Sledgehammer 44 Volume 1 Paperback – June 10, 2014

The writing was very good. The art, in the first story - Sledgehammer 44, was by Jason Latour. His drawing is fair. I thought he had problems with faces. They were crudely stylized. The squared-off noses were right out of David Boswell's Reid Fleming comics. In a good number of panels, there were no backgrounds. I thought that was odd, but maybe he had a reason for that. The rest of his drawings were fine. I should know better than to have preconceptions going into a Mike Mignola comic. I thought this would a pulp-adventure tale and while it has those elements in it, there is a serious story about moral choices and mysticism. A good story should have surprises in it and this one does. I liked the art in the second story, Lightning War, (by Laurence Campbell) much better. The representation is more realistic. I generally like realistic art. But there are certain artists who do highly stylized work, such as Bill Sienkiewicz, who have won me over with their overall talent. So much so that by the end of the story, I don't even notice the difference. Unfortunately, I can't say this about Jason Latour and his faces. The fight between Sledgehammer and the Black Flame at the end of Lightning War went on a bit too long. Just when I thought Sledgehammer was beaten, he would jump back into the fray. Also, I had to endure all that pompous talk from the Black Flame. I was wishing to hell that he'd shut up. All in all, a quality book.

I ended up enjoying this comic a little more than expected. The Hellboy/BPRD spin offs are the types of books I probably wouldn't read if they weren't a part of the Mignola mythos. Calling this "Iron Man in WW2" really doesn't do this book justice as today's Tony Stark is a poor comparison to the fragile humanity of the characters in this book. The first story in it, introducing the "Sledgehammer" is a nice set up, but the second story "Lightning War", with art by Joseph Campbell is simply amazing. Campbell's Black Flame is really creepy and I'm glad he's going to be doing more art on BPRD. It seems like this book, which is sort of a spin off of the first Lobster Johnson trade, is actually going to end up having more significance to the main BPRD storyline than first seemed.

It kind of reminded me of Alphonse from Full Metal Alchemist, but the story is much better. The art done by Mike Mignola is very similar to all his other works. Where this comic really shines is the story. It is part of the Hellboy timeline and is very interesting to read. It is a lot like the Hellboy theme of challenging the powers at hand and making choices of free will and fighting for what you think is right.The characters are very well done. Sledgehammer is a very well thought out hero and the Black Flame has been in Mike Mignola's writings before, but this book is like watching the unstoppable force meeting the unmovable object in a fight of life vs death as the Black Flame will cause whatever destruction he sees necessary to accomplish capturing sledgehammer. A truly good read for any Mignola fans or Hellboy readers.

Awesome story, would give it 5 stars if m. Mignola did all the art.

Another great piece from Mike Mignola! The story and artwork are what we've come to expect. Would love to see this as an anime or movie ala Hellboy!

i mean what is there to say about this one? I guess on the positives: the premise is fairly cool, also the villain is pretty awesome, that's about it though unfortunately. I found none of the characters memorable, the story is forgettable, and overall was not feeling this one.

Very much

The story is strong and the characters grabbed me unlike many comic books today . I am a fan of the mignolaverse and this one did not disappoint

un album qui contient deux mini séries; très bon graphismes surtout pour la seconde partie très sombre où l'on assiste à l'entrée en scène de black flameDeux petits bémols quand même : j'aurais apprécié que les auteurs donnent davantage d'éléments biographiques sur les persos et quelques rebondissements supplémentaires tant cet album me parait trop court au final. une très bonne idée de planter le décor en 44.

Good story leading on from lobster Johnson - first book, lovely illustrations as per usual

Awesome little addition to the Hellboy universe. and makes me want to find the lobster johnson comics too.