Peaty is bored of his dreary, small town life; rather than yearning for the mines, he wants to escape them and find fulfilling work instead. Heading for the big city, it’s not long before Peaty’s dealing with workplace accidents, urban chaos and more danger than you can shake a short sword at. Meanwhile, a group of adventurers take on a seemingly insignificant job, while a nefarious force is rising in the background…

I found this first issue of indie comic Forged to be utterly charming, with its witty, dialogue heavy script (courtesy of Michael Eckett) and beautifully cartoony, characterful artwork by Ryan Jenkyns (aided by lovely, bold colour work from David B Cooper, José Expósito and CF Lum).

Though there’s plenty of exposition and character building done here, the scenes featuring the villain of the piece do feel a little shoehorned in, and feel as if they interrupt the flow of getting to know our heroes somewhat, without doing a great deal to make his motivations clear.

Of course, with several threads to set in motion in a single issue, it’s almost inevitable that something would get lost in the mix; in fairness, the fact that we do spend so much time getting to know the endearingly awkward Peaty and not on the nefarious bad guy is probably for the best. Hopefully we’ll see the other side of the story fleshed out a little more as the series progresses.

Overall though, this is a really enjoyable, lighthearted and humourous read. Perfect for comic and/or fantasy fans of all ages, Forged #1 is a promising start to the series, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Peaty’s adventure in the big city plays out.

You can buy Forged #1 from Ryan Jenkyns at his website.

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