Forge, Surge, and Omega- An Impressive Indie Comic Release
Written by Breydon Boyd
Art by Sean Peacock & Nicholas Malara
& Marcus Cripps
Forge, Surge, and Omega is the latest release from Shape Comics and Breydon Boyd who are bringing vintage/ retro comics back into the limelight with intelligently written, emotionally impactful tales with classically infectious cartoonish flare. These are the kind of comics that remind you why you fell in love with comic books in the first place.
Forge, Surge, and Omega were initially teased in Breydon Boyd’s flagship series “Shape Man” (which we have covered on this channel) as comic book heroes that inspire Shape Man, an amorphous alien, to take on a more heroic-guise. In this one shot we learn the origin story of each of these original hero’s, with art from 3 different artists, making this book an even more impressive visual achievement than it was already promised to be- I literally sat flipping back through the book after I finished it, just taking everything in, which, for my money, is how you know you just read something really fucking good.
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!
The first story in our saga focuses on Forge, our hero designed to look like a Science Fiction Infused Medieval Knight in a suit of armor like something straight up out of Camelot 3000, (which I highly recommend by the way,) and they are revealed to be a humble blacksmith named Maya of the Kingdom of Elemor. This first issue also relays a crucial bit of world building across every title, introducing us to the magic Runes which are imbued with various elements of nature. We learn that in the kingdom of Elemor this day, a champion is to be chosen from tests of combat to wield the Rune of Fire. However, unbeknownst to the peaceful kingdom, they are about to be beset upon by the Necromancer VooDoom and his armor of Skeletons. After noticing the advance of the skeleton army, Maya heroically takes up the fire rune and with it the mantle of Forge- in order to save the innocent citizens. Afterwards, she is rewarded with the rune as the King tells her that the runes have a history of choosing their own champion.
Which is a poignant bit of foreshadowing as we transition to the story of Nick Newton, who will soon become the hero Surge. We begin with a younger Nick taking a tour of his mother’s laboratory as she introduces him to the source of her experiments- a mysterious stone that we recognize from our introduction in Forge as the storm Rune. But what begins as an innocent scene devolves into chaos as the storm Rune appears to overload and the laboratory explodes- not before Nick takes the storm rune with him and sees the face of a mysterious figure appearing from some sort of tear in space. We then cut to years later as Senior College Student Nick has become an inventor of his own- creating a pair of goggles with the power to harness the power of the storm rune into an electrical blast. And this invention comes just in time as Nick soon covers the secret that his Quantum Physics professor is the man who sabotaged his mothers invention, leading to her death in order to steal the storm rune, by utilizing his own invention- a portal device allowing him to teleport short distances, and obsessed with increasing the power of his invention even more with the Storm Rune. This revelation leads to a battle between Nick and Professor Becker where Nick is able to harness the power of the Storm rune without his goggles which was a really cool reversal. The story in this section is really powerful and emotionally raw, and the science fiction artwork is nuanced and eye popping, it truly feels like you are reading the beloved origin story of a legacy hero like Spiderman.
The final issue takes every aesthetic aspect of the first two issues and cranks them to the next level with gorgeous Pulp science fiction artwork and action that feels like a lost chapter of Flash Gordon, in the origin story of Omega. We cut away to the far reaches of the galaxy where the planet Nadir has been enslaved by a race of Crocodile-like mercenary soldiers called the Zenithans. A brave Nadirian man stands up to one of his Zenithan enslavers as he beats an elderly man- and demands trial by combat with the Zenithan champion to determine the fate of his race. The Zenithan’s agree, seeing the Nadirians as inherently inferior- and the Nadirian champion, Omega, pleads with his elders to allow him the power of the Nadirian people which has been kept in secret until such a moment. The Power in question emanates from the Nadirian core, but also looks suspiciously like one of the runes we have come to know though it is not explicitly referred to as such. After absorbing the power, Omega faces off against the Zenithan’s champion who is revealed to be a “War Beast” that behaves and appears like a savage version of Shape Man for fans of that series, essentially an amorphous alien race that can adjust their shape and strength at will. After an epic battle, Omega perseveres and beats back the monster, which the King deems as cheating and calls off the bout altogether. Though we don’t get to see a resolution for the Nadirian people, we do get to see the origins of our original hero, Shape Man, as the King demands the test subject born from the cells of the War Beast to be jettisoned into space, deeming it worthless. That’s right, Shape Man is just a weird little guy Superman after all.
This comic is so fun and engaging, with all of its subtle connections and slowly developing overarching narrative of the Shape Man story. I can’t get over how approachable this story feels while still feeling rewarding to established comic fans and readers, it’s like the perfect blend of so many elements that work and leave me wanting more. I cannot wait to see what Shape Comics has in store next, but I am also more than happy to let the world of Forge, Surge, and Omega ruminate in my head for a little bit longer. This is just a solid, thought provoking, epic endeavor that I hope we get to follow along to what is sure to be a monumental end.
-Nicholas Aaron Hodge
