentions a past with Skulldigger in issue #1 and has her reasons for wanting to arrest him. But, then that whole vendetta is glossed over and on the occasions when she does met up with Skulldigger, the two act like they've never meet before.

I'd also like to learn more why it seems that the Chief of Police seems glad that Skulldigger is killing all of the criminal elements of Spiral City. I'd like to learn more as to why it seems like the law enforcer has given up hope in the services of his police force. There seems to be a powerful origin story waiting to be uncovered here.

This story cannot be over. It had better not be. However, it's been about 3 years since Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy was published and time is running out. If that's all there is to this cast of characters, I am going to be sorely disappointed.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.