It’s hammer time. If you enjoy lip curling and an explosion of hammer puns, welcome home. Creative forces Chris Lewis, Fernado Pinto, K. Michael Russell, Nic J. Shaw, and Dan Hill have banded together for Mitch Hammer, a story more brawn than brain and more flashy than dull. Issue number one of Mitch Hammer is a big, dumb, and fun read.
Mitch Hammer centers on the titular construction worker thrown into heroism. He dukes it out with a mad scientist and militant crusaders at the local community college. Yeah, that’s about it. It’s twenty four pages of punching, monsters and hammer puns. That doesn’t mean there’s not a story going. There is a lot of dense story-telling bouncing through the air. Although, it’s to the point it’s difficult at times to know what the hell exactly is going on. The only substance found in this comic is the mutant-turning goo. However, that’s not really what Mitch Hammer is about.
Writer Lewis, for the most part, accomplishes his mission of creating something fun to look at. The only glaring problem with Lewis’s goal is the man of the hour himself. The Kickstarter video promises potential readers the comic will be carried by “… an extra-large personality in the form of Mitch,” but readers will have to wait til next issue to meet him. While the supporting characters are okay, by the end of issue #1, Mitch is nothing beyond shouting and a mullet. That’s not something you want left on a tombstone, or a character strong or compelling enough to carry the weight of a comic on his back. Admittedly, though, he does seem physically strong enough to do so. With issue number two, hopefully Lewis decides to give Mitch more of a personality.
The artwork in Mitch Hammer aides the comic in its pursuit of a fun and goofy trip. Pinto on art gives the comic an old-school design and feel. With all the mutant creatures running around, Pinto delivers some truly grotesque monsters. The parting image of the first issue is an uncomfortable sight to behold. The characters, I believe, are intentionally made to be ugly as well, but it wouldn’t be true to the story if they weren’t. The style of the lettering also blends into each panel. And those panel are stuffed to the brim with artwork, color or sound effects. Ultimately, the artwork and the story work hand in hand together to give readers a light-hearted romp of a comic.
As previously stated, Mitch Hammer is about as goofy as one would expect a comic centering on a mutant fighting construction worker would be. Is it worth a dollar investment? Sure, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect well on the creators if they value something they’ve most certainly spent a great deal of time and energy into creating. According to the Kickstarter page, the first issue is ready to launch. Maybe with its sophomore issue, Mitch Hammer can hammer out the details on its titular hero to truly be the large-and-in-charge comic it aspires to be.
Will you be backing Mitch Hammer on Kickstarter? Who had more hammer puns, this review or the comic? Tell us your thoughts in the comments or send us your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter!
