It has been forever since I have opened a Jack Hammer comic. It took some time to get into the swing of things too. The comic opens with investigation sort of stuff. It is always difficult to make these exciting, and I felt like the whole issue started on a bad foot. Jack is working with Ramona to open some files that are blocked. Yeah it even sounds a little snoozy. Jack Hammer isn’t about all the hard hits, but still we needed something to stay focused. Jack is investigating a crime. It all started when some big company hired Jack to find Eddie Newman. Jack didn’t know what they wanted him for and probably figured he could solve this problem once he found him. Jack was a tad too late though and ending up finding Newman with a hole in his chest. Clearly done by some superhuman. He had to report back to his big bad boss. It always leads back to the rich companies. I mean seriously they are always at fault. Jack, like any curious man, got too close, so now some superhumans are after him. Jack’s mission revolves around the secrets of whoever killed Newman is trying to hide.

His first stop is to get information on Newman. Clearly his wife will have something to say. Jack immediately speaks with her, but finds out later she has gone missing. Well I could have told you that one. That is like Detective 101.

As a reader, we know that Mr. Beltram is behind it all. He is as high up as we have seen. Maybe there are more above him, but this is a start. That is about all the more information we know. We now must follow Jack in order to see where all this is headed. After a slow start, the issue picks up with Jack finding an abandoned warehouse that our huge company, Technotrends, may dump their dirty laundry. Mr. Beltram doesn’t wait around for Jack to catch him either. He confronts the situation head on by meeting him at the building. I like villains who don’t just sit around and wait. Newman’s wife is there too. Probably the bait for it all, and Jack has no idea.

What I especially love about this comic is the art provided by Ionic. I love all of the rough edges given to the people. It makes each character look like he has a chip on his shoulder. The vibe it sets up is perfect for the story. So there were definite ups and downs in this issue. I think the overall attitude was too wordy, but still had some good plot development. I would love to dive into more of the superhuman stuff. It seems that Jack has a connection with these people and may have even been one himself. Hopefully we can get some more of that plot development and let the action take some of the long drawn out speaking roles.

Score: 4/5

Writer: Brandon Barrows Artist: Ionic Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment Price: $2.99 Release Date: 4/23/14 Format: Mini-Series, Print/Digital