Sledgehammer 44

[Jelio]

So this is officially part of the Hellboy universe then?

Or is this more like Baltimore separate universe.

[Middenway]

It's definitely a part of the Hellboy universe. The Vril Energy Suit suit has already been in Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus and B.P.R.D.: The Dead. Also, I think Trevor Bruttenholm may make an appearance in this one, as Jason Latour was talking about how fun it is to draw him and this is the only Mignola project he's been working on.

[thwhtGuardian]

It is a little sad to see those notes to Severin, but it makes me smile too.

[Middenway]

It is a little sad to see those notes to Severin, but it makes me smile too.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I hope when this story hits a trade, they do a little afterword about him. It'd be a nice touch.

[Middenway]

OK so here's an interview with John Arcudi about Sledgehammer '44 which includes a six-page preview. It's interesting, but sadly it reveals some developments I'd rather have discovered reading the story than reading in an article. So, spoiler warning.

And here's an interview with Jason Latour: Part 1 / Part 2

[Kees_L]

Wow, I don't know why, but as of the Sledgehammer stuff becoming a thing over the past year, I actually started believing it would end up being like 'an Iron Man nod' and little else...

Great to hear what mr John has to say about it, as that implies or attributes a lot more to it than any such. It sounds pretty darn spectacular I have to say. Which shouldn't be a surprise.
I don't know why I hadn't been feeling this title quite so much.
But then I do now!

[Middenway]

spoilers:

Mike always planned to bring that suit and character back in the modern continuity.

end of spoilers
This one really surprised me. It makes me very excited for the future (as if I wasn't already excited enough).

Also I wonder if John Severin actually finished any pages of this story. I do hope we'll get to see some of this in the sketchbook in the eventual trade.

[Middenway]

The final cover for issue 1:

Plus an extended preview in the Dark Horse Super Sampler.

[Zevious Zoquis]

I LOVE that cover!

[grogtheslayer]

I LOVE that cover!

It would make a great poster! C'mon Dark Horse...

[gdeo]

just read the first issue....great set up! i am loving sledgehammer...he's a badass!

[Phantasos]

The final cover for issue 1:

Plus an extended preview in the Dark Horse Super Sampler.

RED, WHITE AND BLUE!

AMERICA!

Cool to know that it's actually part of the Hellboy universe, it'll probably make it more interesting in context.

[cantide]

First issue was fantastic stuff! I love Latour's art in this so much. Such a great level of stylization, feels just right for the subject matter and the time period. But not at all cartoony. Weapons and outfits and giant Nazi robots maintain a proper level of realism too. And Stewart's colors gave it all a really nice mood!

Really curious to see how this ties in with the vampires, as possibly hinted in the lettercol??

I have a hunch I know who's in that suit, but I'm going to save the prediction and just wait and see... hmmmm...

[Middenway]

I really liked Scott Allie's letter column:

First up—we dedicate this story to our dear friend, the legendary John Severin. Mignola and Arcudi originally came up with this story when, after completing Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever, Sev told us he’d like to do something set in World War II. Always hard for us to do a WWII story, since so much of our mythology begins at the end of the war with Hellboy’s arrival, but Mignola came up with the basic idea, kicked it into shape with Arcudi, and then the two worked back and forth on the script even more closely than usual. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be for Sev to draw it, unfortunately, but we thought of him often as we worked through the book.

All of which makes a pretty maudlin warm welcome back to Jason Latour . . . Last year Jason drew B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Pickens County Horror for us, and has since been busy on Django Unchained and Captain America. Jason did great work in this issue, and was tasked with some pretty insane sequences next issue. Somewhere in comic book heaven Sev is reading an advance copy right now thinking to himself, What the hell would I have done with that? and Gene Colan is answering, I could’ve figured something out . . .

You’ll see what I mean.


Sev’s version of page 2, panel 2.

I hope we get to see a lot more of this sort of stuff in the trade.

It was a fantastic book, and I'm really looking forward to the next issue. I'm guessing there will be lots of talk about Vril, if this image is anything to go on:


And I'm really looking forward to seeing Sledgehammer show up in Hell on Earth...

[thwhtGuardian]

That was a fun read, though I definitely saw the soldiers they encountered being traitors straight away.