Robotech Masters (1985) #1-23 by Mike Baron, Neil D. Vokes et al
To recap: The US TV series “Robotech” was put together by appending two unrelated mecha series to the Macross series (because they needed 85 episodes to do syndication). This is the first of these “appended” series, and was originally called Southern Cross. Which was, in itself, the third section of a different series.
Confusing? Sure. How on Earth are they gonna pull this off? I mean, how do they make a satisfying series within these constraints? Let’s find out.
This series has Mike Baron as the writer. In later issues he’s credited with “script”, and then “words”, so I assume that this series was made in the same way the Macross series was made: I.e., the penciller looks at the VHS, breaks it down into comic book form, and it’s then inked, and then the writer comes by to write the words. So while Mike Baron was pretty well-known by this point, it’s not like the writer has much of an influence on a series made this way.
(I’m not actually a Mike Baron fan, anyway — like everybody else, I liked Nexus just fine, but I discovered some years back (while reading the complete Nexus reprint) that I had no interest in reading any issues where Steve Rude didn’t do the artwork. So Rude’s artwork and storytelling was the main attraction there, and not Baron’s writing…)
This is supposed to take place about 20 years after the first series, and the main character here (Dana) was a baby in that series. No other characters cross over, which makes things easier.
Macross was, at heart, a romance with some mecha fights occurring with some regularity. This is very different — it’s mostly fights, and there’s little romance.
I haven’t seen the episodes this is based on, but from the letters pages, it seems like this is very faithful to the TV series.
Which, of course, means that they haven’t really tried to make it more Macross-like.
The second issue has tons of these lettering quirks — I guess they’ve changed the dialogue after the letterer was done?
Perhaps they changed their minds about some terminology — “attack ships” is consistently relettered, for instance.
The artwork doesn’t really look very much like Japanese animation — some of it looks a bit Archie like, but then there’s panels (like the above) that look more like Matt Howarth.
As cobbled-together messes go, this isn’t very convincing. When Macross ended, we left Earth as a pretty highly developed place (even if it had been devastated). In this series, even getting out into outer space is like a big deal.
Macross was pretty charming in many ways, but this is just a collection of clichés, including The Feisty Rulebreaker, etc.
Oh, I didn’t think about that — in this adaptation of the TV series, they can’t even refer back much to what happened in Macross, because that would be spoiling the ending of Robotech: The Macross Saga! Yowza…
So what are they left with here? I mean, they can’t refer to what background the had in the original Southern Cross series. And they can’t refer much back to the background of Macross, even if this has been retrofitted to be a sequel to Macross. What’s left?
Nothing! They have to do this series in an almost complete vacuum: They can’t do any world building, because it’s either been edited out, or is forbidden to refer to. That’s an impossible situation to be in — they can’t build on anything or go anywhere. No mysteries to hint at or ways of giving the aliens a deeper background. Just fights and squabbles.
Sure, sure… they’re electromagnetic.
I hate it when that happens.
Since there’s no world building possible, you can do scenes from other, better things instead — this is one of several Star Wars rip off scenes.
As with Macross, there’s tension between characters that want to try to negotiate a peace, and the military that’s very very stubborn.
A reader asks why they dropped the wraparound covers… and doesn’t really get a response, but I guess it’s because they went to newsstand distribution, and that means that they can charge serious money for back cover ads?
Then! Suddenly! They get help from Macross! How are they going to weave this into the series, then?
They aren’t — they only last for a couple of scenes, and then it’s “oh well, couldn’t do anything”. Which of course they couldn’t — they’re from a different animated series.
As opposed to on the Macross series, the art team is more consistent on this series, but they still get some guest artists. Sam Kieth did the pencil finishes here, and…
Yes, indeed, this looks quite a lot like Sam Kieth.
I’m now halfway through this series, and it’s really a chore to get through it. It’s so boring. Macross could almost make you believe that it was a huge, epic story in a real world, but this series has nothing — and that’s not really a surprise, because this series is nothing: They took a different series, changed the dialogue here and there to refer to “Protoculture” instead of whatever McGuffin they originally had, and then called it a day.
I had low expectations for this series, but boy — it’s just so much worse. There’s no charm, no interesting characters or plot lines, no depth. It’s just hard to not start zoning out while reading this, because it’s just so boring.
The artwork fluctuates a bit — even if it’s mostly the same penciller, the inkers vary… And things seem to become less and less Japanese-looking as the series progresses, really?
Schwing!
Is that a Mike Baron contribution, or did the Robotech editors put that in when cobbling the animated series together?
“What is ‘friend’?”
The computer says no — as valid an excuse in this reality as in that.
I can’t really adequately express how befuddling it is to read these issues — The Macross Saga was totally fine in that way, and I saw some letters expressing appreciation for how the writers on the Comico version added material to have things make more sense. The only thing letter writers commend Mike Baron for is how precisely the adaptation mirrors the series.
So I’m going to go ahead and guess that the Robotech animation editors messed up a lot of stuff while trying to fit Southern Cross into the Macross storyline, and then neither Baron nor the editors gave a flying fuck.
Schwing!
Did that mecha really look like that in the animated series?
I can’t really find any screenshots — I just see a gazillion illustrations. Hm… Oh, perhaps this one? Yeah, my suspicions seem to be correct.
And… Invid Fighter Bioroid? Er… the Invid are the aliens from the third (and final) unrelated series, right? So what was this originally, then?
Hm, I think somebody should have invested in a couple more poses.
The last half of the series is mostly drama — several people fall in love with each other, and have the usual misunderstandings etc.
Neil D. Voke’s artwork keeps on regressing. Or perhaps he was just getting burned out, because his last issues look pretty awful.
Aha! Pen pals.
OK, the Invid Flower of Live must not be allowed to bloom, so they have to retrieve the Protoculture from Earth. They keep saying that… like… issue after issue…
Oh yeah, Vokes quit, and we have a new art team. So suddenly the artwork looks a whole lot more Japanese-ey, but is it good? Nope.
So… they have to recapture the Protoculture… Didn’t you just say that? I know that Japanese animated series can be pretty repetetive, but it’s just ridiculous propagating this into the comic book. Phoning it in, I guess.
So finally we get to the end, and as with Macross — the final fight sorta fizzles out…
… and we get a non-ending, because we’re being led into Robotech: The Next Generation. I mean New.
Wow. That was painful to get through. The artwork started off weak, and then got worse and worse. The writing was slapdash — the plot was wildly inconsistent, subsequent scenes seeming to contradict each other. There were attempts at humour, but they were not frequent, and they were not successful.
Protoculture Addicts #1, page #28:
The Robotech Masters series
began publication in July 1985. There
are 23 comic books released in this
series. Dana’s story was not released
at the beginning but was featured in a
special 40-page issue in May 1988.
Mike Baron has done all the scripts by
following very closely and without
major improvement the original
scenario. Moreover, there are no major
problems that I can recall.
Neil D. Vokes has done the
drawing for the first 19 printings. Let us
say that #1 to 3 were excellent. Issues
#4 to 13 are of generally fair quality.
With #14 to 19 there is a general
improvement of the quality; it is more
and more pleasing to watch. Issues #20
to 23, pencilled by Harrison Fong, were
quite good. Characters are good-looking
(though Zor is less alike) and the art in
general is very charming.
The Comics Buyer’s Guide #612, page #26:
The newest title from Comico
The Comic Company, Robotech
Masters #1, sold out its 64,000-
copy print run one day after
printing was completed, said
Sales Director Mark Hamlin.
ROBO TRASH
There’s a new secret to success in
comics today: If you can tie your
book in with an animated cartoon
series, you increase your chances of
producing a winner. That formula
seems to have worked with Trans-
formers and G.I. Joe. Comico appar-
ently hopes to triple the odds in their
favor by publishing three separate
series based on a syndicated cartoon.
Moreover, this is a Japanese cartoon,
of the sort that is enjoying a great
deal of popularity in this country at
the moment. Will this guarantee the
success of Comico’s line of “Robo-
tech” comics? The jury is still out.
After a lull of some 20 years, the
hostile aliens called the Zentraedi are
once again preparing to make war
against Earth. They launch their
assault by destroying a lunar outpost,
and then carry the fight planetside.
Earth is not completely defense-
less, having improved its war capa-
bilities in the intervening two
decades. One of its lines of defense
is formed by the men and women of
the 15th Squadron. The fighter group
is led by Lt. Sterling, a young woman
who starts the story by being thrown
into the brig for “disturbing the
peace, malicious mischief, insubor-
dination, and criminal damage to
property.” By the end of the issue, she
receives a promotion and a commen-
dation.
I wish the same could be said for
the story; but, alas, it’s a frightful
mess. To call the characterization a
bit shallow is like calling the Sahara
a bit dry. The main focus in on Lt.
Sterling, who is presented as being
an airheaded, unreliable Valley Girl
-not exactly the stuff of which
heroines are made. The other char-
acters are dealt with too briefly to
form any definite impression.
The emphasis here is on action,
most of which takes place between
roboid machines, while the people
behind them are more or less
forgotten.
What is worse, an entire plot ele-
ment appears to have been mis-
placed. In the middle of the book,
we are introduced to a Capt. Sean
Phillips, who is Lt. Sterling’s superior
officer, and who plays some role in
getting her released from the brig.
Following this three-panel appear-
ance, he disappears until the end of
the story. At this point we are sud-
denly informed that he missed the
big battle because he was in the
brig-presumably as a prisoner,
though we are never told why. On
top of that, when Sterling receives
her promotion, Capt. Phillips is
simultaneously de-moted, all the way
down to Private First Class! He must
have been guily of some monstrous
infraction, though you’ll find no clue.
as to what it might be from reading
the book.
The dialogue supplied for many of
the characters would seem more
appropriate in an Archie comic. I
don’t think this can be justified by
claiming that the books is aimed at
a younger audience either. The
Japanese cartoons I’ve seen have
managed to appeal to kids while
presenting stories and dialogue on
a reasonably sophisticated level, so
there’s no reason it shouldn’t be done
in the comics as well.
When I finished reading this story,
I had to go back and re-check the
credits. I found it hard to believe that
Mike Baron, who can lay claimcto
two of the best written comics
around (Nexus and Badger) was also
responsible for this horror show. He
must have written it during the com-
mercial breaks while watching the
cartoons.
It is rather hard for me to pass a
firm judgment on the art in this and
the other “Robotech” books. The
various artists involved have done
their best to emulate the style
employed in the cartoons, and for the
most part they have succeeded. I’m
just not sure whether that’s good or
bad.
One does not mind the simplicity
of the art in the cartoons so much,
because it is amply compensated for
by what is (by today’s rather limited
standards) fairly fluid animation.
They move. In the static medium of
comics, the simple art is not nearly
so attractive, though it is certainly
acceptable if it is accompanied by an
adequate script. The color in the
Japanese cartoons is also more
vibrant than that achieved here.
My nearest comic shop dealer tells
me that at this point the “Robotech”
books are selling quite nicely, and no
doubt they will do even better in
cities where the syndicated TV series
is being show. I honestly hope so, for
it seems to me that Comico has
placed a good many of its eggs in a
single basket. If the “Robotech” series
fail, it would deal a severe blow to
the company. And, while I would
have preferred they had hung on to
the Elementals and Evangeline rather
than cartoon robots, I would hate to
see Comico go down the drain.
There is also, of course, every
possibility that Robotech Masters
will get much better in time-espe-
cially with Mike Baron scripting.
After all, the third and fourth issues
of The Macross Saga showed a great
deal of improvement over that book’s
initial offering.
I will certainly keep an eye on this
title, and report on any such improve-
ment, but on the basis of this very
weak first issues, I cannot recom-
mend Robotech Masters.– R A Jones
If you’re this far into reading these books, or at least considering it, you probably know what to expect. This is the first collection for Robotech: The Masters (of two that were planned, though the other never materialized, despite a release date and a cover advertised). This is my least favorite generation, so I picked it up as a completist, and as part of a planned re-read of every single Robotech comic (sadly, now I’m stuck tracking down floppies). Macross is iconic, New Gen is my personal favorite, Sentinels has sentimental value, and this one is a thing that also exists.
Heh heh heh. Good one.
So Titan reprinted the first half of Robotech Masters, but not the second half? I mean, I’m not surprised that nobody bought Volume 1, really, but…
As for the general story, it’s ok. Despite Mike Baron writing it (which I had much higher hopes for), it’s just ok. It can be a bit disjointed, and feels phoned in. It was a paycheck for Baron, it seems pretty clear.
I will give Baron points for, perhaps more than any of the other Comico series, seeming to do his own dialogue and scenes based upon the animation, as opposed to just rehashing it, but that doesn’t actually always end up being a good thing. A lot of it is just not good, and he seems to forget what he’s doing sometimes (for example, issue 10 has Carpenter return from the Expeditionary mission, but then issue 11 says he’s coming from Moon Base Alice, which is a silly gripe, but it was kind of the entire point of that issue). This is not Baron’s creator-owned writing by any stretch.
OK, so I wasn’t the only person who found Robotech Masters to be incoherent. But read this review in full, it’s very good.
This is the only other review I was able to find:
Well at least the art is charming; so charming, in fact, that it’s the only reason this book got any stars. The plot was kinda all over the place, you’d get some conversation going on between characters but then the next page would cut to some other random seemingly inconsequential conversation followed by another followed by another, repeat ad nauseum. A lot of the dialogue was really simple too, and felt unnatural and robotic coming from these soldiers. I didn’t really care about any of the characters either, no one in particular stood out.
Next up is Robotech: The New Generation. After reading Robotech Masters, I’m rather dreading that. But according to the person on Goodreads up there, it’s a favourite, so perhaps it won’t be so bad.
*dunn* *dunn* *dunn*