RavenHawk Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 I've been downloading some of the old Robotech comics, from all of the various companies. Can anyone recommend a reading order to me? They seem to be very interrelated, but I haven't had any luck finding one online. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Try the order that they were released in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech_(comics) Though... Eternity and Academy had the best. Just a couple of days ago, I was remembering (and wishing I had the time to go back and) read the Robotech II: the Sentinels, Genesis: Legend of Zor, Invid War/Aftermath, Worlds of Robotech, and the first parts of Return to Macross. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 Try the order that they were released in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech_(comics) Though... Eternity and Academy had the best. Just a couple of days ago, I was remembering (and wishing I had the time to go back and) read the Robotech II: the Sentinels, Genesis: Legend of Zor, Invid War/Aftermath, Worlds of Robotech, and the first parts of Return to Macross. Thanks. I'm reading Invid War right now and enjoying it a lot more than I would have expected. Of course, my expectations are based on some of the later issues which I flipped through, which looked like some 12 year old kid drew them... in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowlightman Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Invid War was easily one of the better Robotech comics. It had the same artist throughout (Tim Eldred), but the guy who was doing the inks changed half way through. Invid War Aftermath was a mess, artistically and otherwise. Not sure what Bruce Lewis was doing with that comic. Also not sure why I remember so much about Robotech comics despite not having picked one up for 4+ years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Masochist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Gah! I forgot that Invid War: Aftermath is the completely seperate, crappy one. Avoid it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 Gah! I forgot that Invid War: Aftermath is the completely seperate, crappy one. Avoid it! Problem is, I'm really more interested in the New Gen/Invid stuff than the Macross stuff... ... and, though I loved the Sentinels books, if Prelude to Shadow Chronicles is any indication of the Waltrips' writing, then I don't think I could stomach the Sentinels stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtStick Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Eternity and Academy did the best of all the ones I read. Comico had the ones where they printed what happened in the episodes that aired on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 I don't think that the Waltrips' had anything to do with Prelude to Shadow Chronicles. If anything (and this is something that rankles with me), their work was swept away and removed from the timeline in order to make way for SC. >.< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 I don't think that the Waltrips' had anything to do with Prelude to Shadow Chronicles. If anything (and this is something that rankles with me), their work was swept away and removed from the timeline in order to make way for SC. >.< Tommy Yune is credited with the story, the Waltrips with the scripts. Based on the Wikipedia entry mentioned above, it is a retconning which kept some Sentinels stuff, and forced in other things which only a Yune could love... Seeing as how I thought the story AND the dialog and other visible elements of the script were all just awful, that doesn't make me feel to encouraged about the Waltrips' other writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Avoid "The Cyber Pirates" like the plague if the first issue is anything to go by. Back then, I bought anything I thought had mecha in. I've learnt better since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 Avoid "The Cyber Pirates" like the plague if the first issue is anything to go by. Back then, I bought anything I thought had mecha in. I've learnt better since. I looked at it (the download of it, that is). First page says it's meant to be a Robotech story, but with the feel of Akira and Megazone combined. Ok, could be interesting... Then I recognize the main character as the cool guy who appeared in Invid War, then died about 2 pages later. Ok, starting to look a little fanboyish, but maybe... I flipped through the rest of the series and it looked like it just gets worse and worse. I was planning on reading it after Invid War and Aftermath. You're saying skip it completely, or just go in with really low expectations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Tommy Yune is credited with the story, the Waltrips with the scripts. Based on the Wikipedia entry mentioned above, it is a retconning which kept some Sentinels stuff, and forced in other things which only a Yune could love... Seeing as how I thought the story AND the dialog and other visible elements of the script were all just awful, that doesn't make me feel to encouraged about the Waltrips' other writing. This article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech:_Pre...adow_Chronicles . phrases it as "written by Tommy Yune along with the Waltrip brothers, " Therefore, I'd put anything that is awful as down to the lead writer. The Waltrip brothers, when they are allowed to do their own thing, without interference, produce some great stuff (Genesis, Worlds, Sentinels (though the end of their run did start to get a bit "weird", it was also interesting in that it was quite different from the novels, original, and in a lot of the cases, a logical outcome of events in the series up until that point.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 I looked at it (the download of it, that is). First page says it's meant to be a Robotech story, but with the feel of Akira and Megazone combined. Ok, could be interesting... Then I recognize the main character as the cool guy who appeared in Invid War, then died about 2 pages later. Ok, starting to look a little fanboyish, but maybe... I flipped through the rest of the series and it looked like it just gets worse and worse. I was planning on reading it after Invid War and Aftermath. You're saying skip it completely, or just go in with really low expectations? Didn't know the character at all, and never got past the first issue. My recollections are mainly based on the art, which I remember as being really bad. So, try it if you want, but low expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 This article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech:_Pre...adow_Chronicles . phrases it as "written by Tommy Yune along with the Waltrip brothers, " Therefore, I'd put anything that is awful as down to the lead writer. The Waltrip brothers, when they are allowed to do their own thing, without interference, produce some great stuff (Genesis, Worlds, Sentinels (though the end of their run did start to get a bit "weird", it was also interesting in that it was quite different from the novels, original, and in a lot of the cases, a logical outcome of events in the series up until that point.) Guess I'll give it a try and see. Still tough to stomach T.R./B.D. Edwards turning into a giant mutated protoculture monster... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 Didn't know the character at all, and never got past the first issue. My recollections are mainly based on the art, which I remember as being really bad. So, try it if you want, but low expectations. I'll try it, but keep my expectations really really low. Suspect it will turn into one of those things that was great in theory, but disappointing in execution. As for art, I'm really enjoying the art in Invid War, especially the Eldred/Perry work in issue 9. The rest of the Robotech comics that I've skimmed so far... well, I can't understand how someone was actually paid money to draw that. Like I said, looks like 12 year olds (or younger) doodling... while in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Guess I'll give it a try and see. Still tough to stomach T.R./B.D. Edwards turning into a giant mutated protoculture monster... That story arc was handled quite nicely in the novels. Mind you, that was stressed over 4 or 5 books. Not sure if it would even work in comic a mini-series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 That story arc was handled quite nicely in the novels. Mind you, that was stressed over 4 or 5 books. Not sure if it would even work in comic a mini-series. Considering what a long series the Sentinels comics were, with the same writers for so much of it, I think it could have been handled like in the books. Let's not even mention how nicely Breetai's/Regent's final battle was handled in the books, versus, what, a single panel in Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles? Well, I guess I did just mention it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totoro242 Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 A complete timeline in chronological order can be found on an old website of Captain JLS: http://robotechcomics.blogspot.com/2006/08...-1984-1998.html It does not include anything from Wildstorm since those comics adhere to no prior continuity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 A complete timeline in chronological order can be found on an old website of Captain JLS: http://robotechcomics.blogspot.com/2006/08...-1984-1998.html It does not include anything from Wildstorm since those comics adhere to no prior continuity. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidearmsalpha Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Speaking of Robotech comics, does DC/Wildstorm still have the rights to publishing Robotech comics, and if they do, do they plan on doing anything else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry the lone wolf Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Speaking of Robotech comics, does DC/Wildstorm still have the rights to publishing Robotech comics, and if they do, do they plan on doing anything else? I heard they still do especially since Warner Bros. is producing the live action RT; WB owns DC comics and DC owns Wildstorm. It just make sense to keep it under the DC/Wildstorm banner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikuro Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Yeah but pretty much everything Wildstorm came out with was pretty much crap. I thought they kind of had something cool going at first with the Robotech rendition of Zero, but in the end, it all pretty much was just FAIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Yeah but pretty much everything Wildstorm came out with was pretty much crap. I thought they kind of had something cool going at first with the Robotech rendition of Zero, but in the end, it all pretty much was just FAIL The Wildstorm stuff was disappointing, but, as I read through the older stuff now... it was still better than SO MUCH of the old stuff. I think my biggest gripe with the Wildstorm stuff was that very little really happened, considering the page count. The old stuff may have had bad art (about half the time, love the Eldred stuff) and bad writing (again, about half the time), but at least a lot typically happened in any given issue, really progressing the story, as opposed to just building page count for future trade paperbacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Ok, I'm slowly working my way through the comics (with a decided predilection for New Gen). Here's what I've read so far, with some brief comments: - 1996 Calendar: Ok, this is useless pinup art, but what do you expect? - Crystal Dreams: Pretty much useless, but can't expect much from a free convention giveaway. It is interesting, seems like they were working in elements of one of the Macross movies, either Plus or II, I forget. - Invasion: Not much for story at all, decent art though. Interesting to see revision of Academy material here. - Invid War: Really good. Much better than I was expecting, both from an artistic and story point of view. - Invid War - Aftermath: Not to my taste, but still kind of interesting, though it all felt rushed. Definitely faultered at the end, and seemed to have been a non-Robotech story that the author(s) wanted to tell, and just set it in the Robotech world to be able to sell it. Still, not terrible, as long as you think of it as an Elseworlds type of thing. - Robotech The Movie: Pretty bad writing, though the art was ok. Interesting to see just how Carl Macek would have liked to have done the story, if the original animation had allowed for it. - Sourcebook: Not much needs to be said. - Star Runners: Carpenter's Journey: While it's a fun idea to see what went on with this trip, this is terribly written and feels rushed, while also being just a bit silly and cliched. This could have been a nice 4-issue mini. - Robotech Misfits: A very cliched cast here, trying to create a funny dirty dozen I guess, but I could see the concept being very entertaining and interesting in the right author's hands. - New Generation (Comico): Actually much better than I was expecting. Art goes from good to poor, depending on the issue, though the Dorman covers are gorgeous. Would've been amazing interiors. It was nice to see more details from MOSPEADA being in here than made it to the New Gen cartoon and, again, interesting to see some of Macek's ideas here that didn't fit in with the animation. - Robotech II The Sentinels: Cyberpirate: Just terrible. A waste of space, and fell oh so far short of what the author said he was hoping to do with this series. Very immature take on the concepts too. How is this the same author who wrote Invid War??? - Robotech II The Sentinels: Rubicon: The worst of the whole lot here. Artwork with no shading and that makes each character look indistinguishable from another. That, added to the artist doing completely new takes on each character's look keeps you from having any idea what is going on or to whom. The writing is terrible too. Real World type soap dialog, disjointed story... just terrible. - Robotech II The Sentinels: The Malcontent Uprisings: Seemed a bit rushed and to fall far short of its potential, but, despite those failings, and despite my minimal interest in the generations involved in this series, it was pretty good. Decently written, decent art work, pretty well thought out story (again, though a bit rushed), and some nice new mecha to boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sdf Prime Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I really need to take a look at my robotech comics. I have a good portion of the wildstorm books. I may have all that they released except for "Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles " which I don't know if I really want to see considering some if the thing I have heard about it. I think I have all but one issue of "robotech the macross saga" that came from comico. Wildstorm released "robotech the macross saga" in small trades but they never finished releasing all the issues and they only release four volumes of that. Maybe with the movie they will re release those in normal sized trades in the future. Anybody remember the ones released by antarctic press ? If my memory serves me correctly those books were some strange cats. They were using macross movie designs in those books which never existed in their robotech universe . I think the SDF-1 had a macross movie look but had the aircraft carriers instead of the ARMD carriers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I only got one issue of the first (?) series Antarctic Press published. I like Antarctic Press, but not what they were doing with Robotech. What I didn't like about it was that the vast majority of the mecha were simply scans of an artbook that had been pasted onto the page and colored. The differences were really, really glaring when the actual artist drew a mecha. In addition, the writers added characterizations (eg Global cooking and dressed in a feminine apron) that were never part of the characters. In the end, I felt that it wasn't original where it should have been (plot, etc.), and was being too original where it shouldn't have been (characters, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Some of the ones I mentioned above were Antarctic. All of the stuff that Eternity was publishing, when the rights switched from Eternity to Antarctic, were continued by Antarctic, with the same creative teams too. From what I've read so far, the Antarctic stuff that was continuations of Eternity stuff is pretty decent. The stuff that was brand new, originating from Antarctic, was weird, really poorly written, and a mesh of all generations of characters, but with mecha, as mentioned above, taken pretty glaringly from the Macross sequels, but pretty poorly drawn. I'll continue commenting on each series as I read it, if people are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totoro242 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Ravenhawk, You should read my favorite Robotech comic; Genesis, The Legend Of Zor. My other favorites include Warriors, the entire run of The Sentinels, the Invasion sidestory Mars Base One, and Invid War. And I did enjoy the art emensly in Invasion, mostly due to the gratuitous use of pre-production and backstory mecha designs. The story was really just a Rainy Boy/Hired Gun rehash, so nothing special there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totoro242 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Some of the ones I mentioned above were Antarctic. All of the stuff that Eternity was publishing, when the rights switched from Eternity to Antarctic, were continued by Antarctic, with the same creative teams too. From what I've read so far, the Antarctic stuff that was continuations of Eternity stuff is pretty decent. The stuff that was brand new, originating from Antarctic, was weird, really poorly written, and a mesh of all generations of characters, but with mecha, as mentioned above, taken pretty glaringly from the Macross sequels, but pretty poorly drawn. I'll continue commenting on each series as I read it, if people are interested. Actually the jump was from Eternity to Academy. Then Antarctic acquired the license. Antarctic really only took Fred Perry and Greg Lane from the Eternity/Academy era. Antarctic started all new books. They didnt even bring over The Sentinels (hence the awful Rubicon series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Actually the jump was from Eternity to Academy. Then Antarctic acquired the license. Antarctic really only took Fred Perry and Greg Lane from the Eternity/Academy era. Antarctic started all new books. They didnt even bring over The Sentinels (hence the awful Rubicon series. You're right, my mistake. Ok, Eternity was good... Academy started off good, then got weaker... And Antarctic was weird and VERY liberal with their interpretations... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Ravenhawk, You should read my favorite Robotech comic; Genesis, The Legend Of Zor. My other favorites include Warriors, the entire run of The Sentinels, the Invasion sidestory Mars Base One, and Invid War. And I did enjoy the art emensly in Invasion, mostly due to the gratuitous use of pre-production and backstory mecha designs. The story was really just a Rainy Boy/Hired Gun rehash, so nothing special there. I plan on reading those. Glad to hear there's some potential there. I also just read an (I think Academy) Robotech annual, which had a short story in it about another group of freedome fighters, like Scott's, but who meet a rougher end... Real potential there. I also enjoyed the use of preproduction designs in Invasion, though it really drove home the fact that they did NO NEW DESIGNS for Shadow Chronicles at all, just other people's lesser known designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totoro242 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I plan on reading those. Glad to hear there's some potential there. I also just read an (I think Academy) Robotech annual, which had a short story in it about another group of freedome fighters, like Scott's, but who meet a rougher end... Real potential there. I also enjoyed the use of preproduction designs in Invasion, though it really drove home the fact that they did NO NEW DESIGNS for Shadow Chronicles at all, just other people's lesser known designs. Well, there were some new capital ship designs and Haydonite mecha that was new. I personally liked Yunes original sketches for the capital ships, but the Haydonite stuff ended up looking really bad on screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RavenHawk Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Well, there were some new capital ship designs and Haydonite mecha that was new. I personally liked Yunes original sketches for the capital ships, but the Haydonite stuff ended up looking really bad on screen. I was hoping for new mecha, not just new ships. The Haydonite designs really didn't do anything for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowlightman Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Anybody remember the ones released by antarctic press ? If my memory serves me correctly those books were some strange cats. They were using macross movie designs in those books which never existed in their robotech universe . I think the SDF-1 had a macross movie look but had the aircraft carriers instead of the ARMD carriers. The Antarctic Press comics were really unfortunate, good production values but it was pretty clear that most of the writer's barely knew Robotech, as per the weird characterizations and continuity changes. I believe Ben Dunn actually said in an interview he didn't care about the established Robotech mythos/continuity, so none of that is surprising. Some of the comics had really good art, others didn't... but despite the overall better production values I still liked the older Academy and Eternity comics more. One of the most frustrating things about the Antarctic switchover as a Robotech comic fan at the time was how they axed the Sentinels. To give you an idea, the Waltrip brothers had been working on the Sentinels for nearly 8, 9 years? They'd put out about 70 issues and were definitely in the home stretch, so it was a real shame that they didn't get to finish it. At the time the rumors going around said it was due to bad blood between Ben Dunn and the Waltrips, or that at the very least Dunn offered them an insultingly small amount of money to finish the Sentinels so they turned it down. The two or three issues of the Sentinels that were eventually put out by Antarctic were a total mess, the art was so bad you couldn't tell who anyone was and the writer didn't have any idea what they were doing. The Antarctic Press comic with the DYRL designs was actually done by a MW member, although I'm not sure why he chose to use those designs. Maybe he could chime in here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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