The highly anticipated sequel to Peach Momoko’s instantly iconic series Demon Days, a Japanese folklore inspired reimagining of the Marvel Comics universe, Demon Wars: The Iron Samurai is debuting soon, and a new preview gives even more detail to the design of the Iron Samurai, Momoko’s redesigned Iron Man. Demon Wars: The Iron Samurai is a 4-issue limited series reimagining the infamous Marvel event Civil War but in the beloved “Momoko-Verse.”
Peach Momoko is a wildly talented Japanese illustrator and writer who first gained international prominence for her stunning cover artwork, which earned her the 2021 Eisner Award for best cover, during her time as one of Marvel’s “Stormbreakers” artists. The love for Momoko’s gorgeous artwork and unique Japanese-styled interpretations of classic Marvel characters grew exponentially upon the release of Demon Days, which saw Peach adapting beloved characters like Dani Moonstar, Mystique, Psylocke, Storm, Thor and countless others into a folktale universe filled with monsters, drama, and intense personal growth.
Demon Days focused on the coming-of-age story of Mariko Yashida, a reimagining of the classic Marvel character who primarily served as a long-term love interest for the X-Man Wolverine, as she discovered that she was part Oni, a horned yokai (Japanese folk spirit) with immense power and responsibility. Demon Days ended with Mariko seemingly re-entering “normal” society, before acknowledging that she would probably never again live a normal life now that she knows about the hidden world of monsters, magic, and mutants. Now, in the upcoming Demon Wars: The Iron Samurai, Mariko is once again in the center of a major conflict between the Momoko-Verse’s Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Carnage, and others, forcing her to potentially choose a side to fight for. Newly released design sketch pages by Peach Momoko, plus several text-less preview pages, reveal even more details on Demon Wars adaptation of Civil War, which saw Iron Man and Captain America fighting on opposing sides from each other dealing with the fallout of the Superhuman Registration Act.
The design pages give readers deeper glimpses at Momoko’s reimagining of Iron Man into the Iron Samurai, Captain America into Hayabusa (which means “Falcon” in Japanese), an older and more skilled looking Mariko, and “No Name,” a character who appears to be an adaptation of Doctor Strange or a Momoko-Verse Sorcerer Supreme, seeing as his staff holds The Eye of Agamotto in its center. The inclusion of Doctor Strange, or potentially the “Ancient One,” is revealing because in Marvel’s Civil War Doctor Strange actually excused himself from taking sides, determining he was too powerful to side with either, meaning that Demon Wars will most likely be a loose adaptation of it’s source material. The Iron Samurai is a truly gorgeous redesign, and seeing as Peach has commented in the past on her love for Studio Ghibli films, it seems like Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke could have potentially inspired the Iron Samurai’s fur accented armor and powerful looking bow. In the preview pages for Demon Wars: The Iron Samurai #1 the Iron Samurai looks to be attacking Mariko out of the blue, hinting that she may play a secretly important role in the Momoko-Verse’s Civil War, and while Yashida proved she is able to defend herself in Demon Days Hayabusa intervenes and stops the Samurai from harming Mariko, firmly establishing the sides of the upcoming war as the Iron Samurai versus Hayabusa.
Even without text the preview pages provided are enough to get any fan of Peach Momoko’s work excited for Demon Wars, and the detailed design pages of Iron Man’s Iron Samurai, Hayabusa, No Name, and Mariko are all the evidence needed to confirm that Marvel expanding the Momoko-Verse is one of their best decisions in years.
Demon Wars: The Iron Samurai #1 from Marvel Comics debuts on July 13th 2022.
