The Ocean Kingdom (Hammer, Volume 1)

Left on his own again, Stud gets sucked into one of his father’s journals down into an ocean kingdom grappling with the murder of its king. Can Stud use his hammer hands to solve the case?

Our hero Stud is a fourteen-year-old boy whose father regularly abandons him on expeditions that he regularly catalogs in his own journals. Having to fend for himself, Stud isn’t like most kids—he can turn his hands into hammers! Unfortunately, the kids in the village don’t think it’s cool and do not allow him to join their own fun adventures. Considering that his father has always advised him that friends are the most important accomplishment a person can make, what’s a boy who can turn part of his body into metal to do? Go on his own adventures, of course!

When Stud stumbles upon one of his father’s journals detailing his past adventures with Tara, Stud’s mother; our young hero unknowingly makes a wish. Using “wishing coins,” after reading a passage about them, Stud gets sucked into the book, and it is at the location of one of his parents’ adventures! While that would be weird enough, he’s fallen on top of a hammerhead shark by the name of Steele, who is suspected of killing the Ocean King.

Stranded in a water world and unable to breathe without special assistance, Stud’s in a bit of trouble. With no way home in sight, he attempts to finally make a friend who can help him and thus chooses to aid the Mermaid Detective trying to solve the murder case. Can Stud solve this problem with his shiny hammer hands? He’s going to try!