PORTLAND, OR — Four years after publishing their Eisner-nominated hit, the Miranda Brothers once again combine forces for Blade Forger, only from Mad Cave Studios!
Co-created and written by the team that brought readers We Live, Roy Miranda and Inaki Miranda, features art and Cover A by Inaki Miranda, colors by Eva De La Cruz and letters by Dave Sharpe—the series that begs the question, What happens when utopia is born from necessity—can one person change the world?
The discovery of CORUM, a never-before-seen energy source, led to a bloody world war for its control. These wars, and the devastation they caused, would lead to the BLADE FORGERS TREATY.
The treaty was simple: Control of Corum would be given to a neutral Emperor.
The appointment of the Emperor would be anything but simple, however. The Emperor would be a BLADE FORGER, a mystical, powerful swordsman capable of controlling powerful spirits known as BATTLE KAISERS. The Emperor would have to defend their title every five years in The Tournament of the Five Rings.
Blade Forgers from near and far come together to challenge the existing authority, and for the chance to overcome the Emperor and take their crown.
A young Blade Forger named Owada challenges the Emperor in the name of the forsaken people. This is the story of what happens next.
Roy and Inaki Miranda spoke of Blade Forger:
“Blade Forger was born from two crises; both imposed and unexpected. The first was having to abandon (temporarily, we hope) our We Live story halfway through, despite its success. We had to shut down a universe and characters that were already part of our lives and with whom we had come to build a dream. That’s not easy to assimilate—
The second was the world energy crisis resulting from the war between Russia and Ukraine. For months there were warnings in Europe about the possibility of energy supplies not reaching homes. We talked about the fear and helplessness that arises when a basic commodity cannot reach everyone, knowing that what will happen is only under the control of large corporations. And the consequences: something as simple as a family not being able to afford heating in winter—
The question that triggered the idea was: could energy become a common good for all? All the pieces fell into place in a magical way. The entire Mad Cave team absorbed our enthusiasm and multiplied it by 100. We promised we’d be back! And as Blade Forger‘s slogan says: a promise is a promise.”
Mad Cave Studios Editor, Christina Harrington, added:
“Blade Forger is for those of us who grew up watching Digimon and One Piece, and playing Mortal Kombat and Final Fantasy X. It’s a mature, fun, fighting-filled adventure where we see warriors known as Blade Forgers summon powerful fighting spirits called Battle Kaisers from a world beyond their own, as they compete in bombastic spectacles in a race to become the next Emperor–all of this, of course, told with the grounded, emotionally-charged storytelling we’ve come to love from the Miranda brothers.”
For fans of Game of Thrones, One Piece, Elden Ring, and Wukong, Roy and Inaki Miranda’s Blade Forger #1 (of 5) hits comic book shelves March 5th, 2025.
