Monday Mecha Madness SHOGUN WARRIORS "Moon Menace!" part 1

When Last We left Out Favorite Mecha...

...the Shogun Warriors apparently defeated three simultaneous menaces spawned by meteors!

But what was the unifying element behind the trio of extremely-diifferent threats?

To Be Continued Next Week..as the MasterMind behind the Threat is Revealed!

Note: It's a Kaiju-Sized Surprise!

Written by Doug Moench, penciled by Herb Trimpe and inked by Mike Esposito, this never-reprinted story from Marvel's Shogun Warriors #12 (1980) re-introduces a villain who had recently threatened the Marvel Universe in another series!
This will lead to interaction with existing Marvel characters, as you will see...
Sadly, Marvel cancelled their Godzilla comic early on during the Shogun Warriors' run, so there wouldn't be a crossover with him, though the actual toy line was designed around the concept!

The Godzilla comic had included S.H.I.E.L.D. and other Marvel characters from the first issue onward, but Shogun Warriors held off until this point to start interacting with them!

Monday Mecha Madness SHOGUN WARRIORS "Hand of Fate" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...Genji Odashu, aboard giant mecha Combatra, battles a giant mechanical hand, whose five "fingers"separate into independent flying weapons, which she matches by separating her mecha into five semi-independent units with AIs under her command opeerating them!

To Be Continued Next Month, When We Discover Who is Behind All These Menaces!

Today's entry in the never-reprinted Marvel adventures of the Shogun Warriors from #11 (1980) was scripted by Doug Moench, penciled by Herb Trimpe and inked by guest artist Jack Abel, with another guest artist, Terry Austin inking Trimpe on the cover.

Note: because Moench & Trimpe only had the Mattel versions of the robots and didn't have access to the manga or anime detailing the Japanese versions' characters, back stories, and capabilities of the mecha, they basically made things up as they went!

In Combatra's case, the Japanese version featured five human pilots, each controlling one of the segments, which functioned best when combined, as shown in the video below!

The Marvel Comics version has only one human pilot, located in in the head, with the other four sections controlled by semi-independent Artificial Intelligences!

Monday Mecha Madness SHOGUN WARRIORS "Hand of Fate" Part 1

Let's Have a Hand for the Little Lady in the Big Robot...

....is exactly what pilot Genji Odashu, pilot of the Shogun Warrior mecha known as Combatra, wouldn't want to hear at this point in time!

So we ain't gonna tell her!

Besides, she's pretty busy at the moment, between the mechanical hand and the Japanese military who've just shown up...and don't realize she's one of the good guys!

Writer Doug Moench, penciler Herb Trimpe and inker Jack Abel have put Genji in one heckuva dire situation in Marvel's never-reprinted Shogun Warriors #11 (1979)...which you'll see resolved right here, next Monday!

Monday Mecha Madness UNKNOWN WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION "War Toy"

It's the July 4th Week of the 250th Anniversary of the Founding of America!

Art by Mike Kaluta

So let's tell a tale of military AI!

Written by Tony Isabella, penciled by George Perez, and inked by Rico Rival, this tale of a sympathetic, benevolent, yet deadly robot from Marvel's anthology b/w magazine Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #2 (1975) was the only time a story that wasn't an adaptation of a classic sci-fi prose story was featured on the cover of the magazine!
Speaking of the cover, you'll note the published version (as compared to the original by Mike Kaluta seen above) had two planets added to it at editor Roy Thomas' request...even though the action takes place on Earth!

Trivia: When "War Toy" was reprinted in another Marvel anthology b/w magazine Marvel Preview #20 (1980)...

...artist Howard Chaykin included the character in a new cover painting which featured his character Dominick Fortune along with the retro-style spaceship from the EC tribute story "Good Lord!"

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Monday Mecha Madness SPIRIT OF FRANKENSTEIN "A Monster is Born"

There have been several ongoing series that combined horror and sci-fi...

...such as the strip which premiered with this tale from ACG's Adventures into the Unknown! #5 (1949)!

The "monster" here is not Frankenstein's Monster, nor are any of the scientists members of the Frankenstein clan.
Though it's defined as a "robot" it appears to be more of an android!
But, if the strip's creators say it's a robot, that's good enough for me!

Writer Richard Hughes and artist Charles Sultan invoked the "spirit" of the Frankenstein Monster Monster concept with a creation run amok and ran amuck with it for several issues from #5 to #16.

Rest assured it'll be back...

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