Origin
After being turned down by the army during World War II, pipsqueak Abe Slamkowski was taken under the wing of former heavyweight champ, Punch Socklingham. He would coach Abe in boxing and strength training. After gangsters killed Punch, Abe decided to strike out as a vigilante to keep the streets safe.
Creation
Abe was created in Black Hammer #1 by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston. He is an homage to Golder Age heroes, including Captain America.
Major Story Arcs
Welcome to Rockwood
When Spiral City was under attack by the Anti-God, Abe was recruited into the fight with Spiralâs other heroes by Starlok. When Black Hammer hit the Anti-God with his cosmic hammer, it caused a bright light. They found themselves teleported to Rockwood on a small farm for 10 years. There, Abe appeared as an old man and pretended to be the patriarch of a new family in town. He was desperate to keep his âfamilyâ together, playing their parts and keeping up appearances. Because he was the only one taking his new alias seriously, he struck up a romantic relationship with a waitress from the local diner, Tammy Trueheart.
They were settling into some kind of routine, but that was uprooted when Lucy Weber appeared. She was the daughter of their fellow superhero, Black Hammer, who died trying to leave the perimeter of Rockwood. She believed all the heroes had survived the event and wanted to find them. She couldnât remember how she got here though.
Unfortunately, Abe was wanted in the disappearance of the sheriff, the ex-husband of Tammy Trueheart, who was killed by Madame Dragonfly. Dragonfly manipulated the cops into believing Abe was innocent, but Tammy still believed and broke up with him.
Soon after the team was brought back together by Col. Weird to witness Lucy pick up her fatherâs hammer and become the new Black Hammer.
Age of Doom
Now that Lucy remembered everything she could explain the town of Rockwood to the others. They were all asleep in stasis pods on Col. Weirdâs ship in the Para-Zone while their minds were kept in a magical illusion caused by the Cabin of Horror. This was due to a pact between Weird and Madame Dragonfly to save the universe. The killing of the Anti-God threw off the balance of light and dark. Weird and Dragonfly needed to take the heroes out in order to retain that balance. Lucyâs dad was killed when he tried leaving Weirdâs ship and was exposed to the Para-Zone energies. With everyone awake, Weird took it upon himself to set auto-pilot to leave the Para-Zone.
Unfortunately, leaving the Para-Zone simply put them in yet another fabricated reality. Slam was a night watchman at a museum. He was eventually approached by Lucy and Talky, who brought his memories back with Lucyâs hammer. They needed his help to take on the Anti-God, who was targeting their new reality.
Unfortunately, Lucy receives a message from her father and Starlok. In order to defeat the Anti-God, the superheroes have to disappear again. Rather than kill them, Lucy convinces them to voluntarily re-enter the imaginary farm land, while she stays back as defender of Spiral City.
On the farm, Slam was married to Tammy Trueheart and lived on the family farm.
Character Profile
- Height: 6’2″
- Weight: 240 lbs
- Eye Color: Brown
- Hair Color: Gray (formerly brown)
- Citizenship: American
- Marital Status: Single
- Occupation: Farmer; formerly boxer
Powers and Abilities
Abe is an above average pugilist in strength and skill.