Customer Reviews

Ball Peen Hammer

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Easily one of the creepiest and most disturbing books to come out in the comics format recently, Ball Peen Hammer is a postapocalyptic tale of humans forced to do vile things just in order to survive. Little explanation is offered as to why they find themselves in this predicament (would it matter?), and it's more or less irrelevant. The real meat of the story, which is done by playwright Adam Rapp, is the toll exacted on people who are given the most horrible of demands.

George O'Connor is more than up to the task of illustrating this dark fare. His multipaneled pages are saturated with heavy ink but light on color, creating an atmosphere of little hope amidst the foreboding of evil. We meet Welton first, then Aaron, two men thrown together in a rat-infested building where they await instructions from an oafish big man who assigns them their grisly tasks. You may be wondering what those tasks are...I won't ruin the surprise here, but suffice to say, the title gives you a clue.

Ball Peen Hammer is simple and straightforward in most respects. The hows and whys matter somewhat, but not much. The real point of the story, it seems, is the devastating effect man's inhumanity to man causes in all of us and how far we will all go to survive.

Still, there is a glimmer of hope to be found, and Rapp and O'Connor seize on it and give the story a small bit of light despite the heavy subject matter. What you walk away with in this tale may be disturbing, but it's thought-provoking as well and will stick with you. So while it's not for the queasy or the easily upset, it does have the ability to resonate with dark effect.

-- John Hogan

BPH starts off with abrupt violence and despair... and that continues through the trade.

Focusing on a pair of lovers, seperated in post apocalyptic America, BPH struggles to bring its readers varying messages of ennui, depression, hope, and ultimately destruction. Its the last throes of a dying culture and, guess what? ITS OURS!

The setting is definitely dystopia, where the only trade is in food or lives... and that's where things get weird. A prevailing plot device is the mute strongman who, at pauses in story progression, appears to demand sacrifice, tattoo minions, and even ring the nights bells. Horrible, horrible things are happening in this nearfuture, and even the little glimmers of light and good are lies glossed over... the hallucination of a young girl... the hope of new pregnancy.

Sigh.

The art is stimulating and I could definitely enjoy the style if the author manages to get it animated, but the story, the symbols, the resolution... its hard to come away with anything but sadness and anger.

I'd like to sit down with the author and pick his brain to see what he was trying to get across.

Ball Peen Hammer was never meant to be a comic. It's clear, from the claustrophobic setting of a basement and a clock tower to the long silences and close-up panels of characters' expressions, that this graphic novel is a parable. The post-apocalyptic world outside is a foil to reinforce the claustrophobia and paranoia of those two little rooms. This review contains spoilers.

Ball Peen Hammer is about three art forms: music, writing, and acting. Welton is a musician, Underjohn is a writer, Exley is an actress. All three are part of a commune of artists who have seen been scattered from the Undertunnels by the Syndicate, an oppressive regime of gas-mask wearing soldiers. Adam Rapp, a novelist and playwright himself, is merciless in his critique of these three pathetic creatures. Welton is a shiftless guitarist, never leaving the basement and playing the same song over and over about a woman he loved - but is too frightened to try to find her or save himself. Underjohn is immune to the plague but returns to Welton's basement to write about his experience, cataloguing the slow death of the bleak world around him. Exley insists on wearing her little black dress and up-do hairstyle even in the middle of a city besieged by acid rain and wild dogs.

Ball Peen Hammer is about love lost. Welton, who fell in love with Exley, is paralyzed by the experience, stuck in a perpetual state of yearning for a moment he can never reclaim. Underjohn was in love with a man who died from the plague, but never expressed his affection for him before he passed. Exley carries Welton's child and in her journey to find him regresses to acting - as a mother, as a teacher - to Horlick, a thirteen-year-old street kid who lives in the clock tower with his older brother, Dennis.

Ball Peen Hammer is about filling holes. There are emotional holes in all of the characters, but there are also physical holes: the Collector, who slides in and out of manhole covers to ring bells, repair lights, and tattoo numbers; Horlick, who reenacts American Pie with a melon; Welton, who can never get his toilet to flush; Underjohn, who fled the underground commune after it was filled with concrete by the Syndicate.

Ball Peen Hammer is about the loss of innocence. There are sacks in the basement. Underjohn discovers later that he's a Sacker, whose job is to use a ball peen hammer to fill those sacks. Welton, a Dragger, is haunted by the ghosts of those he helped drag into the basement. Exley inserts herself into a family that doesn't want her. And Horlick pretends he is much tougher than he lets on.

Ball Peen Hammer is not a glimpse into a larger world, part of a running series, the beginning of a comic book franchise, a happy story, a quick read, or meant to be understood literally. It is Rapp's No Exit, banished to comic form because nobody's going to want to see a play that revolves around killing kids with a hammer.

`Ball Peen Hammer' is a very interesting read and though it lacks quite a bit in the story department it does make up for this in having very well-executed visuals. The graphic-novel is not for the faint of heart and is a very depressing read, to say the least. It is one of the darker graphic novels I've read, but it is also very well-done. My only gripe would be as far as plague and post-apocalyptic worlds go the world of `Ball Peen Hammer' isn't really new, but the way the story is presented is fascinating and keeps the reader's attention.

The artwork and pacing of this story is really what stands out most. It is very surreal in its imagery, and at the same time the panels are arranged in a very cinematic fashion. What is really worth noting is how the environments and characters are presented. Everything is very surreal, and often the physical attributes of the characters seem exaggerated enough to perfectly fit their attitudes and personality. Without a doubt I give the organization and general feel of this novel a 5/5, well-earned.

The story however never really gets a chance to fully unveil in its 134-page span. I sincerely hope that Adam Rapp and artist George O'Connor return to give us more of this universe. As it stands now the background of this story never had a chance to define itself and separate itself from previous sci-fi works that covered the same general themes. Most of the time the thing that keeps this story from being a simple-minded retread of past stories is the fact that O'Connor's art works into it so very well.

Adam Rapp's story takes second-stage to the artwork of O'Connor. The art assaults the mind with a mishmash of mystery and sheer horror of the reality this story takes place in. The plague depicted in this book is very disturbing. Also, even though most of the story takes place in two rooms the brief glimpses we get of the outside world are disturbing and get the point across to the reader. That is something that is hard to find these days: the "Less is more" approach.

Gentle readers may want to turn their head away from this disturbing art-based story. As for those who can stomach this sort of story they will undoubtedly enjoy the dark reality created by Adam Rapp and George O'Connor and yearn for a continuation of this bleak saga. I shall hope for the best of these talented minds and eagerly look forward to a sequel to `Ball Peen Hammer.'

Ball Peen Hammer does not paint pretty pictures. It is not a graphic novel filled with heroics, pleasant sights, or pleasant people. It is grim and ugly and altogether unpleasant.

So understand right up front that if unrelenting bleakness is not for you, neither is Ball Peen Hammer.

But if stark and honest portrayals of people who have lost something -- love, hope, or even their own humanity -- in a world falling apart from plague sounds of interest, jump on board.

Writer Adam Rapp may not come from the world of comics. He is a novelist and screenwriter. This is his first work in graphic fiction. That's what makes the sparse prose so surprising to see. He does not over-write. He lets artist George O'Connor carry much of the load, and to great effect. Without that space to breath, things would be outright claustrophobic. The blurb touts this story as taking place in a world breaking down thanks to a plague, but the truth is the story is not epic in scope. It is very small. Very narrow. Very focused on a small few people living small lives in a small space.

The result is something big. Big, and dark, and in some ways, daring.

Let's hope Rapp's first graphic novel will not be his last.

I honestly can't decide whether I like this or not. It's short, moody, dark, brutal. The art is effective, expressive, but occasionally hard to look at. This isn't a pretty comic book. It's depressing.

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world, very minimally described. Welton is hiding out in some sort of underground bunker. There's a mysterious huge guy who looks a bit like Riddick .. he comes out of a manhole in the floor and behaves mysteriously. Aaron Underjohn, a writer, clean-cut and sensitive, shows up at the door near the beginning of the book. These characters talk about stuff, and Underjohn finds out a little about this collective that's killing children. Meanwhile, in another part of town, inside an empty clock tower, a vulgar little boy named Horlick meets the cute actress named Exley (that's her in a gas mask on the cover.) Exley wants to find Welton but doesn't know where to look. These are all the characters, with the exception of a really creepy guy and a little girl who show up later, but I don't want to spoil the most interesting events in the book.

My overall impression is that this is an episode of a larger story. We aren't told much about the plague or the social upheaval which led to conditions we see in the story. We aren't told why the artists' collective is killing children. The book ends in a long moment of existential despair, without resolving anything. There doesn't seem to be any point to the story; a bunch of stuff happens, and that's it. The reader is left hanging, unsatisfied, with unanswered questions. It's upsetting, but maybe that's the point.

I didn't really "enjoy" this graphic novel, but it did leave an impression. Although I can't find anything objectively wrong with it, I can't give it more than three stars. Sorry.

This is, quite honestly, the third best graphic novel that I have ever read, following Watchmen and Maus.

The plot here is pretty simple. A virus has destroyed society, although there are those trying to keep disorder from breaking out completely. There are five or six main characters, and they tell a story of what the future may be.

Many people seem to think that this is lacking in story. I don't understand this. While the story is not very hopeful, it is quite complex, to my perception. Perhaps it is because they expect it to be equivalent to a novel, rather than a short stroy, which would be more appropriate.

The characters are also complex and interesting. Their motivations are not spelled out for thse who are not paying attention. But, if you read carefully, this becomes more obvious.

One last thing. Booklist says, "Not for gentle readers." They are not joking. The book is violent, nihilistic, and despressing. It is very good, but it may be best for those who are squeamish to avoid this.

Grade: A-

Harkius

A graphic novel requires an analysis of bother writing and illustration.

Writing:
I would liken the feel of this story to Harlan Ellison's short stories, deep characters, short plot, and ultimately ambiguous about the circumstances that lead up to the narrated events.
While there is little question that Adam Rapp's writing is rife with emotional honestly, and substantive characters, the storyline does not possess the conclusive finality that allows one to set down the book with the satisfaction of an hour well spent. To enjoy this book one must digest the characters, and not the plot. The characters are beautiful tragedies, and in the end we are not left with answers, only more questions. As if we had flipped through the moldering photo album of a relative we never knew.

Illustration:
I am not familiar with George O'Connor's other work, but I love graphic novels. The artwork here compliments the story, conveying pathos and ambience more than action and energy. The style is reminds me of Sandman and Books of Magic. The characters are evocative, and the coloring subdued and off palate.
What George O'Connor does well is bring out the uniqueness of each character, give them a solidity and beauty that transcends their countenance and becomes iconic. The sort of thing that made the Endless so popular actually. The story does not lend itself to providing these characters with life beyond the pages however. Their beauty is something that only the readers will appreciate.

I love post-apocalyptic stories dealing with zombies, viral attacks etc. I love the Walking Dead comics, the 28 days/weeks movies, so it was with great anticipation that I picked this up.

First, the goods.
- Engrossing, realistic characters
- Beautiful art (simple but clean and at the same time conveys the bleak atomosphere)
- Interesting premise

The Bads.
- Very sketchy as far as the origin of the present condition goes.
- Confusing at parts, as players are introduced but without proper conveyance of their true roles.
- What the heck happened at the end? It feels very rushed and abrupt. It was like the writer realized he had 2 pages to conclude the story and moved on.


Overall, this doesn't work well as a stand alone graphic novel...it's too short. However, if this is the first of multiple installments, it works. I really wanted to like this and give it a high rating but 3 stars is the best I can do.

The world is a mess - I liked that. The world has weird-os in it - I liked some of them. They eat weird stuff - I agree that that would happen. The rain burns - I always wanted to wear something that reminds people of Troy. You sometimes make friends - awww, isn't socializing over some gross things fun?

I liked this book in some regions and, in some, i didn't knw what to think. It had a basic set to play to, some things to give, and some things I could have added to. Still, the size of it could have added to this process, not really giving out the best of designs. And the art was good is some ways and it wwas not in others. I personally liked a lot of it because I thought of the end of the world, thought of the rain that burns, and thought of the way that people might be yucky. I also was taken aback when I saw our little terror and noted that the thing was not so bad, but that this terror was bad when it came to a specific weapon (see title). I also liked the way the bodies were taken in a Children of Men manner, not really leaving people with much in the way of trust. So, it had so ups, had some downs, and it made me frown and laugh in the same setting.
It wasn't horrid and wasn't the top of the mound.

Would I buy it? Tough call. i liked it, but I know of a lot of stuff that I like a lot more than this. Still, it has a good price, a good way of looking at the world from a "where are we" and a "where might we be tomorrow" feel, and I cuddled with that. My tastes also like the world turning into an ashtray, so I would say "yes"/Still, you may disagree. I looked around the world of wires to see if i cvould find part of this and, to my happiness, I found almost twenty pages. So, if you want the only opinion that counts (your own), look it up and see what you think. i would get it but that is me. Look and see for yourself.