Dr Carl

It’s a good point, but I do wonder if it’s a complete narrative. Say, for example, I own a nice $1K silver age book in a 9.2 CGC case. And I have it on my top shelf for display purposes, and one day I’m rearranging shelves and if falls 10 feet to the ground. I think "oh !" and notice a visible ding in a corner that's from the fall, because I know it wasn’t there before (and I'm thinking there's no way that's a 9.2 with that ding-a-roo!)... The case still says 9,2 but the book in the case is no longer the one that was graded. Now, I don’t like the book anymore so I decide to sell it, and take a photo that doesn't necessarily hide the flaw, but doesn't make it apparent at all. Are we all still of the opinion that you bought a 9,2 and "Suck it up buddy, you bought what you paid for."? This makes for interesting dialogue... I'll be curious what you think.

Yep. Should have asked for better photos. There was only one photo in the listing and I didn't see the book well enough to notice these imperfections. To be honest, I’ve bought a bunch of 9.8s and never had one with an easily visible flaw on the cover, so I didn’t even think that was possible.

Kevin, I’m confused by your response. There’s no complaining here. I'm simply asking my friends on the boards if they think this book is a 9.8 or a 9.6. I own a handful of 9.8s, and none have these imperfections, so I was hoping to share my experience and learn from my fellow boardies. No offense intended.

Hi fellow GCG Boardies... Help! Here's the scoop: 1. I bought a Black Hammer 1 CGC 9.8 on eBay 2. The book that arrived has enough visible imperfections that I imagine it's more of a 9.6: (a) the top and bottom corner (on the left side are both impacted); (b) there's a tiny but easily visible "ding" along the top edge. 3. Take a look and tell me what you think. Thanks!

Legendary or Netflix? Legendary, a large media/production company -- whose recent summer releases included Detective Pikachu and Godzilla -- purchased the rights to the entire Black Hammer universe. Not just one character, but all of them, intending to develop a new interconnected collection of heroes for TV and film. It's my understanding that Jeff's working on the scripts, probably hard at work as you read this post. Not long after this deal was announced, Dark Horse shared that it had sold production rights to Netflix. However, Black Hammer (and a number of other properties) were already spoken for, so this sits are outside of the Netflix agreement. My hunch is Jeff did well -- really well -- with the Legendary deal. And I'm excited to see what's to come. I'm also curious what you think.... Netflix or Legendary? (Kinda like asking if you'd like flight or invincibility -- no bad choices here!)

That's terrific. You're so close by. I'll send you a PM and we'll find a time to connect.

No wasted dialogue As I reread the Black Hammer series, I'm marveling at how Jeff doesn't waste a moment's dialogue. When you're reading what Randall (Col. Weird) shares, it's easy to think it's the delusions of a man who lost his mind. In issue 2, he rambles out the seemingly nonsensical "Gail needs you. She's in trouble. She's in a box. There is smoke. She needs her mother", to which Dragonfly (rather appropriately) replies with "What? What the hell are you talking about?" Two pages later we see Gail sitting in a bathroom stall ("in a box") smoking a cigarette ("there is smoke"), and three pages later we see Dragonfly appear, disguised as Gail's mother, to rescue her ("she needs her mother"). Not a moment of wasted dialogue, even when spoken by the ramblings of Randall Weird.

Interesting. My hunch is Jeff won’t need alternate universe versions of Abe, Gail, and Mark, but will find a way to bring them to life, both in the hearts of the heroes who live on, and through the art of creative storytelling. We do know, from Quantum Age, that Randall, Talke, and Dragonfly are all alive (and well?) in 2141, and we know from Age of Doom 12 that they don't return to the farm, so I do think (and very much hope) we’ll see them again soon. Finally, I noticed your Broncos logo and your location being Colorado. I’m here too, up north in Fort Collins. Let me know where you are, and if we’re close, maybe we can grab coffee sometime.

Thanks for continuing the conversation! So… Jeff has taken the Black Hammer universe up through 1986. (He’s also gone far into the future with Quantum Age, but I’m going to skip that in this discussion.) What’s interesting, and surely not coincidental, is that the Black Hammer Universe’s Cataclysm event, taking place in 1986, matches the timeline of DC’s 1986 Crisis on Infinite Earths (and is close to Marvel’s 1984 Secret Wars). I believe Jeff’s plan is to move the Black Hammer book forward in time, with heroes now living in the 90s, beginning with Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy (releasing in late 2019) and then a new Black Hammer title featuring Lucy Weber (launching in 2020). It’s hard to say how much of a role Gail, Abe, Mark, Randall, Dragonfly, and the original Black Hammer will play. They’ll surely be revered and remembered, and a part of the backstory, but will they intersect and interact with the new heroes… my hunch is Jeff will find a way. Thoughts?

Interesting... I've really been struggling with the ending of the current story arc... Warning, major spoiler follows. On the one hand, I was happy that Abe, Gail and Mark were happy, They truly deserve that. And having Sherlock join them was another one of Jeff's acts of creative genius. On the other hand, having them forget seems sad, and even tragic, to me. I love these heroes, but not remembering as a way to be happy seems like a way around the work we all have to do as humans... process trauma and let our scars make us more than who we were before we received them.... I can't get over the feeling that Abe, Gail, and Mark are not who they were meant to be with many of their memories wiped... Discuss?

Skottie Young’s Black Hammer: Age of Doom #1 variant cover

Original Art As a Black Hammer collector, having gathered the universe in all its 47 issue comic book glory, I turned my attention to original art. While more pieces are on their way (due to arrive from overseas by late October), I do have one work of art in hand thanks to JC, my friend in the OA world…

Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise (one-shot) + Black Hammer Encyclopedia (One Shot)

Black Hammer ’45 1-4

Quantum Age 1-6 (issues 1A, 1B, 1 SDCC, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A+B all shown)

Doctor Star (and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows) 1-4 (Issue 1A, 1B, 2A, 3A, 4A shown)

Sherlock Frankenstein (and the Legion of Evil) 1-4 (issue 1A,1B, 1 SDCC, 2A, 3A, 4A, 4B all shown)

Four Breakout (Mini) Series In addition to the main 27-issue Black Hammer run pictured above (BH 1-13 + BH Age of Doom 1-13 + BH Annual 1), some characters coloring the Black Hammer universe broke out into stories of their own, enriching their world one narrative at a time. Here are those series (20 issues in total) in pictures…

The First Appearance of SkullDigger (in a cameo role) Jeff has SkullDigger’s first appearance in the upcoming SkullDigger and Skeleton Boy #1 (per his Encyclopedia), but SkullDigger shows up on a TV screen in Doctor Star #2, and Wingman laments the changing world of vigilantes, pointing to SkullDigger's unconventional ways, in his bar room conversation with Doctor Star.

Easter Eggs In an interconnected universe of heroes, one-shots, narratives, mini-series, and more, opportunities abound for hidden gems and clues within each story. Here are two easter eggs I uncovered… Black Hammer: Cthu-Louis 1 (one-shot): Outlines the Battle of Ypres (complete story told in Black Hammer ’45 issues 1-4) Black Hammer: Quantum Age 6: Set in the future, the character dialogue outlines the conclusion of Black of Hammer: Age of Doom

More to share this weekend, including Original Art! … hopefully, some of you out there will share as well...

The original/first Black Hammer run from 1 to 13 (plus Annual 1), this time all in Cover B, with an extra 1 and 3 signed by Jef…

The original/first Black Hammer run from 1 to 13 (plus Annual 1), all in Cover A, with an extra 1, 2, 3 all signed by Jef…

Black Hammer Runs In case you were thinking I only had copies of #1’s in all it’s variations, I thought I’d share some of the complete BH runs in pictures….