95102_RAA_Hasselberger2024_R1_PROOF

never good and almost always cause ruin for

those involved. Shogun Joe One Saturday

shadowy

night

in

October, notorious serial killer Joe “The Owl” Auerbach was bested by his intended victims, the Johnson family. In a Home Alone esque game of cat and mouse where the predator became the prey, the tables were turned and Auerbach met his doom.He met a grisly end impaled on the spear-like snout of Mrs. Johnson’s prize Marlin. While bleeding out, the killer refused to go gently. As police sirens swelled in the distance, he spoke aloud an ancient ritual

to transfer his soul into another. His target was the Johnson’s young daughter Suzy, but as his spirit departed, her brother Johnny jumped in front of her using his favorite toy, a Shogun Warrior, as a shield. With this act of heroism, Shogun Joe was born! From that moment on, Auerbach was trapped in a plastic prison for all eternity, limited in his ability to kill by the size of the sword holes in his fists! A shadow of his former glory, he watched from behind painted robot eyes as the children who bested him grew up and moved away. While initially unable to act on his own murderous desires, the longer Joe remained locked in his tiny prison the more control he was able to slowly have over it. At first, he could only make small movements or fall over but over decades his power has grown to allow him full, fluid movement… and to sometimes even speak! These days, Shogun Joe has been passed along dozens of times. He’s been a hand me down passed from child to child, purchased by toy collectors and even rescued from the city dump once. No matter where he ends up, he brings mayhem, destruction and murder along with him.

41