Fantastic Four 226
“The Samurai Destroyer”
Published October 1980
Writer: Doug Moench
Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz
Inks: Pablo Marcos and Bruce Patterson
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Cover: Sienkiewicz and Bob McLeod


Synopsis

The Fantastic Four learn about a giant robot stealing a train carrying gold on the television news, then are met at the Baxter Building by the three former pilots of the Shogun Warrior robots, now destroyed. The FF and three pilots travel to Japan, where the new giant robot, the Samurai Destroyer, is robbing a bank. While the FF attempt (and fail) to stop it, the pilots travel to the sanctuary where the Shogun Warriors were built. There, they are confronted by the Samurai Destroyer and its pilot who explains he destroyed their robots. The FF catch up with him and eventually defeat him, but not before he self-destructs the Samurai Destroyer.

What’s going on here?

A guest appearance in a Doug Moench-written comic? What are the odds they feature in another Moench-written book? If you guessed 100%, you’d be right. For the third story in a row, Moench has slipped in characters from a former, current or future comic he’s writing (following Moon Knight and Thor). This time, of course, the Shogun Warriors make more than a token appearance, but are central to the whole dismal comic.

The Shogun Warriors were a toy tie-in that had their own comic for 20 issues, all but one written by Moench. I confess I’ve never read them, but they look pretty forgettable. Apparently while Moench was able to wrap up their story (in an issue guest starring the FF, or course), he or someone at Marvel decided they needed to tie up the loose end of three enormous robots that could be commandeered by a villain. Hence this issue, in which the robots are destroyed.

While I sort of respect the desire to address the big robot problem, I wish it hadn’t been at the expense of a decent Fantastic Four comic. This story is forced and clunky, with a cheesy lesson in parenting for Reed and way too much energy devoted to the fates of three characters most readers had never heard of. This is probably Moench’s worst issue, and Bill Sienkiewicz, aside from a few bright spots, doesn’t do much to salvage this dreck.

A few side notes: Joe Sinnott is again MIA, with Pablo Marcos and Bruce Patterson inking. And the cover is inked by Bob McLeod, making his FF debut.


What I liked

It’s hard to go wrong with a giant robot splash page:

I liked this fun scene with Ben and Alicia:

What I didn’t like

As ever, Moench is the master of unnecessary exposition. In this case, the villains’s origin is so lame he shouldn’t have bothered with a back story.

So early in the comic Reed patronizes Franklin, then later uses his story of David and Goliath to defeat the Samurai Destroyer, redeeming him in his son’s eyes. It’s as lame as it sounds.

Were they really still using steam trains in Czechoslovakia in 1980?

Overall

The less said about this, the better