Roger’s Comics Ramblings: Collections I’d Like to See – Shogun Warriors & Micronauts


Shogun Warriors #1

Shogun Warriors #1

by Roger Ash

A few columns back, I listed a couple series I thought deserved to be collected and promised to return with more. Well, that time is now! This time my suggestions are toy-based comics from the late-70s/early-80s – Marvel’s Shogun Warriors and Micronauts.


Shogun Warriors #10

Shogun Warriors #10

I haven’t read Shogun Warriors in years, so details of the stories are sketchy at best, but it featured giant robots smashing bad guys. To a kid in 8th grade, it didn’t get much cooler than that. The majority of the series was written by Doug Moench and drawn by comics legend Herb Trimpe and featured characters licensed from Mattel who had licensed them from a company in Japan. The Shogun Warriors were three giant  robots – Raideen, Combatra, and Dangard Ace – who were each piloted by a human. Together they had adventures throughout the Marvel Universe, including meeting the Fantastic Four. This series was the first time I had heard of the giant robot or mecha stories that are popular in Japan and was before I was aware of certain Robots in Disguise. This was new to me and exciting and cool. Looking through the covers on the Grand Comic Database caused a flood of nostalgia, especially the cover for #10 which features a giant flying hand with dragon heads for fingers! I need to dig out my copies of this series and re-read them soon.

Micronauts #2

Micronauts #2

The best toy-related comic ever, and certainly the most fondly remembered by its fans, was Marvel’s Micronauts. The first 12 issues by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Michael Golden are must-reads for any comics fan. The series, based on toys from Mego, featured a cast of characters from the Microverse – including Commander Rann, Marionette/Princess Mari, Bug, Acroyer, Biotron, and Microtron –  who were fighting the evil Baron Karza, who bore more than a passing resemblance to Darth Vader. They occasionally found themselves on Earth and crossed paths with Marvel characters including Man-Thing, the Fantastic Four, Psycho-Man, and the X-Men. Even though Golden left after issue #12, the series was never at a loss for great artists. Howard Chaykin and Pat Broderick both worked on the series, and it also featured early work by Jackson “Butch” Guice and Kelley Jones.

Princess Mari

Princess Mari

In 2006, artist Michael Golden started attending comic convention after taking a break for a number of years. The first convention he was at was the Baltimore Comic-Con, which I was also attending for the first time that year. The series had such an impact on me that the one convention sketch I had to get was Marionette by Golden. His agent, Renee Witterstaetter, was taking sketch requests and asked if I had reference for Mari. I said I didn’t, but I could probably find some in the dealer area. It was at this point that Golden’s head popped up from the drawing he was working on.

“The stripes on her costume go red, orange, yellow, white, right?” he asked me.

“That sounds right,” I responded.

“OK. I don’t need reference,then,” he said as he went back to drawing.

For an artist to remember something that he had done around 25-30 years earlier that well makes me think that Micronauts was an special book to Michael Golden as well. And the finished drawing is fantastic.

As much as I’d like to see these books reprinted, there are blocks to that ever happening. Both of these books took place in the Marvel Universe, and some of the characters such as Bug, Commander Rann, and Princess Mari are currently appearing in Marvel’s cosmic books such as Guardians of the Galaxy. That means these reprints would have to come from Marvel and they would have to license the properties again to be able to do this. That means Marvel would have to believe whatever they pay in licensing fees would be offset by the profits they’d make on such a collection. So it could happen, but I think it’s a long shot. But I can dream. If you want to read these comics, I highly recommend seeking them out at at a comics convention.

Now, go read a comic!