Shogun is a comic book series created by Richard Shepard and Alan Moore for publication by America's Best Comics and later Shatara Comics.
History[]
The series is based on a concept created by Richard Shepard from his childhood, with inspirations deriving from Marvel Comics characters Iron Man and Iron Fist, as well as the Red Ranger from Saban's Power Rangers series.
Richard Shepard became a fan of superhero comics and desired to make his own someday. Shepard was later hired at America's Best Comics, an imprint of Wildstorm created by Alan Moore after a feud with DC Comics. There, Shepard and Moore published Shogun as a full-length series. As Richard Shepard wanted to create his own titles separate from ABC, he established it's imprint, Shatara Comics, which took over publishing for the series starting with its second volume.
Story[]
The series' first volume chronicles the origin story for Richard Shepard; a billionaire playboy who gets careless with the company he runs and, following a plane crash, is brought back to life by a wise, youthful sensei-figure who trains him to use a Godslayer sword to kill opposing deities. In the wake of his training, however, the natural disasters that plague the nation of Macedonia are revealed to be the cause of the reawakening of Erebos, an enemy of the Greek gods who was defeated by Zeus eons ago. As Richard trains under the moniker of the Red Shogun, he finds mastery in his new blade and uses his company's technological discoveries to combine the worlds of magic and science to save the mortal world from the looming cataclysm.
Fall of Olympus[]
In the aftermath of Erebos' defeat, the pit of Tartarus (which had imprisoned Erebos) is immobilized, allowing all it's inhabits to escape as they pursue vengeance against the Greek gods. As Zeus refuses to act upon the situation, his son Ares begins to investigate the disturbance in the pit. Ares recruits his brother Hephaestus to construct a replica of Red Shogun's Godslayer sword while using his lover Aphrodite to bargain with Hades in return for Hell's Queen Persephone to use her Hell magic to infuse the sword with an ability to reap souls and to earn the trust of her mother Demeter with Kronos' scythe. As Ares lowers himself further into the depths of the pit, he traces back to Erebos' cell where he stumbles upon a lucrative discovery; a lyre and set of emotion-transmitted arrows. Ares takes the begotten items with him and returns to Olympus where he stashes the lyre in the bag of messenger god Hermes and presents the emotion-transmitted arrows to Zeus, imploring the prospect of Aphrodite's son Eros being the culprit. With Aphrodite having now eloped with Hades under the circumstance, she has been made the new Queen of Hell, betraying her forced marriage to Hephaestus. Upon the discovery that Eros had been killed by the Hekatoncheries, Zeus' main guard and the creators of his Lightning Bolt, Aphrodite unleashes the forces of the dead to invade the giant's cave and commit genocide on their entire race. After the Hekatoncheris are dead, Zeus proclaims to send Hermes down to Hell to commune with Hades, using one of Dionsysus' concoctions to drunken the Hell Lord. After Hermes accidentally drops the lyre from his bag, Hades recounts having seen the lyre near the pit beforehand. Hermes puts the lyre back in his bag and gives Hades pleasantries for his welcoming. Upon Hermes' return to Olympus, he displays the lyre to Zeus and confronts him with Hades' testimony, revealing that Apollo had influenced Erebos' escape instead of Eros. Zeus subsequently banishes Apollo to Earth and attempts to influence Demeter to resurrect the Hekatoncheris, only for Hera to intervene, brokering a different question being asked, confronting Demeter on whether she knows why Persephone is back on Olympus during the winter months. Demeter reveals to the Queen that Ares had arrived with the girl a few days beforehand and gave her up in return for Kronos' scythe. Zeus than proclaims to Olympus' forces to find Ares and question what he knows about the current events. After Ares is found and put on trial, he is found guilty, for framing Eros and selling out Aphrodite to Hades, thus being accountable for the deaths of the Hekatoncheris and the many natural disturbances throughout the region.
Adaptations[]
Shatara Studios produced a film adaptation that was released by Paramount Pictures on July 21, 2017. An animated cartoon spin-off, Shogun: The Sho, premiered on Frick TV, the broadcast channel of LMMCU, on August 16, 2018.