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!

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.

Return To Macross: Issues 1-6

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

In this post I will be covering Malibu's Return to Macross comic books (issues 1-6). 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.

Up to this point I have read The Legend of Zor: Genesis mini-series and the Graphic Novel. Those comics basically took place right up to the crash landing of the SDF-1 on Earth. Return To Macross takes place between this time and launch day of the SDF-1. There are a few flash forwards and flashbacks but it MOSTLY follows a timeline.

Return to Macross #1 (Malibu 1993)

The Death of Zor and the wounding of Breetai  begin this issue. It is a VERY QUICK recap of the events in Zor: Genesis but with the change that Breetai is wounded during the Invid attack that kills Zor. In all the other comics Breetai is already wearing the faceplate. The SDF-1 looks very un-alien like in this comic (more like the final, restored ship) unlike it looks in the Comico comics. The story switches to 2004 and Roy Fokker's arrival on Macross Island (for the first time in a long time). While Roy is waiting to land on the island he remeber's back to the exploration he, Gloval, Edwards, and some Marines did five years previous. It caught my attention that in one of these panels it closely resembles a panel from the Comico Graphic Novel. The artist was obviously looking at the Graphic Novel as a resource while working on this series.

Roy is overwhelmed that Macross Island is so changed since the last time he was there. There is a large population there now and an element of disharmony. Conrad Wilbur leads demonstations aganist the military and use of the alien technology.

Return to Macross #2 (Malibu 1993)

The Veritech is introduced in this issue. The artists who worked on this series really had a good grasp of the design and they look sharp.

Roy meets up with his old rival T.R. Edwards. In the years between the SDF-1s landing and Roy's return to Macross, Edwards has moved up in the new United Earth Government. He was sent to Macross to observe and report on the Veritech testing going on. Apparently he is up to more than that though.

Edwards contacts the dissident Conrad Wilbur with some scheme. Edwards only real goal is money, something is brewing and he wants to use Conrad to be his patsy.

The comic jumps back across the universe to Breetai and Dolza who have been giventhe task of finding the lost ship. They are attacked by Invid and Breetai finds himself in deep trouble.

The first time I read this series was really my first introduction to black and white comics. I had read the graphic novel Maus and enjoyed the simple black and white scheme and when I started reading this series I remebered how much I enjoyed it. I like drawing and this type of comic is basically that.

Return to Macross #3 (Malibu 1993)

Breetai gets himself out of trouble and Khyron is introduced in this issue. For some reason Dolza still has Zor's body. I guess this bit takes place not too long after Zor's death and they are just catching up on the storyline.

Edwards talks Conrad into sabotaging Roy's test flight so he can sneak off in the excitement and get some photos of the inside of the SDF-1 (for the highest bidder, ofcourse).

Once again there is a lot of Veritech art in this issue and it is done really well, very cartoon-like and all in porpotion... looks great.

Return to Macross #4 (Malibu 1993)

Conrad is ready to blow up the device on Roy's Veritech but is distracted when a fire breaks out in Macross city and Roy uses the Veritech in Battloid mode to save the people in the building. Conrad's wife died in a similar situation and Conrad changes his mind about the uses of Robotechnology and doesn't blow it up.

Edwards sneaks off in anticipation of the explosions and the ensuing chaos and goes spelunking inside the ship. He comes across someone (or something) and screams. Next thing he knows he is falling out of the ship as if it altered itself to kick him out. He plays it off and sneaks back like nothing happened.

From the panels it appears it is a Zentraedi that Edwards saw since there is a broken-open cloning chamber shown and what appears to be wet footsteps leading out of it.

I believe this is the first time (since the crash) that a living alien is shown inside the ship.

The comic shoots back across the galaxy to show the final rescue of Dolza and Breetai from the Invid thanks to the rescue mission (led by Khyron) sent by the Masters. Later Dolza assigns Breetai the mission of finding the SDF-1 and assigns Exedore to assist. In the Legend of Zor mini-series Exedore was already with Breetai.

Probably the most interesting bit of this issue isn't even the comic itself. It's on pages 25-27. The first thing is an advertisement/letter about Robotech Echo, the BBS for Robotech fans. If you don't remeber a BBS was a Bulliten Board System. You used your modem and dialed up the BBS and communicated with others. It was like a crude and very limited internet. I remeber using the Blasted Trumphet BBS out of Fort Worth, Texas about the time this comic was out. On page 26 was a list of BBS that had the Robtech Echo board on it. Good times...

On page 27 was a list of fan addresses. This was very cool. You could have a Penpal that was into Robotech. Right there on the page were several willing fans you could communicte with. This was great in a day and age when the Inetrnet hadn't connected us all yet. In some ways it seems that the Internet has taken that special feeling away from finding a like-minded fan. They are everywhere now-a-days on the net and most people could just take it or leave it, nothing special.

Return to Macross #5 (Malibu 1993)

This issue starts with Breetai and Exedore coming across something they think might be the SDF-1 but it isn't. Khyron is sent out and the something attacks him.

Back on Earth someone kills Roy's current love interest for some unknown reason (at this point). Did I mention that Claudia has shown up?

Isn't that a snazzy PC on page 15? That CRT monitor could be a boat anchor! Robotechnology at its best!

I found it funny that Claudia came to Roy to stop him from bothering her and by the end of the conversation the roles were reversed and he didn't want her to bother him.

Later we see the mysterious figure from issue 4 that Edwards found inside the SDF-1. We know this because it blurts out the name Zor and he is fairly large. Not a giant as I thought but larger than a normal man.

Finally someone is killing scientist off trying to stop the RDF from continuting work on the SDF-1.

I have commented on the art in this series before but I want to say it again. The artist; Tim Divar does an excellent job. The lines are sharp, the details are nice, and the characters drawn very well. The only issue I had was with Breetai in the first few pages. Tim seemed to miss the mark with Breetai's look there for a bit.

Return to Macross #6 (Malibu 1993)

Page 3 has an awesome drawing of a MAC II and a Gladiator! The artist seemed to have slight problems drawing Gretchen in the next couple of pages.

Roy looks like the lead singer of A-ha on page 7.

Page 23... You hear that?... It's a motorboat pulling Cark Macek up and over a shark infested pool.

Starting on page 27 there is a behind the scenes look at what's going on at Malibu/Eternity comics. Looks like a bunch of geeks to me... I'd fit right in!

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.

The Legend of Zor: Issues 1-6

Today I will cover thoughts about reading through Legend of Zor mini series. This is the first entry into the complete "Robotech Experience" (I should copyright that). Who knows, if I'm really lucky Harmony Gold will come in with the SOPA and shut my site down! Anyway... this is Eternity's comic and was released around the time of their Sentinel's series.

Legend of Zor: Issue 1 (Eternity/Malibu) 1992

Right off you can tell that Jason and John Waltrip (probably the most famous Robotech comic artist team) worked hard on this comic. Aside from the dopey look on Zor's face the first few pages sets the scene on Tirol. Some of the wide shots would make George Lucas happy. The 'Neo-Roman' look of Tirol society is painstakingly drawn and seriously looks like something out of a Star Wars comic set on Coursant.

The first few pages neatly sets up the energy shortage and the need for a new power source to fuel this techo-society. It also quickly establishes the need to create the Zentraedi race (to overcome the massive gravity of close-by planet full of valuable ore.

In the middle of the first issue there is an interesting section that shows the original pitch and art work that the Waltrip brothers sent in to Harmony Gold trying to get The Legend of Zor approved. It was a neat look into the industry.

Legend of Zor: Issue 2 (Eternity/Malibu) 1992

The story continues with Zor traveling as just another scientist in a ship that looks suspiciously like the R.E.F. design for the Ikazuchi Class Heavy Cruiser. I guess you could suggest that whatever was left inside the SDF-1 when it crashed on Earth was used (such as ship designs) by Lang and his engineers...

On page 4 the colorist mis-colored Zor's purple sideburns the same color as his skin... it's a giant skin tag!

On page 19 there is a character that is there simply to ask where Zor is. Since he is there for that reason alone, he literally doesn't have a face. I found that interesting...

This comic somewhat undermines the whole point of the mini-series. It is designed to explain the origins of all this mess and the Regis mistakes Zor for the person who originally gave the flower of life to the Invid (thus starting the evolution of their race). This makes this story not the 'true' origin of Protoculture... sheesh. So who is the person who gave the Invid the first flowers of life? Who?! Who damn it!!!?

I know this was year before Star Wars Episode 3 but the WHOLE changing of the Tirolian Republic to a Galactic Empire is a bit of a red flag. I think the Waltrip brothers need to sue George Lucas. It's obvious he read these comics and then wrote his Star Wars prequels... no really...

Is it just me or does Zor look like Minmie with purple hair?

Legend of Zor: Issue 3 (Eternity/Malibu) 1992

This issue is the return of the exploration team to Tirol and Zor's ridicule by the new ruling class. Not much to say here. Zor works with the samples he brought back from Optera and can't find how to unlock their power (at least not until the very end of the comic).

Legend of Zor: Issue 4 (Eternity/Malibu) 1992

Zor unlocks the flower of life's energy and the Tirolian society has transformed. Quickly the ruthless Elders devise a plan to develop a slave race of clones as well as a race of gigantic soldiers with their new found power. The Elders (now called the Masters) unleash their Zentraedi from their mining work on Phantoma to quash a rebellion rising aganist the government. We see a fully-eyed Breetai and Exedore on the last page.

Zor says something strange on that last page too. He says 'the Zentraedi have returned', which doesn't make sense because they haven't played any part in the story so far. Perhaps he means they have returned to the place where they were created.

Legend of Zor: Issue 5 (Eternity/Malibu) 1992

Right away on page 2 there is an homage to The Empire Strikes Back when Zor kneels before the Masters and utter's Darth Vader's line: 'What is thy bidding my masters'.

When Zor returns to Optera we find the Invid transformed into more that just slugs. For the next several pages (when Zor's forces harvest the flowers) it looks like something out of a Hannah-Barberra cartoon. The Invid look very cartoon-like. It doesn't help with the Zentraedi walking around, unknowingly stomping around on the whole Invid society.

At the end of this comic the Invid have evolved and it shows the Invid in their eggs? Their sights set on revenge for the rape of their planet by Zor and the Masters. The last frame shows an egg cracking and what do we see... an Invid scout eye. Not an Invid, but the mecha they fly around in... what the heck? I assumed that the Invid were inside the craft, not born in the craft... this is getting strange.

Legend of Zor: Issue 6 (Eternity/Malibu) 1992

In this final issue of the origins of Protoculture and Zor's role in the whole debacle we see several things come together. The Masters built the SDF-1 which they call the Super Dimensional Fortress-One. The name and the reason for its creation is a mystery (another mini-series!) but they shunt Zor off in it to basically get rid of him while keeping him around when they need him.

Breetai is here again, undamaged until the Invid attack on the base where Zor gets fatally wounded.

This final part seems a bit rushed. It all seems a bit rushed actually. There is enough material here to have a full run of comics but if you can only get 6 issues in which to do it you have to cut corners. The basics of what it laid out in the books and show (about Zors involvment) is expounded on just enough to get by with. It would have been nice to see Cabell working with Zor more and how the technology Tirol evolved into the weapons we see during the Robotech Masters part of Robotech. It would have also been nice to see the Masters make the Zor clone that Cabell works with in the Sentinels.

Overall this mini-series gives you a little glimpse into how everything started and how the SDF-1 came to be on Earth and why the aliens came back to recapture it.

Next on my reading list is the Graphic Novel. I have a physical copy of this book and I have sort of already begun to read it. I will review and comment on it as well as the first several issues of Return To Macross in the next week or so.