The first thing that immediately drew me to this graphic novel composed of five issues was the fact that it took five characters in the Marvel universe and turned them into their Japanese counterparts and made them samurai without masters. Wow. Imagine if certain Marvel characters could get what would be their version of a Zord (If I can get all Power Ranger on you for a moment) and then went on to face Godzilla or some kaiju from that universe. That’d be the next best thing after this.
While this story arc follows five different characters, each having their own story per issue, the most disappointing is the female character Psylocke. I’m not one to point fingers or say “You did this when you should’ve done that”—or maybe I am—but I know off the top of my hand that as the resident female in this series I would’ve much rather seen Elektra or even Lady Death. Okay, maybe they already seem to have a martial arts background in some way so it’d seem too closely like any other story they were apart of or thought up. That’s my only real concern with this though- is the female choice. Really, any other female in the Marvel universe would’ve probably been better. Even someone like Storm would have at least stood out more and made you go, “Wow, this is awesome”.
The other four stories are based around Wolverine (who has spent comic book time in Japan already), Deadpool, Hulk and Punisher. OF these four, The Punisher has the most intriguing story if only because he seems so out of his element. The Hulk doesn’t physically appear the same as usual, but he still has that rage… only now he rages with a samurai sword. Deadpool is no foreigner when it comes to blades as weapons, nor is Wolverine (obviously) and the notion of him secretly being a samurai is actually the least far-fetched. But The Punisher really does have the sense of “Who brings a gun to a knife fight?”
Perhaps the single greatest facet of this entire saga, which is somewhat intertwined but not really, is that each issue is illustrated by a different artist. This truly gives each story its own world to take place in. If for nothing else, you have got to read this for the art.
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