16th Oct2019

‘Robotech Remix #1’ Review (Titan Comics)

by Dean Fuller

Written by Brenden Fletcher | Art by Elmer Damaso | Published by Titan Comics

Robotech-Remix-01-cover

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That was my first thought when I heard that Titan were replacing the excellent Robotech book with Robotech Remix. Since 2015, Brian Wood, Simon Furman, Marco Turini and Hendry Prasetya routinely turned in outstanding stories, both script and art wise. The characters were as well fleshed out as could have been expected with the animated source material. Like all good things though it came to an end, and on the plus side it never outstayed its welcome.

So, Robotech Remix clearly isn’t just going to be more of the same. At first glance, the art has reverted to the manga/anime style most commonly associated with Robotech, and the book is supposed to be a sequel of sorts to the last one, both of which liberally took as their basis some of the original 85 episodes of Robotech. Fletcher is apparently a massive fan of Robotech, which is promising, though I know him from Gotham Academy and Batgirl, which were pretty good books. So let’s see what’s new.

Perhaps the biggest change to the original storyline, and the biggest continuation from the last issue of the last book, is that Dana Sterling is now stuck in the present, with these characters from her past. I imagined new scripter Brendan Fletcher would be having fun with that, and straight out the blocks he is. Captain Dana Sterling is used as the exposition character of the month, getting new readers up to speed on all the events last time round. She also makes the important distinction that this is not her world. By coming back in time to help correct the timeline for her world, she has created a new, alternate one. So Max Sterling is still her father and Miriya her mother, just not this Max Sterling or Miriya. Got that? Good.

Next we drop in on Captain Lisa Hayes, aboard the SDF-3, with Earth’s forces now apparently in alliance with the Zentraedi. Which is fortunate, as something weird has started happening to the Moon. Turns out to be a space fold, and two ships emerge from it, a large cruiser and smaller fighter, both seemingly heading to Earth. The cruiser is some sort of interdimensional craft, chasing down the smaller craft to stop it reaching its target on Earth. Rather like Hayes, we have no idea who is the good guy or bad guy here. Time to call in the cavalry. Max Sterling is on board the SDF-1, and quickly realises any craft capable of inter dimensional travel like these two could offer Dana a means by which to return her to her time.

After a check in on a school related subplot with Bowie, the young boy staying with Miriya and Dane, we get back to the juicy stuff as Dana joins Max on the SDF-1 bridge. The relationship is a very uneasy one, with Dana having all these memories of ‘her’ Max that this Max doesn’t have. Lots of tension and friction, a parent and child who don’t recognise each other. Another detail that also come s out is that Commander Rick Hunter has been missing for a week. Could all this be connected to that? Either way he needs to be found, not least because he is now Lisa Hayes husband. Remember that space folding fighter by the way? Crash lands. Still some confusion over the good guys and bad ones, but the one doing the chasing definitely knows Dana, and the one being chased seems to want to eliminate her. Yikes.

A fun first issue. I’ll be honest, I wanted to not like this, as I liked the Furman book so much. I also thought the art would turn me off, as I much preferred the realistic art of Turini and Prasetya from before. Well art wise, still not 100% convinced, but that’s more my preferences. For this book, the art fits the tone perfectly, so nice job Elmer Damasco. The story though, by Brenden Fletcher, really made this issue work. Seamlessly incorporating some of the elements from the previous book, and subtly moving Dana Sterling into her role as one of the main players, the storyline hit the ground running. I didn’t think the Bowie subplot added much, but I’m happy to give that time to develop. Good first issue.

A Robotech book in which fans, new and old, will find something for everyone.

**** 4/5

Robotech Remix #1 is released today by Titan Comics.

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