Thursday, November 22, 2012

ROBOTECH!


I've loved
for, like,
ever.

I first saw the series on TV when I was in high school
and through obsessive/compulsive research 
(the only way to research in the pre-internet age)
learned about it's true Japanese origin:
MACROSS.

Transforming fighter jets.
Alien mecha.
Soap opera love triangles.


What wasn't to love?

I was able to find VHS bootlegs of the series
along with the 1980 movie
which totally changed my life.

Unfortunately, there were no dubs or subtitles.
I had to rely on fan mags like
ANIMAG
and 
PROTOCULTURE ADDICTS
for synopsis'.
(and finding them was no easy task)


I was also reading the comic adaptations 
by COMICO and when I found out their offices 
were in nearby Norristown, PA
I drove out and visited!
(YAY!  Free comics!)

Many years later when I lived in NYC,
I went to a small comic convention and found
this awesome art by Rich Rankin: 




I was psyched to get a page with both 
Khyron AND the SDF-1!
It's still hanging up in my studio today!

And here,
as an added bonus,
is the end battle from
MACROSS: LOVE, DO YOU REMEMBER.

And boy, is it DATED and clunky looking!
Blech!
But I still get chills at 5:45 when
the song ramps up and 
Hikaru guns his Veritech forward.

Oh, and I doubt you can see it in this low-res version,
but one of the missiles that flies through screen 
around 6:12 is a soda can.
I was the nerd freeze-framing through my VHS 
because I thought I saw something weird on my 2000th viewing.

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