Robotech Comics

[Totoro242]

Sounds like the Sentinels comics might be worth taking a look at one day. I

Seriously, you can get all of book 1 for $15 - $20 on Ebay. The print run was so high, there's oodles of them floating around out there.

Good luck with Book III and even worse Book IV. Towards the end of the Book IV (ended prematurely on issue #13) they had a print run of something like 1,000 each issue.

I don't even have an issue #13 as they go for $60+ on Ebay.

[Sdf Prime]

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.

I agree that the novels are well thought out and a great read. The thing that was funny was I read a good portion of the Macross Saga novel before I even saw robotech, didn't see robotech till last year in the protoculture collection and I had already seen SDF Macross before that and before that I saw Mac plus and Mac 2 somewhere in there but saw Macross DYRL first before I knew DYRL was the name of it or that it was Japanese,but that movie has stuck with me as I grew up.I think I saw everything in reverse.

I haven't decided for sure if I will check out the rest of novels past the Macross Saga or not, If I do it would more than likely be the sentinels if I do try to read more of them.

Seriously, you can get all of book 1 for $15 - $20 on Ebay. The print run was so high, there's oodles of them floating around out there.

Good luck with Book III and even worse Book IV. Towards the end of the Book IV (ended prematurely on issue #13) they had a print run of something like 1,000 each issue.

I don't even have an issue #13 as they go for $60+ on Ebay.

I am trying to decide if getting the collected editions would be easier than trying track down all of the issues individually. Anyone know if the collected editions had any kind of extras in them or was it just the comics?

[RavenHawk]

I agree that the novels are well thought out and a great read. The thing that was funny was I read a good portion of the Macross Saga novel before I even saw robotech, didn't see robotech till last year in the protoculture collection and I had already seen SDF Macross before that and before that I saw Mac plus and Mac 2 somewhere in there but saw Macross DYRL first before I knew DYRL was the name of it or that it was Japanese,but that movie has stuck with me as I grew up.I think I saw everything in reverse.

I haven't decided for sure if I will check out the rest of novels past the Macross Saga or not, If I do it would more than likely be the sentinels if I do try to read more of them.

I am trying to decide if getting the collected editions would be easier than trying track down all of the issues individually. Anyone know if the collected editions had any kind of extras in them or was it just the comics?

The collected editions didn't finish collecting the whole series. They stopped pretty early too.

As for any extras in them, they didn't really. What they did have was a revised timeline, to match Harmony Gold's new version of it, and some of the early material was touched up a bit to match Sentinels better, since when they were originally being written, Sentinels wasn't planned yet.

I read the Sentinels books first and like them best of all, but I think they're all pretty solid. The later books were more philosophical, and less just basing things on episodes.

[RavenHawk]

Seriously, you can get all of book 1 for $15 - $20 on Ebay. The print run was so high, there's oodles of them floating around out there.

Good luck with Book III and even worse Book IV. Towards the end of the Book IV (ended prematurely on issue #13) they had a print run of something like 1,000 each issue.

I don't even have an issue #13 as they go for $60+ on Ebay.

If you want the issues hardcopy, then eBay is definitely the way to go, and you can get them pretty cheap.

Alternatively, you can download them. I just finished downloading the torrent with every single Robotech comic, from DC Robotech Defenders, though Comico, Malibu, Eternity, Academy, DC/Wildstorm... it's all there.

[Totoro242]

The collected editions didn't finish collecting the whole series. They stopped pretty early too.

As for any extras in them, they didn't really. What they did have was a revised timeline, to match Harmony Gold's new version of it, and some of the early material was touched up a bit to match Sentinels better, since when they were originally being written, Sentinels wasn't planned yet.

I'm confused. What are you talking about here?

[RavenHawk]

I'm confused. What are you talking about here?

Talking about the collected editions of the Jack McKinney novels.

[Sdf Prime]

I did some looking around and I see what Totoro242 was talking about with the later chapters of the Sentinels comics will no drought be hard to come by. Now it was mentioned that book Book IV ended early so would Book IV still be worth taking a look at or since you cant get the whole story would I be better off skipping it?

[RavenHawk]

I did some looking around and I see what Totoro242 was talking about with the later chapters of the Sentinels comics will no drought be hard to come by. Now it was mentioned that book Book IV ended early so would Book IV still be worth taking a look at or since you cant get the whole story would I be better off skipping it?

I'm halfway through book 2 at the moment, but it seems that it's all one long story, as opposed to separate books being separate stories. Book 1 is the part of the story leading to taking Tirol, book 2 so far is the beginning of the Sentinels campaigns, and so on. As such, your question is a little like having a 4 chapter book, where the fourth chapter is incomplete, and wondering if you should just read chapters 1-3, but skip 4 entirely. I think you should read as much of the sotry as you can, and enjoy the ride.

[Sdf Prime]

I'm halfway through book 2 at the moment, but it seems that it's all one long story, as opposed to separate books being separate stories. Book 1 is the part of the story leading to taking Tirol, book 2 so far is the beginning of the Sentinels campaigns, and so on. As such, your question is a little like having a 4 chapter book, where the fourth chapter is incomplete, and wondering if you should just read chapters 1-3, but skip 4 entirely. I think you should read as much of the sotry as you can, and enjoy the ride.

Thanks for the info I didn't know the comics were one big story line. I thought they were 4 different story arch's or something based on the book one and book two numbering they were using.

[RavenHawk]

Thanks for the info I didn't know the comics were one big story line. I thought they were 4 different story arch's or something based on the book one and book two numbering they were using.

Which is sort of the same thing I was expecting before I started reading them, so I know what you mean.

To be honest, I haven't read the novels in quite a few years, though I really loved them at the time, so I don't know whether the "books" of the comic correspond to the event in each book of the novels, or whether it's a more arbitrary decision in the comics, saying something like "first particular part of the story ends here, so this book will end here too."

Either way, I'm really enjoying them and highly recommend them.

[sketchley]

If memory serves, they were originally based on the books, but begin to diverge from the books after a certain point. I like some of the interesting and new twists they add that aren't in the novels; not to mention the reduction on focus on the metaphysical that the novels focus more on (not that it was bad. It was quite interesting, but it's something that probably wouldn't work well in comics form.)

[RavenHawk]

If memory serves, they were originally based on the books, but begin to diverge from the books after a certain point. I like some of the interesting and new twists they add that aren't in the novels; not to mention the reduction on focus on the metaphysical that the novels focus more on (not that it was bad. It was quite interesting, but it's something that probably wouldn't work well in comics form.)

I haven't gotten that far yet. The only differences worth any real note that I've come across so far are the creation of super-sized monsters from the Regiss' pits, which I don't recall being the case in the novels. In the comics, well, it just seems plain silly. That one element really isn't for me. Everything else is great though.

I wonder if the divergences take place just due to normal comic book conventions of storytelling, or start when the Waltrips take over writing duties?

[RavenHawk]

Robotech II: The Sentinels Book 2 (Issues #01-21, though my #2 is missing the second half of the issue):

Continuing to be a very solid story. We now follow our characters as they join the Sentinels on their campaigns. Everything progresses very nicely, primarily focused on the Sentinels, though we do see some of what is going on with the Regiss and the Regent, and some significant goings-on with Edwards (and Minmei, sadly... sorry, never enjoyed her character, and don't like her here either, though it is very true to her character from before and is a believable version of her a few years down the line).

The art continues to be very good and very consistent. You can definitely tell when one Waltrip does the art versus the other, but it all flows nicely from issue to issue.

For some inexplicable reason, starting with this book, and continuing on afterwards, Jack Baker goes from being drawn like a young adult, to have the face of a little kid. I really don't understand why, as Karen continues looking the same as always. If anything, he should be slowly looking older and older (though his personality is maturing nicely).

The writing is great, adding details to the novels nicely, and I can't say enough about the pacing. Too many other Robotech books have gone far too slowly, focusing on melodrama, or too quickly, focusing on pure action. I think this one gets the pace just right, and is really developing the slowly at the speed which it deserves.

The book ends with a very significant, disastrous event. It happens a little too quickly for my taste, but that may be part of the point, and necessary to have the time for the other characters' reactions at the end, which are handled very very well.

Looking forward to Book 3.

Again, this series continues to be highly recommended.

[RavenHawk]

Robotech II: The Sentinels: Book Three (#1-8 Eternity, #9-22 Academy):

The series continues, though minus one of the two authors. It's not a huge difference, though I do feel that the dialogue suffers for it a little. It just seems less natural here, so it may be that the other author handled a lot of the writing of that side of things, or they just worked well together to make it sound right.

The story continues very nicely, with the Garudan campaign now being the main focus. We do see a lot more going on with Edwards and the SDF-3, which is important, and correct in regards to the scripts for the episodes and the novels, though personally I want to see more Sentinels and more mecha.

Now, there are some changes taking place:

- As of issue 7, the Waltrips are now handling writing as well. Initially, they write together, though later on they alternate issues, where one does all of the art and writing on an issue, then the other does all of the art and writing on the next issue. At the same time as this happens, a new assistant editor steps in and, I must say, we start seeing A LOT more typos. Personally, I find this very annoying, though a lot of people probably don't really care. Who knows where to lay the blame for this one, with the writers now having more typos to begin with, or the new editor not catching and correcting them. We also see a lot more text against dark backgrounds, making it much tougher to read, but again, who knows...

- As of issue 9, the books stops being published by Eternity and begins being published by Academy. First change you notice with Academy is that, in my opinion, the covers get really ugly. Just not to my taste at all. I liked the Eternity ones a lot, thought they felt like they suited the books very nicely, but, seeing the Academy ones again for the first time in a number of years, I remember that these covers are what scared me off fro these books in the first place.

- With this point in the series, we see another change: More action, and much quicker progression of the story. Everything moves much faster; in fact, a little too fast for my personal taste. We see much less character development, and sub-plots with various characters seem to get glossed over, or simply forgotten. Now, is this the fault of the Waltrips, or of Academy? A little bit of both, in my opinion. When the Waltrips took over, they said in an interview that they were going to try to move to every issue corresponding to double the chapters in the novels that they previously did (interestingly, they don't mention why they are taking over writing). At the same time, when Academy beings publishing, one of the full page ads for Robotech II: The Sentinels says something to the effect of "same creators, same story, more ACTION!" As I've said before, I thought the pacing was perfect previously, but I think it's too fast now. Additionally, it seems like we start skipping over entire events at this point.

- Another problem I have is that Eternity ran a contest towards the end where people could submit their own characters, and the winner would be included in the comic. The winner, a Lt. Nicks, gets put in really jarringly. Artistically, she never looks like she fits, in any of her appearances, and her subplot is handled really awkwardly... and she keeps reappearing! And being reintroduced every time! Then, the runner-up in the contest, Praxa, is introduced as well. Her appearance is never really explained well, and she just sort of sits there, contributing nothing. There seems to be a mistery about her but then, towards the end of this book of Sentinels, she is pretty much left dangling and forgotten. The only significant thing she does is **** spoiler **** for no understandable reason, she makes out with a drunk Wolff, causing him to not notice a shuttle leave Garuda **** end of spoiler **** I thought this was really random, and a disservice to the fans to have this happen, with no further explanation.

The story very clearly begins deviating from the novels more and more with the Waltrips writing, such as during the voyage into the "Hin." Not to my taste, but not a gigantic issue either.

Now, the above probably comes across as very negative, but it is because I was enjoying this series SO MUCH before these events took place.

I still like it. A lot.

I still highly recommend it.

It's just not as good as the previous books of Sentinels.

[Sdf Prime]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these comics RavenHawk. I have decided to try and get a hold what Sentinel comics I can and probably try for the novels as well at some point. So based upon what you have read so far which sentinels do you prefer comics or novels or do you like both equally well? Anyone else have an opinion that would like to chime in?

[Dynaman]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these comics RavenHawk. I have decided to try and get a hold what Sentinel comics I can and probably try for the novels as well at some point. So based upon what you have read so far which sentinels do you prefer comics or novels or do you like both equally well? Anyone else have an opinion that would like to chime in?

I liked the novels myself, the novels and the comics do diverge radically at the end (Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles). I generally prefer novels though, for me a comic is taking the worst parts of movies and books and combining them into one - but that's a personal thing...

The art in the comics is decent, unlike the Comico comics which went from Abysmal to excellent depending on who was doing the art.

I was going to say that the comics are more "Cannon" then the novels are, but since RT cannon changes by the minute that should not be a concern - choose which story telling format you prefer and go with that.

[MjrMisaHayase]

Robotech Comics Blog

[Sdf Prime]

I liked the novels myself, the novels and the comics do diverge radically at the end (Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles). I generally prefer novels though, for me a comic is taking the worst parts of movies and books and combining them into one - but that's a personal thing...

The art in the comics is decent, unlike the Comico comics which went from Abysmal to excellent depending on who was doing the art.

I was going to say that the comics are more "Cannon" then the novels are, but since RT cannon changes by the minute that should not be a concern - choose which story telling format you prefer and go with that.

I have read the Macross Saga omnibus of the first three novels and greatly enjoyed them and will start on the second Macross Saga omnibus fairly soon after that I may go for the Sentinels novels. I will likely take a look at both the Sentinels comics and novels.

Robotech Comics Blog

Cool, Thanks for the link lots and lots of info.

[MjrMisaHayase]

Cool, Thanks for the link lots and lots of info.

You're welcome.

[sketchley]

Robotech II: The Sentinels: Book Three (#1-8 Eternity, #9-22 Academy):

The series continues, though minus one of the two authors. (...)

This is probably the best review of the series that I've read. Kudos.

It's also pointing out a lot of stuff that I think the average reader missed during it's original monthly release. I didn't really notice how jarring Lt. Nicks and Praxa are to the story, nor their reintroductions. I actually thought it was kind of fun at the time (referring to Lt. Nicks here, as I can't honestly say I remember Praxa).

Anyhow, thanks to those participating in this thread, it's brought back some good memories (which has inversely made me afraid to go back and reread the books, because memory tends to make things better than they actually were/are, right? )

[RavenHawk]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these comics RavenHawk. I have decided to try and get a hold what Sentinel comics I can and probably try for the novels as well at some point. So based upon what you have read so far which sentinels do you prefer comics or novels or do you like both equally well? Anyone else have an opinion that would like to chime in?

I really really loved the novels, ESPECIALLY the Sentinels ones. I feel like more of the authors' own writing talents came through there.

I am a big comic fan, but really have been disappointed by some of the Robotech comics (as my reviews above show). That being said, the Sentinels comics (thus far) have been MUCH better than I expected. I recommend them, but really prefer the novels.

By the way, even though I have the novels, I just downloaded them too. Have you looked into BitTorrents?

Just want to say, thanks for actually reading my reviews/thoughts on these comics. I'm glad they can be of use.

[RavenHawk]

I liked the novels myself, the novels and the comics do diverge radically at the end (Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles). I generally prefer novels though, for me a comic is taking the worst parts of movies and books and combining them into one - but that's a personal thing...

The art in the comics is decent, unlike the Comico comics which went from Abysmal to excellent depending on who was doing the art.

I was going to say that the comics are more "Cannon" then the novels are, but since RT cannon changes by the minute that should not be a concern - choose which story telling format you prefer and go with that.

I agree to a decent degree. I think the comics are generally considered to be more cannon by a lot of fans, but since neither one is currently Harmony Gold's cannon, I choose the cannon which I think is better written and more fully thought out... the novels.

[RavenHawk]

Robotech Comics Blog

Thanks for the link. I've seen this before (I think somebody posted this on the first page, if I remember correctly, in reply to the question of what order to read the comics in), but have only skimmed it. I guess I selfishly wanted to put my own thoughts down on paper (computer screen?) first, and then will read other people's opinions as well.

[RavenHawk]

This is probably the best review of the series that I've read. Kudos.

It's also pointing out a lot of stuff that I think the average reader missed during it's original monthly release. I didn't really notice how jarring Lt. Nicks and Praxa are to the story, nor their reintroductions. I actually thought it was kind of fun at the time (referring to Lt. Nicks here, as I can't honestly say I remember Praxa).

Anyhow, thanks to those participating in this thread, it's brought back some good memories (which has inversely made me afraid to go back and reread the books, because memory tends to make things better than they actually were/are, right? )

Thanks, I appreciate it.

I also want to echo the thanks to everyone participating in this thread.

It's kind of fun for me.

[Sdf Prime]

I really really loved the novels, ESPECIALLY the Sentinels ones. I feel like more of the authors' own writing talents came through there.

I am a big comic fan, but really have been disappointed by some of the Robotech comics (as my reviews above show). That being said, the Sentinels comics (thus far) have been MUCH better than I expected. I recommend them, but really prefer the novels.

By the way, even though I have the novels, I just downloaded them too. Have you looked into BitTorrents?

Just want to say, thanks for actually reading my reviews/thoughts on these comics. I'm glad they can be of use.

Robotech comics appear to be a mixed bag but I think all comics are a mixed bag at one time or another. I appreciate you sharing your Robotech comic reviews with us.

I haven't looked to much into downloading the Sentinels comics yet, I am going to see what I can get in hard copy form fist. I actually have some Sentinels comics on the way right now 12 issues of book 1,five issues of book 2, 1 issue of book 3, both issues of the wedding special and two of the illustrated handbooks and one of the Sentinels scrip books. Books three and four look to be the toughest to get hard copy's of so I will probably just have to keep an eye out for those but ,may have to look at downloading if ever want too see them. From what I have seen the novels don't look like they will be to hard get a copy of plus I want the hard copy's to go along with my two Macross Saga omnibuses.

You know its funny, I was all worried about checking out the Sentinels because I was afraid the Macross Saga characters would get screwed up but reading these reviews got me to dive head first into the Sentinels.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

I also want to echo the thanks to everyone participating in this thread.

It's kind of fun for me.

I will echo your echo and say that I also appreciate everyones comments and that this is very fun thread to participate in.

[RavenHawk]

Robotech II: The Sentinels: Book Four (Robotech II: The Sentinels: Book Four #1-13, Robotech II: The Sentinels: Halloween Special #1, Robotech II: The Sentinels: Book Four #0):

First of all, issue #0 came out before #1, which makes sense. What doesn't make sense, however, is that it is a complete Robotech timeline, starting with Zor's birth and going through the event that lead to Robotech: The Odyssey, which was to being after all of the books (presumably 5) of Robotech II: The Sentinels. As such, issue #0 reveals events of this book and after, so I chose to read it last. I will also review it last.

Issues #1-13 continue what we saw in Book Three. Solid writing, solid consistent art, but it continues feeling a little bit rushed, which is something we have seen consistently since the book moved over to Academy. There's nothing bad at all, but we're really just not getting the level of detail and quality of dialogue that we had become spoiled by before. Here, the liberation moves to Haydon, characters are introduced then glossed over rather quickly, Praxa reveals who she is... and no one reading the book really cares. It is clear that her moment with Wolff is meant to be forgotten. Haydon is liberated quickly, despite a lot of actual elements being involved in this liberation. I have to this that, under the previous authors, this liberation would've taken a good dozen to dozen and a half issues, as opposed to the half dozen it gets here. Keep in mind, all of these events are interspersed with event on Tirol as well, where things are supposedly heating up, but you just don't get the feeling of any tension. Kyle is there, though his actions seem poorly thought out, mostly involving sitting around, on the off chance that someone comes along to help. Enter Nicks, who still doesn't fit in, yet is somehow amazingly still being forced into the story. Then she helps Kyle... sort of.

After the liberation of Haydon IV, some Sentinels return to Tirol, while others move on to Spheris... and spend a lot of time sitting around. For a book where the new writing style is supposed to move things along very quickly, we seem to get several issues of filler. Meanwhile, back on Tirol, Edwards is dealt with by the council FAR to quickly. He revolts, fighting breaks out, and...

That's it. That's the end of Academy's run of Robotech. For the most part, nothing is resolved further, though Wildstorm's Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles picks up on Tirol EXACTLY where this story leaves off... but then everything else, especially the Sentinels and their campaign, is completely different.

In general, I would sum up this book by saying that it is fine, definitely worth reading if you've read the previous books, which I highly recommend, but the quality definitely drops as more and more divergences from the novels appear.

The Halloween Special has nothing to do with Halloween, and isn't really special. It is a filler issue, taking place between Book Four: #11 and #12. The Sentinels breath in some gas from an asteroid orbiting Spheris... the women start acting strangely... the asteroid downloads all of the SDF-7's data... and then the asteroid flies off. Nothing more is ever heard of this, as Academy's license of Robotech ends shortly thereafter, and this was not anything from the novels. The issue it self if fine, art and writing are fine, you just kind of finish it and realize that that's it, nothing more, and feel very unsatisfied by your read.

Issue #0, as mentioned above, sums up ALL OF ROBOTECH on a timeline, but was published before Book IV. It's a nice little timeline, but it really doesn't serve any purpose for setting up book 4, and in fact gives away most of the new elements of book 4. The sad part it, that the timeline is incorrect, as within a handful of issues of book 4 itself, it is invalidated, at least in the order in which things occur, which is sort of the point of a timeline.

This really would've made much more sense to be published concurrently with issue #13, when Academy found out they had lost the license to Robotech, just to tell the fans what was SUPPOSED to happen.

To sum up, I will repeat what I wrote above:

In general, I would sum up this book by saying that it is fine, definitely worth reading if you've read the previous books, which I highly recommend, but the quality definitely drops as more and more divergences from the novels appear.

Now, on to Worlds of Robotech, which I believe is concurrent with Book 4, and the Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles, just to get a more complete picture.

[Einherjar]

@ RavenHawk

So far I've only watched the Robotech II: the Sentinels, but I always wanted to see Rick Hunter's leadership skills as a general/admiral of the military. It didn't leave me with a good impression at first, but I was wondering how he turned out as the story went on in the comics.

[RavenHawk]

@ RavenHawk

So far I've only watched the Robotech II: the Sentinels, but I always wanted to see Rick Hunter's leadership skills as a general/admiral of the military. It didn't leave me with a good impression at first, but I was wondering how he turned out as the story went on in the comics.

To be honest, he starts off a bit whiny in the comics in Book 1 while he is showing he isn't happy being a general/admiral, but then we start seeing more of the old Rick Hunter come through, though obviously aged and more mature.

I think the novels did a better job of handling him well, or at least with a personality that I appreciated, but the Sentinels comics do a good job. At least in the Sentinels comics you feel like you are reading further, older adventures of the characters you knew and loved. Prelude to Shadow Chronicles, and then the Shadow Chronicles movie just felt like totally different characters only sharing the same name.

[MjrMisaHayase]

To be honest, he starts off a bit whiny in the comics in Book 1 while he is showing he isn't happy being a general/admiral, but then we start seeing more of the old Rick Hunter come through, though obviously aged and more mature.

I think the novels did a better job of handling him well, or at least with a personality that I appreciated, but the Sentinels comics do a good job. At least in the Sentinels comics you feel like you are reading further, older adventures of the characters you knew and loved. Prelude to Shadow Chronicles, and then the Shadow Chronicles movie just felt like totally different characters only sharing the same name.

In the Robotech II movie, he's a Major General whereas in the comics and novels, he's Vice-Admiral. His fiancee-later wife, Lisa Hayes is a full-fledged Admiral in all three versions.

[Dynaman]

@ RavenHawk

So far I've only watched the Robotech II: the Sentinels, but I always wanted to see Rick Hunter's leadership skills as a general/admiral of the military. It didn't leave me with a good impression at first, but I was wondering how he turned out as the story went on in the comics.

Rick eventually comes into his own, in the novels Lisa is the one who goes through the bigger change. I've been rereading the novels, almost to the end of book 4, one glaring problem was at one point Rick was seriously acting aggresive - understandably considering what happened in the story, but then he went right back to his old self without any good reason why. That bugged me.

Overall I liked the novels and would recommend them though, they don't seem to get quite as weird as I remember them doing either - but maybe that is mainly from "The End of the Circle". (or it could be the "videogame formation" that Edwards puts his forces in)

[RavenHawk]

Worlds of Robotech (Worlds of Robotech - Amazon World - Escape from Praxis, Worlds of Robotech - Crystal World - Prisoners of Spheris, Worlds of Robotech - Cyber World - Secrets of Haydon IV, Worlds of Robotech - Feral World - Nightmare on Garuda, Worlds of Robotech - Invid World - Assault on Optera, Worlds of Robotech - Macross Missions - Destroid, Worlds of Robotech - Smith World - Sabotage on Karbarra, and Worlds of Robotech - Graphic Novel):

All of these are written and illustrated by the usual Sentinels team of the Waltrip borther, which the exception of Worlds of Robotech - Macross Missions - Destroid.

Worlds of Robotech - Amazon World - Escape from Praxis:

Art and writing are fine here, though neither is very interesting. This really feels like a filler issue. Nothing really new happens here. We've seen all of it before in flashbacks in the regular Sentinels book, it's just elaborated on here.

Worlds of Robotech - Crystal World - Prisoners of Spheris:

Kind of an interesting one. This is our only view into the Spherisian culture really, though it is pretty minimal. Some of it somehow reminds me of Kryptonians as they were portrayed back in the '70s. The only really interested thing here is that we see a cyborg, along the lines of Dusty in New Gen, though it's unclear why the Invid use him as a servant. Visually, he looks like a cross between Edwards and the Cyborg Superman.

Worlds of Robotech - Cyber World - Secrets of Haydon IV:

This issue has so much potential, but it just doesn't really deliver. We have a lot hinted at here, and I'm sure this would be the right way to do it if everything were to be revealed in the regular Sentinels book but, reading it after I read the last issue of Sentinels, which ended before things were ever revealed, it just becomes frustrating. Read the novels for some of the revelations. It is a little interested just how horrible the Regiss is here. We've seen her other places, and under the original authors of the Sentinels comics, portray somewhat sympathetically, the recent stories have reason shown her in a much more sinister light.

Worlds of Robotech - Feral World - Nightmare on Garuda:

Kind of nice to see a story with what goes on while the main characters moved away. The interaction with the Hin is an interesting idea but, in the end, it seemed like an excuse to have a zombie-like tale. The conclusion comes all to quickly and easily.

Worlds of Robotech - Invid World - Assault on Optera:

I enjoyed this one. Nice, dark, but fun story. Like most of these, it really doesn't end up contributing anything to the ongoing storyline though. It is worth noting just how horribly this one rips off Starship Troopers (the book, not the movie), with the designs and the attack tactics.

Worlds of Robotech - Macross Missions - Destroid:

Eh. Really didn't care for this one at all. Like the other work by William Jang that I've read, the artwork is VERY inconsistent, sometimes nice, sometimes terribly amateurish. Characters can rarely be told apart, and dialogue is just terrible. His work always seems to me like a fanfin, and not an official Robotech comic book. As usual, lots of technical terminology is thrown in, but it doesn't make it any better of a story. I wouldn't bother with this one, unless you really love Macross and want to see the more obscure background events that could have been going on, or are a completist (like me, at this point).

Worlds of Robotech - Smith World - Sabotage on Karbarra:

As the Optera story ripped off Starship Troopers, this one rips off Blade Runner. Even the vehicles are the same. We basically have a film noir type story, following a murder investigation. The discovery that comes from this investigation is just silly, I think, and does nothing for me. The issue is, likely intentionally, full of cliches. This is the type of story I SHOULD enjoy, WANT to enjoy, WANT to like the characters, but it's all too flat and quick.

Worlds of Robotech - Graphic Novel:

This is a compilation of all of the above books, minus Worlds of Robotech - Macross Missions - Destroid, which wouldn't fit anyway as it has nothing to do with Sentinel worlds. All of the material is reprints, with the exception of short paragraphs on each planet before each chapter, which are nice and well written.

This is a good spot to briefly discuss these books as a whole. Let's ignore Macross Missions - Destroid, as it really doesn't belong here in any way, shape, or form.

These books are kind of a fun read. I do, as a fan, really appreciate them spending the time on creating them and giving the Robotech universe a larger, more complete feel. I am disappointed that they're all kind of filler, throw-away stories that really have no bearing on the regular series at all, with the possible exception of the hints dropped in the Haydon IV one, though those were obviously never followed up on.

The art and story match the regular series, and they are all still written and illustrated by the Waltrips. The art does feel a little rushed and sloppy in some places, but I guess a lot of material was coming out fairly quickly at this point in the run.

We do see story elements that are just getting silly in some places, which I think is symptomatic of wherever the comics diverge from the novels.

As for the ripoffs of Starship Troopers, Blade Runner, and others... well, your enjoyment will depend on whether you see them as ripoffs, or "homages."

It is a little disappointing that we never got a Worlds of Robotech issue for Peryton. As it stands, the only view of the comic book version of Peryton that was ever published was a minimal glimpse in Book Four #0, and a single panel in the Haydon IV Worlds of Robotech issue.

Edited February 10, 2009 by RavenHawk

[RavenHawk]

Up next: Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles (FINALLY)...

After that, I still have Clone, Return to Macross, and a few others to fill in.

[Sdf Prime]

Rick eventually comes into his own, in the novels Lisa is the one who goes through the bigger change. I've been rereading the novels, almost to the end of book 4, one glaring problem was at one point Rick was seriously acting aggresive - understandably considering what happened in the story, but then he went right back to his old self without any good reason why. That bugged me.

Overall I liked the novels and would recommend them though, they don't seem to get quite as weird as I remember them doing either - but maybe that is mainly from "The End of the Circle". (or it could be the "videogame formation" that Edwards puts his forces in)

So Rick become more aggressive as in say blow everything up or is it in just how he carries himself and what causes this?

Up next: Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles (FINALLY)...

I am looking forward to reading your review on this series of comics I don't think I have ever heard to much good about the prelude comics. I got my sentinels comics in the mail so I need to open that box and take a look at them.

Edited February 11, 2009 by Sdf Prime

[Dynaman]

So Rick become more aggressive as in say blow everything up or is it in just how he carries himself and what causes this?

I am looking forward to reading your review on this series of comics I don't think I have ever heard to much good about the prelude comics. I got my sentinels comics in the mail so I need to open that box and take a look at them.

At one point he want to kill every Invid he sees. But it doesn't last more then a paragraph or two, with no reason why he reverts back. It's almost like the author thought of going somewhere, stopped writing for the day, and forgot about it the next day...

[Sdf Prime]

At one point he want to kill every Invid he sees. But it doesn't last more then a paragraph or two, with no reason why he reverts back. It's almost like the author thought of going somewhere, stopped writing for the day, and forgot about it the next day...

That sounds a bit out of character for him, maybe the author thought the same thing after writing those paragraphs and decided to backtrack on it.

Got a a question, I think there are five Sentinels novels and then there is end of circle i believe,

is end of circle part of the Sentinels storyline or is it completely different story?

RavenHawk, You mentioned a time line in issue 0 of Sentinels, In my Sentinels comics I received yesterday I think it was in the sentinels illustrated handbook number 3 had a timeline it, if you have checked it out does it have the same time line as in Issue #0? The timeline in the illustrated handbook ended i think where the original robotech series ended.