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The World of Black Hammer #6
Barbalien: Red Planet
A groundbreaking new sci-fi action series in the world of the Eisner Award-winning Black Hammer universe, about prejudice, honor, and identity.
Mark Markz has found his place on Earth as both a decorated police officer and as the beloved superhero, Barbalien. But in the midst of the AIDS crisis, hatred from all sides makes balancing these identities seem impossible--especially when a Martian enemy from the past hunts him down to take him back, dead or alive.
Collects Barbalien: Red Planet #1-#5.
Mark Markz has found his place on Earth as both a decorated police officer and as the beloved superhero, Barbalien. But in the midst of the AIDS crisis, hatred from all sides makes balancing these identities seem impossible--especially when a Martian enemy from the past hunts him down to take him back, dead or alive.
Collects Barbalien: Red Planet #1-#5.
136 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 11, 2021
6 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Lemire
1,404 books3,867 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
November 29, 2024
Hands down the best comicbook I've read this year and I really can't see anything topping it. When people ask me why I still read comics at forty five years of age, with their ignorant noses turned up in an entirely false sense of superiority, I'd like to give them this book and say 'this is why'.
This was a beautiful story, so powerful, so tragic, so hopeful, I am crying as I type this. Thankfully, it had artwork to match the words. Everybody who worked on this book gave it their all and I commend them with the highest praise I can possible give.
You should be proud, people. Beautiful work... just, beautiful. If this doesn't win an Eisner there's no justice in the world.
This was a beautiful story, so powerful, so tragic, so hopeful, I am crying as I type this. Thankfully, it had artwork to match the words. Everybody who worked on this book gave it their all and I commend them with the highest praise I can possible give.
You should be proud, people. Beautiful work... just, beautiful. If this doesn't win an Eisner there's no justice in the world.
June 8, 2021
Barbalien has always been an analog of Martian Manhunter with the twist that he's gay. This origin story is set during the AIDS Crisis of the 80's. Mark Markz is still coming to terms with being gay. He's a closeted police officer by day, Barbalien by night. He becomes enamored with a gay activist he saves at a rally. This book really works when it's about Mark coming to accept itself. The story has quite a few holes with the Martian 'B' plotline that I didn't care about one iota. Gabriel Hernandez Walta's art is packed with emotion making it perfect for this series.
January 28, 2025
Mark Markz, a.k.a. Barbalien, is from Mars. Mark Markz is also gay, which is maybe even more of a problem for Martians than it is for Earthlings.
This book is about Markz' time in the 1980s of Spiral City, and focuses on him coming to terms with his sexuality. It also focuses on gay rights, and the appearance of AIDS.
So Markz has left for Earth, and is hiding there as a police officer, in which guise he quickly encounters LGBTQ+ protests against the persecution of homosexuals. Markz adopts another guise, and enters the underground world of gay clubs.
He meets one of the protesters, Miguel Cruz, and falls in love with him. Then Miguel gets ill.
Markz is also being hunted by another Martian (basically for being gay), and this subplot feels a bit forced - it's a more regular Black Hammer plot, while this book is interesting because it veers away from the regular BH tropes. But there has to be a place to get the SHRAKK!s in.
The whole setup of the book can feel a bit jarring - the 1980s Black Hammer universe has pretty much the same problems as real life 1980s Earth. There is a horrible degenerative disease called AIDS, it's falsely presented as a 'gay disease' and people who have the disease are left to die. There's also the same level of homophobia. (To be clear, the other option, making up some sort of AIDS-like disease would feel convoluted and ridiculous.)
I think this also the first Black Hammer book that explicitly places Spiral City in America, much like Metropolis and Gotham City on DC's Earth. (Perhaps most jarring of all - Star Wars exists in the Black Hammer universe.)
These aren't problems, of course. The book tells a beautiful story, and the art is just as beautiful.
(Kindly received a review copy from Dark Horse Books through Edelweiss)
This book is about Markz' time in the 1980s of Spiral City, and focuses on him coming to terms with his sexuality. It also focuses on gay rights, and the appearance of AIDS.
So Markz has left for Earth, and is hiding there as a police officer, in which guise he quickly encounters LGBTQ+ protests against the persecution of homosexuals. Markz adopts another guise, and enters the underground world of gay clubs.
He meets one of the protesters, Miguel Cruz, and falls in love with him. Then Miguel gets ill.
Markz is also being hunted by another Martian (basically for being gay), and this subplot feels a bit forced - it's a more regular Black Hammer plot, while this book is interesting because it veers away from the regular BH tropes. But there has to be a place to get the SHRAKK!s in.
The whole setup of the book can feel a bit jarring - the 1980s Black Hammer universe has pretty much the same problems as real life 1980s Earth. There is a horrible degenerative disease called AIDS, it's falsely presented as a 'gay disease' and people who have the disease are left to die. There's also the same level of homophobia. (To be clear, the other option, making up some sort of AIDS-like disease would feel convoluted and ridiculous.)
I think this also the first Black Hammer book that explicitly places Spiral City in America, much like Metropolis and Gotham City on DC's Earth. (Perhaps most jarring of all - Star Wars exists in the Black Hammer universe.)
These aren't problems, of course. The book tells a beautiful story, and the art is just as beautiful.
(Kindly received a review copy from Dark Horse Books through Edelweiss)
July 21, 2021
Wow, this was a happy surprise! Well, "happy," (or anguished!) in that it is about the AIDS crisis, so grim and frightening, of course, and a surprise in that it takes place within Jeff Lemire's Black Hammer series, which is generally not about real world issues. The script is by Tate Brombal, who pitched the idea to Lemire, who had created the original character and co-wrote the story with Brombal. Gabriel Hernandez Walta did a very nice job with the art. But what's unique and special about this comic? It's set in the eighties in Spiral City, during the AIDS crisis.
Mark Markz, also known as Barbalien, is the Warlord of Mars. He is also gay, and so when he comes to Earth he needs to figure out what that means. He saves someone at an AIDS rally in 1986, an AIDS activist, as Brombal clearly is (since AIDS, as he makes clear in an afterword, is not yet over on this planet, of course) and under the cover of his being a cop works on what it means for him to be both a superhero and gay in the middle of this crisis.
Surprising, as I said, emotional, powerful; good for Lemire and his team for taking on this issue and making it meaningful. One of the best comics of the year!
Mark Markz, also known as Barbalien, is the Warlord of Mars. He is also gay, and so when he comes to Earth he needs to figure out what that means. He saves someone at an AIDS rally in 1986, an AIDS activist, as Brombal clearly is (since AIDS, as he makes clear in an afterword, is not yet over on this planet, of course) and under the cover of his being a cop works on what it means for him to be both a superhero and gay in the middle of this crisis.
Surprising, as I said, emotional, powerful; good for Lemire and his team for taking on this issue and making it meaningful. One of the best comics of the year!
September 26, 2021
I was today years old when I realized Barbalien was a portmanteau of "barbarian" and "alien," because he's a Martian warlord. Embarrassing.
This Black Hammer prequel is a depressing flashback to the 1980s AIDS crisis with the closeted title hero starting to explore the gay scene in Spiral City and becoming involved with an HIV+ activist leading protests against government neglect of the issue. Barbalien doubles down on the lying about his secret identity as a police officer to seduce the activist with a third, new identity, becoming a de facto undercover operative. Between the unrelenting homophobia of the cops and civilian bystanders and the protagonist's big lie, I found little to draw me into the story. There are some promising side characters -- Dr. Day and the Sunshine Sisters, Knight Clüb -- but they get little time to develop as Barbalien chews up pages with morose introspection and pointless battles with a homophobic alien bounty hunter.
Jeff Lemire gets top billing on the cover, but the original pitch and script are actually by Tate Brombal, who did the recaps and character profiles in The World of Black Hammer Encyclopedia.
This Black Hammer prequel is a depressing flashback to the 1980s AIDS crisis with the closeted title hero starting to explore the gay scene in Spiral City and becoming involved with an HIV+ activist leading protests against government neglect of the issue. Barbalien doubles down on the lying about his secret identity as a police officer to seduce the activist with a third, new identity, becoming a de facto undercover operative. Between the unrelenting homophobia of the cops and civilian bystanders and the protagonist's big lie, I found little to draw me into the story. There are some promising side characters -- Dr. Day and the Sunshine Sisters, Knight Clüb -- but they get little time to develop as Barbalien chews up pages with morose introspection and pointless battles with a homophobic alien bounty hunter.
Jeff Lemire gets top billing on the cover, but the original pitch and script are actually by Tate Brombal, who did the recaps and character profiles in The World of Black Hammer Encyclopedia.
June 7, 2021
Ooph, this one's painful. As it should be, given the subject matter, but even so.
Barbalien's story as part of and as a parallel to the AIDs Crisis is handled both delicately and honestly by writer Tate Brombal. (Lemire's name's on the cover, but Brombal did all the heavy lifting here so he's getting all the credit). In five issues, we see how Mark's internal struggles and the struggles that the queer community are facing are both massively similar and irreconcilably different. The fact that Mark can pass as a police officer complicates matters even further, and some parts of this book are difficult to read as a result.
It's almost a shame when the superheroic stuff rears its head, because Mark's Martian problems are nowhere near as interesting as his human ones, and while his victory over those issues works well to contrast with the plot denouement on the other side of things, I'd almost have preferred this to be an entire slice of life book rather than a superhero one. But if this is the way these stories get told, then I'll take it.
Barbalien has always been a pastiche of Martian Manhunter, and it's interesting to see how the fact that Mark portrays himself as a white man in his human identity (in both guises) contrasts to how Martian Manhunter is always a black guy. I wonder how this story would have changed, if it was J'onn rather than Mark getting involved.
The artwork from Gabriel Hernandez Walta is his usual understated, less-is-more type pencils that made his Vision and Doctor Strange runs so successful. The emotion he can invoke with only a few pencil strokes is astounding, it truly is, and it helps ground the human side of things as well as making the Martian plot even more alien than before.
Yet another in the wide array of Black Hammer spin-offs, Barbalien's solo outing stands head and shoulders above the others for daring to tell a story that's at times painful and joyous to read.
Barbalien's story as part of and as a parallel to the AIDs Crisis is handled both delicately and honestly by writer Tate Brombal. (Lemire's name's on the cover, but Brombal did all the heavy lifting here so he's getting all the credit). In five issues, we see how Mark's internal struggles and the struggles that the queer community are facing are both massively similar and irreconcilably different. The fact that Mark can pass as a police officer complicates matters even further, and some parts of this book are difficult to read as a result.
It's almost a shame when the superheroic stuff rears its head, because Mark's Martian problems are nowhere near as interesting as his human ones, and while his victory over those issues works well to contrast with the plot denouement on the other side of things, I'd almost have preferred this to be an entire slice of life book rather than a superhero one. But if this is the way these stories get told, then I'll take it.
Barbalien has always been a pastiche of Martian Manhunter, and it's interesting to see how the fact that Mark portrays himself as a white man in his human identity (in both guises) contrasts to how Martian Manhunter is always a black guy. I wonder how this story would have changed, if it was J'onn rather than Mark getting involved.
The artwork from Gabriel Hernandez Walta is his usual understated, less-is-more type pencils that made his Vision and Doctor Strange runs so successful. The emotion he can invoke with only a few pencil strokes is astounding, it truly is, and it helps ground the human side of things as well as making the Martian plot even more alien than before.
Yet another in the wide array of Black Hammer spin-offs, Barbalien's solo outing stands head and shoulders above the others for daring to tell a story that's at times painful and joyous to read.
October 5, 2021
Barbalien: Red Planet feels more like an important read than an actual good book. It tackles homophobia and AIDs in a mid-80s big city setting in a way that both enrages and engenders sympathy. So, the book is good for that - we could all stand to have a better understanding of what gay men and women went through in those horrific times.
Barbalien being a gay (Martian) superhero is also nicely progressive. He does naturally slot into the story as well, having to reconcile his homosexuality with his cover persona as a police officer. I think Red Planet would have worked really well if it simply stuck to this storyline. Instead, it tacks on a Martian bounty hunter stalking Barbalien with the intention of bringing him back to Mars to stand trial. This Barbalien backstory mostly clashes with the battle for AIDs awareness.
The artwork is solid throughout, with Gabriel Hernandez Walta handling character emotions especially well. Red Planet is well-written and paced, it just could have used a bit more time in the oven to even out the conflicting aspects of the story.
Barbalien being a gay (Martian) superhero is also nicely progressive. He does naturally slot into the story as well, having to reconcile his homosexuality with his cover persona as a police officer. I think Red Planet would have worked really well if it simply stuck to this storyline. Instead, it tacks on a Martian bounty hunter stalking Barbalien with the intention of bringing him back to Mars to stand trial. This Barbalien backstory mostly clashes with the battle for AIDs awareness.
The artwork is solid throughout, with Gabriel Hernandez Walta handling character emotions especially well. Red Planet is well-written and paced, it just could have used a bit more time in the oven to even out the conflicting aspects of the story.
August 11, 2021
«Варбулець: Червона планета»— ще один мальопис, який розширює всесвіт «Чорного Молота». Джефф Лемір написав історію, яка розкриває глибше Варбульця, а-ля Марк Маркц, події в якій відбуваються на початку 1980-х років.
Початкова сцена відбувається на Марсі, де Варбульцю виносять вирок смерті через його любов до людей. Та більшість подій відбуваються на Землі, до того, як марсіанина силою заберуть на червону планету.
У першій арці «Чорного Молота» ми дізнаємося, що Варбулець ґей, тому це не спойлер. Ідіть читайте, нарешті, перший том, тим більше він вийшов українською. Марсіанин на Землі постійно змінює свій вигляд, щоби знайти місце між людьми. Але це тільки одна сторона, бо інша — пошук свого я та пошук розуміння своєї сексуальності.
Варбулець, щоб приховати своє марсіанське походження, працює поліцейським, де змінює зовнішність та бере собі ім’я Марк Маркц. Події на початку переносять нас у Спіраль Сіті, де відбувається мітинг за ґендерну рівність. Тут Варбулець знайомиться одним із мітингувальників, рятуючи його, де він ледь не загинув через дурний вчинок. Згодом він теж змінює свій зовнішній вигляд, спеціально для спілкування з ним, відвідування підпільних клубів та усвідомлення того, ким він є.
Якщо зробити зріз усіх випусків лімітки, то все обертається навколо боротьби сексуальних менший за свої права, намагання поліції все це прикрити й те, як у цю всю ситуацію потрапляє Варбулець, який, окрім усвідомлення своєї ідентичності, також намагається перебувати між кількох берегів.
Сюжетно вийшло непогано, бо порівняно з деякими іншими лімітками в цьому всесвіті, цей мальопис дійсно розширює розуміння особистості Варбульця. Окрім того малюнк Ґабріеля Вальти, який ще мені сподобався в іншому мальописі «Sentient» написаний теж у співавторстві з Джеффом Леміром, добре формує правильну атмосферу. Та і взагалі виглядає добре.
У висновку скажу, що цю лімітку вартує прочитати, щоби більше зрозуміти героя, який грає не останню роль в основних подіях.
Початкова сцена відбувається на Марсі, де Варбульцю виносять вирок смерті через його любов до людей. Та більшість подій відбуваються на Землі, до того, як марсіанина силою заберуть на червону планету.
У першій арці «Чорного Молота» ми дізнаємося, що Варбулець ґей, тому це не спойлер. Ідіть читайте, нарешті, перший том, тим більше він вийшов українською. Марсіанин на Землі постійно змінює свій вигляд, щоби знайти місце між людьми. Але це тільки одна сторона, бо інша — пошук свого я та пошук розуміння своєї сексуальності.
Варбулець, щоб приховати своє марсіанське походження, працює поліцейським, де змінює зовнішність та бере собі ім’я Марк Маркц. Події на початку переносять нас у Спіраль Сіті, де відбувається мітинг за ґендерну рівність. Тут Варбулець знайомиться одним із мітингувальників, рятуючи його, де він ледь не загинув через дурний вчинок. Згодом він теж змінює свій зовнішній вигляд, спеціально для спілкування з ним, відвідування підпільних клубів та усвідомлення того, ким він є.
Якщо зробити зріз усіх випусків лімітки, то все обертається навколо боротьби сексуальних менший за свої права, намагання поліції все це прикрити й те, як у цю всю ситуацію потрапляє Варбулець, який, окрім усвідомлення своєї ідентичності, також намагається перебувати між кількох берегів.
Сюжетно вийшло непогано, бо порівняно з деякими іншими лімітками в цьому всесвіті, цей мальопис дійсно розширює розуміння особистості Варбульця. Окрім того малюнк Ґабріеля Вальти, який ще мені сподобався в іншому мальописі «Sentient» написаний теж у співавторстві з Джеффом Леміром, добре формує правильну атмосферу. Та і взагалі виглядає добре.
У висновку скажу, що цю лімітку вартує прочитати, щоби більше зрозуміти героя, який грає не останню роль в основних подіях.
July 29, 2021
Do tohto som išla s dosť nízkymi očakávaniami. Jedným dôvodom bola kresba od Walty, ktorá ma nenalákala, dokonca až odpudzovala na Sentientovi. Druhým dôvodom bol strach, že to bude proste celé nasilu tlačené. Opak je pravdou a ja som zostala milo prekvapená. Kresba neskutočne sedí k celému dianiu a príbeh pojednáva od Barbalienovi na Zemi, kde sa snaží nájsť sám seba a nejako vybalancovať svoj život tak, aby bol konečne spokojný. AIDS a homosexualita sú dostávané do popredia, ale veľmi príjemne. Celkovo je to strašne citlivé a výborne podané a zas full rating, lebo mi tam nič nechýbalo.
October 20, 2025
Of course I appreciate setting Barbalien's story in AIDS-era New York (umm, Spiral City). It's great that the series might introduce people to ACTUP and queer history. But there's not much here I find terribly surprising. (2.5 stars)
Reread 10/2025. Major brownie points for the setting and the ACTUP demo in the first issue. I found most of the rest pretty cliched unfortunately, but then I lived through the late 80s AIDS crisis. In the Afterword, Tate Brombal talked about telling "our stories". I would question whether introducing a shape-shifting Martian superhero to the story is a graceful way to do so. These stories can be told with more creativity and charm; see for example the movie BPM. Not to mention the explosion of excellent ACTUP-related oral histories in the last few years. (See for example Peter Staley's autobiography, or Jack Lowery's book on artist collective Gran Fury.)
Reread 10/2025. Major brownie points for the setting and the ACTUP demo in the first issue. I found most of the rest pretty cliched unfortunately, but then I lived through the late 80s AIDS crisis. In the Afterword, Tate Brombal talked about telling "our stories". I would question whether introducing a shape-shifting Martian superhero to the story is a graceful way to do so. These stories can be told with more creativity and charm; see for example the movie BPM. Not to mention the explosion of excellent ACTUP-related oral histories in the last few years. (See for example Peter Staley's autobiography, or Jack Lowery's book on artist collective Gran Fury.)
July 7, 2021
There are 2 endings in this book, both with the main character's acceptance. The art is perfectly evocative but I feel the story could have been better with a more deft hand in writing it.
March 25, 2023
(4,2 of 5 for decent identity drama with queer agenda)
I didn't expect much but I still got hope, because miniseries from the Dark Hammer universe usually proven to be excellent. And Barbalien is too. The art is pretty good, it fits the topic and mood which is great. AS the story goes, we have Mark Markz aka Barbalien living two and more identities and struggling in all of them. On the backside, there is a parallel of the gay rights/lives movement as we know from history and together it fits well. Explores both identity crisis and homosexuality in "historical context" (as far as historical applies to the fiction world) with high writing quality. Well, as Lemire goes, people's struggles is his ground and he again proved to master it well.
I didn't expect much but I still got hope, because miniseries from the Dark Hammer universe usually proven to be excellent. And Barbalien is too. The art is pretty good, it fits the topic and mood which is great. AS the story goes, we have Mark Markz aka Barbalien living two and more identities and struggling in all of them. On the backside, there is a parallel of the gay rights/lives movement as we know from history and together it fits well. Explores both identity crisis and homosexuality in "historical context" (as far as historical applies to the fiction world) with high writing quality. Well, as Lemire goes, people's struggles is his ground and he again proved to master it well.
January 17, 2022
Collects Barbalien: Red Planet #1-#5.
This comic packed more of a punch than I expected. The setting is mid-80s, big city, and tackles AIDS and homophobia without holding any punches.
Dropped into this setting is Barbalien - a gay Martian - who is dealing with his own sexuality while juggling his cover of being a cop. This story line worked really well, and I think the story would be have been stronger if the bounty hunter plotline was snipped out. The illustrations are really good through out, and the color palette evokes the right emotions for this tale.
This comic packed more of a punch than I expected. The setting is mid-80s, big city, and tackles AIDS and homophobia without holding any punches.
Dropped into this setting is Barbalien - a gay Martian - who is dealing with his own sexuality while juggling his cover of being a cop. This story line worked really well, and I think the story would be have been stronger if the bounty hunter plotline was snipped out. The illustrations are really good through out, and the color palette evokes the right emotions for this tale.
February 2, 2022
Too wordy. Too one note. I agree with the message of the book, but also felt it was done in a melodramatic way that strayed from the tone.
It's still well written, but the "martyrdom sends the ultimate message" trope is overdone.
It's still well written, but the "martyrdom sends the ultimate message" trope is overdone.
February 20, 2023
On Earth, Barbalien is referred to as Mark Markz. He is a police officer amid the AIDS crisis in North America. The story offers perspectives of discrimination towards those affected by AIDS on Earth and the criticism Barbalien faces on his home planet.
The graphic novel balances historical depictions and sci-fi seamlessly. The telling is emotional and heartfelt, as is expected with all of Lemire and Brombal’s work. They manage to blend fantastical elements into an overtly human story. I am so happy to have read this graphic novel, and it will be one that I highly recommend.
I haven’t read Black Hammer, Vol. 1: Secret Origins (yet), and I didn’t find I was missing out on too much, and there was no confusion. I believe one conversation early in the story referred to Black Hammer, but the situation’s gist was abundantly clear.
Hernandez Walta’s artwork is beautiful. I found that the use of colour helped set the mood and atmosphere of several scenes. For example, many more underground or secretive scenes have a darker tone, while scenes of hope are more colourful.
This graphic novel is emotional, riveting and delicately told. I can’t recommend it enough!
December 16, 2020
One of the most important books on shelves right now. This tells such a vital and REAL story, hidden within a superhero comic book. Tate Brombal writes with such an incredible passion and fierceness that comes through in every single panel on the page. Gabriel Walta and Jordie Bellaire are the DREAM TEAM with their art and colours. I stopped regularly just to take in all the subtleties of their work that brings Brombal's story to life on the page. And Aditya Bidikar's lettering is brilliant - from the alien language to the every day dialogue and bright word pops of Dr. Day and the Sunlight Sisters. Everyone poured their heart and soul into this story and you can tell.
This book is perfect in every way and it is a MUST read.
This book is perfect in every way and it is a MUST read.
August 15, 2021
I wasn’t as into this as others seem to be. The artwork is nice and so is the message. I like Barbalien’s character in the Black Hammer books, but here he is too many different people to have a strong identity. I like him best as the police officer - he has grit. Luke is his weakest identity - a bit bland - but it’s the one that gets the most focus. I’m also not a big fan of protest stories (except John Lewis’s March books), because they tend to be a bit same-y.
June 19, 2021
I'm not familiar with the Black Hammer universe, and I was not expecting such an emotional gut punch as my introduction. I'm not complaining, just wasn't expecting it. On one level, you've got a standard fish-out-of-water superhero story of an alien, Mark Markz, who comes to live on Earth after leaving Mars. He can shapeshift, and is a cop by day, superhero by night. What isn't standard is he's gay, and it's the '80s, and the AIDS crisis is in full swing. Markz is just starting to come to terms with his sexuality; he's closeted as a cop, and AIDS protests have him conflicted; how can he fight against the protesters when he believes in their cause, and wants to join them? After saving an activist's life as Barbalien, he wants to learn more, and creates another persona, Luke, in order to meet Miguel and get to know him. So now he has a young, just coming out gay man perspective going as well, and wow, this all just brings the feels. I was a teenager in the '80s, and almost all my male friends were gay, and I remember being afraid for them. I remember Reagan doing nothing. I remember the protests, and the righteous anger of gays at being ignored and forgotten and left to die. I remember every friend that died because of this disease. This story brought that home. This story will make you hurt, and that's good. We need to not forget. While all this is going on, a Martian bounty hunter-type dude shows up, looking to bring Markz back to Mars for supposedly being a traitor, and that gets ugly as well. The overall storytelling is really good, with a small caveat that I wish we'd been given a bit more context about past events. The art is gorgeous, and effectively done; in so many scenes, it just made me stop and sit back for a minute from the impact. Oh yeah, Barbalien/Mark Markz is an obvious nod to Martian Manhunter/ J'onn J'onzz yadda yadda yadda, you'll read that in every review, and people who know more about comics are better equipped to tell you about it, but I figured I'd better mention it. The important thing to take away is go buy this book, it's a great, powerful story, and y'all should read it.
July 10, 2022
Sometimes BLACK HAMMER feels like it’s just going through the motions, leaning on the reader’s nostalgia for mainstream superhero comics to invest the story with a little more meaning than it might have earned through its own merits.
And sometimes BLACK HAMMER tells a story using those characters and tropes that their original publishers couldn’t or wouldn’t tell. The Martian Manhunter was one of DC’s more recognizable heroes during the AIDS crisis, and quite frankly, nothing all that interesting had ever been done with him. It wouldn’t have required a radical retcon to reveal this shapeshifting alien who’d never been romantically linked to any other DC character as queer, and to tell this exact same story in those pages. But of course, that was not something that Time-Warner (or, really, any other entertainment corporation) was interested in doing at the time.
In that sense, BARBALIEN is long overdue in at least two ways. It tells a heartbreaking love story set at ground zero of the AIDS crisis and ‘80s gay activism… and it finally makes the Martian Manhunter interesting for the first time in 60+ years.
You don’t have to be familiar with any of the previous BLACK HAMMER stories (or the Martian Manhunter, for that matter) to appreciate what Tate Brombal, Gabriel Hernández Walta, and Jeff Lemire et al have done here. It’s a powerful story that stands on its own legs. Any other comics context that you’re able to bring to it is just a cherry on top, which is when BLACK HAMMER works best.
And sometimes BLACK HAMMER tells a story using those characters and tropes that their original publishers couldn’t or wouldn’t tell. The Martian Manhunter was one of DC’s more recognizable heroes during the AIDS crisis, and quite frankly, nothing all that interesting had ever been done with him. It wouldn’t have required a radical retcon to reveal this shapeshifting alien who’d never been romantically linked to any other DC character as queer, and to tell this exact same story in those pages. But of course, that was not something that Time-Warner (or, really, any other entertainment corporation) was interested in doing at the time.
In that sense, BARBALIEN is long overdue in at least two ways. It tells a heartbreaking love story set at ground zero of the AIDS crisis and ‘80s gay activism… and it finally makes the Martian Manhunter interesting for the first time in 60+ years.
You don’t have to be familiar with any of the previous BLACK HAMMER stories (or the Martian Manhunter, for that matter) to appreciate what Tate Brombal, Gabriel Hernández Walta, and Jeff Lemire et al have done here. It’s a powerful story that stands on its own legs. Any other comics context that you’re able to bring to it is just a cherry on top, which is when BLACK HAMMER works best.
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May 4, 2023Catching up on Black Hammer. I loved this series when it began, and stuck with it for a while. But after the first main series wrapped up and spin-offs lessened in quality, I stopped reading. A few years later, I'm compelled to pick up where I left off, because I do like the superhero homage universe Lemire has created, and my library has all the books I haven't read yet.
And I jumped back in with a dark one. It takes place in 1980s Spiral City during the AIDS crisis, with Barbalien (a Martian Manhunter analogue) conflicted about his identities amidst all the conflict. Tragic stuff happens, though the story is generally gripping and often soulful. It's grounded in real world history, too. The story is not written by Lemire, but Tate Brombal, who seems to be Lemire's protege of sorts, as he was involved in a previous Black Hammer project. His script is straightforward and unflashy, moving the story along at a good pace and hitting the right emotional notes. Hernandez Walta's hazy but expressive art suits the story.
The Martian side-plot did not interest me at all, and felt out of place. Aside from that, I found this to be a powerful read, reminding me of the recent Snagglepuss comic that explores similar themes.
And I jumped back in with a dark one. It takes place in 1980s Spiral City during the AIDS crisis, with Barbalien (a Martian Manhunter analogue) conflicted about his identities amidst all the conflict. Tragic stuff happens, though the story is generally gripping and often soulful. It's grounded in real world history, too. The story is not written by Lemire, but Tate Brombal, who seems to be Lemire's protege of sorts, as he was involved in a previous Black Hammer project. His script is straightforward and unflashy, moving the story along at a good pace and hitting the right emotional notes. Hernandez Walta's hazy but expressive art suits the story.
The Martian side-plot did not interest me at all, and felt out of place. Aside from that, I found this to be a powerful read, reminding me of the recent Snagglepuss comic that explores similar themes.
April 29, 2025
I enjoy Jeff Lemire's "Black Hammer" series, but I can't help but feel it's a copy of a copy, with Kurt Busiek's "Astro City" offering a superior comics universe spun up to riff on Golden Age D.C. comics.
This "Black Hammer" installment focuses on Barbalien, a Martian Manhunter analogue who serves as a beat cop by day and shapeshifting superhero off the clock. Barbalien is gay, it turns out, and struggling in a homophobic subculture in a homophobic society. But a case tied to some "Act Up" style activists moves him to be more open with his sexuality, at first in disguise and later openly.
This being a superhero comic, there's also a Martian bounty hunter who's traveled to Earth to seek revenge on Barbalien for embarrassing his people. This leads to what felt like an unnecessary interlude on Mars, complete with the kind of pent-up rage that would be familiar to anyone who's read Ed Brubaker's "Coward."
There's a lot to like here--the series does offer a perspective I haven't seen in many superhero comics--but the writing and plotting feel overly familiar, almost cliched in an after-school special kind of way. I didn't dislike the story, but I wish it had had more subtlety and nuance.
The art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta has a blocky style that's often striking and occasionally ugly. It feels distinct enough to recommend it.
This "Black Hammer" installment focuses on Barbalien, a Martian Manhunter analogue who serves as a beat cop by day and shapeshifting superhero off the clock. Barbalien is gay, it turns out, and struggling in a homophobic subculture in a homophobic society. But a case tied to some "Act Up" style activists moves him to be more open with his sexuality, at first in disguise and later openly.
This being a superhero comic, there's also a Martian bounty hunter who's traveled to Earth to seek revenge on Barbalien for embarrassing his people. This leads to what felt like an unnecessary interlude on Mars, complete with the kind of pent-up rage that would be familiar to anyone who's read Ed Brubaker's "Coward."
There's a lot to like here--the series does offer a perspective I haven't seen in many superhero comics--but the writing and plotting feel overly familiar, almost cliched in an after-school special kind of way. I didn't dislike the story, but I wish it had had more subtlety and nuance.
The art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta has a blocky style that's often striking and occasionally ugly. It feels distinct enough to recommend it.
October 2, 2021
Very disappointing. One of the very few time you will heard me say something like that about a Jeff Lemire comic, but this one just out aside the Black hammer universe and even the Barbalien character in a way and just focus on the gay element and the aids crisis. Don't get me wrong, those are important topic and event, and they are kind of well developed, but that isn't what I'm looking for when reading a Barbalien comic.
December 14, 2023
A miniseries which takes place in the Black Hammer universe from Dark Horse Books. Barbalien has left Mars and is existing on earth as Mark Martz. He struggles with his roles as a superhero and a cop in Spiral City discovering his sexuality, during the 80's Aids pandemic.
This is the first Black Hammer series that I have read. Nice graphics, good interchange between events on Mars and in Spiral City, with a thought provoking look at a time in the US.
This is the first Black Hammer series that I have read. Nice graphics, good interchange between events on Mars and in Spiral City, with a thought provoking look at a time in the US.
March 25, 2024
Well written and with very good art, unfortunately this is just a lgbt activist propaganda book, with the typical over victimization and stereotypical messages that come from the activists' world view. It doesn't fit the black hammer world in my opinion...
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June 12, 2022An absolutely incredible, incredible book. Shit.
October 20, 2022
4.5 stars.
January 22, 2023
Liked this very much! Well drawn, well told and I want to check out more of the universe
December 5, 2023
"Get that hand away from me, Cole.
Do your job. Save lives, and do your fucking job."
Do your job. Save lives, and do your fucking job."
March 18, 2022
I liked this quite a lot. Call it 3+, high 3. But the last third was too... just so, predictable, cliché. The climactic scene for the Miguel character strained credibility.
May 29, 2021
I have no words for this comic. The combination of 80's aids drama and sci-fi superhero vs intergalactic bountyhunter should'nt work but it does and damn. This is good. Maybe my favourite Black Hammer story.
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