DC's Justice League is crossing over with Dark Horse's Black Hammer universe in a new limited series scheduled to debut this July titled Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice. Black Hammer co-creator/writer Jeff Lemire will be writing this series, with art by Michael Walsh and colorist Dave Stewart.
"The joy of Black Hammer, for me, and I presume many of its fans, is to read superhero comics that are character driven without endless tie-ins and events. So, I don’t want Black Hammer to become that," Lemire told IGN. "But this was an excellent opportunity to tell a really fun story and, hopefully, to bring Black Hammer to a bunch of new readers. I have too many stories of my own that I still want to tell."
According to IGN, Hammer of Justice begins when a "strange man" simultaneously arrives in DC's Metropolis and the Black Hammer farm. This somehow leads to both universes being "warped," and Starro attacks for good measure. The five-issue event will include DC heavy hitters Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman, as well as Black Hammer's Golden Gail and Colonel Weird
"Obviously, I want [Black Hammer] to continue to grow and evolve autonomously. But that doesn’t mean that this is just a throwaway ‘imaginary story’ either," the writer said. "It will have an emotional impact on both sets of characters, and there is one other aspect that will have a more lasting effect, but I can’t spoil that here."
In some ways, Black Hammer is a meta-style take on superhero archetypes - including those innovated by DC superheroes such as Superman, Shazam!, Batman, and Wonder Woman. But for Lemire, this crossover is working to accentuate the similiar character's differences.
"Of course, there are some surface similarities, like both Martian Manhunter and Barbalien being Martian heroes, but when you put them together, it allows the uniqueness of both worlds to really come through," said Lemire.
Walsh will draw the interiors as well as covers, with additional cover artists to include Andrea Sorrentino, Yanick Paquette, Yuko Shimizu. Black Hammer co-creator Dean Ormston is not listed as being involved with the project.
Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice #1 (of 5) is scheduled to go on sale July 10 as a co-production of DC and Dark Horse Comics.