Dark Horse Comics has announced the return of writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dean Ormston’s creator-owned Black Hammer superhero saga, with a new ongoing series, Black Hammer: Age of Doom, coming in 2018. The new ongoing series will continue to chronicle the adventures of the forgotten champions of Spiral City, following the events of the cliffhanger ending of issue thirteen of Black Hammer.

“One thing Black Hammer has always done is comment on the history of superhero comics and we live in a world where superhero universes seem to be rebooted, relaunched, and rebirthed every year,” said Lemire. “It felt like we needed to play around with that idea, but put a Black Hammer spin on it. So, starting in April, Dean, Dave Stewart, Todd Klein, and I will continue the story and the mystery of Black Hammer farm in Black Hammer: Age of Doom! It’s a new series, but everything you love will stay intact and we’ll deliver the next chapter in the story of Golden Gail, Abraham Slam, Barbalien and the rest of the gang.”

“Black Hammer ends with a major, game-changing revelation,” said Ormston. “Readers are super keen to find out how our heroes are stuck on the farm and more answers, twists, and turns are coming in Black Hammer: Age of Doom.”

Meanwhile, the Black Hammer universe will spin off with a few mini-series, featuring the work of different artists. On October 18, Dark Horse Comics will lift off Sherlock Frankenstein & The Legion of Evil, written by Lemire and illustrated by artist David Rubín (Ether). The highly anticipated four-issue series follows Lucy Weber—the daughter of the Black Hammer and an investigative reporter for the Global Planet—as she uncovers the dark secret origins of some of her father’s greatest foes.

“Black Hammer has grown beyond what Dean Ormston and I could ever have hoped for,” said Lemire. “We’ve fallen in love with the world of Black Hammer and the characters that live there and we have a lot of stories left to tell. This ending is just the beginning.”

Each issue of the new Black Hammer ongoing series will be featuring a variant cover by an acclaimed artist, starting with the first issue variant cover by Skottie Young (I Hate Fairyland) and an issue 2 variant cover by Fábio Moon (Two Brothers) with a homage to Frank Miller’s icon Batman: The Dark Knight Returns cover.

Black Hammer: Age of Doom arrives sometime in the month of April 2018.

Here is that Skottie Young variant cover: