LEMIRE & ORMSTON’S ‘BLACK HAMMER’ DELAYED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MILWAUKIE, OR—Due to an unforeseen health issue, Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s anticipated creator-owned series Black Hammer has been delayed until a future date. “Black Hammer has been a labor of love for me. It’s a project that I’ve been working on in various forms for seven years,” series cocreator Jeff Lemire said. “And as excited as I am to share it, sometimes life gets in the way of comics. “On March 26, my amazing collaborator Dean Ormston suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on the left side of his brain, which affected his whole right side,” he continued. “Dean is now at home and recovering. As a result, we have decided to postpone the launch of Black Hammer until Dean is able to work regularly again. I’d like to thank all the fans and retailers for their patience and understanding as Dean recovers and promise that Black Hammer will be worth the wait.” “In essence, this is a dream project, and to top it all off, I get to have my art enhanced by colorist supremo Dave Stewart,” Ormston told Comic Book Resources. “Sadly, about a month ago, I had a bleed on the brain, so things have been put on hold until I recover and get back to drawing fully. I am tentatively getting back to drawing Black Hammer, albeit slowly, but the outlook is positive and I’m confident of a full recovery.” Retailers will be notified of a new date for Black Hammer in a future communication. “Dean’s made Black Hammer’s visuals his own, and none of us can imagine launching the book before he’s able to draw it uninterrupted,” said series editor Brendan Wright. “We’ll reschedule the launch as soon as we can, and Jeff and Dean’s work on the full issue is going to blow everyone away!” The entire Dark Horse staff wishes Dean Ormston a smooth and speedy recovery and encourages fans and retailers to keep their eyes peeled for further updates as to when Black Hammer will debut. To get a better idea of what’s coming in Black Hammer #1, check out an exclusive preview and further comments from the team over at Comic Book Resources. ### About Dark Horse Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Gerard Way, Felicia Day, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, Timecop, and SpyBoy. Its successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Mass Effect, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, EVE Online, Halo, Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of both creator-owned content and licensed comics material.