Robotech: The Macross Saga #23

Nostalgia time! While I was a Marvel fan as a kid, this was the first comic series I seriously collected when I got into comics again after high school.

Title: Robotech: The Macross Saga
Issue: 23
Date: November 1987
Publisher: Comico
Writer: Markalan Joplin
Penciler: Mike Leeke
Inker: Mike Chen
Letterer: Bob Pinaha
Editor: Maggie Brenner
Cover: Mike Leeke, Mike Chen

Comic adaptation of the English-language TV adaptation of the Macross anime.

We open in the midst of a full-scale Zentraedi attack on Macross City, but it's quickly revealed that there is more going on here than meets the eye. In the midst of the chaos, Zentraedi are attempting to defect to the Micronian (human) side.

Meanwhile Rick Hunter walks in on Minmei and Kyle in an awkward moment. Melodrama ensues.

The second half of the book is almost all dialogue (there is one brief battle toward the end), and this is where the strengths of this series really come through. There is some pretty intense political intrigue and maneuvering going on both on the Zentraedi side and the human side. There is also a great scene between Lisa Hayes and Rick Hunter as they discuss past and present loves (all the while dancing around the topic of their own feeling for each other) over tea. What really makes this scene work is that it is given plenty of time, so the conversation flows naturally. The small talk develops the characters and deepens the backgrounds of the supporting cast, while it builds up the romantic tension between Rick and Lisa. This was as good a "quiet" scene as I've seen done in comics.

Nice mix of space-opera and soap-opera.

Rating: 7.5/10

I'm selling my copy of this comic here.

30 Day Comic Challenge Day 11

Day 11 - Favorite Comic Book Cartoon Series.

As geeks go, I tend to be uninterested in a lot of the television series that my fellow geeks get all excited about. As a result I'm way behind on watching some of the newer animated shows that have really captured the imaginations of comic fans. I've got a ton of respect for what animation has done in the last 10-15 years or so, especially with the DC universe characters, but I just haven't watched enough episodes to really speak about these programs.

So my choice is going to be the show that got me back to reading comics in the 1980s.


I read comics as a kid in the 1970s and early 1980s, but those comic tended to get tossed around and wrecked when I was done reading them. I pretty much stopped reading comics around the time I got to middle school.

The Robotech comics (by Comico) were adapted from the American version of the anime (before anyone was calling it anime; the word back then was "Japanimation"). I bought my first Robotech comic book at Gen Con 2006 which I traveled to at age 16 with my gaming buddy from high school. We were there to play Dungeons & Dragons.

I loved the Robotech show for its more serious approach to characters and storytelling than the American animation that was being released at the time. The robots and explosions were pretty cool too.I was a fan of the Robotech show, and I picked the comic up on a whim when I found it in the GenCon dealers' hall. I liked the cover.

A few weeks later, I traveled into Boston to the original Newbury Comics store and started buying comics like Electra: Assassin, Elflord, Adventurers, Watchmen, Lone Wolf and Cub, Mai: The Psychic Girl, Kamui, and the three Robotech titles. A few weeks after that I got my first store subscription, and I've been collecting comics (sometimes pretty intensively, sometimes just a book here and there) ever since.

From My Creations

Sadly, no on has adapted any of my comics into an animated series so far. If you're reading this, Hollywood, we can definitely make a deal. :)

I think that Perils of Picorna would be the best choice for such a format, since much of my inspiration for Perils of Picorna came from the cliffhanger serials of the 1930s and 1940s, which are structurally similar to many animated series.

And while no fully animated version currently exists, we have made some pretty cool video trailers for the comic books. Here's the trailer for Perils of Picorna #2.



The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.