Fantastic Four Vol 1 226

	Published
	January, 1981
"The Samurai Destroyer"
	Writer Doug Moench; Penciler Bill Sienkiewicz; Inker Pablo Marcos; Bruce Patterson; Colourist George Roussos; Letterer Jim Novak; Editor Jim Salicrup; Bob Budiansky;

For once I am at a loss of words.

-- Reed Richards

Appearing in "The Samurai Destroyer"

Featured Characters:

Fantastic Four

Supporting Characters:

Shogun Warriors

Antagonists:

William McLaughlin (Only appearance)^[1]

Other Characters:

Franklin Richards
Alicia Masters
Judith Johns (Only in flashback)
Deena James (Only in flashback)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Pogo Plane MK I
Samurai Destroyer (First appearance) (Destroyed)
Raydeen (Destroyed)
Combatra (Destroyed)
Dangard Ace (Destroyed)

Synopsis for "The Samurai Destroyer"

Reed, Sue, Johnny and Franklin are watching a television news broadcast about a giant robot reported to have attacked a Czechoslovakian train and made off with its cargo of gold bullion. Reed surmises that it may have something to do with the Shogun Warriors, as they are the only people on earth in possession of such technology and decides the situation is worthy of investigation.

Meanwhile, as they are returning from a Broadway show, Ben and Alicia engage in a heart-to-heart that attracts the attention of passers by, the pair oblivious to the crowd that has gathered until they burst into applause. Ben is clearly piqued by the crowd's interest and drags Alicia back to the Baxter Building with impatient haste. As the couple arrive at the Fantastic Four's headquarters, Ben notices three mysterious figures loitering by the elevator, whose presence triggers an alert signal upstairs in the penthouse suite. As Reed, Sue and Johnny scramble to investigate the alarm, they find that Ben has already dealt with the situation as he introduces the Fantastic Four's three guests: Richard Carson, Ilongo Savage and Genji Odashu -- the Shogun Warriors. Carson explains that the giant robot responsible for the bullion theft had already systematically sought out and destroyed each of the Shogun Warriors' own robots, hence the trio's need for the Fantastic Four's help.

As Franklin wanders in with a transistor radio it picks up a bulletin describing the sighting of a giant robot near Mt. Fujimoto, and so the seven heroes are soon on their way to Japan in the Pogo Plane. As the Fantastic Four try to deal with the giant robot which is rampaging through a Japanese city, the Shogun Warriors investigate the Sanctuary, their former base of operations now being used as a storage facility for the robot's plunder. The Fantastic Four are unable to halt the robot's rampage as it rips a bank off its foundations and absconds with it, before returning to the Sanctuary where it confronts the Shogun Warriors. The Samurai Destroyer, as the robot introduces itself, is actually a fourth Shogun Warrior-type robot, found half-built and constructed by its un-named occupant, whose goal is nothing greater than wanton destruction and the acquisition of tremendous wealth.

The combined efforts of the Fantastic Four and the Shogun Warriors are enough to overpower and destroy the robot, whose occupant is taken into custody. For the Warriors, however, the victory is hollow, for with their giant robots destroyed they must face the prospect of living ordinary lives away from the superheroics they had become accustomed to.

Notes

Continuity Notes

This story begins in what is stated as Czechoslovakia, this should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. At the time of this writing Czechoslovakia was a country, but it had since broken into two different countries the Czech and Slovak Republics in 1993. As such, it is listed as Slovakia in the appearance listing as the Carpathian Mountains pass through modern-day Slovakia.

This is the only appearance of William McLaughlin and the Samurai Destroyer. William is not named until Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.

The Sanctuary of Light and the Shogun Warrior robots were created by the Followers of the Light, aliens who opposed Maur-Konn. The Followers were slain and the Sanctuary destroyed in Shogun Warriors #16.

The Fantastic Four had a previous encounter with the Shogun Warriors in Shogun Warriors #19–20 when the team assisted them in bringing down Maur-Konn.

Publication Notes

Inks (issue pages): Marcos pages 1-23, Patterson pages 26-30.

This issue contains a letters page, Fantastic Four Fan Page. Letters are published from JRG, Steve Harper, and Rupert Kinnard.

Trivia

The Shogun Warriors nor their robots are called by name, or are their robots full seen in this story. This is because the Shogun Warriors was a franchise title based off a toyline produced by Mattel. Marvel published a Shogun Warriors comic book based on the toyline in 1979-1980 that lasted 20 issues. The series ceased and Marvel's rights to the Shogun Warriors license lapsed. However, since the main characters in that series were created by Marvel, Marvel retained the rights to the Shogun pilots. Since this was one of the commercially licensed properties that Marvel integrated into the Earth-616 universe, the Shogun Warrior characters could still be used but the Shoguns themselves could not. As such this issue was used to wrap up unfinished plot threads when the Shogun Warriors series came to an end.