Appendix A: The Timeline (1984 - 1998)

The following timeline was constructed from the following sources, whose authors I owe my everlasting gratitude for doing most of my work for me--especially Pete Walker's crew and Stan Bundy, who combined have done more research than anyone really should on a shoddily constructed gestalt anime from 1985 which was originally released to sell model kits to preteens and teenagers.

And, last but not least, the 350+ Robotech comic books listed here, most notably those written by Bill Spangler, Robert W. Gibson, Rosearik Rikki, Jason & John Waltrip, and Bruce Lewis, all of whom at one point or another decided when writing these books to lend a hand to the nitpicky fanboys and toss a date out there for the story, even if years later it would find itself being flatly contradicted by the fine folks at Harmony Gold.

According to my recollections, this timeline was originally thrown together in September of 2001; the copy on my hard drive was last updated in June 2003, though that was probably just a formatting tweak of some sort. It took me a weekend or so to figure out where the hell most of these events fit, especially when I'm shoehorning TV stuff to fit the comics, tinkering with comic stuff to fit the TV series, and tossing McKinney's timeline out the window (after Legend of Zor and until the tail end of the saga). Please note that the last several years of the timeline are built on the Early Return Scenario, which says that the the counter-invasion of Earth by the Expeditionary Forces happened not long after the Invid invasion of Earth. This is primarily because the Invid War comic book series and the books that spun out of it, Aftermath and Clone, all operate on this assumption.

Also, for some reason (presumably because the Sentinels comics never addressed it and I've never liked it) I didn't take the "five year fold," the SDF-3's lost five years between the activation of their fold drives after departing the Robotech Factory Satellite and their defold over Tirol, into account, despite the fact that Colonel Wolff specifically refers to those lost years in Invid War. I reserve the right to incorporate it later, though for the time being I'll file away with the fact that certain issues of The Macross Saga offer their own dates for events that I've gleefully ignored in my zeal to maintain fidelity with my favored interpretation of the ROBOTECH TV series timeline -- it's only natural that there are imperfections here, since these stories were made by many hands over many years, and beyond bear in mind that this is merely one man's interpretation of all these imperfect tales derived from an imperfect source. If you have quibbles with it, make your own.

Please note that all dates refer to the month that the issue STARTED at (there's another website out there that hacks up the stories for its timeline, though only the hardest of the hardcore would actually read the stories that way), with a single exception: Bill Spangler's Return to Macross #1, which recaps the opening of the Comico Genesis graphic novel before entering the 2004 timeframe.

All questions and complaints should be directed to captainjls [at] animejanai.com. Not that I'll likely do anything about them, but I'm always interested in hearing what my fellow fans have to say.

Full Series Timeline


1256 A.L. (Aeon Lanack)


Genesis: The Legend of Zor #1 "The Thirsting

1520 A.L.


Genesis: The Legend of Zor #2 "The Changing"

1697 A.L.


Genesis: The Legend of Zor #3 "The Immuring"

1755 A.L.


Genesis: The Legend of Zor #4 "The Shaping"

88 A.R. (Aeon Robotech)


Genesis: The Legend of Zor #5 "The Harvesting"

566 A.R.


Genesis: The Legend of Zor #6 "The Avenging"

1999 C.E. (Common Era)


July 21
The Graphic Novel "Genesis: Robotech"

2004 C.E.


November
Return to Macross #1 "Shadow of Zor"
Return to Macross #2 "The Facilitator"
Return to Macross #3 "Battle Lines"
Return to Macross #4 "Descent into Hell"

December
Return to Macross #5 "The Knight of Knives"
Return to Macross #6 "Haunted Houses"
Return to Macross #7 "Soul Survivor"
Return to Macross #8 "Off The Screen"

2005 C.E.


February
Return to Macross #9 "Into The Void"
Return to Macross #10 "The Belly of the Beast"
Return to Macross #11 "Deep Games"
Return to Macross #12 "Less Than Victory"

March
Return to Macross #13 "High Strangeness"
Return to Macross #14 "Invasive Procedures"
Return to Macross #15 "Distant Guns"
Warriors #0 "Prelude"
Warriors #1 "Here There Be Dragons"
Return to Macross #16 "Walkabout"
Return to Macross #17 "Theatres of War"
Warriors #2 "The Terror Maker"
Warriors #2 "The Voice in the Void" (backup)
Warriors #3 "Into the Heart of Chaos" (backup)
Return to Macross #19 "Sorry I Missed You"

April
Return to Macross #18 "Crossfire"
Warriors #3 "When Titans Clash"
Return to Macross #20 "Love in a Memory ..."
Academy Blues #0 "Academy Blues"
Return to Macross #21 "The Omega Protocol"
Return to Macross #22 "Storming the Gates"
Academy Blues #1 "Tests"
Return to Macross #23 "Passing the Torch"
Return to Macross #24 "Capturing the Flag"
Return to Macross #25 "Paying the Price"
Academy Blues #2 "Roles"
Academy Blues #3 "Tremors"

May
Return to Macross #26 "One Minute"
Macross Tempest #1 "Robotech: Tempest"
Academy Blues #4 "The Calm Before ..."
Return to Macross #27 "To Be The Pirate King"
Metalswarm #1 "Metalswarm"

June
Return to Macross #28 "Making a Big Splash"
Return to Macross #29 "War Stories"
Romance #1 "Two Beers With a Skirt Chaser"
Academy Blues #5 "The Wind and the Wave"

July
Return to Macross #30 "Gloval's War"
Return to Macross #31 "Coming Attractions"
Return to Macross #32 "Storm Warnings"
Return to Macross #33 "Overboard"
Return to Macross #34 "Storm Surge"
Return to Macross #35 "Achilles' Heel"
Return to Macross #36 "High Combat"
Return to Macross #37 "Never Can Say Goodbye"
Romance #1 "When the Going Gets Tough ..."
Breaking Point: Cadet Lisa Hayes Special #1 "Breaking Point"
Civil War Stories #1 "Civil War Stories"

2007 C.E.


February
Robotech #1 "Prototype 001 Tigercat Part 1" (backup)
Robotech #2 "Prototype 001 Tigercat Part 2" (backup)
Robotech #3 "Prototype 001 Tigercat Part 3" (backup)
Robotech #4 "Prototype 001 Tigercat Part 4" (backup)
Robotech #5 "Prototype 001 Tigercat Part 5" (backup)
Robotech #6 "Prototype 001 Tigercat Part 6" (backup)
Robotech #7 "Prototype 001 Tigercat Part 7" (backup)
Robotech #8 "Prototype 001 Variants Part 1"
Robotech #9 "Prototype 001 Variants Part 2"
Robotech #10 "Prototype 001 Variants Part 3"
Robotech #11 "Prototype 001 Variants Part 4"

2009 C.E.


July
Macross #1 "Boobytrap" | Robotech in 3D #1 "Boobytrap" | Boobytrap #1 "Boobytrap"
The Macross Saga #2 "Countdown"
The Macross Saga #3 "Space Fold"
The Macross Saga #4 "The Long Wait"
The Macross Saga #5 "Transformation"

September
The Macross Saga #6 "Blitzkrieg"
Robotech #1 "Megastorm Part 1"
Robotech #2 "Megastorm Part 2"
Robotech #3 "Megastorm Part 3"
Covert Ops #1 "Covert Operations"
Covert Ops #2 "Covert Operations [Part Two]"

2010 C.E.


February
The Macross Saga #7 "Bye Bye Mars"
The Macross Saga #8 "Sweet Sixteen"

April
The Macross Saga #9 "Miss Macross"

June
The Macross Saga #10 "Blind Game"
The Macross Saga #11 "First Contact"
The Macross Saga #12 "The Big Escape"
Destroid #1 "Day of Achilles"

July
The Macross Saga #13 "Blue Wind"
Excalibur #1 "Desperation Deja Vu"
Excalibur II #1 "Quaking Thunder"
The Macross Saga #14 "Gloval's Report"
Vermilion #1 "Vermilion"
Vermilion #2 "Vermilion Ver. 2"
Vermilion #3 "Vermilion 3"
Vermilion #4 "Vermilion 4"
The Macross Saga #15 "Homecoming"
The Macross Saga #16 "Battle Cry"
The Macross Saga #17 "Phantasm"

October
The Macross Saga #18 "Farewell Big Brother"

November
The Macross Saga #19 "Bursting Point"
Annual #1 "The First Person"

December
The Macross Saga #20 "Paradise Lost"

2011 C.E.


January
Wings of Gibraltar #1 "Wings of Gibraltar"
Wings of Gibraltar #2 "Wings of Gibraltar [Part Two]"
The Macross Saga #21 "A New Dawn"

February
The Macross Saga #22 "Battle Hymn"
The Macross Saga #23 "Reckless"

March
The Macross Saga #24 "Showdown"

April
The Macross Saga #25 "Wedding Bells"

May
The Macross Saga #26 "The Messenger"
The Macross Saga #27 "Force of Arms"
Final Fire #1 "Final Fire"

2013 C.E.


March
The Macross Saga #28 "Reconstruction Blues"

May
The Macross Saga #29 "The Robotech Masters"

June
The Macross Saga #30 "Viva Miriya"

July
The Macross Saga #31 "Khyron's Revenge"

October
The Macross Saga #32 "Broken Heart"
The Macross Saga #33 "A Rainy Night"

November
The Macross Saga #34 "Private Time"

December
The Macross Saga #35 "Season's Greetings"

2014 C.E.


The Macross Saga #36 "To The Stars"
Romance #1 "The Stars and the Tears"

2018 C.E.


August
The Malcontent Uprisings #1 "Earthbound"
The Malcontent Uprisings #2 "The Wolff Pack"
The Malcontent Uprisings #3 "The Scavengers"
The Malcontent Uprisings #4 "Prisoner of War"
The Malcontent Uprisings #5 "Bedlam"
The Malcontent Uprisings #6 "The Invaders"
The Malcontent Uprisings #7 "A Choice of Treasons"
The Malcontent Uprisings #8 "Dancing in the Graveyard"
The Malcontent Uprisings #9 "And Into the Fire"
The Malcontent Uprisings #10 "War Crimes"
The Malcontent Uprisings #11 "Scorched Earth"

September
The Malcontent Uprisings #12 "Picking Up the Pieces"

2021 C.E.


Crystal Dreams #1 "Crystal Dreams"

2022 C.E.


December
The Sentinels #1 "A New Threat"
The Sentinels #2 "A New Threat Part 2"
The Sentinels #3 "Preparations"
The Sentinels #4 "The Inorganics"
The Sentinels #5 "War Toys"
The Sentinels #6 "The Best Laid Plans"
The Sentinels Wedding Special #1 "Wedding Day"
The Sentinels Wedding Special #2 "I Do"
The Sentinels #7 "Good Morning"
The Sentinels #8 "Departure"

2023 C.E.


The Sentinels #9 "Here, There, and Everywhere"
The Sentinels #10 "Stranded"
The Sentinels #11 "The Message"
The Sentinels #12 "First Date"
The Sentinels #13 "Old Friends, New Friends"
The Sentinels #14 "You Can't Go Home Again"
The Sentinels #15 "The Battle For Fantoma"
The Sentinels #16 "Victory?"

2024 C.E.


The Sentinels Book 2 #1 "The Coming of the Sentinels"
The Sentinels Book 2 #2 "Smooth Landings"
The Sentinels Book 2 #3 "Pursued"
The Sentinels Book 2 #4 "The Hunted"
The Sentinels Book 2 #5 "The Invid Must Die"
The Sentinels Book 2 #6 "Preparations (Again)"
The Sentinels Book 2 #7 "Farewell"
The Sentinels Book 2 #8 "Seek and Destroy"

2025 C.E.


Cyberpirates #1 "The Hardwired Coffin"
Cyberpirates #2 "Running the Gauntlet"
Cyberpirates #3 "The Black Box"
Cyberpirates #4 "The Last Flight of Cobra 5"
The Sentinels Book 2 #9 "Karbarra"
The Sentinels Book 2 #10 "Over Their Heads"
The Sentinels Book 2 #11 "Battle Royale"
The Sentinels Book 2 #12 "Reflections"
The Sentinels Book 2 #13 "Cut Off"
The Sentinels Book 2 #14 "Missing Persons"
The Sentinels Book 2 #15 "Howl in the Night"
The Sentinels Book 2 #16 "Full Metal Planet"
The Sentinels Book 2 #17 "Assault on Karbarra"
The Sentinels Book 2 #18 "Operation: Karbarran Storm"
The Sentinels Book 2 #19 "Traitors in the Midst"
The Sentinels Book 2 #20 "Beware of the Handshake"
The Sentinels Book 2 #21 "The Slow Death of the Sentinels"

2026 C.E.


Mechangel #0 "Mechangel"
Mechangel #1 "One on One"
Mechangel #2 "Labyrinth"
Mechangel #3 "War in the Wastelands"
The Sentinels Book 3 #1 "The Dance of Death"
The Sentinels Book 3 #2 "The Hand at Work"
The Sentinels Book 3 #3 "A Ship Divided"
The Sentinels Book 3 #4 "When Worlds Implode"
The Sentinels Book 3 #5 "Into the Pit"
The Sentinels Book 3 #6 "Return of the Native"
The Sentinels Book 3 #7 "Wild Card"
The Sentinels Book 3 #8 "Escape from Tirol"
Amazon World #1 "Escape from Praxis"
The Sentinels Book 3 #9 "Into the Fire"
The Sentinels Book 3 #10 "Of Enemies and Allies"
Invid World #1 "Assault on Optera"
The Sentinels Book 3 #11 "Where the Wild Things Are"
The Sentinels Book 3 #12 "Dream a Little Dream"
The Sentinels Book 3 #13 "Scheme a Little Scheme"
The Sentinels Book 3 #14 "None But the Brave"
The Sentinels Book 3 #15 "Unto the Breach"
Smith World #1 "Sabotage on Karbarra"
The Sentinels Book 3 #16 "Where Humans Dare"
The Sentinels Book 3 #17 "A Portion for Foxes"
The Sentinels Book 3 #18 "Garudans in the Mist"
The Sentinels Book 3 #19 "To Walk Among Giants"
Cyber World #1 "Secrets of Haydon IV"
The Sentinels Book 3 #20 "Destination: Earth"
Feral World #1 "Nightmare on Garuda"
The Sentinels Book 3 #21 "The Predator and the Prey"

2027 C.E.


The Movie #1 "To Destroy the Earth"
The Movie #2 "End of the World as We Know It"
Crystal World #1 "Prisoners of Spheris"
The Sentinels Book 3 #22 "A Clockwork Planet"
The Sentinels Book 4 #1 "World Killers"
The Sentinels Book 4 #2 "No Man's Land"
The Sentinels Book 4 #3 "Specters in Midnight"
The Sentinels Book 4 #4 "Prisoners of Fate"
The Sentinels Book 4 #5 "Monkey Wrench"
The Sentinels Book 4 #6 "Clockwork of Doom"
The Sentinels Book 4 #7 "Seraphim Avenging"
The Sentinels Book 4 #8 "Conquer and Divide"
The Sentinels Book 4 #9 "Disperate Paths"
The Sentinels Book 4 #10 "Dance with the Devil"
Star Runners #1 "Carpenter's Journey"

2028 C.E.


The Sentinels Book 4 #11 "Summit"
The Sentinels Halloween Special #1
The Sentinels Book 4 #12 "Checkmate"
The Sentinels Book 4 #13 "Requiem for Justice"
Annual #1 "The Science of Law"

2029 C.E.


January
Special #1 "Dana's Story"

April
The Misfits #1 "The Misfits"
Masters #1 "False Start"

May
Masters #2 "The Southern Cross"

June
Masters #3 "Volunteers"

July
Masters #4 "Half Moon"

August
Masters #5 "Danger Zone"
Masters #6 "Prelude to Battle"
Masters #7 "The Trap"

September
Masters #8 "Metal Fire"

October
Masters #9 "Stardust"
Masters #10 "Outsiders"

December
Masters #11 "Deja Vu"

2030 C.E.


February
Masters #12 "A New Recruit"

March
Masters #13 "Triumvirate"

April
Masters #14 "Clone Chamber"

May
Masters #15 "Love Song"
Masters #16 "The Hunters"

July
Masters #17 "Mind Game"
Masters #18 "Dana in Wonderland"
Masters #19 "Crisis Point"
Masters #20 "Day Dreamer"

August
Masters #21 "Final Nightmare"
Masters #22 "The Invid Connection"
Masters #23 "Catastrophe"

October
Robotech #4 "Rolling Thunder Part 1"
Robotech #5 "Rolling Thunder Part 2"
Robotech #6 "Rolling Thunder Part 3"
Robotech #7 "Rolling Thunder Part 4"

2033 C.E.


February
Robotech #8 "Introduction" (backup)
Robotech #9 "Introduction Part 2" (backup)
Robotech #10 "Introduction Part 3" (backup)
Robotech #11 "Introduction Part 4" (backup)
Invid War #1 "No Man's Land"
Invid War #5 "Moon Walkers"

March
Invid War #6 "Warrior Born"
Invid War #2 "Salvation Run"
Invid War #3 "Inferno Brigade"
Invid War #7 "The Last Uprising"
Invid War #4 "Only Survivors"
Invid War #8 "Leap in the Dark"
Firewalkers #1 "Firewalkers (Parts 1-4)"

October
Invid War #9 "Last Stop on the Lunar Railroad"
Invid War #10 "Red Moon Rising"
Invid War #11 "Under a Blood Red Sky"
Invid War #12 "Moonfall"

2034 C.E.


March
The New Generation #1 "The Invid Invasion"
The New Generation #2 "The Lost City"
Annual #1 "Shop Talk or Why You Should Never Go Riding Without a Helmet"
The New Generation #3 "Lonely Soldier Boy"

May
Invid War #13 "Traveller's Tales"
The New Generation #4 "Survival"
The New Generation #5 "Curtain Call"
The New Generation #6 "Hard Times"
Class Reunion #1 "Class Reunion"
The New Generation #7 "Paper Hero"
The New Generation #8 "Eulogy" | Invid War #14 "After the Eulogy"
The New Generation #9 "The Genesis Pit"
The New Generation #10 "Enter Marlene"
The New Generation #11 "The Secret Route"
The New Generation #12 "The Fortress"
Invid War #15 "Intersection"
The New Generation #13 "Sandstorms"

November
Invid War #16 "All Fall Down"
The New Generation #14 "Annie's Wedding"
The New Generation #15 "Seperate Ways"
Vermilion #2 "Unsung Heroes Part 1" (backup)
Vermilion #3 "Unsung Heroes Part 2" (backup)
Vermilion #4 "Unsung Heroes Part 3" (backup)
The New Generation #16 "Metamorphosis"

2035 C.E.


January
The New Generation #17 "The Midnight Sun"
Invid War #17 "Two Tribes"
The New Generation #18 "Ghost Town"
The New Generation #19 "Frostbite"
Escape #1 "Escape"
The New Generation #20 "Birthday Blues"
The New Generation #21 "Hired Gun"
The New Generation #22 "The Big Apple"
The New Generation #23 "Reflex Point"

May
The New Generation #24 "Dark Finale"
The New Generation #25 "Symphony of Light"
Invid War #18 "Symphony of Darkness & Light"

2043 C.E.


Robotech #0 "What's Past is Prelude"

2045 C.E.


Aftermath #1 "The Chronicles of the Yellow Dancer Chapter 1: Belmont"
Aftermath #2 "The Chronicles of the Yellow Dancer Chapter 2: Exile"
Aftermath #3 "The Chronicles of the Yellow Dancer Chapter 3: Iron Butterfly"
Aftermath #4 "The Chronicles of the Yellow Dancer Chapter 4: Fate"
Aftermath #5 "The Chronicles of the Yellow Dancer Chapter 5: Lancer"
Aftermath #6 "The Chronicles of the Yellow Dancer Chapter 6: Yellow Belmont"
Aftermath #7 "The Threadbare Heart Chapter 1"
Aftermath #8 "The Threadbare Heart Chapter 2"
Aftermath #9 "The Threadbare Heart Chapter 3"

2046 C.E.


January
Clone #0 "The Dialect of Duality [Chapter 1] Part 1"
Clone #1 "The Dialect of Duality [Chapter 1] Part 2"
Clone #2 "The Dialect of Duality Chapter 2"
Clone #3 "The Dialect of Duality Chapter 3"
Clone #4 "The Dialect of Duality Chapter 4"

November
Aftermath #10 "MEGARoad Mission 1: Four Eyes"
Hohsq's Story #1 "Hohsq's Story: A Robotech Romance"
Clone Special #1 "Youth Inertia"

2047 C.E.


January
Aftermath #11 "The Belmont Saga Episode 1: Burt Finds a Job"

May
Aftermath #12 "MEGARoad Mission 2: Ghost Machine"

July
Aftermath #13 "The Belmont Saga Episode 2: The Girl in the Moon"

2057 C.E.


September
Clone #5 "Cradlesong"

2058 C.E.


Mordecai #1 "Mordecai 1"

Alternate Timeline

2046 C.E.


November
Sentinels Rubicon #1 "A Sort of Homecoming: Prologue"
Sentinels Rubicon #2 "Shadows of the Past"
ENDFILE

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posted by Captain JLS @ 1:30 AM