Marvel Comics’ “5 Ronin” is set in 17th century Japan – the age of samurai. Ronin are roaming samurai who no longer have a lord or master.

One could read “Ronin” – possibly – without knowing that Marvel inserts five of its characters into the story. Because the well-known character names are never used in the story; however, one character is immediately identifiable in the first issue because of his distinctive hairstyle.

I almost hate to tell you who the five Marvel characters are, but if you seek this book, the cover blurb is going to tell you anyway. They are Wolverine, Hulk, Punisher, Psylocke and Deadpool. With exception of Wolverine, none of the characters look like themselves – no spandex costumes, etc. No green skin in the Hulk character’s case and no superpowers. For the Psylocke story, I had to refer to the cover blurb just to be reminded who she’s supposed to be in this scenario.

But that’s OK. The five-issue limited series begins with the first three issues introducing individual characters with some underlying narrative to loosely connect everything with a quick intro of the featured player in the last issue. By issue 4, all of the earlier narratives begin coming together with all being connected by issue 5.

Writer Peter Milligan and a team of talented artists create something completely different with reimagined Marvel characters in a “Shogun”-type setting. This is subtle storytelling and may not suit the fancies of readers looking for Bam-Pow! superheroics. But it is a poetic, lyrical story of perceptive depth.