Comic book readers knew they had something special when creator Jeff Lemire's Black Hammer debuted from Dark Horse, offering a thrilling exploration of the superhero genre. Countless stories, memorable characters, and Eisner Awards later, and Lemire is expanding the world of Black Hammer with two brand new books.

On the one hand, there is the bizarre sci-fi adventure origin story set to spin out into Colonel Weird: Cosmagog, as Lemire and artist Tyler Crook follow the titular hero Colonel Randall Weird as he puts Black Hammer farm behind him and begins a journey through space and time, putting both his life and his sanity on the line. In addition, writer Tate Brombal and artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta are taking the titular star of Barbalien: Red Planet into new territory filled with prejudice, honor, and identity, as Mark Markz plunges into the AIDS crisis (with another Martian enemy only making things worse). It's an exciting time for any fan of the Black Hammer universe, and the perfect chance to speak with Lemire in hopes of shedding light on what readers can expect in the upcoming spin-off titles their place in the larger Black Hammer world, and how the global pandemic has affected his work.

RELATED: Colonel Weird: COSMAGOG Interview With Jeff Lemire & Tyler Crook

Screen Rant: Barbalien is an outsider not only to Earth culture, but to himself as well, struggling with his own sexuality and self needs. Four years after introducing him to readers, what made this the right time to explore his past in Barbalien: Red Planet, and what should readers expect?

Jeff Lemire: When I revealed Barbalien’s sexuality in the early issues of Black Hammer, I knew there was definitely a bigger, more focused story to tell with him one day, but I also knew that it probably wasn’t my story to tell. It wasn't until I met a young writer named Tate Brombal, who is gay, and an extremely talented young writer, and who is passionate about this character and his story, that I felt like the time was right. And you add an incredible artist like Gabriel Walta to the mix and it was no brainer. Tate has done incredible work with the book and I think he’s written something very special. Something that takes the outsider’s point of view that Barbalien brings and makes it a universal story of struggle, identity and oppression.

Barbalien Red Planet Comic Cover Art

Colonel Weird: Cosmagog is a great follow up to the initial Black Hammer run, in that it directly follows the events of Age Of Doom. What was the deciding factor in focusing on Colonel Weird for the beginning of the next phase of Black Hammer?

Colonel Weird is my absolute favorite Black Hammer character. He just seems limitless in that he can travel through all space and time, and the stories you can tell with his are endless. I always knew I wanted to do more with Weird, and his whereabouts at the end of Black Hammer Age of Doom were deliberately left ambiguous. Weird is in many ways the readers guide through this universe, and in this case he acts as the bridge between the original Black Hammer series and the stories I have planned for the future.

The Black Hammer series delves into some 'meta' critiques of storytelling tropes, and alternative history, embracing an ever-shifting tableau of artistic styles, and even critiques the process of creating stories itself. Should readers continue to expect that level of complexity moving forward?

This sort of meta commentary has definitely become a big part of the Black Hammer Universe, and it will continue to be in new stories I am working on now. But it also has to be earned and has to feel right for the story. In the case of Skulldigger, it needed to read a bit more grounded, but I do think there is a lot of more subtle commentary about street level superheroes and some of the superhero genres pulp origins going on Skulldigger as well.

Colonel Weird Cosmagog Cover Art

With the comics industry relatively shutdown with the pandemic, has your creative process been affected (or influenced) at all? Black Hammer has always succeeded at shifting between genres and influences, and it seems a global lockdown would affect the tone or stories being told, even for one-shot stories like with Cthu-Louise.

The situation changes every day. For me, I have always worked pretty far ahead, so the next batch of Black Hammer stories and series are already well into production. As far as the newer things that I am developing and writing now, during the lockdown, if anything I need these stories myself as a sort of escape from the scary reality outside all of our windows. So I would expect the Black Hammer stories I write during this time to be bigger, wilder, more fun, and filled with a bit more hope. That’s what I need them to be right now, and I suspect many readers will as well.

Colonel Weird: Cosmagog #1 will be arriving at the end of the month, with Barbalien: Red Planet #1 scheduled for a release coming in June.

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