Samurai Cat (aka Miaowara Tomokato) is the main character in a series of books by Mark Rogers. To accompany the anachronistic satire, almost every page in each book has a picture painted by Rogers, depicting the events described on that page. Each chapter is a bizarre parody of some historical or pop culture event, but the event is always treated as an entirely serious one. For example, no one finds it at all unusual that Tomokato is an upright, talking, sword-wielding cat. The basic premise of the story is that Japan's greatest warrior Tomokato is out for revenge, after his master

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese '' daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unif ...

is killed. The group that leads the attack on Nobunaga's castle is made up of characters from throughout time and space, so Tomokato must travel all over the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

and beyond to seek his vengeance (from Japan to

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...

Valhalla In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

, to name just a few) in the most violent ways possible, involving the deaths of hundreds of beings. In the first book, ''

The Adventures of Samurai Cat ''The Adventures of Samurai Cat'' is a collection of linked humorous fantasy short stories by Mark E. Rogers. Rogers had done a series of paintings and drawings which feature his character Samurai Cat and spoofing martial arts films and fantasy ...

'', Rogers skewers

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth i ...

, H. P. Lovecraft's "

The Shadow Over Innsmouth ''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' is a horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in November–December 1931. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using its motif of a malign undersea civilization, and references several shared ele ...

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

, and

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

. With the second book, entitled ''More Adventures of Samurai Cat'', Rogers goes after the movies (while still referencing pulp literature), satirizing ''

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' The ...

'', and fusing it with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in the search for the Holy Spad (a biplane armed with two 15 mm machineguns and God's own special effects (Celestial Lights and Magic), complete with 3D glasses for safe viewing). From there, Tomokato and his firearms-obsessed nephew Shiro travel to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian

Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as '' A Princess of Ma ...

. Rogers saves his most biting humor for the last chapter, which takes on ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

''. By the third book, ''Samurai Cat in the Real World'', Rogers take on historical figures like the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, Chicago gangsters, and finally

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

and the Communist Party. Subsequent books include ''The Sword of the Samurai Cat'', ''Samurai Cat Goes to the Movies'' and ''Samurai Cat Goes to Hell''. In the last of these, Tomokato dies and finds himself in a parody of Dante's

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * ''Inferno'' (1973 film), a German ...

, perhaps to close off demand for any more books. From June to September 1991,

Epic Comics Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's ...

released a three-issue miniseries comic book version of ''Samurai Cat'' with the covers rendered by Rogers, but with additional artwork done by others.Issue #1

Mile High Comics Mile High Comics is an online retailer and a chain of three Colorado comic book stores founded by Chuck Rozanski in 1969 from his parents' basement in Colorado Springs, Colorado. History In 1969, when Chuck Rozanski was 13, he began working ...

Issue #2

Issue #3

TV series and film

A television series of the same name was released in October 2013, titled '' Neko Samurai'' (''Samurai Cat''). It is unrelated to the book series. This series had a second season in 2015 and a prequel movie in 2016, entitled ''Samurai Cat: Tamonojo Goes to Edo''.

Citations

General references

* * * * * * {{Cite book , last=Rogers , first=Mark , year=1998 , title=Samurai Cat Goes to Hell , url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312866426 , publisher=Tor Books , isbn=0-312-86642-9

External links

Mark E. Rogers' Official Site
Anthropomorphic cats Characters in American novels of the 20th century Fictional samurai Fictional swordfighters in comics Literary characters introduced in 1984