TITAN COMICS – @ComicsTitan
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Brian Wood
ART: Marco Turini
COLORS: Marco Lesko
LETTERS: John Workman
COVER: Stanley “Artgerm” Lau
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Stanley “Artgerm” Lau; Karl Kerschl; Blair Shedo; Michael Dialynas; The Waltrip Brothers; Andrew Leung; Luis Guerrero; Francisco de la Fuente; Miguel Mercado; Rachel Stott; Alex Ronald; Andre Lima Arajuo; Caspar Wijngaard; Mariano Laclaustra; Antonio Fuso; Douglas Franchin; Andy Cotnam; Pasquale Qualano
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2017)
In the 1980s, production company and film distributor, Harmony Gold USA, had the U.S. syndication rights to broadcast the Japanese animated (or anime) television series, “Macross.” They hired producer, story editor, and developer, Carl Macek, to adapt the series for American audiences.
To meet television syndication requirements, Macek took “Macross” (full title, “Super Dimension Fortress Macross”) and two other anime series, “Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross” and “Genesis Climber Mospeada” and edited them together by using the concept of “Robo-technology” as the unifying element. Thus, Macek created the 85-episode American animated TV series, “Robotech.”
Over a three-decade period, several entities have published comics based on the Robotech franchise, including the defunct Comico the Comic Company and DC Comics' imprint, WildStorm Productions. Titan Comics brings the franchise back to comic books with the new series, Robotech. It is written by Brian Wood; drawn by Marco Turini; colored by Marco Lesko, and lettered by John Workman.
Robotech #1 begins with a brief description of the arrival of the giant extraterrestrial vehicle that would come to be known as the Super Dimension Fortress or SDF-1. It lands on Macross Island, and a decade later, the vehicle is the epicenter of “The Robotech Project” and Macross City has been built around the SDF-1.
Talented but cocky pilot, Rick Hunter, has arrived at SDF-1 to visit his “big brother,” Lt. Commander Roy Fokker, Veritech pilot and legendary leader of the “Skull Squadron” of the Robotech Defense Force. This reunion is put on hold when multiple extraterrestrial vehicles arrive near Earth and some begin to enter the planet's atmosphere. And SDF-1 springs into action on its own.
First, let me say that Robotech #1 is a fantastic first issue. I love it, and I highly recommend it to Robotech fans. Probably the first thing that this comic book does right is to use the first page to present the cast of characters with a brief description of each character and what he or she does.
Back in 2013, Dark Horse Comics launched a new Star Wars comic book, simply titled Star Wars. Its story was set immediately after the events depicted in the original, 1977 Star Wars film (also known as Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope). Brian Woods was the series writer, and he fashioned a Star Wars comic book that felt like an authentic, accurate, and canonical continuation of A New Hope. Now, at least with this first issue, Woods makes Robotech seem like a reboot that will be genuine Robotech. To me, Robotech #1 feels like the “Robotech” anime that I first encountered on those long-ago Saturday mornings via the recently launched Channel 15 in Lafayette, Louisiana.
I find myself really liking the art by Marco Turini and colors by Marco Lesko; it feels like authentic Robotech. Turini's compositions clearly and ably translate Woods' concise and efficient script writing into clean sequences that introduce the conflict and tease the villains of this reboot without overwhelming the first issue with too much information.
In fact, this debut issue is good enough to tease readers back for a second issue of Titan Comics' Robotech.
A
8 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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