By Zack Quaintance — As those who follow me on Twitter have surely realized at this point, for more than a year now I’ve been slowly reading every single Hellboy and Hellboy-adjacent comic at a pace of one chapter (or issue, rather) per day in the order of original publication (catalog them all via #RaisingHellboy). Through this, I’ve also read all the Lobster Johnson volumes. Lobster Johnson is a pulp hero that has larger-than-life adventures in early part of the 20th Century.

It’s a fun book, one that reads well and wears its influences on its sleeve like so much of the Hellboy canon. What elevates the Lobster Johnson stories to a higher level, however, is that the majority of them are elevated by an artist named Tonci Zonjic. Zonjic is a massive talent, one of those artists whose work just seems to scream this is how comics were meant to be. With Zonjic’s work, no panel is wasted or misused, with each and every shot finding a visually-arresting way to tell the story. Zonjic’s character design is another of the many qualities of the work to stand out, able to oscillate wildly between realistic and cartoonish in a way that doesn’t make anyone seem out of place.

All this is a means of saying that when the news came down during San Diego Comic-Con that Zonjic was drawing the next Black Hammer mini-series, I was elated at it. After all, this was to be the first story set in writer/artist Jeff Lemire’s Black Hammer world to see publication after the main narrative about the heroes stuck on the farm had finished. I may be wrong about this, but to date, I believe each and every story in this cannon has had some kind of tie back to that main book, be it a protagonist mentioned briefly by a main character or a bit of history that has come to bear on the present and future. With that in mind, it’s only natural to wonder if these Black Hammer comics can endure without the tension of the main book’s mystery to sustain audience interest.

Getting Zonjic to draw the first title to continue the world was a great first step, I thought when it was announced. Well, now that I’ve actually read Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy #1, I’m happy to reiterate that. This is, simply put, a fantastically-illustrated comic. It is right from the early pages, with Zonjic making ample use of his gift for shot selection. On page two, for example, we get a panel close-up on a whirring chain in the air, which lends a kinetic feeling to the flow of the action before we’ve even seen the vigilante who’s wielding it. The storytelling here is filled with choices like this that give the book both clarity and style within its action.

In addition, my other favorite quality of Zonjic’s work is also on full display here within the character designs. The two main characters (so far) are the chain-wielding vigilante Skulldigger, and a young boy who loses his parents in a Batman-esque incident, a young boy we can probably safely assume will eventually become the titular Skeleton Boy. Both of these character designs look great, with the former being an imposing bulk of a man, while the younger is small and bowl-cutted, with the shocking trauma he’s just gone through played out almost entirely by the dull, heart-breaking look on his freckled face. The artwork subtly lets us know that the most important themes of this comic will be played out between the interesting duo, and it’s great. 

Artwork aside, I also thought Jeff Lemire made an interesting and bold choice tapping this story as his first to see print after ending the Black Hammer main book. As I mention, there’s a bit of a Batman analog going on here. That makes sense. If you’re doing a superhero-inspired homage universe like this one, Batman is a major natural choice for the next phase of things. Like the rest of Black Hammer’s homages, Batman is used as mostly a vague jumping off point, with Lemire taking a kernel of inspiration from a story we all know, and building something wholly unique from it. 

There is a second major Batman idea taken here, but in the interest of spoilers, I will only say that it has to do with the tension of superheroes who have sidekicks that may not agree with their lifestyles or methods. It’s a tension that has been explored at times, although maybe not so directly as this book hints it intends to do in the five additional issues to come. It is, of course, exciting stuff given the high level of talented creators involved. If this book is indicative of the future of the Black Hammer universe, this world is just getting started.  

Overall: With stunning artwork and a bold take on a familiar tension from older superhero universes, Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy #1 is a must-read comic and a worthy choice to start the next phase of the Black Hammer world. 9.6/10

Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy #1 (From the World of Black Hammer)
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Tonci Zonjic
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.99

Read more great comic book reviews here!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.