Robotech: The New Generation (Comico)
Based on episodes #61-85 of the 1985 TV series produced by Harmony Gold USA.
Responding to reports sent by one of their many sensor nebulae, the Invid became aware of a large supply of active Protoculture on the Earth. Apparently the Invid regard unprocessed Protoculture as a food source. They are drawn to it with almost metaphysical determination.
THE LOWDOWN
The ramifications of Zor Prime's final sacrifice have struck planet Earth. The dispersal of the Flowers of Life from the ruins of the SDF-1 has not gone unnoticed by the Invid, the protoplasmic alien race from whom the original Zor stole the Flowers in order to create the mysterious energy source known as Protoculture. Led by their queen, the Regess, the Invid arrived on Earth en masse and swiftly conquered it, routing out the last remnants of the Army of the Southern Cross.But all hope is not lost. A new generation of young men and women have grown up in the dark reaches of space, aboard starships and on colonies set up by the Robotech Expeditionary Force. Equipped with the latest in Robotech weaponry, they start to return to their mother planet in hopes of freeing the Earth from its latest alien invaders.
Unfortunately, the attempts to defeat these alien parasites seem futile. An entire wave of starships and fighter craft is destroyed in a matter of minutes by the relentless Invid, save one lone Veritech Fighter. That Veritech, the craft of one Lieutenant Commander Scott Bernard, crash lands on Earth mostly intact, though the same cannot be said for the psyche of its young pilot, thrust alone into a world he's never known. Driven to battle by both duty and the memory of his lost fiancee, he hits the road. His destination: the Invid central hive at Reflex Point, which he has every intention of destroying single-handedly if need be. Lucky for him, his journey provides him with an assortment of allies: nature loving scavenger Rand, biker chick Rook Bartley, guilt-ridden mechanic Jim "Lunk" Cooper, former soldier/transvestite nightclub singer Lancer, and hopeless preteen romantic Annie "Mint" LaBelle. Together, this rag-tag band of fighters and cheerleaders travels across the Americas, faced with enemies both human and Invid in their journey towards a common destination and a final battle with an impossibly powerful foe.
BACKGROUND INFO
Genesis Climber Mospeada, much like the following year's Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, would be but a footnote in mecha anime history if not for its inclusion in ROBOTECH. Mospeada -- retitled Robotech: The New Generation -- served as the temporary concluding chapter in the war for Protoculture. The fact that Mospeada seized on several of the elements that made Macross a hit in an attempt to replicate its success made it an easy fit as the third generation of the ROBOTECH saga -- we have fighter jets that turn into robots, a singing star, alien invaders equipped with their own giant robots, alien defectors, and ultimately love conquering all. Sort of. And the geniuses at Artmic even threw in transforming motorcycles and the character design stylings of Yoshitaka Amano (Vampire Hunter D, Final Fantasy). Is it any wonder that The New Generation tends to be fans' second-favorite segment of the Robotech saga?Despite remarks to the contrary by Invid War co-creator Tim Eldred, Comico's adaptations of these episodes weren't too shabby. TV series producer Carl Macek's first issue script wasn't some of his best work, but it did present an interesting slant on the worst day in Scott Bernard's young life, and a few of the touches Macek put in the script provide insight into the way things could have developed had ROBOTECH's follow-up animation projects not suffered from so many production problems. The workman-like scripts that followed for twelve of the next thirteen issues, courtesy of Macek's Macross Saga successor Jack Herman, neither added nor subtracted much from the series' rather episodic adventures. Later issues, which included some of the more important chapters in the series' infrequently developed storyline, were thankfully handled by the deft writing pen of Markalan Joplin, whose talents similarly livened up the comic book adaptations of The Macross Saga around the same time. The same cannot be said for the art end on either count; Reggie Byers penciled some Macross Saga issues early on, but he more consistently stuck with New Generation, where his oft unsuccessful attempts at reproducing the style of the ROBOTECH animation plagued the book for month after month. While he did have some very good months throughout his run, thirteen out of the first twenty issues of the series, most of his issues suffer from the look of an artist shoehorning the big eyes and small mouths of Japanese animation into his preexisting style to horrific results. Byers left the title to pursue work of his own creation, and the excellent Thomas Tenney -- who did a bang-up job faithfully putting the TV series character and mechanical designs to paper -- took over for the last five issues of the series run. Between Joplin's superb writing and Tenney's dazzling artwork, the final few months of Comico's adaptations of The New Generation were sheer ROBOTECH bliss, sometimes giving the original TV episodes a run for their money in terms of overall quality.
THE NEW GENERATION
- Issue 1 -- The Invid Invasion
- Issue 2 -- The Lost City
- Issue 3 -- Lonely Soldier Boy
- Issue 4 -- Survival
- Issue 5 -- Curtain Call
- Issue 6 -- Hard Times
- Issue 7 -- Paper Hero
- Issue 8 -- Eulogy
- Issue 9 -- The Genesis Pits
- Issue 10 -- Enter Marlene
- Issue 11 -- The Secret Route
- Issue 12 -- The Fortress
- Issue 13 -- Sandstorms
- Issue 14 -- Annie's Wedding
- Issue 15 -- Seperate Ways
- Issue 16 -- Metamorphosis
- Issue 17 -- The Midnight Sun
- Issue 18 -- Ghost Town
- Issue 19 -- Frostbite
- Issue 20 -- Birthday Blues
- Issue 21 -- Hired Gun
- Issue 22 -- The Big Apple
- Issue 23 -- Reflex Point
- Issue 24 -- Dark Finale
- Issue 25 -- Dark Finale Part II: Symphony of Light
posted by Captain JLS @ 1:45 AM
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