Comic Book Review: Robotech: Invasion #1 (of 5)
by Rob Irwin
Published: January 24, 2004
Title |
Story |
Creative Team |
Publisher |
Price |
Grade |
Robotech: Invasion #1 (of 5) |
"Invasion" & "Mars Base One" |
Tommy Yune
Jay Faerber
Takeshi Miyazawa & Omar Dogan |
Wildstorm |
$2.95 US
$4.50 CAN |
B+ |
For more information: Wildstorm |
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Robotech never really went away in the hearts and minds of its many fans, however, it's still fair to say that the franchise has been experiencing something of a resurgence in the past couple of years that hasn't really been seen since its original run on television (and in toystores everywhere), during the mid-1980s.
"Invasion" is the latest Robotech mini-series and, like previous efforts, contains two ongoing stories per issue.
The first of the two stories, "Invasion," is set during 2038 where the Earth has been under the rule of the Invid for the past seven years. Meanwhile, somewhere out in space, an Earth fleet has been preparing to take back "their" planet. And I use the word "their" in quotes because, in some cases, the troops who are preparing the assault weren't even born on Earth or have ever stepped foot on its surface. In a sense, many of them are working towards reclaiming a myth, moreso than a place they can actually have any real affection for. This makes the quest all the more noble, in some ways, and all the stranger, in others.
The first thing that struck me about "Invasion," however, was how "true to Robotech" the dialogue and action felt. Right from an insubordinate male officer making a ranking female officer angry, to the Invid attacking their ship, to the inevitable dogfighting... right through to the civilian scenes on Earth where the story climaxes, I was grinning and nodding like a madman and thinking, "This is Robotech..."
Where I think the story falls down, however, is that there just aren't enough pages, or scenes, for us to get a feel for who's who. I can appreciate that I'll get to know these characters over the subsequent four issues, but I'm also left feeling unsatisfied at the end of part one that I don't even know them well enough for a first outing. This is partly because of the two story format of the book which ultimately shows itself to be a double-edged sword. Do we want value for money and variety - or one interesting storyline? I can't decide!
"Mars Base One," the second story in the book, initially take us back to the year 2014 for a little nostalgia flashback to the conclusion of the "Macross" TV episodes of Robotech. From there, we jump a little further back in time to the year 2001 for a background story about fan favorite, Lisa Hayes. While this zipping back in time might sound a little complicated, fans are going to lap it up - and I don't think it will confuse too many newcomers, either. After all, the first part of this second story clocks in at only six pages, so there's not too much to be confused by, anyway.
As a whole, I enjoyed the first outing of "Invasion". The main story has a nice twist at the end which has me gagging for the next issue, while the second story appears to be filling in some of an earlier timeframe that we haven't heard too much about. Nice. My only concern, as stated earlier, is that the first story doesn't have quite enough room to be satisfying. Conversely, the second story is quite satisfying at only six pages - yet I acknowledge that there's the advantage of working with well-known characters, so we can launch straight into the action.
This book probably won't do much to attract genuinely new readers, but my words here are still aimed at everyone from newcomers interested in Robotech to hardcore Robotech fans: check this book out. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a coherent, promising start to what looks like two very interesting storylines for anyone interested in the genre.
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