Steel Forged, Promise Kept. The Empire Awaits Its Champion!

Five Battles, One Blade, One Throne: The Entire Tournament of the Five Rings in a Single Volume

This fall, Mad Cave Studios unleashes the full fury of the Tournament of the Five Rings with BLADE FORGER VOL. 1, the complete opening chapter of Roy and Inaki Miranda’s powerhouse series now forged into a single collection!

Created by the Eisner-nominated team behind We Live, this volume features Inaki Miranda’s striking art, colors by Eva De La Cruz (Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice?), and letters by Dave Sharpe (Revolution 9).

Born from upheaval, the Miranda brothers took the sudden halt of their acclaimed We Live series and the real-world tension of an energy crisis and forged them into a saga of scarce resources, fragile peace, and the fight to make power a common good. This first volume stands as their proof that creative promises, like the vows within the story itself, are meant to be kept.

No matter who you are or where you’re from, with enough aspiration, courage and training you could become a Blade Forger, win the tournament and be the new Emperor.

The discovery of CORUM, a never seen before energy source, led to a bloody world war for its control. After years of destruction, the Lords of the Lands agreed to negotiate a ceasefire for lasting peace. The BLADE FORGERS TREATY was born from that meeting.

This treaty established that the mining of Corum would be centralized through one government, led by a neutral Emperor. The Emperor would have to be a BLADE FORGER, a mystical swordsman, and claim the title in a tournament called The Tournament of the Five Rings. Every five years Blade Forgers from every corner of the Empire would fight for the possibility of becoming the new Emperor.

A young Blade Forger named Owada challenges the Emperor in the name of the forsaken people. This is the story of what happens next.

For readers drawn to Game of Thrones, One Piece, and the Elden Ring, Blade Forger delivers high-stakes combat and a world built on power, promise, and steel.

Fans can secure the exclusive Blade Forger Vol. 1 series bundle that delivers the entire five-issue digital run on its official release dates—with any issues already available arriving instantly, followed by the collected trade paperback shipped straight to their doorstep once it’s in stock!

The Blade Forger Vol. 1 trade paperback lands October 28, 2025.

Get the latest news on Mad Cave Studios on social media, or visit www.madcavestudios.com to check out the full lineup of new releases, licenses, and celebrated creator-owned titles!

Author Profile

Al Mega

I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!