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scans_dailyWell, alright, before Voltron there were a lot of things; Superman, trees, disco, the Holy Roman Empire, but as far as we're concerned, Shogun Warriors is the thing to focus on (We have our priorities right on scans_daily!)
Approximately six pages each, from two eighteen-page stories from 1979/80
Back in the late 1970's Marvel formed a deal with Japan's Toei entertainment. The most well known benefit that Toei got was the (in)famous Spider-Man live action show... insert obligatory video link....
Also (apparently), the sentai show, "Battle Fever J" was originally intended to be a Captain America themed series
Oh what might have been....
But what, you ask, did Marvel get in return?
Well, strangely it got the rights to the characters from; "Wakusei Robo Danguard Ace", "Chōdenji Robo Combattler V" and "Yūsha Raidīn" and promptly put them in a comic, set in the mainstream Marvel Universe, which didn't use any of the concepts except "HONKING BIG ROBOTS!!!"... and who can blame them
Simply put three people are recruited by a mysterious group known as "The Followers of the Light" to serve as pilots for three honking big robots to defend Earth against an ancient enemy...
From Madagascar, marine biologist Ilongo Savage, pilot of Dangard Ace
From America, stuntman Richard Carson, pilot of Raydeen
From Japan, test pilot Genji Odashu, pilot of Combatra
So we have two guys, one gal, and of the three we have one African, one Caucasian and one Japanese... and they say Captain Planet was an ethnic balance! Actually, that's rather admirable, especially considering we're dealing with 1978 here... and is, already, more ethnically mixed than pretty much 35 years of super-sentai and giant robot shows.
There are a number of issues I could post from, but I'm focussing on only one story because it features my favourite of the three robots, and one of my all time favourite monster designs... It's simple, it's striking, it's insane and it's frelling AWESOME!
Meet... THE HAND OF FIVE!
Look at it.... it's a hand... a giant flying hand... a giant flying hand with DRAGON HEADS FOR FINGERS! I can't express how much I loved this as a kid, and I still love it now! (I hope Jack Kirby saw this because it's the kind of thing he'd have adored!)
For the past few issues the male Shogun Warrior pilots have been facing down against strange assailants that seem to have come out of nowhere and end up vanishing again. Raydeen fought Cerberus, and Dangard Ace fought the Starchild, and now it's Combatra's turn (Note that the names are only assigned by the pilots, none of the monsters could talk)
This "thing" has just shown up in Japan, apparently looking for Genji. She summons Combatra from it's secret location in the base of the Followers of the Light but before she can get reach the anti-gravity "shimmer tube" which runs from the cockpit in the head to the ground. (No Power Ranger style leaping into the Zords for the Shogun Warriors) the Hand launches it's first, and most obvious attack, well it IS a giant fist!
I like her, she thinks fast, she adapts, and she doesn't panic. Nice!
We now discover the major gimmick of Combatra... and why it was called Combattler V in Japan... It's a portmanteau term and a pun, combining Combine, Combat, Battle and the notion of 5 ("V" in Roman numerals)
Yup, years before the terms "Voltron", "Transformer Gestalt" and "Megazord" meant anything to the West, Combatra was leading the trend in robots that could split into multiple vehicles! (For completists, the head module which Genji pilots is "Delta V One")
The Hand digs itself a crater with the impact, but not for long...
But not to worry, they're making their own way out via five tunnels they've drilled... It's not just the robots that can split you know...
And now imagine this next page as envisaged by Roland Emmerich with a Hollywood budget!
It'd be cool, wouldn't it? :)
In the next page we meet, briefly, Kosei Ono, Genji's lawyer and one of her best friends. (Not boyfriend though)
Note - Genji appears to have taken the time to change into her flight suit as opposed to civvies, a snesible move, but exactly when she had time to do it is a question for the ages...
Give him his due, he adapts to his own peril rather well, not even thinking twice about grabbing the tow ring with saves his life, and then letting go at a point where he won't become street sushi.
And so, more or less, ends Part 1... with downtown Tokyo menaced by a giant monster and a humungous robot/battle vehicles about to threw down for Part 2.
Yeah, BODYSLAM the giant hand!!
Yay, it's the Japanese military, who always help so much in such situation, especially when they don't actually know which is the goodie and which is the baddie. If in doubt, shoot them both, that'll help the situation... not.
Alas, the Hand takes advantage of the situation to put Combatra into a one-handed (obviously) headlock... But Combatra can fire compressed air jets from it's navel... sort of, and that dislodges the Hand...
Bet Godzilla duty is starting to look pretty good about now, right guys? (Actually, neither Godzilla (Which Marvel also had the rights for), nor their homegrown giant robot warrior Red Ronin, show up in Shogun Warriors, which seems a little contrary.
So it's battle time again as Combatra splits again...
And Genji has an idea, and that means she has a plan too....
And alas, that's all I can post from the issue. This isn't the last we saw of Hand of Five, as it' along with it's fellow monsters show up when the villain behind them, the magnificently named Doctor Demonicus, shows his hand, but it didn't have such an impressive showing then. Alas.
Interested in seeing some more Shogun Warriors, or was this enough for you?
Approximately six pages each, from two eighteen-page stories from 1979/80
Back in the late 1970's Marvel formed a deal with Japan's Toei entertainment. The most well known benefit that Toei got was the (in)famous Spider-Man live action show... insert obligatory video link....
Also (apparently), the sentai show, "Battle Fever J" was originally intended to be a Captain America themed series
Oh what might have been....
But what, you ask, did Marvel get in return?
Well, strangely it got the rights to the characters from; "Wakusei Robo Danguard Ace", "Chōdenji Robo Combattler V" and "Yūsha Raidīn" and promptly put them in a comic, set in the mainstream Marvel Universe, which didn't use any of the concepts except "HONKING BIG ROBOTS!!!"... and who can blame them
Simply put three people are recruited by a mysterious group known as "The Followers of the Light" to serve as pilots for three honking big robots to defend Earth against an ancient enemy...
From Madagascar, marine biologist Ilongo Savage, pilot of Dangard Ace
From America, stuntman Richard Carson, pilot of Raydeen
From Japan, test pilot Genji Odashu, pilot of Combatra
So we have two guys, one gal, and of the three we have one African, one Caucasian and one Japanese... and they say Captain Planet was an ethnic balance! Actually, that's rather admirable, especially considering we're dealing with 1978 here... and is, already, more ethnically mixed than pretty much 35 years of super-sentai and giant robot shows.
There are a number of issues I could post from, but I'm focussing on only one story because it features my favourite of the three robots, and one of my all time favourite monster designs... It's simple, it's striking, it's insane and it's frelling AWESOME!
Meet... THE HAND OF FIVE!
Look at it.... it's a hand... a giant flying hand... a giant flying hand with DRAGON HEADS FOR FINGERS! I can't express how much I loved this as a kid, and I still love it now! (I hope Jack Kirby saw this because it's the kind of thing he'd have adored!)
For the past few issues the male Shogun Warrior pilots have been facing down against strange assailants that seem to have come out of nowhere and end up vanishing again. Raydeen fought Cerberus, and Dangard Ace fought the Starchild, and now it's Combatra's turn (Note that the names are only assigned by the pilots, none of the monsters could talk)
This "thing" has just shown up in Japan, apparently looking for Genji. She summons Combatra from it's secret location in the base of the Followers of the Light but before she can get reach the anti-gravity "shimmer tube" which runs from the cockpit in the head to the ground. (No Power Ranger style leaping into the Zords for the Shogun Warriors) the Hand launches it's first, and most obvious attack, well it IS a giant fist!
I like her, she thinks fast, she adapts, and she doesn't panic. Nice!
We now discover the major gimmick of Combatra... and why it was called Combattler V in Japan... It's a portmanteau term and a pun, combining Combine, Combat, Battle and the notion of 5 ("V" in Roman numerals)
Yup, years before the terms "Voltron", "Transformer Gestalt" and "Megazord" meant anything to the West, Combatra was leading the trend in robots that could split into multiple vehicles! (For completists, the head module which Genji pilots is "Delta V One")
The Hand digs itself a crater with the impact, but not for long...
But not to worry, they're making their own way out via five tunnels they've drilled... It's not just the robots that can split you know...
And now imagine this next page as envisaged by Roland Emmerich with a Hollywood budget!
It'd be cool, wouldn't it? :)
In the next page we meet, briefly, Kosei Ono, Genji's lawyer and one of her best friends. (Not boyfriend though)
Note - Genji appears to have taken the time to change into her flight suit as opposed to civvies, a snesible move, but exactly when she had time to do it is a question for the ages...
Give him his due, he adapts to his own peril rather well, not even thinking twice about grabbing the tow ring with saves his life, and then letting go at a point where he won't become street sushi.
And so, more or less, ends Part 1... with downtown Tokyo menaced by a giant monster and a humungous robot/battle vehicles about to threw down for Part 2.
Yeah, BODYSLAM the giant hand!!
Yay, it's the Japanese military, who always help so much in such situation, especially when they don't actually know which is the goodie and which is the baddie. If in doubt, shoot them both, that'll help the situation... not.
Alas, the Hand takes advantage of the situation to put Combatra into a one-handed (obviously) headlock... But Combatra can fire compressed air jets from it's navel... sort of, and that dislodges the Hand...
Bet Godzilla duty is starting to look pretty good about now, right guys? (Actually, neither Godzilla (Which Marvel also had the rights for), nor their homegrown giant robot warrior Red Ronin, show up in Shogun Warriors, which seems a little contrary.
So it's battle time again as Combatra splits again...
And Genji has an idea, and that means she has a plan too....
And alas, that's all I can post from the issue. This isn't the last we saw of Hand of Five, as it' along with it's fellow monsters show up when the villain behind them, the magnificently named Doctor Demonicus, shows his hand, but it didn't have such an impressive showing then. Alas.
Interested in seeing some more Shogun Warriors, or was this enough for you?
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Date: 2011-04-30 08:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-30 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-30 10:03 pm (UTC)