The phone company can make money in the strangest ways, like the way it made money off two former SIUC students who created a comic book over the phonelines, long-distance, for more than six months.

Mike Cagley, a1990 SIUC graduate, and his brother Jonah, a 1993 SIUC graduate, have created the comic Omega Force.

The older brother, Mike, lives in Apple Valley, Minn., and Jonah lives in Lafyette, Ind.. Mostly by phone and with a little help by fax, the two have created a comic that both brothers said is unique to most other comics.

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Mike said they have run up more than $600 in phone bills and a fax bill at Kinkos that he does not even want to look at.

AT&T has to be happy about this project, he said. They have benefited from it more than anyone else has.

The brothers said Omega Force has the familiar plot of good against evil found in many comics. But what makes it different is that the heroes have a value for life that other heroes do not.

Mike said a majority of the comics out today have their heroes committing acts of violence to uphold justice, such as The Punisher, who sometimes kills more than 30 people an issue, and Stormwatch, which in one issue had its hero ruthlessly murdering a villain.

What makes a villain evil is that they will do anything to achieve the goals they want, the older Cagley said. Heroes have goals, but they won’t do just anything to reach them. Our heroes won’t kill people in combat. They believe in the value of life. If you kill people, how can you be heroic.

Mike said it was the Stormwatch issue that made them decide to create a unique and civil hero.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, he said. I mean, what kind of message is that sending to kids?

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The brothers describe the futuristic comic as a mix between Star Wars and The Lords of the Rings, a trilogy written by J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1930s, which Mike said were the first real fantasy books ever written.

These books were the prototype or original fantasy books, he said. They plotted the good guys against the bad guys.

Omega Force is a group of superheroes, six in all, from the galaxy of Karad. The leader is Archetype, the product of 5,000 years of genetic engineering to create the perfect leader.

Omega Force’s enemy is Karad the Godslayer, who millenias ago manipulated contraband technology in order to absorb energy from sentient souls. Now his empire, the Core Planets, provides him with an endless supply of souls to increase his power. Only Omega Force of the Confederation of Free Planets can stop Karad.

The two said the ideas for the characters have come from several different venues. Mike said some of the characters he has created have been kept in the back of his mind since eighth grade.

Some of the characters created by Jonah are based on facial and body structure of some of his friends, including Archetype, who is based on Jonah’s 6 feet 2 inches , 230 pound friend, Andrew.

Though creating the comic, which has taken about 6 months, has been enjoyable. Jonah said two independents like themselves getting in with a comic company is usually difficult. But the Cagleys said that was not the case for them.

The two sent a sample of their comic to Entity Comics. The day the company received it they called the Cagleys back.

This was surprising, Mike said, because presently the comic industry is constricted, and like many other print media, is losing readership.

Many of the comics being created today are being written for an adult audience and therefore are not gaining readership in the younger generation, Mike said. Also, comics aren’t available like they used to be. I remember when I was a kid, you could buy a comic at the market when you went shopping with your mom. Now they are only available largely at specialty shops.

The two said they spent a lot of time creating the comic while holding down day jobs. But both agree designing comics would be a terrific full-time job.

Doing this all the time is my dream, Jonah said. There are quite a few people out there doing this and are making good money. It is like being a kid 24 hours a day.

Jonah Cagley will make an appearance to sign the new comic on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Campus Comics, 821 S. Illinois Ave.

Dave Marquis, manager of Campus Comics, said though the comic has not reached the store yet, there have been many people inquiring about it.

We have had a lot of calls about it, he said. I think it has spread around Carbondale by word of mouth.

We have advertised it with a poster. By the sounds of it, it seems different and unique but not so different that it is way out there.