Rick Remender and Steve Epting Team Up for the Filthy, Savage Hammerfist #1
A junkie hitman must wield a supernatural weapon fueled by love to fight an ancient darkness on Black Noon. Rick Remender and Steve Epting collide in a crime thriller that mutates into savage horror.
There is a specific kind of magic that happens when a writer who thrives on moral decay meets an artist who can draw the weight of that decay in every line. Rick Remender and Steve Epting have been on parallel tracks for years—Remender turning out genre-bending stories like Captain America and Escape, Epting rendering gritty, emotional realism in Velvet and Cap. Seeing them finally collide in Hammerfist feels less like a crossover and more like a collision. This isn't just another team-up; it’s two masters of the underbelly deciding to tell a story that feels both incredibly personal and apocalyptic.
Meet Mike Denton. He is not a hero in any traditional sense. He is a dirtbag hitman, a junkie, and a father who has consistently failed the one person who still believes in him: his daughter. His life is a loop of chasing the easy fix—drugs, money, violence—until the world itself seems to end. Black Noon is arriving, an ancient darkness that erases all light, and with it comes a threat that can only be stopped by awakening a supernatural weapon. Here is the catch: this weapon is powered only by love. Mike has spent his life avoiding that feeling, and now he has to drag himself out of the gutter to wield it.
The pitch alone is enough to make you sit up, but the execution is where you’ll fall in love. Remender brings his signature chaotic energy and sharp dialogue, while Epting provides the visual punch—dirty, visceral, and emotionally resonant. It’s a story that starts in the grime of a crime thriller, reminiscent of the tension in Reservoir Dogs, before mutating into the savage, splatter-horror nightmare of Evil Dead. It’s filthy, it’s funny, and it’s unexpectedly heartfelt. If you’ve ever wanted to see a broken man forced to stand for something other than himself, this is the book.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this drops on August 26, so keep an eye on the stack. For those who love the chaotic energy of Escape or the visual storytelling of Velvet, Hammerfist is the natural next step. It’s a debut that feels like it’s been brewing for years, and it’s one of those issues where you’ll finish the last page and immediately need to talk to someone about it. Trust me on this one—it’s the kind of book that stays with you long after the ink is dry.