Beyond Sunsetis a new anthology, a digital-first quarterly graphic journal collecting fantastical stories about Life in Los Angeles, featuring a collective of Southern California artists and writers!
In the debut 122-page issue, themed “Fresh Starts” edited by journalist Drew Mackie as well as writers Josh Trujillo and Glen Lakin, Beyond Sunset features 18 original pieces ranging from fantastical to autobiographical to historical—each commissioned from new and emerging talent; showcasing work from creators including Jack Foster, Patrick Horvath, Elizabeth Brei, Meghan Lands, Danny Djeljosevic, and more!
The graphic anthology is an amalgamation of genres from sci-fi, horror, noir, pulp, fantasy—all representing a variety of viewpoints—runs alongside written pieces from traditional California-native journalists, including an interview with Los Angeles-based writer and artist Sina Grace and a piece on Echo Park’s Angelus Temple by L.A. history writer Hadley Meares.
Welcome to Graphic Policy’s spotlight on webcomics, where we take a look at one of the many comics available online every Monday: Webcomics Weekly (but don’t be fooled by the “weekly” part of the title; the feature may happen more or less frequently than that). We’re defining webcomics as any comics published online for free consumption by the general public that doesn’t require a subscription service.
This week we’re taking a look at Big Fucking Hammer. The strip is created by Danny Djeljosevic, who was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about the webcomic below.
Graphic Policy: In a nutshell, can you tell us what the strip’s about?
Danny Djeljosevic:Big Fucking Hammer is the story of Madison Tiger, a teenage girl who gains the power to puke up a giant hammer every time she eats. She finds out her small town of Meteor Fell is secretly run by a mysterious criminal organization that experiments on teenagers for nefarious purposes, so she gets super mad and decides to use her newfound abilities to bring the whole system down and smash everyone who gets in her way. It’s like if Mean Girls were a battle manga.
GP: How often do you update?
DD: I was gonna be mega glib and say “when it’s done” but I don’t wanna put that Duke Nukem Forever curse on me and my crew. We don’t really have a set schedule — when we finish a chapter, it goes up a single page at a time on an MWF schedule, so there will be an embarrassing drought before a month of new content. So, in other words, “when it’s done.”
GP: How long have you been producing the strip?
DD: Our first update was in March of 2015, so we probably got started working on Big Fucking Hammer in late 2014.
GP: Where did the idea for the strip come from?
DD: The basic concept of the strip — normal teenage girl is given superpowers by a shady experiment in a small town — dates back to a comic I was hashing out in 2007 when I was sad that I ran out of episodes of Veronica Mars to binge watch. Over the years the premise evolved, gained a title and a feel closer to the final product. When I wanted to come up with a new project with Diana Naneva after our one-shot Final Derby, it felt like the perfect time to pull the trigger on Big Fucking Hammer.
Why it’s awesome: If the name alone doesn’t grab you, then the fact that you’ll see somebody puking up a giant hammer should. This is stupid fun, and yet there’s somethering just below the surface that you’ll want t get more of; Big Fucking Hammer is well worth looking out for.
Below you’ll find two strips that were originally posted to the site from the first update.
