BHOC: SHOGUN WARRIORS #6

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Marvel Comics had a thriving business licensing properties from outside of the field–movies, television shows, toy lines and the like–and turning them into comic books. Some of these titles were remarkable successful and functioned as a gateway into the wider Marvel line. Others disappeared quickly when the material they were based upon similarly crashed and burned. As a reader in this era, there tended to be two types of these titles: the ones that seemed to be taking place within the established Marvel Universe, of which ROM and MICRONAUTS were the most successful examples, and those that were not, such as STAR WARS and BATTLESTAR: GALACTICA. For my small crowd of comic buyers, we didn’t really differentiate the books set within the MU from the pure MU titles we were reading. We felt as though they counted just as much and were just as legitimate.

A lot of this flavor came down to the commitment of the creator working on those series. It was clear that writer Bill Mantlo was passionate about his work on ROM and MICRONAUTS, almost moreso than his regular MU assignments. SHOGUN WARRIORS writer Doug Moench wasn’t as obviously dedicated to his series, but he did give the title the same kind of deep mythology and serious dramatic attention that he would any other book. So this wasn’t MASTER OF KUNG FU, but it also didn’t feel like a throw-away kids’ book. And artist Herb Trimpe did some stellar work on the series, its angular and geometric robot characters being a comfortable fit form his somewhat stiff art style. It was a book that my friends and I really liked.

This sixth issue opens with two of the Shoguns, Raydeen and Danguard Ace, facing off against the Mech-Monster, a creature birthed of both science and sorcery, after the third member of their team, Combatra, had lit out for parts unknown. Stunt man turned robot pilot Richard Carson in Raydeen uses his experience in performing the chicken run stunt to create an opening in which he can lob one of Raydeen’s detonating arrows into the Mech-Monster’s mouth, causing it to explode from the inside. So the opening fight sequence is resolved relatively painlessly. From here, the two Shoguns go in search of their teammate, locating Combatra on a nearby island.

But as the pair approaches, Combatra suddenly and unexpectedly attacks them. Back at the Followers of Light sanctuary, Doctor Tambura, the team’s mentor figure, uses an override to get a picture of Combatra’s cockpit–only to learn that the third Shogun Warrior is being piloted by the group’s malevolent enemy Maur-Kon. Having failed to destroy the Shoguns through magical means, the Lord of Darkness instead intends to use their own technology to finish them off. What’s more, Maur-Kon’s presence in Combatra raises an obvious question: what has become of Combatra’s human pilot Genji Odashu?

Genji’s been imprisoned in the bad guys’ Haunt of Evil. But she doesn’t stay there long. For issues, Maur-Kon’s lieutenant Magar has been bristling at how his leader has been more and more influenced by the ways of science. So he’s decided to prove the effectiveness of the old ways by using Genji as the life force for a new and more terrible sorcerous beast. But Genji recovers consciousness before the mystic rite can be completed, and she’s able to upset the apple cart, freeing herself and sending hot magma flowing throughout the base. Liberated, she races to locate Combatra and secure an exit from the rapidly-decaying stronghold.

It was always readily apparent to me that Doug Moench liked Genji and Combatra the best out of all his cast, as he inevitably gave them the bulk of the action in most issues and the best stuff to do. So next, Genji commandeers one of Maur-Kon’s war machines, driving it through the walls of the crumbling base and bringing its weapons to bear on Combatra. Because she understands the structure of her robot, Genji is aware that Combatra’s head can separate into a distinct flying vehicle, the Delta-V, so she fires her shots with such precision that she’s able to cause the head to detach from the rest of Combatra. Ar this turn of events, Maur-Kon bails out, but the delta-V is destroyed as the rest of the island goes up in blaze.

So it’s a win for the Shoguns, but one that’s come with a cost, for without the Delta-V, Combatra is pretty much useless. As the trio of pilots commiserate their loss, their reverie is suddenly broken as another delta-V soars into the area. This replacement unit is piloted by Dr. Tambura, who tells his charges that the Followers of Light have replacement parts for all of the Shogun’s components, but a very limited supply of them, so they ought to avoid destroying their robots all the time. What’s more, having seemingly dealt Maur-Kon an almost fatal setback, Dr. Tambura proclaims that the trio’s time of training is now over, and he’s ready to permit them to return to their regular lives. And that’s the set-up for next month’s exploits.