Issue(s): Fantastic Four #226
Cover Date: Jan 81
Title: "The Samurai Destroyer"
Credits:
Doug Moench - Writer
Bill Sienkiewicz - Penciler
Pablo Marcos & Bruce D. Patterson - Inker
Bob Budiansky - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
This is a wrap-up to Doug Moench's Shogun Warriors series. Before the issue begins, all three of the Shogun Warriors robots have been destroyed off panel by a new one called the Samurai Killer.

So the three Shogun pilots show up at the Baxter Building looking for help. The robots are said to be damaged beyond repair; even Mr. Fantastic couldn't fix them. But they want to be involved in the defeat of the Samurai Killer.

Moench uses the story to focus on Franklin a bit, which i like. He shows Franklin playing with his toys and getting no attention from his father.

Later, Franklin seems to be acting out a bit...

...and then he resignedly complains when the team rushes off without him (note also the supposedly verboten neck-stretch).

Later, he asks Alicia why his father doesn't listen to him, and she responds like a typical non-parent would in that situation, with an "Oh, I'm sure he does" type of answer.

But Franklin then catches the battle with the Samurai Destroyer on TV. I thought this might be going in the direction of "Oh, daddy doesn't always listen to me because he does very important things" but instead it turns out that Mr. Fantastic was at least half-listening to Franklin, and he gets his tactics ideas from a four year old playing with his toys.

And so Franklin sees that his father really does listen to him. That's waaaay too convenient. Some attention for Franklin was definitely needed on this book, and to Moench's credit he will do a lot of that in his run. But this is done far too patly.

Moench's writing for the villain of the piece is also pretty weak. He wants to make the point that the guy that stumbled across the Samurai isn't a world-conqueror or anything. But to have the character literally come out and say "i'm just drunk with power" is bad.

Bill Sienkiewicz isn't at his best here, either. Nothing wrong with his giant robot. But he uses layout options with panels from various scenes interspersed randomly. It ruins the flow of the fight sequences.

You also shouldn't have someone punch with their broken arm unless they don't have any other options. Ouch!

When it's all over, the Shogun pilots say that they'll go back to their previous jobs (even the fact that i have to turn the page to see all three pilots' post-Shogun career ideas is weird).

For Genji, that means having to stand trial for going AWOL when she was originally abducted to fly her Shogun. But the FF say they'll testify in her defense. You'd think SHIELD would want to recruit these guys, but it is the last we'll see of them (although, as mdentlogan says in the comments, Genji Odashu is recruited as a background character during the period when the Avengers had a large support staff; you can see her listed at the bottom of the entry for Avengers #300).

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• The Shogun Warriors met the FF in the final issues of their series, Shogun Warriors #19-20.
  
• Among their other recent trials, the Shogun pilots mention the destruction of Sanctuary from Shogun Warriors #16.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A