RDF Mecha of the Macross Saga

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Today's post in my 2012 Robotech Experience is about the RDF's mecha from Robotech: The Macross Saga (the first 36 episodes).

I wanted to cover the mecha from the Macross saga because they are the most famous of all the mecha of the entire series (with the Cyclones coming in a close 2nd)... for me anyway. I am using the Robotech Role Playing book #1 (1986 Pallidum) for my refrence manual here.

As a side note the images I am using here were drawn by Kevin Long and have always been the standard art for the mecha of the Macross universe. I know that much of this art can be seen in its original form from the Japanese 'This is Animation' series of books but his reinterpretation of the designs are really great! Bravo!

Veritech/Guardian/Battloid

This jet/robot is ofcourse the main 'character' mecha of the series. Shoji Kawamori is credited for the majority of the design for the series Macross (which you all know is the first part of Roboteh here in the states).

As I have stated before the roleplaying books were my first re-introduction to the world of Robotech when I was older and more appreciative of the work. When a ship is yours to control in the game you get to know it fairly well. Pouring over the different mecha in the book to choose the one you are going to use can take up some serious time. The Veritech was the standard since it could get you to all the places where the action was found. I spent time comparing the different abilities of the mecha as well as it's strengths and weaknesses. Mecha with missiles were always my favorites... the more the merrier. The Spartan was the go-to mecha for that but the Super Battloid wasn't far behind. Still, the abilitiy to go far distances made this the winner in the mecha wars (and rightly so).

Spartan

The Spartan has (according to the roleplaying book) has 22 missiles per 'arm'. If you wanted to waste some Zentraedi mecha this was way to do it. Of course you were defensless afterwards! The American writers (I don't know who named what) decided to confuse us by calling this mecha a Spartan which is the original Japanese name of the mecha we know as the Gladiator.

I always thought it was strange that the Veritech was the only transforming mecha in the series. All the other Destroids were non-transforming. The Veritech kinda sticks out like a sore thumb when you compare it to these other guys. It has made me wonder if Macross was built around already existing designs just waiting for the right story... It's possible that these guys were just generic robot designs shelved until a studio came along needing a selection of mecha.

Raidar X

The Raidar X was always the mecha that I skipped on. That and the Gladiator. Not much going on here.

In my youth the importance of the radar equipment on this Destroid was always lost on me. I was looking for something to do more damage than anything else. In the series and the comics the Raidar X is sometimes generically referred to as a Destroid (much to my confusion).

This design has a lot of role-playability if put in the right circumstances. Any of these mecha can be made the focal point of a great gaming session with the right game master running the show.


Excaliber

By far the coolest looking Destorid is the Excaliber. The cannon arms give it quite a punch plus you get a nice mess of missiles to boot! This would be my first choice in a sustained battle in the RPG sessions (if I didn't pick a Veritech.)

Not only do you get the massive cannon-arms but you also ge the shoulder missile pods, chest guns, and upper leg missiles too!

If you remember in one of the eariler episodes when Vermillion Squadron is new Ben has a
lot more missiles attached to his Veritech on the tail fins. This was a Veritech pilots need to have a punch similar to the Excaliber!

Gladiator

This is the least favorite Destroid for me. It's ugly and can't do too much. Infact I always found it strange that the Destroids didn't behave like the Veritechs. The Destroids were more like walking tanks that lacked the finess of the Veritechs (although they have the same technology). The Veritechs can do all sorts of smooth, human-like movements while the Destorids lumber along.

There are a couple of instances (in my mind) where I remeber seeing the Gladiator carrying a mace or club of some sort. I can't remeber if that is shown on the the TV show or something in the books or RPG. I always thought that was kinda strange too. I guess the designers already had a mecha with cannons, missiles, and lasers for arms so they decided to just have a mecha with normal type arms that could hold something.


Mac II Monster

If the Destroids in general seemed out of place along side the Veritechs, the MAC II Monster sticks out even further when compared to everything else. This was always a great mecha for really blasting someone with but it wasn't very action oriented. If you had a really good game master they could make this fun and exciting but for us teens (at the time) this was good only for blasting (or getting blasted apart).

What a massive Destoid! This thing is so much bigger than anything else out there. In a later episode Khyron is riding it like a cowboy. I think the scale was a little off there but never the less this thing towers over all the other mecha and does some devastating damage. It is also a sitting target. Luckily it can take a bit of beating before it is destroyed.

When the Sentinels came out we got some re-envisoned versions of these mecha that were awesome! I am not sure if they got Studio Nue to design them but they really capture the spirit of the originals. I think (just as with the characters) they couldn't use the original Macross designs so they comissioned new deisgns that looked similar to the originals without downright infringing on copyrights.

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...

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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 Episodes 13-18

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

I have just finished the book that covers these six episodes of the series. I decided to read first, then watch the show. Next time I will watch the show, read just that part of the book that the episode covers then read the corresponding comic. I figure that this will give me a selection of the 'best' way to experience Robotech in my year long Robotech-Bonanza! By the way, we just made it half way through the year (this last Sunday) so I better pick up steam! Click here if you need background on what the heck I am doing...

Episode #13 Blue Wind

The seat things that the bridge officer's have at their consoles always looked cool to me. I know it took extra effort to add that to the animation and I appreciate that.

Rick's neck at the escape de-briefing is suuuuupppppppeeeer long.

The officer's at the de-breifing are rat bastards!

Max and Rick are midgets compared to Ben.

During the ceremony the music the Robotech theme. Talk about busting down the 4th wall...

Although Khyron was a necessary plot device I never did care for him. It probably stems from the fact that I don't care for the battle scenes and that's pretty much what Khyron was all about.

When Rico, Konda, and Bron start floating they Konda looks totally different. It's like some other animators did this scene and they didn't know what the characters looked like.

Once again the Zentraedi shoot themselves in the foot and a near victory is stopped.

The splash down of the SDF-1 is probably the best the animation company could do for the day and age (and money). Wouldn't a remake of the series be awesome (like the new Space Battleship Yamato series)?

PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS BITS:
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Episode #14 Gloval's Report

Uuuuuuuugggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I will comment that there is a little bit of new animation in this episode. Mainly Gloval talking into his computer (which appears to me to be something like Dragon Dictation... man they were ahead of their time), and the other new bit is when Lisa comes in with coffee. Other than that it's all reused footage (some not seen in the American version) with re-recorded dialogue (which in some cases changes the context of the scene).

 

PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS BITS:
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Episode #15 Homecoming

This episode wins the award for having the most densely packed story of any episode thus far (and probably to come). It's the story to Rick and Minmei's trip to Japan and Gloval and Lisa's trip to Alaska base.

The SDF-1 made it back to earth and people are partying like it's 1999... or something.

In Alaska while Lisa and Gloval are in the lift there is this strange bit of dialogue where they seems to talk over each other and nothing makes sense. If you watch it you will see what I am talking about.

Minmei is in FULL brat mode at this point. If people were on the fence about hating here this episode probably pushed them over.

Minmei's dad is a real punk too. I can see why she liked to hang out with her Aunt Lena and Uncle Max.

This is the fateful episode where Lynn Kyle shows his ugly mug. What a pain in the butt! I think Minmei and him were a perfect match and they should have just married... oops I'm getting ahead of myself.

In Alaska the UEG act like little babies and dismiss the SDF-1 as big trouble and nothing more. Just like any real government they hid the alien attack from the world and told everyone that the ship and all the people on the island are dead. This makes returning the people impossible. This is a great story element and really adds to the cool-factor of this show. I can't imagine how little kids viewed this episode but caters to the older viewer in a big way.

Chris and I watched this episode together so we could talk about it on one of our audio shows (According To Whim). We then went on to talk about an interesting story he had to relay about his job. Here is the audio show. If you want to hear more of our show check out page. We have been doing it for more than 10 years now!

PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS BITS:
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Episode #16 Battlecry

During the intro the narrator says that Minmei's parents convince Kyle to go back with Minmei to look out for her, but if you remember it was Kyle's idea and her parents reluctantly agreed.

Kyle's mom shows more emotion than Minmei's at their child's return.

The scene where the Zentraedi spies break the glass and try to eat the display food is one of my favorites in the whole series. I don't know why it always stuck with me. It was probably because it was one of those moments where I realized that a cartoon about robots and war could have a story that's just as good as all the action.

Lisa's Kyle psychosis begins here, ugh.

Hey, there's Jason! We haven't seen him in forever! He hasn't grown in an inch in more than a year... must be space that stunted his growth.

When the fight in the White Dragon begins the tables all vanish! Oh, there they are again.

Right before the break Max asks if Kyle is real or is he (Max) crazy and Rick answers... 'yes'. WTF?

On Azonia's ship that person who tells her Khyron is heading to the SDF-1 sounds alot like a man!

Lisa's emotions for Rick are getting stronger... or it could be the Kyle psychosis.

Once again Destroids are being wiped out left and right.

For as cheesy the animation looks at times (the B team of animators) this episode is pretty good. It has drama and action in just the right measure.

PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS BITS:
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Episode #17 Phantasm

This episode is just above Gloval's Report in tediousness. Where Gloval's Report is 95% reused footage Phantasm is somewhere around 70% but at least it has a different story behind the reused footage.

Rick has been injured after the battle in the last episode 'near bird island' (as the narrator points out).

The episode uses previous footage but as I said before it's not a retelling, the story is totally different (Rick's dreams).

Sammie's line of 'stupid' as opposed to 'lecher' fits better. I'm glad that's sorted.

I find it interesting that his whole psyche revolves around rescuing Minmei. As much as a throwaway episode this was the premise of what goes on in Rick's mind is interesting.

"I've been sorta wondering though... what's all this gonna cost me?" This is the best line of the episode.

There's not much you can nitpick 'reality' or 'continuity' wise since it's a dream (like when Max says he needs to switch back to Guardian but pulls down the B control).

The hospital beds in the SDF-1 are HUGE!

Chris and I like saying to each other "Yes Rick, only a dream."

PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS BITS:
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Episode #18 Farwell Big Brother

Oh, the bed has shrunk back down a bit.

The nurses in the hospital wear really REALLY short skirts. I guess they figure it's good for the male patients. lol.

Lisa's visit to Rick's room was flat out rude. Lisa might be a little confused but that's no reason to be a jerk.

The present Roy gives Rick is only half wrapped. Talk about lazy!

The Minmei doll the spies steal isn't very big but it appears to grow in size once they smuggle it back on the Zentraedi ship.

Since males and females are forbidden to interact in the Zentraedi culture why do we always see them talking to eachother over the video screens?

Right before the forces engage each other there is a shot on the bridge of the SDF-1 on the Vanessa's display screen. You can see the SDF-1 'standing' on the ocean floor. I've never noticed that... cool.

Once again a female Zentraedi in Myria's group sounds like a man.

Ut oh, Rick's bed has grown again. Perhaps it knew Minmei was about to show up... he he he.

I like Rick's house slippers.

An enemy ship gaining  access to the city inside the SDF-1 is AWESOME. The panic and anxiety everyone experiences is cool.

Minmei's manager seems to be wearing house slippers too.

I have always wondered what the techs working Roy's Veritech saw in the cockpit. I wonder if they show it in Macross?

The point then Roy dies is a pivotal moment in the success and the legacy of Robotech. This sort of thing just didn't happen in cartoons and much has been written about it. Go research it if you don't believe me.

It's at this point in the series that Roboteh gets increasingly better and better. The story line start maturing even more and it really goes from being a 'battle the aliens' show to a war show about the people involved in it.

PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS BITS:
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Book 3: Robotech: Homecoming

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Welcome to the next part in my 2012 Robotech Experience, a quick review of the third book in the Del Ray books series adaptation of Robotech episodes 13-18. If you need to start from the beginning to find out more about my year long look at Robotech, click here.
This next six episodes (I have been basically watching/reading six episodes at a time since the books cover that much each volume) I decided to read the book first, then watch the show then read the comic. I want to see how I perceive it when I experience it in that order.
In the last review I went on and on about how I had a memory of reading this series of books and was impressed as to how closely the followed the show BUT in this reading (it's been years since I read them last) I got this nasty surprise. For some reason it seemed like the books didn't follow the action quite as closely as I had remembered. Well... lo and behold it's happened again! This book seems to be following the shows very closely. I think I figured it out! I think that Brian Daley and James Luceno each wrote alternate books. One of those guy's style was very 'loose' and one was very 'strict' when it came to adapting the show. There, I hope that covers it. BTW, I happen to like the closer following of the cartoon.
This book picks up where the last one left off. The cartoon is added to by having a bit of suspense added to the return of Lisa, Rick, Ben, and Max. This wasn't in the show but it gave a nice buffer of new material which basically caught the reader up to the current events.
After the escapees make it back the book focuses on the spies. This is some great stuff and I'm glad the writer that sticks to the cartoon got this part. There is some really funny stuff here.
After they make their transition into Macross city it is noted that their pod 'dissolved'. I guess that would be the smart thing to make happen since it might have been discovered.
Minmei's rise to stardom happens here and the more popular she gets the more we hate her. She hits this point where she has made it to the top and she begins to level out and become more human (not such a flighty air head) as she yearns for the simple life again.
Earlier on in the book the SDF-1 needs to change into a giant robot mode to fire the guns. Once again Macross city is destroyed in many places (this time with Rico, Konda, and Bron in the middle of it). Wouldn't the engineers on the SDF-1 have figured out what parts of the city would be destroyed from the first transformation and NOT rebuilt the city in those areas? Just asking...
Also there is a bit of a visual misstep of the author during the transformation. I am assuming they watched the show on VHS when they were writing this book so the detail on the screen wasn't as crisp as it would be in the DVD age. When the author describes the transformation there is a spot where 2 giant servo motors join and cables snake out to attach themselves to the motors. In actuality you can make out the cables snaking out are infact guys in space suits. I didn't realize this until I saw the DVD many years later.

Vern (the tall skinny buddy of the Mayor) is finally given a last name here. He was always just a background character there to get the dialogue going. He name is Vern Havers. I guess that was the author's creation.

'Gloval's Report' and 'Phantasm' are MERCIFULLY cut waaaaayyyyyy back for the books. Those have to be the most tedious episodes to sit though.
Captain Kramer (much like Vern Havers, a plot device) bites the big one in this book. He is talked to and mentioned a couple of times during the first 12 episodes and I guess the author noticed that he wasn't mentioned again in later episodes. He death helped explain why Roy didn't receieve proper medical care (leading to his death) since he was distraught and left the hospital. P.S. I think he name was Kramer after script editor Steve Kramer.
That is the end of this book. Knowing the backgrounds of the two authors I am guessing that Brian Daley wrote this book (an all subsequent books that are very close to the cartoon in action). James Luceno was a Vietnam Vet and I am guess his writing style is the one that has a lot of military jargon in it. That jargon appears in the books that are more 'loosely based' on the action in the episodes. Both are fine, I just take a shine to the closer representation of the show.