Lion Forge was a great new indie comic-book publisher that was formed in the 2010’s. Their original focus was strictly on digital comics, which was still a new and emerging market at the time. This was when Comixology was still an independent app and major publishers like DC and Marvel were still enacting 3-month gaps between when they’d publish the digital versions of their comics, as the big fear in the industry at the time is that digital comics would hurt retailers. So this was still new territority that Lion Forge was entering. They were also a Black-owned company, which I liked. And in addition to new diverse characters they were publishing licensed comics of such varied properties as Knight Rider and Saved By The Bell, among others. Eventually, they’d partner with another indie-publisher, Oni-Press, and expand their superhero line. But Oni-Press basically retired the imprint last year, among company layoffs. Still, the company put out some good comics in its heyday (some of the early of which are, sadly, no longer available, and thus I deleted previous reviews) and I decided to start this category to recognize some of them that can still be purchased.

Trimaxx, created by Corey Luangphisay, is a manga-inspired sci-fi title. This first issue, titled “Once Upon A Time…” takes place in the year 2055, and we’re quickly caught up to speed on how much has changed in this future scenario. Years earlier Earth had barely survived an attempted invasion by a deadly and powerful but mysterious alien race known as the Mechani. Leading the charge was Earth’s mightiest superhero, Invincible Joe, although he was left disabled by the encounter. The United Earth Defense Corp. is a Star Trek-like army that patrols the solar system in starships, keeping an eye out for the Mechani’s possible return. And when the Mechani does return and effortlessly wipes out one of the UEDC’s most advanced starships,  Earth’s only hope for survival is the Trimaxx, a giant high-tech mecha-robot suit. But only one person is found able to mentally synch with the suit in order to operate, and that’s a young college student named Mayori, nicknamed Mo, who thought she was just beta-testing a new video not being recruited to fight aliens for real. Overwhelmed by everything she’s just learned, will Mo rise to the challenge, or run and hide?

This series is written by David Gorden, who does a great job of putting us in Mo’s shoes. We, the audience, are learning what’s going on at the same time she does, so you can easily imagine how incredible everything must be seeming to her. We’re introduced to Mo, Invincible Joe, and Dr. Cruz and Dr. Hamilton, the two scientists behind the covert Trimaxx program that recruited Mo. The art, provided by a team credited as Sendol Arts (who also do the coloring), has an anime feel to it, which fits the story, and Gorden gives them plenty of action scenes to show off their skills. I’ll also note another thing I liked about these early Lion Forge Comics, which is that since they focused on publishing comics digitally, the comics themselves were formatted best for digital tablets. The 24 pages are mostly either single full-page panels, or three panels present like a horizontal rectangle. This is perfect for scrolling from one page to the next on a screen.

Trimaxx #1 is an action-packed story that’s enjoyable for all ages. Chacebook rating: FIVE STARS

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