Robotech Comics

[glane21]

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.

That was me. I wrote and penciled these 3 Robotech books for Antarctic.

I also penciled the last 4 issues (11-12) of Malcontent Uprisings for Eternity.

As to why I used DYRL designs in Covert Ops, well, several reasons. First, they had already used some here and there, and made no objection when I turned in the pre-production art and script. Second, they had already monkeyed with the continuity and there were other people doing side stories that I had no information on, so I just did my own thing and left it to the editor to sort out any continuity they wanted to try to maintain. Finally, I always liked those designs over the series and wanted to use them in the book. I would say consider it an alt-universe story.

Now on the 48 page New Gen story Class Reunion, I tried to stay within the bounds of cannon and it is even placed into the series timeline on the last page. That was the last Robotech book AP put out before the license was pulled by HG for their Cartoon Network deal, so it was rush inked by 5 or 6 different people (some inept) in order to meet their legal deadline. As a result a lot of the pages suffered, unfortunately.

Also, they were about to hand me control of their main color Robotech series before the license was lost, which tells me that my books must have sold pretty well for them among their various Robotech offerings.

[RavenHawk]

That was me. I wrote and penciled these 3 Robotech books for Antarctic.

I also penciled the last 4 issues (11-12) of Malcontent Uprisings for Eternity.

As to why I used DYRL designs in Covert Ops, well, several reasons. First, they had already used some here and there, and made no objection when I turned in the pre-production art and script. Second, they had already monkeyed with the continuity and there were other people doing side stories that I had no information on, so I just did my own thing and left it to the editor to sort out any continuity they wanted to try to maintain. Finally, I always liked those designs over the series and wanted to use them in the book. I would say consider it an alt-universe story.

Now on the 48 page New Gen story Class Reunion, I tried to stay within the bounds of cannon and it is even placed into the series timeline on the last page. That was the last Robotech book AP put out before the license was pulled by HG for their Cartoon Network deal, so it was rush inked by 5 or 6 different people (some inept) in order to meet their legal deadline. As a result a lot of the pages suffered, unfortunately.

Also, they were about to hand me control of their main color Robotech series before the license was lost, which tells me that my books must have sold pretty well for them among their various Robotech offerings.

Haven't read any of these yet (I've been putting off Covert Ops just because I'm more of a MOSPEADA/New Gen fan than Macross, so I've been starting with New Gen related stuff, even though I'm sure I should be reading more chronologically). I did read Malcontent Uprisings and enjoyed it thoroughly. As I mentioned a few posts up, I liked that one, though parts of it felt rushed to me. I did like the new mecha in it a lot though.

I'll try to track down Class Reunion and then post about it here shortly.

Thanks for giving us some insight here.

[Totoro242]

Now on the 48 page New Gen story Class Reunion, I tried to stay within the bounds of cannon and it is even placed into the series timeline on the last page. That was the last Robotech book AP put out before the license was pulled by HG for their Cartoon Network deal, so it was rush inked by 5 or 6 different people (some inept) in order to meet their legal deadline. As a result a lot of the pages suffered, unfortunately.

Also, they were about to hand me control of their main color Robotech series before the license was lost, which tells me that my books must have sold pretty well for them among their various Robotech offerings.

Awesome. I've told you before how much I liked your art

Do you happen to still have the original pencils for Class Reunion? That would be nice to see since the art got all dicked up by the bad inking. (except a few panels here and there were good).

That would have been cool to see you taking control of the Antarctic Robotech comic. I don't like Fred Perry's art and would have preferred yours.

I dont suppose you ever wonder what could have been do you? If the comic had taken off and the Cartoon Network deal had still gone through, maybe you would have ended up in Tommy Yunes shoes right now

[RavenHawk]

Greg,

Ok, I just read it, and I have to say I actually really enjoyed it.

I especially liked the new design for Aaron James' Cyclone. New, but similar enough to other ones to be a believable model.

I think my only gripe, and this is a minor one, is that I tend to prefer to see more shading and line weight variety in the artwork. This looks like pencils and inks that were meant to be colored over afterwards, as opposed to your Malcontent Uprisings shading, which I preferred. Again, this is really minor, since I actually like your artwork better here than in Malcontents overall, and I liked it there a good bit.

Little question: Why did one of the Shock Troopers say "Nick" on it?

Too bad we never got to see the return of Aaron later on, with some nice Invid modifications.

I like these sort of in between stories, like the one in the New Gen short story in the Antarctic Robotech Annual, as well as these sort of views into what other resistance fighters were doing, like in the Antarctic Robotech Megastorm graphic novel.

[glane21]

Awesome. I've told you before how much I liked your art

Do you happen to still have the original pencils for Class Reunion? That would be nice to see since the art got all dicked up by the bad inking. (except a few panels here and there were good).

That would have been cool to see you taking control of the Antarctic Robotech comic. I don't like Fred Perry's art and would have preferred yours.

I dont suppose you ever wonder what could have been do you? If the comic had taken off and the Cartoon Network deal had still gone through, maybe you would have ended up in Tommy Yunes shoes right now

Thanks, I appreciate it. I have xeroxes of the pencils somewhere. I will try and find them and post a comparison of pre and post inks on some of the more egregious pages.

I was pretty disappointed not to get the color series but there was nothing to be done. It was actually a year or so later before Tommy Yune took over the Robotech brand. I was actually slated to work on a second Speed Racer series with him at Wildstorm and he left that project to go to Robotech. I ended up doing a book called RoboDojo instead. I've talked with him a couple times since then. He contacted me about doing the cover art for the first Robotech Playstation game but I was too busy to meet the deadline, so Udon got it. He gets a bad rap sometimes but he's really a nice guy.

[glane21]

Greg,

Ok, I just read it, and I have to say I actually really enjoyed it.

I especially liked the new design for Aaron James' Cyclone. New, but similar enough to other ones to be a believable model.

I think my only gripe, and this is a minor one, is that I tend to prefer to see more shading and line weight variety in the artwork. This looks like pencils and inks that were meant to be colored over afterwards, as opposed to your Malcontent Uprisings shading, which I preferred. Again, this is really minor, since I actually like your artwork better here than in Malcontents overall, and I liked it there a good bit.

Little question: Why did one of the Shock Troopers say "Nick" on it?

Too bad we never got to see the return of Aaron later on, with some nice Invid modifications.

I like these sort of in between stories, like the one in the New Gen short story in the Antarctic Robotech Annual, as well as these sort of views into what other resistance fighters were doing, like in the Antarctic Robotech Megastorm graphic novel.

Thanks, very glad you liked it. That was my goal with the new Cyclone design was to tweak it enough so the reader could tell who was who when they were all armored up, but not to go beyond what was reasonable. I really did want to grey-tone the artwork but they digitized the artwork for lettering and it would not have transferred well to print. Probably would have been unreadable. Plus this book was on a super rush as I mentioned before and so it really suffered from some of the inkers they farmed it out to. One of them put the 'NICK' on that trooper, I guess as some inside message to his friends.

The original plan was for a 3 issue series so you would have gotten to see poor Aaron after the experiments. But the license thing made me shorten it to an oversized single issue in order to get it out before the end of that year.

[RavenHawk]

Thanks, very glad you liked it. That was my goal with the new Cyclone design was to tweak it enough so the reader could tell who was who when they were all armored up, but not to go beyond what was reasonable. I really did want to grey-tone the artwork but they digitized the artwork for lettering and it would not have transferred well to print. Probably would have been unreadable. Plus this book was on a super rush as I mentioned before and so it really suffered from some of the inkers they farmed it out to. One of them put the 'NICK' on that trooper, I guess as some inside message to his friends.

The original plan was for a 3 issue series so you would have gotten to see poor Aaron after the experiments. But the license thing made me shorten it to an oversized single issue in order to get it out before the end of that year.

Makes sense.

Thanks again for the insight into what went on.

What are you working on these days?

Any Robotech or related stuff in the foreseeable future?

[Sdf Prime]

glane21 I can understand why you used the DYRL designs I always liked those designs myself. I cant say for sure if I have the covert ops books or not I will have to take a look in my box and see.

So would the sentinels books be worth getting? I thought about trying to collect those at one time but I was afraid some of my favorite characters from the macross saga might get screwed up so I never tried to get them.

[terry the lone wolf]

I think Glane's New Gen story "Class Reunion" was one of the strongest (story wise) out of the Antarctic camp. I can see where he tried to keep the story rooted in the New Generation continuity. Megastorm, though I like the art work, the story was very confusing. Rubicon and the Corg one shot was just trash. Vermillion wasn't too bad but the idea of Khyron cutting side deals with human generals was a little weird.

Edited January 22, 2009 by terry the lone wolf

[RavenHawk]

Latest reads:

- Robotech - Mechangel: Pretty disappointing. I've enjoyed Spangler's work before, but it felt very fan-fic-ish here. The artwork, while not bad, wasn't good either. Felt rushed in the #0 issue, and then there was essentially NOTHING for background in the rest of the series. Of course, the fact that this story was apparently supposed to bridge Malcontents with Southern Cross did nothing for me, as Malcontents was MUCH better than this all around, and Southern Cross just does nothing for me. Overall, just felt like a fanboyish initial concept, though it did start heading into more interesting territory, but just didn't do anything for me.

- Robotech - Vermillion: Not a fan of the art. It isn't bad, just not to my personal tastes. Plus, even in the first couple pages of issue one, the pilot goes back and forth, panel to panel, looking like Roy, then Rick, then Max. The lettering is very amateurish, which makes the whole thing look worse than it deserves. The writing seems decent, though I'm not sure what to make of it. Layouts are VERY manga-ish. Some sort of alternate reality type of story?

The MOSPEADA Diary, on the other hand, is a very pleasant surprise. Had no idea that was in here. Yes, it's just a brief summary, but somehow it really captured the feel very nicely. Would've preferred a little more original art and fewer cells from the show, but that's ok. What was there worked nicely.

The Robotech: Unsung Heroes backup is the serialized black & white version of the story I mentioned early from the Robotech Annual, about a group of freedom fighters concurrent with Scott Bernard's group. Again, I liked this story and artwork a lot, and would have loved to have seen a regular series like this, with various resistance groups.

[RavenHawk]

And more:

- Robotech - Warriors: Have to say that I really enjoyed the artwork in this series. Had a very European feel to it, like the artists who used to work for 2000AD in England. Nice change of pace from a lot of the other Robotech material. Very nice layouts too. Ships designs are gorgeous as well. The story... well, it's interesting, and well written... but just wasn't really interesting to me, despite how much I like Breetai.

The Voice in the Void backup story a little be like adding a touch of Lovecraft to the Zentraedi, though the artwork was surprisingly straightforward (I liked it a good bit, just don't think it fit the intended sense of doom of the story). This feels like the setup for something, which likely never came about.

- Robotech - Metal Swarm: Art shows potential, but everything about this feels rushed. The story... frankly, is just silly scifi. Basic concept, and then not much execution. Seems like there was supposed to be a second issue, but I see no signs of it every coming out.

-Robotech - Warriors - Terror Maker: Just a compilation of Warriors and the backup feature, not even separated into the two separate storylines, but grouped like the original.

These are all really part of the Warriors stories, which just feel to me like 2 or 3 ideas which were dragged out over limited series, but really should've each been a one-shot at best, maybe a backup feature.

[Knight26]

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.

Linky Linky?

[RavenHawk]

Linky Linky?

Bittorrents

[glane21]

Makes sense.

Thanks again for the insight into what went on.

What are you working on these days?

Any Robotech or related stuff in the foreseeable future?

I haven't had any published work since RoboDojo. I'm just too busy with my "real job" and family. I do commission work here and there. But I do have a couple of ideas that I may try to get out there soon.

By the way, if anyone wants signed copies of my Antarctic books PM me, I have a few left for cover price plus shipping. Some original art pages as well.

[sidearmsalpha]

Greg, I have nothing but praise for your work. I love your take on the licenses. I still have one of the pages from Covert Ops that I won on eBay years ago and the signed book from which it came.

[TheLoneWolf]

Another Robotech comic worth checking out is Robotech: Firewalkers. It's a one-shot comic about Lancer as her arrives to Earth. Even though I'm not the biggest Mospeada fan around, for some reason I really enjoyed most of the New Generation era comics.

Edited January 23, 2009 by TheLoneWolf

[RavenHawk]

Reading the Antarctic "Robotech" (no additional bits to that name) series right now.

I'll comment on each storyline separately.

#1-3: Megastorm:

This was truly awful. Just a big fight scene, really, nothing else. Characters are not written with any real distinguishing elements. This feels like Macross:DYRL, but without any added realism, like that attempted to do by reimagining the original. Art and story are both very disappointing. There are some closing comments about Roy's and Max's work with the prototype that make no sense whatsoever.

Backup feature (so far): Terrible, insconsistent artwork. The story... well, there really isn't any yet. Just characters fawning over each other.

[RavenHawk]

Antarctic "Robotech" #4-7:

Main story: Never was a Southern Cross fan, so this didn't do much for me. Again, just one long action scene here, really, in the first issue, though some more plot comes in later. Nothing else going on, though there are some potentially interesting ideas which are pretty much glossed over for the sake of more action, explosions, and exagerated reaction shots. The art isn't to my personal taste, but I know some people do like this more dynamic, more cartoony style. I will admit that, by the end of this story, the style had grown on me a bit, and I did like the new mecha (or modified ones). I did LOVE the look of the Invid in this one, though it was only for one panel. Would love to see more of this rendition.

Backup "Prototype" feature: Keeps getting worse. Very very amateurish, soap opera-like, and a very generic cast of new characters. Again, faces vary from panel to panel, not just based on cartoony vs. realistic effect, but more like some panels are drawn using other artwork as references, and others are rushed and done from memory. And Fokker's mentor is named "Focke?"

[RavenHawk]

Antarctic "Robotech" #8-11 (final issue I believe):

Main story: The backup from the first seven issues, Prototype 001, is now the main story. It begins to get better, art becomes a little better, though still inconsistent, but the ending is such a HUGE letdown that it basically invalidates all 10 previous issues.

Rick is strangely almost completely missing in all of these Antarctic Robotech comics. I wonder why that is?

Backup: Potential for something interest, as a research shuttle from the moonbase witnesses the Invid invasion, however it just makes no sense. They're doing pollen counts... on the moon? Fly to Earth in a matter of minutes? The Invid are already morphing to a new genetic level as their spores crash to Earth? Ridiculous conclusions are drawn, and the whole thing feels so insanely rushed, it just isn't enjoyable.

[RavenHawk]

Antarctic "Robotech" Annual:

- Macross story that is pretty much useless, and nowhere near as clever as it hoped. Artwork is nice change of pace though.

- Sothern Cross story that is really just filler. Nothing interesting here.

- New Gen story that I really enjoyed. We see Rand learning to ride his Cyclone, and have some McKinney types questions answered!

Antarctic "Robotech: Megastorm" Graphic Novel:

This is just a reprint of the first story arc from Antarctic "Robotech." See my comments above, but I think it's a complete waste.

The backup here, though, is fantastic. It's a reprint, though colored, of the New Gen story from before, where we see a less successful group of freedom fighters taking on the Invid. I love it.

Overall, uninspired stuff, but I wish so much we had had more New Gen stories like these two backups!

[terry the lone wolf]

Antarctic "Robotech" #8-11 (final issue I believe):

Main story: The backup from the first seven issues, Prototype 001, is now the main story. It begins to get better, art becomes a little better, though still inconsistent, but the ending is such a HUGE letdown that it basically invalidates all 10 previous issues.

Rick is strangely almost completely missing in all of these Antarctic Robotech comics. I wonder why that is?

Backup: Potential for something interest, as a research shuttle from the moonbase witnesses the Invid invasion, however it just makes no sense. They're doing pollen counts... on the moon? Fly to Earth in a matter of minutes? The Invid are already morphing to a new genetic level as their spores crash to Earth? Ridiculous conclusions are drawn, and the whole thing feels so insanely rushed, it just isn't enjoyable.

Rick appears in Covert Ops, Vermillion, The Wings of Gibraltar, and Sentinels: Rubicon.

[RavenHawk]

Rick appears in Covert Ops, Vermillion, The Wings of Gibraltar, and Sentinels: Rubicon.

I didn't mean in Antarctic Robotech books in general, I meant specifically in the Antarctic series entitled "Robotech."

[RavenHawk]

Just read Robotech: Academy Blues #0-5 and Robotech: Breaking Point (group together, as they all focus on Lisa Hayes in her cadet days).

Firs tof all, apparently I need to read Return to Macross, as there are a couple minor references to it and these stories must be interwoven. Otherwise, this is one of the most disjointed books I've ever read, with whole details, plot elements, and characters being introduced, skipped over, or assumed that we care for them. Really poor writing on its own. Don't know why this was a separate series from Return to Macross. I guess I'll reserve the rest of my judgment on the writing until I read Return to Macross.

As for the artwork, it is just terrible everywhere except for issue #5, and there it is only good in the panels drawn by one of the sisters. The other panels are awful. The artwork by all the other artists just looks EXTREMELY rushed, especially towards the latter part of any given issue. Most annoying isn't the fact that you can't tell who a character is from one given issue to another but rather that, with the exception of some good portions of #5 and a couple significant characters elsewhere, you can't even guess at who is male and who is female.

I've seen fanfics with far better writing and artwork.

Breaking Point has poor artwork, but at least it's consistent throughout. Not sure if this story takes place the same day as Academy Blues #5, a week later, or what, since the timeline is unclear. Lots of exposition in the dialogue, but could use some narration. The one thing I will say about Breaking Point is that at least you can tell what panel follows which one. Academy Blues jumped around, which was incredibly annoying, forcing you to read every panel, then try and piece it together from the dialogue.

[Sdf Prime]

From what you have said, If I start looking to get some robotech comics I think I will avoid Academy Blues and Breaking Point they sound pretty bad. I haven't gotten any robotech comics in a while but if you start looking around mostly all you can find are wildstorm books. Its a shame that if they still have the license that they are just sitting on it and not publishing something, I mean put out a trade paperback collecting some of the old material.

[RavenHawk]

From what you have said, If I start looking to get some robotech comics I think I will avoid Academy Blues and Breaking Point they sound pretty bad. I haven't gotten any robotech comics in a while but if you start looking around mostly all you can find are wildstorm books. Its a shame that if they still have the license that they are just sitting on it and not publishing something, I mean put out a trade paperback collecting some of the old material.

I'd stay away from Antarctic books.

Eternity are good.

Academy that are continuations of Eternity ones are good, the others... some are good, some aren't.

I recommend downloading them, like I did with BitTorrents. If they were available for purchase from the companies, then I'd say buy them, but where they're out of print, I don't feel bad downloading them. The ones that I like, I seek out back issues of to purchase hardcopies.

Those are my personal opinions on the books, based on what I've read so far, and on downloading.

[RavenHawk]

Just read Robotech: Love & War (#1-6, Wildstorm).

Much better than I expected. Not the biggest fan of Macross, though I don't mind it either. Mainly just have fond childhood memories of it. This was an entertaining retelling of the key moments in the Macross saga, as they related to Max. Artwork was pretty good too, as was pacing and page layout.

The backup (Little White Dragon) wasn't bad either. Never been a Lynn Kyle fan, but this story folded into the main story very nicely. I also really liked the artwork in the backup, especially Rick. A nice mix of original anime/manga style with more realistic faces and bodies.

[RavenHawk]

Robotech: Genesis: Legend of zor (#1-6, Eternity):

Wow, this was actually MUCH better than I was expecting. MUCH.

My only previous experience with the Waltrips was Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, co-written with Tommy Yune, which I though was absolutely terrible... just awful...

Anyway, this was really good. Never been too interested in this aspect of the Robotech universe, but they wrote a very good story, with solid dialogue (except for Zor talking to the "Masters," which felt like it was taken directly from Darth Vader talking to the Emperor).

Nice details added to his interactions with Optera, too.

The art is very solid. Nothing amazing, but nice crisp art, with good panel layouts. Very reminiscent of the better Comico Robotech stuff.

[Sdf Prime]

RavenHawk, Have you ever read any of the Sentinels comics? At times I have wanted to check them out but was always afraid to because the Macross portion of robotech was always my favorite and I was afraid they would mess the characters up.

[RavenHawk]

RavenHawk, Have you ever read any of the Sentinels comics? At times I have wanted to check them out but was always afraid to because the Macross portion of robotech was always my favorite and I was afraid they would mess the characters up.

Haven't yet, but I plan on starting tomorrow. I'll post up comments on each book (they're divided into "books" of 13-22 issues each) as I finish eat.

[RavenHawk]

Robotech II: The Sentinels: Book 1 (#1-16, plus Robotech II: The Sentinels: Wedding Special #1-2; Eternity):

Well, having put off reading the actual Sentinels books until I'd read a good portion of the pre- and post-Sentinels stuff, the time finally came to delve into this series, written by Tom Mason and Chris Ulm and illustrated by the Waltrips.

I'm impressed. I really enjoyed the first book of this. The artwork is very very solid, very consistent throughout, faces are recognizable, mecha look good, without any exaggerated line weights like you often see, and the art looks very consistent with how the Sentinels series was meant to look. The writing is MUCH better than I expected. My complaints on previous Robotech comics were often about them being all action with minimal plot or character development, or being like some high school reality show (with some exceptions, such as Invid War, Aftermath), or being solid but feeling rushed (Malcontent Uprisings was good, but felt rushed to me). I have to say, this book seemed to have everything in just the right proportions. The storytelling is slow (but by no means boring; it is interesting throughout), developing where it needs to, building up where it should (even devoting two issues of a special to the wedding, which seems silly at first, but when you read it, it is just right, and helps character development significantly), and filling in details nicely. There is action, but there is plot as well, and they are going at, in my opinion, just the right base.

I'm really looking forward to the next book.

Of note, so far this has followed the scripts for Sentinels and the McKinney books (which I am a big fan of) VERY closely. All of this really lends to a cohesive feel to the Robotech "universe." I have heard that later on these two writers leave, and the Waltrips stay on, but handling both art and story. While I am glad that I can expect this consistency, I am curious to see how the writing will change at that point. Also, I have heard that, as the series progresses, it beings to diverge more and more from the scripts and the books, so I am anxious to see that take place.

Regardless, I enjoyed this a lot, MUCH more than I expected, and I recommend it highly.

[Sdf Prime]

RavenHawk, Sounds like the Sentinels comics might be worth taking a look at one day. I have only had a chance to read one of the Jack McKinney omnibus's of the first three Macross Saga novels and I really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading the next omnibus.

[RavenHawk]

RavenHawk, Sounds like the Sentinels comics might be worth taking a look at one day. I have only had a chance to read one of the Jack McKinney omnibus's of the first three Macross Saga novels and I really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading the next omnibus.

Based on what I've read so far, I do indeed recommend them.

There were also compilation books of the Sentinels comics put out by Malibu. I'd say look for the originals, or the compilations, on eBay. Probably can get the whole series for fairly cheap.

As for the novels, I read the Sentinels ones when they first came out, then the followups afterwards. A couple years ago I picked up all 20 (I think that's how many it was) Robotech novels on eBay for about $30.

I really do recommend them. Well written, and well thought out too.

[Ginrai]

Only a small portion of the Sentinels comics were released in a collected form.

[RavenHawk]

Only a small portion of the Sentinels comics were released in a collected form.

I saw 4 collected editions, so figured it was the 4 books of Sentinels, but just looked through them and it's all book 1 of Sentinels, split into 4 collected editions.

[Totoro242]

I saw 4 collected editions, so figured it was the 4 books of Sentinels, but just looked through them and it's all book 1 of Sentinels, split into 4 collected editions.

Even less

4 issues per GN.

They only got up to issue #14 (issue #16 really once you add in Wedding Special). I don't know what they were thinking.