Robotech: Invid War (Eternity/Malibu Graphics)

Regular series / May 1992 - October 1993
Story by Bill Spangler & Tim Eldred

We could have years ... or we could have days. But either way, the Invid are coming.

THE LOWDOWN

In the chaos that has followed the Second Robotech War, the people of Earth stand divided. The Army of the Southern Cross is in shambles, the United Earth Government holds little more than a tiny piece of the Rockies, and the most powerful force remaining on Earth is the untrustworthy and still heavily-armed Global Military Police, headed by Nova Satori.
That is, until the arrival of the Invid.

Having come to seize a new supply of their Flowers of Life, the Invid have taken control of the entire world. But after standing more or less victorious after two previous alien invasions, mankind is not ready to lose its mother planet. So begins the greatest struggle of mankind, the Third Robotech War, also known as the Invid War ...

BACKGROUND INFO

Invid War was Bill Spangler's third ROBOTECH series, and is widely considered to be the high point of his work with the property. In fact, after Jason & John Waltrip's epic yet incomplete adaptation of Robotech II: The Sentinels, it is probably the second best regarded ROBOTECH comic book storyline of the series' twenty year publishing history. Despite a concluding act hampered somewhat by both a drastic change in inking style and some heavy leaning on the events of the TV series, no other ROBOTECH comics work short of Sentinels has managed to best it in terms of scope, character drama, consistency (one scripter, one penciler, and only two inkers in the entire eighteen issue run), and its sense of grim realism--and on that last count, it even has the sometimes goofy and outlandish Sentinels nailed pretty good. And to think, Invid War was originally slated to be just another four-issue limited series.

The brainchild of Eternity's Lensman and Captain Harlock artist Tim Eldred, Invid War was planned at the outset to be two series filling in the period between Robotech Masters and The New Generation. The first four-issue series would cover the time shortly before the Invid struck, while the second four-issue series would cover the first attempt to drive the Invid from Earth. Ideally, Eldred would have then liked to have done a third series re-adapting the events of episodes #61-85 of ROBOTECH. However, while Eternity Comics editor Chris Ulm liked Eldred's proposal, he would only commit to four issues of material and thought the plan for the first series wasn't action-packed enough. The Invid's arrival had to take place in the first issue. Eldred grudgingly agreed to the plan, and Bill Spangler, against whom Eldred had bounced his ideas, took scripting chores while Eldred co-plotted and penciled the resulting book.

Overwhelming fan response led to plans for a second series around the time issue #3 was on the stands. However, rather than start up a brand-new series, the existing Invid War series was extended to a regular monthly gig, ultimately plotted for fourteen more issues covering the territory of Eldred's entire original plan while not following it to the letter. During the course of the extended run, Eldred was handling art on a Captain Harlock mini-series called Fall of the Empire and Spangler started his pre-Macross Saga adventure series Return to Macross, which he planned for a twelve issue run; Eldred would also handle art chores on a few issues of Return to Macross. I suppose these events may have led to Spangler and Eldred's decision to hand Invid War over to graphic designer Bruce Lewis after issue eighteen and let the newcomer handle the aftermath of their story.

The completed eighteen issue run of Invid War bounces around the events of the Third Robotech War quite a bit, and in total covers most of its major events as imagined in a pre-Robotech.com timeline context, save the bulk of the events of episodes #61-85 of the ROBOTECH TV series. It breaks down into four seperate parts, with issues #1-4 and #5-8 telling parallel stories on Earth and the moon, #9-12 covering the ramifications of those eight issues, and #13-18 covering events during the Invid conflict depicted in the TV series. Issue #14 is, in fact, an adaptation of the TV series episode "Eulogy"--a taste of what might have been had Eldred's initial proposal actually been followed. Issue #18 coincides with the final episode of the ROBOTECH TV series, "Symphony of Light", and paves the way for the second Invid War series, Bruce Lewis's controversial Invid War: Aftermath.

The Firewalkers special, while technically not part of the Invid War series, chronicles an important chapter in this series' storyline, the point at which the first two arcs intersect. It reprints a four-part story by Spangler & Eldred that was serialized in the back of the Captain Harlock: Fall of the Empire limited series, which Eternity was publishing at the same time as the first Invid War storyline, Captain Harlock: Fall of the Empire.

INVID WAR

  • Issue 1 -- No Man's Land
  • Issue 2 -- Salvation Run
  • Issue 3 -- Inferno Brigade
  • Issue 4 -- Only Survivors

  • Issue 5 -- Moon Walkers
  • Issue 6 -- Warrior Born
  • Issue 7 -- The Last Uprising
  • Issue 8 -- Leap in the Dark

  • Firewalkers

  • Issue 9 -- Last Stop on the Lunar Railroad
  • Issue 10 -- Red Moon Rising
  • Issue 11 -- Under a Blood Red Sky
  • Issue 12 -- Moonfall

  • Issue 13 -- Traveller's Tales
  • Issue 14 -- After the Eulogy
  • Issue 15 -- Intersection
  • Issue 16 -- All Fall Down
  • Issue 17 -- Two Tribes
  • Issue 18 -- Symphony of Darkness & Light

LINKS

  • Grease Monkey Graphic Novel - The website for Tim Eldred's most recent comics work, the sci-fi coming of age story Grease Monkey.
  • Ethereality - The webpage of Invid War cover artist Robert Chang.

SEE ALSO

Other works by Tim Eldred:

posted by Captain JLS @ 1:40 AM