Robtech II: The Sentinels Book I: #12-16

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

The Sentinels #12 (eternity 1989)

The cover of this comic is done in some stark primary colors. Its burns your retinas!

I like the dramatic GLOOP! on page 4. An exclamation mark, really? Lol.

Hummm... the bath chamber on Optera is quite interesting. Seeing the Regent without clothes is strange and interesting too.

On page 25 Max saves the day (yet again) and Rem, Cabell, Karen, and Jack all clamber aboard Max's VT. Rem is straddling the foot in a most un-manly like way.

They just had to have Cabell say that corny line... I just knew it.

The Sentinels #13 (eternity 1989)

Is it just my imagination but is Dr. Lang playing Star Trek 3-Dimensional Chess?

 

 

Page 2 and 3 is a pretty awesome double page frame.

 

Page 5... a very 'Star Trek looking' shuttle and the name Sagan... someone is a Sci-Fic nerd!

 

The bottom 3 frames of page 8 are greatness.

 

We finally get a look at one of the new races to encounter on the other side of the galaxy... the almost comical looking Praxians. Who came up with their designs, a teenage boy?

 

Ahhh! the 2nd frame on page 15!

 

How could Cabell recognize Exedore... he looks totally different now.

 

On page 23 when Cabell tells everyone that the Master left for Earth, I bet they all shit bricks!

 

This was a pretty good issue. Lots of stuff going on!

 

The Sentinels #14 (eternity 1990)

 

There is that robo-butler on page 1...

 

On page 10 there is one of those walking spotlights from way back on Macross Island during the recon of the SDF-1. They still use those things!

 

The way Obsim grabs his face tentacles (or whatever they are) when he is fearful is great.

 

The Sentinels #15 (eternity 1990)

 

On page 5 I am totally lost. Cabell says they have enough Protoculture for a fold but not enough fuel for the reflex drives... I thought the reflex drives are what used Protoculture???

 

 

Sorry. this frame just struck me as funny and I had to have some fun with it.

 

We soon see Rick feeling lost in his new command. This is something I expect and am glad to see. A little more detail than a cartoon would give you. Rick was a fighter pilot and now he feels overwhelmed at all the responsibility he has and how the mission is not going as planned.

 

On page 13 Lisa answers the comm in her nighty. This is sure is a laid back crew.

 

That's some Ben Dunn type action on page 15.

 

Who let Rick bring along that old VT?

 

The Sentinels #16 (eternity 1990)

 

How is it that Obsim speaks English? Sure, I can understand the Brain being able to do it with some method but an Invid who have never interacted with humans?

 

That is a cool shot of the underside of Rick's Veritech on page 9.

 

Did I read a Monty Python reference on page 11?

 

Edwards is sitting pretty with the Invid Brain. He deactivates all the Invid troops then the REF (by order of Lang) slaughter all the helpless Invid out there. That's pretty savage. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

Jean is hit with the news that it's going to take 5 years to get back. Lol, little does she know...

 

 

And so we end Book I of The Sentinels. Join me next time for the beginning of Book II.

 

 

 

Robotech (Comico Comics) #31-36

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Robotech #31 (Comico 1988)

At the beginning of the comic the Masters and the Elders talk about the mission to send themselves on a twenty year trip to Earth. It's a nice band-aid to bridge the gap between the Macross Saga and The Southern Cross parts of Robotech. Although the decision to make this massive journey seems really rushed!

The Masters talk about Khyron being their last hope meanwhile on Earth, Khyron seems to still be obeying the Masters... I find that silly since we all know Khyron was just power mad, why would he still do the Master's bidding?

I am noticing as the series progresses the art is getting better. The artist are starting to get a handle on the look of the characters.

On page 15 we get to see the male power suits. I am not sure I have even seen them in the comic series so far. Maybe, but I can't be sure.

The bottom frame of page 16 has Minmei look daggers at Kyle, I love it!

On page 18 a Spartan is getting it's ass handed to it (as usual). Too bad, it's such an awesome mecha.

On page 20 Goval talks about the Masters discovering the secret of Protoculture 500,000 years ago... hummm. It was supposed to be only like 30 or 40 years ago. Maybe this is what Harmony Gold has kicked the comic series out of canon...

The last frame on page 25 looks great, excellent hero shot.

Robotech #32 (Comico 1988)

The back cover of this comic is kinda rough by showing us a Zentraedi getting gunned down by a Gerwalk.

On page 5 Rick just shoots first and asks questions later, not very hero like.

The last frame on page six is the inside of Rick's Battloid. This is a cool shot, we never see this!

On page 14 there is this RDF person who looks very hairy!

In this whole issue Rick looks very different. It's like they gave his drawings to someone new to the character. He looks... cartoonish (if that even sounds right).

Rick continues to treat Lisa like crap. What a turd.

I don't remember Kyle 'sacraficing' himself in order to save the SDF-1 from the hands of Khyron but on page 21 that what he basically says. That doesn't fit his character.

On page 23 there is a tribute to Markalan Joplin who worked as writer on the majority of the Robotech Comics (including all the rest of the series that had not been released yet). He died in 1988 of an AIDS related illness.

In the diversion scene (on the show) the Battliod pilots lights the Zentraedi's cigarette with his cannon... it is not in the comic. I always thought that was funny.

I never understood how any force could hold up against being absolutely surrounded by MAC II Monsters. That should have blown Khyron and his guys to crisps.

On page 29 the Zentraedi says 'Macek's Eyes!', lol.

Robotech #33 (Comico 1988)

On the ad for the Sentinels episodes it says at the bottom, 'VHS only, no Beta'... lol!

I don't know what's going on in the last frame of page 7, It looks like they blurred out part of Lisa's face on purpose but I don't know why.

On page 12 the women get their Lush on...

I know I have pointed this out in the past but I find it funny that uniforms the old Internationalist Army had very similar the RDF ones years later.

I like the enemy fighters on page 18.

How can Lisa not see Roy Fokker as a playboy... talk about blind!

So you assume that once Rick has his epiphany about Lisa loving him he would really do something about it, make sure it happens. Shortly after this comic he seems to give up again. What's with that dunce!?

On page 34 in the letters column they talk about Protoculture Addicts! Awesome! You know how much I love that mag!

Robotech #34 (Comico 1988)

 I doubt very much that Lisa would be singing a Minmei song.

Page 2, featuring 'Macho-Man' Hunter.

Rick is a selfish sob!

The character art in this issue is hit and miss. Sometimes the characters look great, sometimes they look like... herp-a-derp.

At the top of page 11 is Janus-Rick.

I'm super confused at what is happening. I always thought that the restaurant was at the airport but Rick is driving a car back to the airport to head back to New Macross. I won't even bother with the fact that Rick got a car out of nowhere!

Rick is so versatile. He has never been shown to drive a Destroid and poof! there he goes. What a guy!

At the bottom of page 16 we FINALLY see a Spartan being USEFUL!

Ouch! Minmei has some harsh words for Kyle on page 26. This marks the exit of Lynn Kyle (for now... mwa ha ha ha).

Robotech #35 (Comico 1989)

They almost got this comic out in time for Christmas. Too bad. The cover shows a kinda goofy looking Khyron holding a Christmas bag with some of the women of Robotech.(god I love those commercials!)

How is there a Zentraedi worker (working on Khyron's engines)? I thought there weren't any of those guys.

On the 2nd frame of page 5 there's a dwarf! Also, it appears the former spies have ditched the dry cleaning business for retail...

On the last frame of that same page they appear to be standing in front of some toys from Astro Boy, the Argo from StarBlazers and something else I can't figure out.

On page 9 we see Rick wearing some lovely house slippers.

What in the world say people would give up (on page 10)... their 'eyeteeth'?????

So Lisa shows up at Rick's and somehow on a snowy, cold night Rick leaves the front door open?!

At Dr. Watson's Pub the bartender Frankenstein will be glad to serve you. Geeze, there goes Claudia again, drinking it up!

On page 23 Max seems to 'hate to admit' that Rick is right. What a jerk! lol.

At the bottom of page 24 we see the side of the SDF-1 and the Prometheus. It is at an angle but I though it was always sitting correctly and being used. Probably just an oversight on the artists part.

AWESOME! On page 25 we FINALLY see the SDF-2 back to back with the SDF-1. This is the ONLY time I have ever seen this!!!!! WOW!!!!!!

Robotech #36 (Comico 1989)

Lisa looks strange at the bottom of page 4, also I see some color-changing uniforms again...

On the next page Gloval says that they 'let' Khyron have that Protoculture he stole last time he raided New Macross. This is new to me.

FINALLY! Lisa gets it out (on page 8). It has taken YEARS but it happened, sheesh.

How in the world did Khyron get so close to New Macross and no one pick him up on radar or something?

Another shot of the SDF-2 back to back with the SDF-1.... ahhhhhhh.

On page 16 Minmei is in a shelter with some familiar faces... including the NEVER AGING Jason. He should have aged 8 years since we first saw him on Macross Island. Must be all that space travel that stunted his growth.

Nothing of the final assault makes sense (physics wise). Since (in the series) the SDF-2 didn't exist on screen it was easy to miss but in the comic here Khyron shoots the SDF-2 first but somehow he is in front of the SDF-1... how can he be in front of both ships? Did he fly around in a big circle to get a shot of the SDF-1? On page 14 the ships are back to back then on page 17 the SDF-1 is rising out of the water in front of the SDF-2. So confusing. Must be Robotechnology!

Ok, the final scenes on page 25 are awkward. I like the show's version better, more bittersweet less talking.

Oh man, the last couple of pages are really strange. Not sure we really needed them.

And that is it for the Macross Saga (comic book style)! On to more Robotech!

Vermilion Issues #1-4

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Welcome to my peek into the Robotech Universe in 2012 & 2013! At this point in the Robotech Timeline we are taking a pit stop after Comico issue 14 with the Vermilion mini-series from Antarctic Press. Let's 'press' on... get it?

Vermilion #1 (Antarctic Press 1997)

We start off with a much more modern 'anime' look to these comics. We have been thick in the world of Comico's 80's comic book look and to be thrust into the future of comics is jarring. It's nice, just different.

Duc Tran is our artist here and his style is 'long and skinny'. Everyone look 2 meals shy of anorexic. This is just his style and it looks very artistic... just sayin'.

The art is black and white (which I happen to like) and has a somewhat 'sketch' appearance. There is a lot of cool detail on the character's surroundings.

Page 11 shows the SDF-1 and it looks great! You know how much of a sucker I am for the SDF-1 by now...

Page 17 starts the 'Mospeada Diary' by Joe Weltjens. I don't what to say about this. It is 'written' from Scott Bernard's point of view and is simply a picture (of original animation quality) and a sentence underneath it. There really isn't much here. It is kinda wasted space. It seems they needed several pages of filler and turned it over to Joe.

Vermilion #2 (Antarctic Press 1997)

Joeming Dunn is COO of Antarctic and Ben Dunn is the Publisher. I run into Ben three times a year at Dallas Comicon and trade him Macross/Mospeads stuff for drawings. It works out well for both of us! Anyway Antarctic Press seems to have been Ben's baby and perhaps I will get him in an interview on our main According To Whim Blog one day.

Page 7 is a shot of the bridge. I love those.. and this one has a lot of outer (and inner) detail.

So this RDF guy is in cahoots with Khyron (not really a Zentraedi trait but I'll roll with it).

Ben Dixon makes a cameo on page 12!

The shots of Battlepods on 17 and 19 are very detailed and they look great!

The story stops and on page 21 is Robotech: Unsung Heroes by Brian Farrens. The art work is Joe Weltjens (like the Mospeada Diary from last issue).

The art in this piece looks more 90's 'comic book traditional'.

They call a Legioss 'Legios' so I am not sure. That happens a lot with Robotech, a name will be spelled here one way and there another.

Speaking of there is a cool shot of one on page 23!

Cool shot of Invid on page 24 and 25 too.

Vermilion #3 (Antartic Press 1997)

The story continues with Rick and Lena discovering the hidden Zentraedi ship.

On page 7 there is a shot of a restaurant in Macross and it looks fantastic, such detail! I love attention to detail at this level!

The Bridge Bunnies make an appearance on page 16. They sure are cute...

'Unsung Heroes' picks back up on page 20 with some cool shots of Invid Shock Troopers.

It's over quickly but it looks great all the way. This is some great art!

Vermilion #4 (Antarctic Press 1998)

There is some fantastic artwork throughout this comic. It is very reminiscent of Evangelion in character design with the skinny people but like I said before it's the artist's style.

The overall storyline is good enough but it might have fit better in a large one-shot or perhaps a graphic novel. It's got nice art and the 'extra' characters they added for the story don't stick out like sore thumbs (like some of the Academy stuff).

In this final story Rick and Lena foil Khyron's plans and help expose the traitors.

There is a direct attack on the bridge. We have never seen that before, cool.

Ugh, page 21...

After the story ends we see the end of 'Unsung Heroes'. Right on the first page we get an awesome shot of an Alpha in Battloid mode!

Ouch! This story ends on a super bummer of a note!

Robotech: Destroid & Excalibur I and II Comics

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

We take a small break from watching the cartoon series to partake of these one shots put out by

Academy comics.

Destroid (Academy 1994)

Wow, we get a goof and and an awesome picture in the first page of this comic. Lisa and Claudia are reversed... well apparently the whole image is reversed becasue Vanessa is in the wrong spot too... no biggie. The next shot is inspired! It is a look at the bridge in a way that we have only seen in Macross sequels. It's shown in all the concept sketch stuff but never in the original show. The bridge is more of a deck hanging in a much larger space. We see a side view of it here... this is cool!

The art work in this comic is top notch. I am really digging it! A lot of detail and the character portraits are well done. Nice work!

This comic illustrates the sad fact that Destroid are sitting ducks out there. They clomp out on deck and get their asses handed to them. Veritechs and zoom here and there and generally be on the move all the time while all other mecha just stand there like nicely painted targets.

On page 11 is the inside of a Desroid. There never was any sort of view like this in the show. I really like it.

On page 25 is the writer and artist (William Jang's) story oh how this comic book came together. It is an interesting read.

Excalibur (Academy 1995)

Excalibur is the continuation of Destroid with Ken Saton (the only survivor of the team in the Destroid comic).

Once again William Jang does a great job with some great art work. The opening page of the SDF-1 is great. Have I mentioned I like shots of the SDF-1 (only like a million times).

I like all the technical upgrade talk here. Jang took something that was just a background feature and enhanced it, bringing it up to the front for a bit. It's nice to see Destroids get some of the glory for once.

The Excaliburs are upside down. This is cool. It does pose an issue since there is supposed to be artificial gravity all about the SDF-1. Who knows, maybe that doesn't count on the 'arms'.

Excalibur II (Academy 1994)

This is a further continuation of the previous 'one shot' Excalibur. It takes place right after splashdown of the SDF-1 on Earth.

Nice opening shot of the SDF-1 there.

On page 7 there appears to be a model of the Enterprise from Star Trek on the desk in the corner of the office.

Page 8 seems to almost be a pre-art sketch. It's really rough and lacks the details of the rest of the comic. It seems like the page was forgotten about and this was done at the last moment or something...

On page 9 in the first frame we see a couple (from behind) who looks a lot like Claudia and Roy. Also the VT pilot coming through the door is wearing a Macross: Do You Remember Love uniform.

The story ends kinda weakly for me. I liked the art, the story was going well but it all ended rather quickly without much resolution. Perhaps he thought they would give him more. Over all I liked it.

Robotech (Comico Comics) #13-18

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)
Welcome to the next batch of comics in my 2012 Robotech Experience. First I read these 6 episodes then watched them and now I am going to read the comics of them. For those of you who don't know I am reading and watching my way through Robotech chronologically this year.

Robotech #13 (1986 Comico)
The cover of this issue is cool but you can tell it's the old Macross Tatsuoko Studio drawing of the SDF-1, redrawn.
Rico, Konda, and Bron talk about changing clothes as opposed to uniforms like they do in the book and show. It was funnier (and more telling of the Zentraedi) of how uniforms were the norm in their world.

The shot of Macross city on page 8 is awesome. I like the 2nd tier thing. There is a place called Arcadia! Yay! (ps, look up the name on Google, hint: Duran Duran).

On page 11 there is an advertisement for the 1/144 scale Robotech models... for only 2.25 each! Now-a-days you can find them on EBay for about $25 each.

The guys riding in the car with Roy Fokker when they are heading off to battle are freaking out at Roy's driving (or lack of) and it's hilarious. Here in the comic it isn't as funny as the show but it is still a funny moment.

On page 17 (the Hype Page) there is only one letter and it's about a guy who knew Greg Jarvis (one of the people who died during the Shuttle Challenger accident). Someone at Comico wrote a bit in their February issue. I am not sure which comic title that was (I don't remember seeing it in the main Macross Saga title). I will have to keep an eye out. BTW I was in middle school at the time and I remember the day it happened.

There is that same shot of the SDF-1 on page 20.

On page 24 the splashdown of the SDF-1 is cool. I like it!

Ahhh! Max's face is blue on page 25 (and Rick is being played by Bruce Campbell)!

Ok, before you go on head over and read the Destroid, Excalibur I & II  comic reviews then come back here and pickup with Comico #14...

Back? Good, read on...

---------

Robotech #14 (1986 Comico)

Page 2 has a cool shot of Prometheus.

Page 12 has a full color advertisement for the Matchbox toys (along with their 'imported' designs). I couldn't find any errors with the listings or the pictures this time.

There is that 'standard' SDF-1 drawing again. This time, it looks like it was played with a bit (the placement of the arms, and it appears reversed). You can still tell it by the angle of the shot.

Dolza looks like he has hair on page 25.

There is not much to nit pick at this issue. It's great. The story is all old junk but the art is really really good!

Ok, before you go on head over and read the Vermilion comic review #1-4 then come back here and pickup with Comico #15...

Back? Good, read on...

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Robotech #15 (1986 Comico)

On the cover Kyle seems to be staring at Minmei's forehead.

Rick and Minmei get a quick (VERY QUICK) send off by Max and Ben when they leave to go to Yokohama. What was the point of that? It's so quick. Did they really send that much effort to fly by, say 'have a nice date' and fly off? I never understood why it was in the show to begin with.

This comment is more for the show but when the elevator car is traveling through the Grand Canon the sound effects are pretty lame. Lots of computerized sounding 'zipping' back and forth. Those shots would have been better served with some heavy industrial cable car sounds or something.

On page 17 Minmei looks very silly and cartoon-like when her mother is hugging her.

On page 18, what's with the council member with the funky glasses. I don't remember this in the show.

Rick's expression at the bottom of page 20 is great!

The back cover has an ad for the Matchbox toys and some rebates you can get. The shot of the SDF-1 playset has everyone in it. Rick working alongside Lunk with Dana and Minmei nearby.

Robotech #16 (1986 Comico)

The comic tells us that The White Dragon is the only Chinese restaurant in Macross city... really? A town of 70,000 people and only one? Here in my town we have like 4 of them!

On page 5 the Shrimp on top of the bowl of rice looks to be different in the comic. It looks like little corn cobs. I guess they thought since they just proclaimed The White Dragon as the only Chinese restaurant it would confuse people to see something that looked like a Chinese dish at another location. It's obviously Japanese but just dumb kids read comics and watch cartoons, right?

On page 9 the guy standing watching the TV in front looks a lot more 'detailed' that everyone else. I am guessing it is someone one of the artist knows.

Does little Jason have long girl hair? Looks like the artist might have neglected to notice that was Jason, Minmei's cousin, not a little girl.

I never understood why that person in in the bar (page 10) complains that they lost their 'land' as a result of the events of the alien invasion. I always thought it was weird.

On page 18 there is a shot of Vermillion squad leaving the flight deck. I noticed that those are 'original' artwork designs (probably light-boxed) like those shots of the SDF-1 from a few issues back. I have noticed this sort of art work here and there throughout the comic series. Not complaining... just pointing out.

On page 25 Lisa's uniform has changed color. I guess she is feeling blue about nearly killing Rick.

Robotech #17 (1987 Comico)

Whoa, what's going on on the front cover?!

This comic seems to be taking liberties with the nature of the story. That's fine since it's just a dream... 'yes Rick, only a dream.'

Pages 12 and 13 are advertisement for some cool stuff like buttons, shirts, photos, and such from Creation (those are the people that do the conventions). I wish they still made that stuff!

On page 19 when Rick's plane is caught up in the overhead wires deep within the SDF-1 it makes a sound... Doing- oing- oing! I love it!

That's about all. Not much to comment on here because it's a dream where anything can be 'right'. The art here is done by a different artist and has a decidedly 'artsy' almost art deco look.

Robotech #18 (1987 Comico)

Rick is chatting with the nurse when this issues opens. He didn't chat in the show, he seemed far more morose.

I like the art here. It looks stylish.

On page 5 the writers turned the dialogue around to fit better with a static image as opposed to animation.

Rick seems more annoyed with his subordinate pilots most of the time. I realize you can't get too chummy with your underlings but man, he downright ignores them most of the time.

On page 22 that's a great shot of the SDF-1. I can't get enough of that ship!

I thought they might show the inside of Roy's damaged cockpit since they could, but they didn't

The last page seems really rushed. Not art-wise but in story length. Lisa never actually says Roy is dead either.

Ok, that's all for this batch of comics. This next go around will be a little different as I will be:

1. Watching the episode.
2. Reading the book (for that episode)
3. Reading the comic (of that episode)

 I will still release the blogs in groups of six but this way I will focus on each episode a little more.

Robotech (Comico Comics) #7-12

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Robotech #7 (1985 Comico)

Once again this is a great front/back cover. There is a cool shot of the MACII outside Sera Base's window.

Ugh, there's that Carl Rieber again. Why would you bother joining the military if you were so opposed to war? Just asking...

On page 11 the alien recon ship somehow knows the name of the base (Sera). There is also one of those rare 'under' shots of the SDF-1. I like it. Oh yeah, finally on that page the Zentraedi screen is in English.

On page 12 there is a full page advertisement for the dorkiest sweatshirt ever. Anyway this is the first clue that Cark Macek had bigger plans for Robotech. The title Robotech Oddesy referred to the '5th' part of Robotech which was to take place after The New Generation and The Sentinels. Basically the further adventures of the SDF-3 which would end in the REF going back in time and basically becoming the Robotech Masters, thus creating an infinite loop. Clever idea but it never came through... cause The Sentinels SUCKED! Oh, sorry... lol.

When Khyron shoots down his own troop (that tried to attack early) another one of the troops reported that he was dead. In the series he is still alive (just moaning).

On the final page of the comic Rick asks Lisa a question and she responds. It's a much less poignant moment than in the show since there (the show) they don't speak to each other, it's just the announcer.

Robotech #8 (1985 Comico)

The opening box calls the Mars base Sara, not Sera... not sure what it is supposed to be.

Reggie Byers does the art in this issue and you can tell he has a hard time with the character's looks.

On page 12 is a sign up form for the Official Robotech Fan Club. I wasn't a member back then but somewhere in the early 2000's I got the membership kit off Ebay. It was all water damaged but I still enjoyed it.

On page 14 the overhead announcement (presumably from Lisa) calls Veritechs 'varitechs'. She calls them that later too.

On page 16 Gloval orders all 'battloid' teams out. He meant destroid teams. Oh well, he's busy and under a lot of pressure. Claudia then tells Gloval that the defender team has been destroyed. Oh the name confusion!

Rick's Veritech is a strange color.

Robotech #9 (1986 Comico)

On the inside cover they advertise the upcoming movie and 65 new episodes of The Sentinels.

On page 5 Rico calls it operation 'Miss Macross', not 'Blue Wind'.

On page 16 we see Minmei fall because of her broken heel. We don't even get to see this in the show. As I read through this issue I am really seeing an almost scene for scene and word for word adaptation here, good work.

On page 24 there is something DEFINITELY not in the show. The host is singing the cheesiest song ever to Minmei.

Robotech #10 (1986 Comico)

In this comic the front/back covers are gone. Too bad.

On page 3 (and in the show) the narrator mentions that because of constant battle much of the technology aboard the ship is no longer working. This little factoid seems random and made only to take up time on the show since there is no other reference to problems of this nature anywhere else in the series.

While reading this comic I am getting an sense of real order from the layout artist. I forgot that in a previous issue they said that Mike Leeke was going to be drawing the comic (he is the guy who drew the covers). The art is sharp and well done. The previous issues were fine but Leeke has taken it up a notch.

Diana Shultz (the Editor) has a different and amusing title in each issue. This issue she is listed at Gamemaster.

On page 10 the narrator (I'll just call it that to keep any confusion out) says that Breetai is loyal "The Supereme Dolza". It almost seems like it is a title instead of his name.

On the same page the asteroid the Zentraedi destroy is called an asteroid here as opposed to a planet (like in the show).

There is a frog in the fountain with Rick after the radar tower is hit.

The bridge structure of the SDF-1 seems to be on a pedestal or something. It is sitting higher here than I have ever seen it before. I don't think it's like that in the show. It always appears to be resting right on the deck.

Starting on page 17 is a REAL BUMMER of an article by the editor about child abuse with some real graphic information. Were they sure this was a good fit for a kid's comic book?!

On the 2nd pane of page 18 we can see where Disney stole Lightning McQueen's catchphrase from Cars. Also, Lisa calls the chunk of asteroid 'planetary fragment'. I was too quick to thank the comic makers for fixing that faux pas. Then all the sudden the chuck of rock becomes a Zentraedi cruiser and then suddenly it becomes a chunk of rock again (like in the show).

Robotech #11 (1986 Comico)

If memory serves Lisa did not volunteer for this mission as it says on the first page.

On page 8 is some nekkid images of Lisa! Woo woo!



On page 12 there is an ad for the F.H.E. Robotech VHS tapes. A deal at only 9.95 per tape (per episode)! Do you realize that would cost you almost $400 for JUST the Macross part of Robotech?! If F.H.E. released it all you would have been paying $850 for it all! Wow.
When I got into Robotech F.H.E. had already moved on to selling the condensed version of the Macross Saga on 6 VHS tapes. These were crudely edited together episodes with a lot of stuff cut for time. I never owned the single episode VHS versions you see here.

Dolza is supposed to be even bigger than Breetai but when Dolza holds Lisa, she is pretty big in his hand (about the size of a Barbie doll). When Breetai holds Rick after capturing him in his escaping ejection seat, Breetai can close his hand around Rick and the ejection seat...

On page 26 and in the show Dolza goes into a speech that confuses me. I thought the Zentraedi were the unthinking clones of the Masters but his speech leads us to believe that the Master don't even exist and all this stuff with getting their hands on the SDF-1 is his idea and not a simple direct order of the Masters...

The petition on page 29 is interesting... I wonder how that turned out.

Robotech #12 (1986 Comico)

On page 3 Exedore suggests they send spies into the SDF-1 but if you remember he is most adamant about not have any contact with the Micronians.

On the bottom of page 12 it looks like Rick and Lisa are nekkid and Rick is wearing a bra... lol.

The show cut out the Zentraedi getting blasted by the Rick (using a Zentraedi rifle) but the comic shows it... right in the faceplate!

As I stated in the video review I am confused as to why there are men and male battlepods on the female Zentraedi ship. I thought they were very segregated.

On page 24 there is a copyright at the bottom of the page stating that Minmei's lyrics belong to Harmony Gold... sheesh.

On page 27 (the letters page) the Editor in Chief rips Robotech fandom a new one! There was a 1986 'Galaxy of Stars' Robotech promo mini-convention in New York and apparently the fans there were very rude and it was more of frenzied free for all than an well ordered promotional event. One of the promoters was a local New York radio station that was broadcasting from there, giving out stuff and asking trivia. Although it sounded like a hot-mess it also sounded like a great time for Robotech (wish I was a little older back then... and living in the area).

Page 29 is cool. I love advertisements for comic books stores, conventions, etc.. ahhh old school.

Robotech (Comico Comics) #1-6

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Welcome to my 2012 Robotech Experience! I am reading and watching everything Robotech during 2012 and am reporting it to you through this series of Blogs. I have just started watching the TV series and now (at the same time) I am reading the comic adaptations and reading the books.

It's interesting that apparently Harmony Gold does not consider the adapted Comico comics to apart of 'Official Continuity' since they are adaptations of the show (probably the closest representation to it that exists AND it's actually at the end of the show's credits). Perhaps I will discover why they decided this while I read them. Like I said in a much earlier post I am not big on what is canon and what not. I am going to enjoy Robotech in it's entirety (even crap like Aftermath).

Macross / Robotech #1 (1984 Comico)

This is a strange issue. It is actually titled Macross and reads to be an adaptation of the Japanese show Macross (not Robotech). The issue was released with no 'Robotech' anywhere on it. Maybe this is why Harmony Gold decided it wasn't good enough to be apart of the 'Official Continuity'. Anyway the powers that be decided to rename the series Robotech Comico didn't bother to create a new issue #1, they just told people that Macross #1 was Robotech #1 so just get over it. So the characters names will be different from this issue to the next.

On the cover there is a WAY over sized Veritech... and is that New York complete with the twin towers?

On page 8 Claudia boasts that Roy shot down 5 planes during the war, however Roy claims to Rick that he shot down 108.

The art in this comic is good for its time, and the fact that Comico wasn't one of the big comic companies with massive resources. It's strange to see scenes right out of the show in comic panel format. The story and dialogue is altered a bit but nothing too drastic.

Rick and Roy's interchange right after the SDF-1's main gun fires fits better in the comic than in the show. In the show their reaction doesn't seem to have much interest in something so monstrous as the main gun going off. They just seems to be like... meh. In the comic there is a little more concern. I would imagine in real life something so violent would be met with real shock and dismay. Something like: "Oh shit! Oh my God, oh my God! What the hell was THAT!?"
The bottom left cel on page 23 is confusing.
When Lisa tells him to pull B for battloid he pulls G.

Robotech #2 (1985 Comico)

Comico has switched to a more 'traditional' form of comic art as opposed to the more involved way they were doing it for the first issue. I like it this new (old) way. I think it looks cleaner.

Issue 2 picks up the Robotech storyline where the Macross comic ended. No biggie, the changes are so slight that it really wasn't worth reprinting the old comic with only a couple of changes.

When Russo comes in and he talks about the SDF-1 there is a curious gap in his words. It looks like 'Macross' was probably there and they replaced it with 'SDF-1' so the gap between words is bigger.

I did notice that Lynn Minmei's first name is still Lin and Lisa's last name is still Hayase (until later). Guardian mode is still called Gerwalk too.

On page 12 there is a neat view of the SDF-1's conning tower.

On page 14 the comic font is gone and more hand-drawn font is being used... strange.

Robotech #3 (1985 Comico)

The Comico comics actually had some pretty awesome covers. I never noticed that they wrapped the book. In the CBR program I am using you see this automatically. The covers are pretty cool.

I find it funny that the comic kept closer track to continuity than the show. On page 8 you can see the holes where the anit-gravity pods tore from the ship. The show didn't bother with them after the event.

Carl Macek was the script writer for these comics and I found it interesting that he changed Lisa being called 'Old Sourpuss' with 'Old Woman'. I guess the word sourpuss was too nastily looking or something...

On page 16 is a Matchbox advertisement. Notice anything out of place? First off Lancer is called Lance, The Alpha's Guardian Mode is called Diver (the original Mospeada name), and all 3 1/2" Cyclone riders have their heads on backwards. I guess the advertising company didn't have a Harmony Gold rep on site during the shoot... lol.

Robotech #4 (1985 Comico)

On page 10 Kim has the biggest cup of coffee ever (more like a mug)!

While stuck in the bowels of the ship Rick tells Minmei he left the water rations back at the plane. In the show he didn't have any water rations on the plane. Ah ha! Now I see why Harmony Gold decided this wasn't good enough for 'Official Continuity'! jk.

Wow, I'm surprised the decided to keep the Rick peeping at Minmei showering in the comic. I figured they would just pass it by. Well, they have been mildly cussing so it should be no surprise really.

Robotech #5 (1985 Comico)

This is a fantastic front/back cover! Nice work.

On page 6 Lynn Minmei's hair is all in her eyes. I guess maybe the artist messed up and decided just to put hair over part of her face.

One of the RDFComico.

When Lang tells Gloval about the transformation he acts like he won't know what will happen to the city. He has the schematics on the screen, he should know exactly how the transformation will affect the city! I always wondered why they didn't adress this anymore. I guess it was just a plot point for the city to get wiped out again during the transformation.

On page 17 when Breetai is looking at the videos of the Earthlings, the one that is getting knocked off the building has a Mage shirt on (one of Comico's other comic books).

On page 24 there is an ad for a free Robotech poster from Comico. I got ahold of one of these and it was taped to the window of my comic book store back in 2001. I loved that poster, it was really awesome.

At the bottom of page 27 Lisa's uniform has changed colors.

On page 34 is a backside view of the SDF-1. I have never seen this view before. It's pretty awesome and well drawn. Bravo.

I just noticed that there are numbers on the pages now. I have been referring you to the page number that shows up on my comic book reader program. Sorry for the confusion.

Robotech #6 (1985 Comico)

On page 3 is the pantie and bra scene. I love it!

When Captain Gloval is taking about his battle plans he calls the enemy Zentraedi. I don't think they knew what to call them yet (in the animation). They just kept referring to them as the enemy.

The camera robot actually had a thought bubble.

Diadalos???

Oops, they are still calling Guardian mode Gerwalk.

On page 21 the Zentraedi talks. He didn't do this in the show. It's not like Rick could have understood him anyway (although he appears to have understood him) here.

Civil War Stories #1, Return to Macross #34-37, Breaking Point #1

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Welcome to the next part of my 2012 Reading/Watching extravaganza of Robotech! I have now moved on to the one-shot by Academy 'Civil War Stories' and more of Return to Macross and finally Break Point then I am onto the show! Catch up on what I am doing here.

Civil War Stories #1 (Academy 1996)

D.S. Villalovos is our artist and the ever-story-producing Robert Gibson is the writer once again. This one-shot is a story about a battle that happened during the Gobal Civil War.

Villalovos' art looks like it would be better suited for something original, instead of trying to reflect the look of a set of particular characters.

On page 8 we once again see Henry Gloval's 'give-up' attitude. How in the world did this guy ever get so high up in the RDF?! lol.

No sure whats going on in the bottom frame of page 22. It looks like it's a 'fill in your own tobacco advert' featuring Henry Gloval. Here is mine...

"Have you dodged death today on the open seas? Then fill up with Newton's pipe tobacco and celebrate!"

Now the first page of this story says it was an account of one of the 'bloodiest battles' of the Global Civil Way'. Must have been a VERY tame war.

Return to Macross #34 (Academy 1996)

On page 10 there is the concert on the cruise ship and in the back of the crowd is none other than Tetsuo from Akira. He looks pretty pissed!

The cartoon look of these character portraits are somewhat distracting. Take a look at page 11 and you will see what I mean. Lisa looks kinda retarded in that bottom-left frame!

The art at the bottom of page 16 looks like a caricature. I am going to bet this artist worked at one of those caricature booths at Six Flags or something.

In the Academy Mailbag section they tell us that Sean Bishop got a job working at Disney. I guess he went on to do comics for them. I wouldn't doubt it, he is pretty good.

Return to Macross #35 (Academy 1996)

Dusty Griffin continues his work with this comic with Bill Spangler doing the writing.

Looks like Admiral Hayes has been kidnapped by some thugs so Lisa isn't in so much danger anymore since they have the big fish now.

The bad guys also take control of one of the RDF's ocean platforms. They get some of the Radar X Destroids and make their demands. The Destroids look really strange.

The quality of the art in this comic is actually very good. It appears Dusty Griffin had more time or he just does a better job with action than alot of people sitting around talking.

Return to Macross #36 (Academy 1996)

The bad guys were headed up to the Achilles space ship with Admiral Hayes hostage. Roy (having his usual run of bad luck) had to put back down.

On page 4 Claudia asks Roy how he feel for the first time in this whole run of comics! She had dissed him so much all during Return to Macross I was beginning to feel sorry for him.

The double page art on page 12 looks great! It's Armor 1 doing something other than getting whupped on by the Zentraedi.
The designer of the Achilles shut off all power to everything... except the gravity. He must have forgot to shut that system off.

I found this comic to be a very easy read. It was well laid out and had coherent action, bravo!

Return to Macross #37 (Academy 1996)

Roy is in pursuit of Smythe and did he just try to commit murder on page 8? Shouldn't he be just trying to disable the shuttle?

On page 16 the Robotech Military Police sure look alot like the terrorist that invaded the Achilles. There's that strange looking Destroid again.

Mayor Lunan sure looks fit and trim! I wonder what happened to him?

That's some real dodgy art on page 21. I think he was in a rush that day.

And POOF! on page 24 everything is all right between Roy and Claudia... really? sheesh...

And that's it! The curtain closes on Return to Macross. It was a bumpy ride but I had fun. On to the next comic!

Breaking Point: Lisa Hayes #1 (Academy 1996)

All the women in this comic look the same (with the exception of Claudia). I was having trouble keeping people straight.

On page 13 the killer lady appears to be walking away from the guy then all the sudden we see him falling in the ocean. I guess she threw the knife? Not sure, the direction wasn't too clear.

Well... well... I can't say I saw the ending coming. I guess they felt the need to wrap of that particular character and leave her pre-launch. Ouch.

THAT'S ALL! I have completed the time line in the Robotech universe right up to the series. In my next post I will be going over the first Robotech book and the show itself. The reading list doesn't cover the comico stuff for some reason but I will be reading those as well.

Until next time!

Return To Macross: Issues 27-33

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Here we go back on a stretch of Return to Macross comics. If you are totally confused about what this is then be confused no more! This is my 2012 tour of the Robotech Universe! I used SuperMecha8's timeline list to begin reading/watching my way through the events in the Robotech universe in chronological order.

It's April and I am still in the pre-lauch part of the Robotech timeline. Fist we started off with the events pre-landing of the SDF-1 on Macross Island and have been slowly moving along, watching the island become a teeming city with all the issues a teeming city has. Let's continue!

Return To Macross #27 (Academy 1995)

The first thing that caught my eye was a spelling error on page 13 (yeah, I know... nit picky).

It looks like we are rehashing the story from several issues back when Roy is asked to join the Lumerians. The woman he kinda has a thing for was killed but she left a message for the rest of her people to capture Roy and try to get him to join them again.

Last time Roy tricked them into thinking he would join them and it appears the EXACT same thing is happening again. I hope this goes somewhere different.

Return To Macross #28 (Academy 1996)

Wes Abbot is back and his stuff looks different. It looked very manga-ish before, now it seems to have a realy cartoony feeling. I guess he wanted to try a different approach or something.

Wait wait wait! What in the Mayor Luan is going on here?! What happened to the story line from the last issue?! Roy was taking Lumerian ship while getting the Lumerians to abandon it to 'fight another day'. I figured this story would go somewhere... wtf???

This issue starts out with Roy trying to get Claudia to forgive him (what's new). Infact it seems like that is all that happend between Roy and Claudia. I can't remeber one time where he wasn't getting into do-do with her.

The story jumps to a serious situatution where Roy is out searching for survivors to a crashed shuttle. Oh, there are the Lumerians!

Return To Macross #29 (Academy 1996)

Yikes! That cover art! I HONESTLY think I could have done better... I can't draw for crap! Ok, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Knowing the power of the Internets I'm sure the artist will probably read this at some point. I apologize... I'm just being picky.

Check out page 12... Roy (I guess that's him) is just a head sitting on a torso... no neck!

Oh my gosh! This is just painful! Look at Leonard on page 16!

Well before I even get to thinking about it... this comic will 100% be the stinky winner of the 1st quarter's 2012 Robotech 'worse art in a comic' award. I'm sorry if I make the artist feel bad but this honestly looks like something I drew (which isn't' saying much).

The story is coherant though (which can't be said of some of the more recent stuff). Claudia's old flame shows up on the island and it tips her affections away from Roy. It turns out her old flame is wrapped up in some shady stuff.

Return To Macross #30 (Academy 1996)

We are back to the Birchfields and man what an improvement! I complained about them before but not now...

In this issue Gloval has a flashback of his youth in the Internationaists army. Their uniforms are strikingly close to the RDF ones.

The terrorist guy can shoot smoke out of his hand... cool!

What's wrong with Admiral Hayes in the first frame of page 17? He seems to have a crick in his neck.

Page 18 has some confusing speech bubble layouts. I hate when I get all lost on what is being said becasue I don't know which one to read next.

Towards the back of the comic is the Robotech Reporter where Malibu talks about their titles and news and such. They mention the passing of Brian Daley of Jack McKenny fame. That's sad. I didn't realize that he and James Luceno were working on Galaxy Rangers, thats' one of Chris' favorite cartoons!

Return To Macross #31 (Academy 1996)

Dusty Griffin is the artist in this issue. He draws structures and vehicles very well but seems to have a hard time with the human form. Not that I'm complaining, I'm still coming off the low of RTM #29 so this guy is Lenardo Divinci to me...

There is a nice two page panel to open this comic of Invid attacking the SDF-1 (presumabily during Zor's final hours). Nice artwork! I did notice that several of the Invid look like direct copies of the art from the Roleplaying guides (which was probably a direct copy from the Japanese 'This is Animation' book for Mospeada.

Look at the guy playing the sax in the street on page 9... te he.

On page 10 there is a nod to Akira in some guy's jacket with a photo of a pill on it. Claudia is apparently having gravity issues in the same frame.

On page 16 you can see the Dadelus in the water in the top left corner of the frame. This is one of the few times you ever get to see it in the water (what it was built for). It does look like it's riding a little low there...

Anyway this issue is the continuation of the Salamander hacker and the people paying him (who just happen to be an old flame of Claudia's). Salamander is working off shore on a casino ship looking to get ahold of Admiral Hayes' itenary for his arrival on Macross Island... I'm sure they want to throw him a surprise party or something...

Return To Macross #32 (Academy 1996)

The art in this issue reminds me of some Role Playing Game books. I wonder if Dusty Griffin ever illustrated any?

Lisa has some deadly looking fingernails on page 13. Also, Admiral Hayes was named in an eariler issue and here you can see his name again. I never saw his name before these comics so I wonder if the Academy guys officially got to name him.

On page 14 Claudia comes into their (Lisa's and Claudia's) apartment in the middle of story that she is telling her beau, but the wording is wrong... I think the word 'the' is missing.

The Return to Macross series is really treating Roy Fokker like a putz. He is constantly drunk now and he acts more and more pathetic when it comes to Claudia. Poor Roy.

Return To Macross #33 (Academy 1996)

The character's looks veer wildly in this issue. Lisa looks real homely on page 7.

On story element I am digging in this particular story arc is the impending Typhoon. It is like a dark cloud (literally) shadowing everything that is happening. It menaces but at the same time it gives some reality to the whole situation.

On page 11 the 'Bree Bree' sound and the way De Salva is moving made me think that he was pulling his pants up at first! lol. I thought: 'ut oh, De Salva and Salamander are up to no good'.

Salamander seems more like a character out of Cyberpunk or NetRunner than Robotech.

2012 Robotech Quarterly awards cermony (1st Quarter)

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Welcome to the first quarterly awards in my 2012 Robotech Experience. I plan on having 3 of these which take place a the end of each quarter of the year (each 3 months). Let's get on with it!

• Award for the best artist work in a comic this quarter: Sean Bishop
• Award for the best storyline in a comic this quarter: War of the Believers I guess, no real winner. I did like Academy Blues... hard... to... decide.
• Award for the best over all comic this quarter: Academy Blues #1
• Award for the worst storyline in a comic this quarter: It's a toss up between Metal Swarm and Warriors.
• Award for the worst art in a comic this quarter: Return to Macross #29

There will be different awards when I start reviewing new media types like the books and the shows so there is still a lot more to come!

Academy Blues #0 and Return To Macross: Issues 21-25

by Nathan Stout of (AccordingToWhim.com)

Academy Blues #0 (Academy 1995)
This is a whopping 40+ page comic which revolves around Lisa Hayes' days at the Robotech Academy. This type of storyline is the kind of thing I like. It gets more involved with the characters. When you have a nice mixture of the action and character's lives it really makes for interesting reading.

Roy Fokker shows up to lecture at one of her classes and on page 9 the students throw some funny questions at him.

Rolf Emerson is brought into continuity here as well. Claudia is smitten with him.

The comic only lasts the first 24 pages and then we are given an interview with the writer of the Academy Blues series: Robert Gibson. After that there is another interview, this time with artist Sean Bishop.

Return To Macross #21 (Academy 1995)

Bill Spangler and Wes Abbot are back on the case as we swing back to the Return to Macross series. We pick back up with the trouble with the 'Faithful' group on Macross Island.

Roy and Lang mosey on down to a special submarine that is kept on standby to safe all Lang's research away in the event something goes down on Macross. The sub takes off by itself and Roy has to takes steps to figure out what's going on and who is doing it.

On page 18 (after Roy has gotten ahold of a ridiculously large missile launcher) Lang dumps his research to distract the probe. It is a box of... floppy discs... come on! Even in 95 there were CDs...

Return To Macross #22 (Academy 1995)

This issue opens with Lang's sister Nina talking about how the SDF-1 is a timebomb then we cut to Roy and Lang talking at the Robotech HQ. I for one would like to know how the HECK they got out of the fix they were in during the last issue! They seems to have just dropped that storyline. Roy and Lang were prisoners inside that sub that was being remotely controlled then... nothing. I figured they would still be on it but I guess when they destroyed that probe thingy it released control (although nothing was ever mentioned).

On page 9 I could see the outline of a T.A.C. solider and sure enough on the next page there is the Southern Cross armor. Once again I like the fact that they are mixing that stuff in but it doesn't fit into the cartoon at all. If we are seeing it now I would assume we would have seen it in Macross City on the SDF-1... just sayin'.

On page 17 they are egging the Spartan Destroid... nice.

Return To Macross #23 (Academy 1995)

Charles Wilbur is back on Macross Island. You will remember that he was the once leader of the faithful but left after seeing that Robotechnology wasn't all that bad. He returns to the island to denounce the new violence that the 'Faithful' has started up.

Wilbur is shot and POOF! Roy just happens to have a brand spanking new plot device motorcycle to give chase to the killers.

On page 25 there is a short article about the upcoming Robocon 10 convention! I'm sure you all know about me and Robocon 10... check the last paragraph.

Return To Macross #24 (Academy 1995)

The 'Faithful' faction that is all for causing real turbulence is planning something big and Nina (who is on the less-extreme side of the argument) is getting caught in the middle.

I can't be sure but it looks like he drew the Gladiator backwards on page 15. It could be going the other direction but the hands look like they are facing the wrong way for it to be walking away from the viewer.

On page 16 we are watching the MBS news but there is a shot of a person being interviewed and an MBS TV camera guy is in the shot... filming the guy. I guess MBS (Macross Broadcasting System) wants multiple angles for some really high quality news reporting.

On page 24 there is a Playstation on the floor.

After the comic there is an interview with Carl Macek. He comments that he wishes everyone would just forget about Robotech: The Movie... lol. He also talks about his total plan for Robotech (one he would never get) as well as a tidbit about the Soundtrack Perfect Collection set that came out around that time.

Return To Macross #25 (Academy 1995)

This issue concludes the 'War of the Belivers' storyline from the last few issues. Nina was kidnapped in the last issue and it's up to Roy to save her.

So while they (Roy and Lang) are trying to find Nina, Roy just blasts a major piece of communications equipment to play a hunch... really Roy?

Everything is wrapped up neatly and Lang introduces Nina to Brian Bernard... yes, that Bernard. I don't think it was ever mentioned later but I am guessing this is supposed to wind up being Scott's future mother and father.

Metal Swarm: Issue 1 and Return to Macross: Issues 16-18, 20

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Onward and upward. I have been following this reading list for the complete Robotech saga and we are now up to Metal Swarm and continuing Return to Macross. The year got off to a quick start but slowed in the last 2 weeks. Work has been crazy and so my free time at home has been shorter than usual so the progress on Robotech for 2012 has slowed a little. Not to fear, we are doing well, it's only February so no panicking... yet.

Metal Swarm #1 (Academy 1995)

The artist for this comic draws in a very 'deco' design. It looks more like individual artwork than a comic. I am not sure if I like or don't like.

The story in here is a one-off job. I am not sure how academy was doing things but it is a bit confusing. I am guessing that they were going to continue the series since on the last page it said: Next Time: Family Ties. I did a search though the comics I had and I don't see anything titled Family Ties so I guess the sales sucked enough for them to ditch the line.

Return to Macross #16 (Academy 1994)

We have jumped back across the universe and are picking up the story with Roy Fokker back on Macross Island (pre SDF-1 launch). We are back with the story line of Roy's old war buddy who is having flashbacks of the Global Civil war.

On page 3 the credits at the bottom of the page look like they are literally those old label makers you click and the letters are pressed though the label. I forgot all about those!

Roy's friend gets killed and Roy gets in trouble... ooooooo. I'm soooo scared for him. Not really.

Return to Macross #17 (Academy 1995)

We open with a wide shot of Macross Island... ahhhh. I love shots of Macross Island.

In this issue we see some of the future leader of the Southern Cross Army: Anatole Leonard. Apparently he is dabbling with the extremist group: 'The Faithful'.

On page 21 there is a semi-closeup of the SFD-1 while Roy is flying away from it. This is the first scene like this I have seen in any of the comics. No one has drawn the SDF-1 at that distance yet, it is interesting.

Return to Macross #18 (Academy 1995)

Is the singer at the first of this issue singing Abba or The Bangles? By the way, the cover of this issue could have been better...

The singer is Nina Lang, Dr. Lang's sister that we met back in some earlier Return To Macross issues. The Faithful are wanting her to be the voice of the anti-robotech movement. She seems cool with it.

What is Roy doing with his hand on page 26 (second frame)?! Why is he sniffing his hand 3 frames later!? lol. Just bad positioning I guess...

Return to Macross #20 (Academy 1995)

In this issue we see some of Lisa's childhood and her father (Admiral Hayes) is given a first name. I don't remember if he was ever given a name in any of the books and I know he wasn't named in the show.

On page 14 there is a shot of Lisa in the shower that looks exactly like the shot of Minmei in the shower (from the original Macross). Here is the original Minmei shot.

As Lisa is remembering Karl Rieber he seems to be wearing something VERY similar to Rick's launch day jumpsuit complete with trendy early 80's cravat.

The story as a whole is Lisa recalling her youth caught up in the middle of the Global Civil War. She is doing all this recalling because she is about to move out of her childhood friend's place and in with Claudia Grant. There is a bit of a back story here with this childhood friend and it actually made me want to see more of this storyline. I guess this issue was an attempt to see if the storyline performed well enough to warrant its own series since the story begins and ends right there. This seemed to be less 'action and adventure' storyline and more 'relationship and situation' storyline. I think the series Academy Blues takes this slant so I might fulfill that need with it.

Robotech: Warriors: Issues 0-3

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

We are up to Robotech: Warriors at this point in our year-long look into Robotech. Issue #0 is actually apart of Return to Macross #15. The other issues were a separate title from Academy. Let's begin, shall we?

Robotech: Warriors #0 (Academy 1995)

In this very short issue we are presented with the artwork of Byron Peneranda and an all new story of Zentraedi before they reach Earth (possibly much earlier, not sure at this point). Peneranda's art looks very sketchy but I like it. It looks more like art than just cartoons. He did a good job on character appearances. I am digging this artwork.

A Zentraedi warrior is dead and Breetai and Exedore are looking into the reasons. They quickly discover that their ultimate enemies; the Invid are behind it. I guess that now I think about it, Exedore was assigned to Breetai after Zor's death so I assume this series takes place during Breetai's tracking of the SDF-1... or I could have just read the paragraph at the front of the issue and cleared this up quickly... lol.

Robotech: Warriors #1 (Academy 1995)

On page 14 there is a little grammatical error that I am sure Chris already picked up on, see if you can find it too...

So somehow Breetai is captured by these little people on this planet he was investigating for Invid infestation. This is a Gulliver's Travels type situation. Soon some of the Invid's pet creatures attack the city and Breetai convince the little people to allow him to fight them. He does and gets his ass handed to him and the Invid take off with an unconscious Breetai in tow.

At the end of this book Bill Spangler has a Zentraedi dictionary that he had been working on for years. He felt the need to come up with some words he could use in the various comics that the Zentraedi would use and this list grew into quite the document. He put them out there for everyone who is interested to see.

Robotech: Warriors #2 (Academy 1995)

We start this issue with a '5th class' Invid scientist. He looks pretty cool for being a slug. He is using a Genesis Pit to experiment on the planet Breetai was captured on.

The Inorganics make an appearance wrapping The Sentinels mythos neatly into Macross and New Generation mythos. I never gave two hoots about Inorganics. I always thought it was Harmony Gold's attempt to add 'something new' to keep Robotech fresh. I don't know if I ever said so but I never cared for The Sentinels too much.

In the 2nd half of this comic is a mini story involving Miriya Parino drawn by Jonard Sirano. I'm not too sure why they felt the need to do this unless there just wasn't enough material for all the Warriors issues.

Robotech: Warriors #3 (Academy 1995)

In this final issue (but I don't this it was meant to be the final one) Breetai has joined with the inhabitants of a planet to stop the monsters the an Invid scientist released on the population.

I don't think this was meant to be the final of the Warriors issues since on page 7 there is an advertisement of the very series you are currently reading. I guess Academy was in need of something to fill the pages with.

On page 8 is and advertisement for the Robotech Role Playing game... ahhh the memories.

In the 2nd half the story of Miriya finishes up. Not sure what that was all about...

Chris mentioned to me that he felt that the Warriors title was simply an excuse to draw Robotech action, not do much in the way of a storyline. After reading it myself I tend to agree. The stories are so short that there wasn't any sort of emotional involvement by the reader. I feel that Academy should have really thought out their titles and given them more depth, etc. I guess when you are trying to survive month to month as a comic book maker you tend to make smaller pieces that might keep new readers coming in.

Next in my list of reading material is Metal Swarm and some more Return to Macross. Join me, won't you?

Return To Macross: Issues 7-13

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

In this post I will be covering Malibu's Return to Macross comic books (issues 7-13). If you don't know this is my year long Robotech Adventure! I am reading/watching the entire epic in order throughout all of 2012. You can read all about my plans in this blog. Feel free to join in and comment where necessary. Chris will be joining us on this journey as well and he will be dropping in from time to time.

Just a  note of reference I know the company is Eternity/Malibu so get over it... I'm calling it Malibu. :)

Return to Macross #7 (Malibu 1993)

When Breetai wakes up he finds that he has been tied up. There are all sort of alien body parts including the head of an Alien from the Aliens move (above him).

After some alien fun Breetai and Khyron leave the ship, unprotected into outer space. This sets up Breetai's ability to survive in a no-atmosphere environment before the attack when Max saves Ben, Lisa, and Rick.

The shooter in the story is hold up in Grace Brother's Department Store. This is the name of the store in the British show: Are You Being Served... coincidence?

Low and behold the police show up in ATAC armor. Somehow in the whole of the Macross series these suits never showed up on the streets of Macross City after the Zentraedi come back. Sure, it's nice to see them tied into the whole story but it is kind of wierd. For those of you who don't know that armor is the armor of the Southern Cross forces in the 2nd part of Robotech (more than 18 years down the road in the story).

At the end of the comic there is an interview with the writers/artist of Invid War: Aftermath. It's rather disrespectful of Robotech in general and they talk about how they are interested in doing more editorial in their series (basically giving their anti war slant). As I remember I didn't like Aftermath at all and I think it was that anit-war slant that annoyed me. I will still read it again though. The writer's kept talking about how shallow the whole robot thing was and how they wanted to add depth to the characters. Hello?! That's what Robotech is... it's all about the mecha! Oh well...

Return to Macross #8 (Malibu 1993)

This issue starts with Breetai giving exposition dialogue in the vacuum of space! A ship leaves the alien ship he was on (on page 2) and it looks suspiciously like some ship I've seen before in one of the RPG books. I will have to keep an eye out on that in the future.

Quadrono battle suits pick up Breetai and Khyron... um wait a second... are Quadrono battle suits used only by the female Zentraedi and aren't females supposed to be TOTALLY segregated from the males? And Breetai and Khyron are bare chested...

The alien 'sniper' speaks English... how clever of it to learn so quickly.

Page 19 has a cool shot of the cop punching Roy. I like the angle and action.

Roy turned into a midget on page 23...

Return to Macross #9 (Malibu 1993)

William Jang takes over as artist and it shows. Jang's lines are jerky and seem less confident where Divar's were very precise. It is a look I will have to adjust to.

On page 12 there is a hover car in front of the Robotech HQ. I thought that those only ever showed up in Southern Cross...

There's not alot to say about this issue except for the somewhat disappointing change in art work. I'm not saying it's bad (I couldn't draw like that) but it isn't as good as the previous works. We will just have to see where it goes from here.

Return to Macross #10 (Malibu 1994)

Yeaa! Tim Divar is back!

So Breetai is in some sort of virtual reality simulation but he doesn't know it and Roy farting around at the bottom of the ocean with a hot chick... I wonder how long until he's in bed with her...

The hot chick (captain of the sub they are in) is interested in the building of the Alaska base (grand cannon). This is a nice tie in to later events in the total story.

The Lemaurians have quite the technology. In fact those 'robot suits' don't seem to fit at all into the time period (pre-Robotechnology) that they are in.

Return to Macross #11 (Malibu 1994)

Breetai is still in virtual reality. Khyron is behind it but Breetai gets smart and figures out where he is.

On page 12 is a bird's eye 'fish view' of the SDF-1 that's very interesting. I guess the artist wanted to mix it up a bit. He is good at drawing the SDF-1 in any situation.

Not much to say in this issue. Both and Roy and Edwards are tricking the Lemaurians and Edwards get back while Roy has to fight his way out of his situation.

Return to Macross #12 (Malibu 1994)

Oh crap, Jang is back. Breetai is still being tortured by Khyron but is fighting his way out of his virtual reality prison.

I have noticed that Breetai never has anything scintillating to say. He usually utters 'by the moons' or 'by the void' or 'moons of Phantoma'. I guess they kept the interesting lines to Exedore.

When Breetai is in the machine he is wearing some sort of suit. When the dying scientist ejects him from the ship, suddenly Breetai is wearing his uniform. I guess the writers/artists forgot that a change in clothes would attract Exedore's attention so they just changed his clothes to skip that annoying bit of continuity.

Page 10 and 11 are awesome! It's a double page with Destroids firing on the attack Lemaurians. Nice art work!

Return to Macross #13 (Academy 1994)

So Robotech comics switched over to Academy comics and Academy did something strange and kinda cool. Instead of just starting fresh they kept the comic title and numbering.

Wes Abbot is our new artist and there is a definite Anime look to the characters. The mecha also look pretty good so this should go well.

This issue quickly deals with the Moon base Aluce and Mars base Sera, nice tie-ins to later events.

And according to the reading guide we must jump around a bit. Joint me next time for more of Return to Macross but issues 19 plus 14 & 15.

Reading and Viewing Experience: Robotech Genesis-The Legend Of Zor

by Chris McGinty (AccordingToWhim.com)

I’ve started reading in chronological order, and I’m a little bit behind Nathan. I will presume as I write that you’ve seen the original series, and have at least read the material I’m talking about. If not, then this is your official spoiler alert. I have seen the original series, read the novels of the original series, and some of the comics of the original series. I have seen “Robotech: The Movie.” I’ve not read all of The Sentinels or anything else prior to this reading extravaganza. I’ve not seen “The Shadow Chronicles.”

Going by the chronological list, I started by reading the “Legend of Zor’s Fall.” Or whatever it was called. I almost thought that I was going to be reading the issues a little bit at a time, and then I got into the story, and read all six issues in one night. It wasn’t a bad story to be truthful.

Nathan draws some comparisons to the Star Wars prequels, which may have a lot to do with drawing on Roman history, and like the Star Wars prequels, if I have one complaint it’s that there aren’t too many surprises. In Star Wars, the problem was that we knew most of the major events already. This is partially true for the Zor story as well. The most enjoyable parts of either set of prequels for me were the things that I knew nothing about.

Issue #1 of the Zor mini-series was particularly tough for me. Some of the exposition dialogue was cringe worthy. One of the senators suggests that they mine the really big planet, and Zol responds with something like, “Now you know that the gravitational pull would kill anyone stepping on the planet.” It felt to me like the next panel should have been other senators saying, “This is why we shouldn’t let senators get their family hired to run this world.” And then the next panel should be the foolish senator sulking, saying, “They said there are no bad ideas in brainstorming.” But it’s ok, because later, when they create the Zentraedi, I’m sure he was going, “Hmm. I seem to remember suggesting mining the big planet, and everyone was like, ‘Oh no, we can’t do that!’”

I was also a little perplexed by the whole Arla thing at first. Zor takes her out to park on Blueberry Hill, and it was just odd to me. The character did serve her purpose as the story went on, though if I’d been writing the story, I would have delayed her death until the time of Zor’s death, along side Zor. The fact is that I thought the timing of Zor’s father’s death was pretty poignant. Zor has done so many things against his will, and then the one thing he asks in return, he is denied. Arla’s death as part of the rebellion didn’t carry that same weight.

Then there were the “Legends of the Fall” moments of the story where its like, “Many years passed after that day. Anthony Hopkins got older and started collecting ailments. Brad Pitt’s brothers got older and some of them perhaps died. Brad Pitt… well, he grew a beard.” Like Nathan said, it feels like there might have been some story to be told in those “years later” plot movements.

Aside from these complaints though, I enjoyed the story. It’s a hard balance to strike between just filling in the details of a back story, and writing something that will compel people to keep reading. I think this mini-series got the balance mostly right.