It’s time to go back to the space fortress.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Marco Turini
Colors: Marco Lesko
Letterer: John Workman
What They Say:
Not just another retelling of the Macross saga … In July, the story continues as we bring Carl Macek’s original vision full circle. Taking into account every iteration of the series, this new Robotech #1 casts a fresh eye over classic characters like Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, Lynn Minmei, Roy Fokker, Claudia Grant, and Henry Gloval.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Robotech is what got me into anime. Frankly, without Robotech I wouldn’t have been involved in a good number of the genre things I’ve found a lot of affection for over the years in the same way, if at all. So when Titan Comics announced a new Robotech comic I was definitely interested. When they revealed Brian Wood would be writing it I was even more excited and hopeful. And as we got the visuals and the covers for it with work from Marco Turini and a host of others for the variants I found myself intrigued by what this new modern taken on it would be. Having been around for several other adaptations before, including the novels and the old Comico books, this is probably the best of the comic adaptations coming out of the gate.
That said, there’s not much new here for older fans of it. For new fans we get the story that’s told about a mysterious ship that crashes on Earth and ten years later has provided for great technological advancements. Which is important as an alien invasion is about to get underway as they want to retrieve their lost ship and technology. The book introduces us to a number of the main characters almost exactly as we’ve seen in the animated show as it moves from area to area and starts bringing them into the fold. But like that opening episode it has a whole lot to cover and does it in quick fashion, which when compressed into a twenty-odd page comic feels even more rushed than the show itself does at times. It helps having watched the show simply because the voices and music score essentially comes to life while reading it and I’ll be curious to see if that holds up or runs in conflict as the series progresses.
The book doesn’t really present much in the way of new material, a lot of it feels verbatim to the show, but there are areas that make me curious as to a tonal change. Some of what we see of Roy early on in the initial crash paints a picture of some very intense people looking to make their own paths through this. And Roy’s encounter with Rick when he comes aboard the ship is one that feels incredibly out of character and dismissive. Part of me really just wanted to see Brian Wood use the structure and events with the characters and rewrite it for a more detailed modern take. But I’m not sure what we’re getting at this point. Marco Turini’s at least not trying to work a manga/anime style with it and is essentially giving us a modern comics interpretation of the characters, as they look more age appropriate in their roles. He captures the look of the ship and setting well and definitely with the Battlepods, but I’m still taking a bit of a wait and see approach as there are a lot of elements still to be introduced.
In Summary:
Robotech is what got me into so many things but it’s also a property that I don’t believe has to be completely faithfully adapted. I’m hoping, based on this opening issue, that we’re just getting the foundations laid out as before and then moving on to getting something new added to it so that it’s expanded rather than just a strict adaptation. I’m a big fan of Brian Wood so I’m hopeful that he’ll be bringing some new things to the mix here and his work with Marco Turini should bear some pretty good fruit. This should be fun for people new to the property but it may be a bit odd and uncertain for those that have years, or decades, of exposure to it and aren’t quite sure why it’s getting a new adaptation.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Titan Comics
Release Date: July 26th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
