Shogun Warriors #1 (1978)

“Raydeen”

Writer: Doug Moench
Pencils: Herb Trimpe

Much has been said about Marvel Comics’ ventures into “Licensed Properties”. Heck, about 90% of this website is devoted to such a thing. As a quick refresher, this is when an outside company licenses their characters or concepts to Marvel. In this sense, they weren’t “original” characters created by the ol’ House of Ideas, in the way that Spider-Man, Thor or even Brother Voodoo or Captain Ultra were. It’s led to some hits and misses, and has included everything from Conan to Doc Savage to the Muppet Babies and even Shang-Chi (in a way).

In this specific case, we’re obviously gabbing about Mattel’s imported Shogun Warriors brand of toys. In the 70’s, Marvel had struck gold with licensing deals for “Star Wars” and “Micronauts” comics, so teaming up with Mattel for “Shogun Warriors” seemed like a great idea. As a wee lad I was so influenced by marketing that I picked this up when it was “new”…. on a spinner rack at a U-Tote-Em convenience store. My big brother and I loved our Star Wars and Micronauts comics, so I figured I would be a trailblazer by getting on-board with this new Shogun Warriors concept! It looked so COOL with its dynamic cover! I had seen a few of the toys on TV commercials, and felt it would be just a matter of time before I could take credit for introducing my family to Shogun-Mania!

When I got home, my big brother looked at it and said “this is stupid”… and I felt ashamed. At the time, I was just learning to read and still had to rely on him to read comics to me. He was a jerk and refused to read it.

It also didn’t help that Shogun Warrior toys were freakin’ expensive and nobody in my neighborhood had one. I think they ran about $30-40 for one of the big “Shoguns”. In 1978, that was a lot! We were much more aligned with other toys, like Star Wars, where you could buy a figure for a few bucks. Eventually, I got a smaller 4 inch Shogun toy, since it was in-scale with our Star Wars figures (“Grendizer”, I believe). Yet I was upset when I brought it home and found out the figure’s legs barely moved. I was ashamed, again, and soon buried both the figure, and the comic, deep in my toy boxes. Shogun-Mania never arrived in my home.

It wasn’t until the 90’s that I actually recovered this comic and finally read it. All by myself. Ha! Choke on deez nuts, bro!

So was “Shogun Warriors #1” worth the wait and all the personal brouhaha? Let’s check it out…

Our story opens in the middle of a BIG FIGHT between the robotic Shogun Warrior, Raydeen and “Rok-Korr”, a big pink and purple monster with spikes! It’s even taking place in Tokyo, Japan, just like the majority of many “Kaiju” giant monster movies/shows. Raydeen is apparently commanded by 3 pilots inside it…who all helpfully narrate each attack, in the vein of Voltron or Great Mazinger. So while this may be an American-ized version of giant robots and monsters, it definitely seems to inspired by the source…. or at least striving to be like it.

But hey, HOW did all this happen? Well, Marvel is glad you asked, because here comes a flashback, set 2 hours earlier! Y’see, “eons ago”, the Followers of Light fought the Great Chaos War, on Earth, against the evil Maur-Kon and his horde.

They trapped Maur-Kon and his cronies, deep within the Earth, and the Followers have been vigilantly monitoring, ever since. Recently, a volcanic eruption announced the return of Maur-Kon’s forces and their emissary of destruction– Rok-korr!

The Followers have been stationed at their “Shogun Sanctuary” in the mountains of Japan… but since they appear to be four oldsters, they’re not up for a physical confrontation with Rok-korr. Nor have they used all these “eons” to train any replacements to pilot their giant monster-fighting Shogun Warrior robots. It’s only NOW that they put off their procrastination and decide to teleport 3 young people to help them.

The qualifications for selecting these three aren’t really discussed. I mean, if I’m in the Marvel Universe and need someone to help me in a fight, I’d probably go after Captain America, first. Nonetheless, they are: Dr. llongo Savage, 25, a marine biologist from simply “Africa”. Genji Odashu, a pilot from Japan. Rounding out the team is the traditional milquetoast white guy: Richard Carson, 22, from “North America”. He’s picked up from Wyoming, but with his description of being from “North America”, he could be from the US, Mexico, Greenland or Canada, eh.

The three are given a 2 hour crash course on how to operate Raydeen. Along with the history of the Great Chaos War, and I’m sure a buncha’ HR forms, privacy policy notices, and waivers to sign as well. After 2 hours, the three are given snazzy new costumes and turned loose to go after Rok-Korr. (luckily, Rok-Korr hasn’t moved too much in those 2 hours)

Savage seems to be taking the lead of the three. They hold their own and even manage to chop off Rok-Korr’s head!

However, Rok-Korr soon reforms as a big pile of pink molten goo! Minus the spikes and wheels he previously had. Also, minus any “clothes”. Anyways, he follows Raydeen out of the city and continues the fight.

The 3 pilots then decide that Rok-Korr is too much for them to handle. While they didn’t defeat him, they did manage to lure him away from Tokyo… so we’ll give them a C+.

Normally, you’d be kinda’ disappointed that the man characters of all-new FIRST ISSUE weren’t successful, and seemingly turned tail and ran. Yet face front, True Believers, this is Shogun Warriors. Plural. Thus, the trio intends to regroup and bring TWO more Shogun Warriors into the fray, next issue!

At this point, the Marvel licensed properties of the 70’s were usually…but not always… integrated with the “Mainstream Marvel U”. Doc Savage teamed up with Spider-Man, S.H.I.E.L.D’s Dun Dum Dugan hunted Godzilla. The Micronauts met the Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, Plant Man, and even Nightmare. Yet some properties, like Star Wars (or G.I. Joe in the 80’s), remained completely independent and never crossed over with the Marvel heroes.

I mention this, because in this story the Followers of the Light and their Great Chaos War steered clear of the usual Marvel “eons old” stuff– like the Celestials, “Gods” (Asgardians, etc.), or even the alien races like the Kree or Skrull. Not a big deal… but as Shogun Warriors, the title, carried on, it crossed-over with the Fantastic Four. Thus, establishing that it was in the “Mainstream Marvel U”. It may have been an attempt to boost sales, as this crossover happened in the second-to-last issue (#19). Regardless, it kinda’ makes you wonder why the Followers didn’t seek help from the Marvel heroes, before turning to three random strangers. Eh… it’s a comic book meant to entertain and promote plastic toys. I shouldn’t read too much into it.

Much like Shogun-Mania never arrived in my house, it seemingly never arrived at Marvel, either. Both of the main creators had other credits, like Moench with “Moon Knight” or 1990’s “Batman” titles. Trimpe, of course, seemed to be a go-to guy for a lot of Marvel comics, like “Defenders”, “Incredible Hulk”, and of course “G.I. Joe”. So I don’t think their stints on “Shogun Warriors” affected them one way or the other.

Shogun Warriors had/have their fans, though. In the previous incarnation of This Crappy Website, a random review I did of issue #19 (with the Fantastic Four) routinely received a LOT of traffic. The toys can be found on eBay and other sites, usually demanding a hefty price. Giant robots weren’t without their appeal to (North) American audiences. You could say that a few savvy marketers looked to smaller Japanese imported toy robots and brought them over in 1984….and that worked out pretty well.

While I never experienced “Shogun-Mania”, I might have experienced something much more mild, like “ShogunCyclothymia”.

Summary: 3 people in giant robot fight giant pink/purple blob guy, then run away.
Cover Price: (Still only) 35 cents
Rating: 50 cents.