Dark Horse brings an undead-killing George Washington to comics in The Forge

If you liked Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, you’re going to love this.

Before he fathered a nation, young George Washington forged his legend in blood! Before he fought for his country, he killed for the king! Imbued with the mystical powers of America’s original inhabitants, George and his superpowered axe—along with his friends, a debauched, middle-aged Ben Franklin and a young, rebellious Paul Revere—must stop an evil colonial governor who wishes to rule an empire!

“Dark and filled with seething rage, this George will shatter the image of the white-haired father of a nation!” stated Berdahl. Publisher Mike Richardson, founder of Dark Horse, said, “This is one of those great changeups that challenge our notions of a widely accepted historical figure and pose a ‘what if’ in an entertaining manner.”

Yes, that’s George Washington on that cover to the right. Yes, he’s got a mystical axe and he’s standing on a pile of rotten meat and bones of some kind of undead viking army. And yes, that’s awesome.

I was a pretty big fan of the aforementioned Lincoln reimagining, both the book and the movie, so I’m pretty much into this one before it’s really even fleshed out (pardon the pun). The father of the US brandishing a magical axe and taking down hordes of undead, all working in concert with an evil governor, while at the side of Ben Franklin and Paul Revere is just too good to ignore.

Based on the concept dreamt up by Donn D. Berdahl and Andy Briggs, writer Victor Gischler does the honors here in weaving a tale throughout a three issue mini-series that promises to be packed to the rafters with “humor, vulgarity, and at times brutality.” Sounds like a good time to me!

Sharpen your axes, the Forge #1 hits the racks on April 29th, 2015.