Guns of the Dragon

"The Hammer, the Lash, and the Bradley"

Cover Date October 1998
Issue #1
Pages 32
Type Original Story
Cover Price $2.50
Featured Character Hans von Hammer

Synopsis

Shanghai, China, 1927. An aging, cynical Hans von Hammer wanders into a local tavern looking for transport. The bar is owned by an older but still roguish Bat Lash. After a brief bar-fight alliance, they cross paths with Biff Bradley, a rugged American operative and brother of the classic Slam Bradley. The trio is approached by a representative of the Chinese government to mount a dangerous expedition to uncharted Dragon Island to recover a pair of stolen ancient swords.

Collector Notes

A prime example of DC's late-1990s editorial philosophy of weaving separate genre characters into a unified, aging historical timeline. Truman sets von Hammer a decade after WWI, grizzled and displaced from the sky war that defined him, finding an unlikely kinship with other men the modern world has left behind. Writing, penciling, and inking the entire series himself, Truman gives it an unusual artistic coherence.

Creative Team

Writer Timothy Truman
Penciler Timothy Truman
Inker Timothy Truman
Letterer Ken Lopez