“Yesterday’s” Comic> Robotech: The Macross Saga #4

This is how Chewbacca felt with the porgs.

Robotech: The Macross Saga #4

Comic The Comic Company (June, 1985)

“The Long Wait”

WRITER: Carl Macek

PENCILER: Reggie Byers

INKER: Tom Poston

COLORIST: Kurt Mausert

LETTERER: Bob Pinaha

EDITOR: Diana Schutz

Forced to activate a hyperspace fold in Earth orbit sent the SDF-1 across the galaxy and bringing Macross Island in tow. Finding survivors in the shelters they work to rebuild Macross City in a storage area of the ship. It’s a long process, but longer for Rick and Minmei, who crashed somewhere in the unused areas of the ship and are considered lost (not that Roy is happy about the classification). For the next two weeks the pair struggle to survive and grow close, wondering if they’ll ever get out…until an accident during reconstruction blasts a hole, showing they were underneath the newly built city the whole time.

What they got right: Like I said last week the Comico artists were struggling with an art style that was foreign to American comic artists at the time, so I give them credit for even trying to emulate the art of the show. So many comic adaptations and tie-ins don’t bother. It’s pretty good under the circumstances and this is the case for the entire run so I’ll only bring it up if they do something really good or really bad, neither of which is the case here. You get a sense of Rick and Minmei’s desperation, even if it’s slightly shorter than the episode.

What they got wrong: Was Macek working from an earlier script of his own show? I watched the episode in question and they were only down there one week according to the narrator. It might be an artifact from the Macross dub scripts or something but it’s not the only error. The comic says something about a Robotech bomb instead of a construction accident. Rick almost seems to be hiding the fact that the room is big enough to house one of the giant aliens they met. They’re minor quibbles, although the episode did a better job with cute moments between Rick and Minmei, and Rick in the show even notes the whiplash at how Minmei seems to ignore him when she’s reunited with her family.

Recommendation: If you’re going to get uncensored versions of the episode, just get the Macross release. Otherwise try to find the original edits of Robotech. As for the comic I still recommend the show but if you want the complete story in your comic collection this is your best bet and a decent one.