“How do you wear mascara better than I do?”
Robotech: The New Generation #11
Comico The Comic Company (October, 1985)
“The Secret Route”
WRITER: Jack Herman
PENCILER: Reggie Byers
INKER: Tom Poston
COLORIST: Kurt MAusert
LETTERER: Steve Haynie
EDITOR: Diana Schutz
The rebel group comes upon a mountain village way too close to an Invid fortress. Someone is selling maps but the group is having trouble coming up with the funds. Annie does make a new boyfriend whose family just purchased a map and can see them through, but while Lancer doesn’t know the man selling the maps, Donald, he does know the man’s fiancé, Carla, who saved him from a crash and helped him create his Yellow Dancer identity. Our team learns the map is a fake and have to rescue Annie and her new family. Donald tries to kill them to protect their secret but Carla decides to leave him and go with Lancer through the supposed real path. He sacrifices a prize possession–a fleet of remote-controlled planes–to clear a path through the Invid. Realizing how much Donald loves her Carla goes to return to him.
What they got right: We get the origin of “Yellow Dancer”, how he and Carla came up with the disguise to save him from the Invid and anyone willing to help them hunt soldiers to save their own necks. Marlene gets her name in this story. There’s some good action, though poor Annie does lose another family when they opt to go away from the mountains rather than risk another Invid attack.
What they got wrong: I didn’t think there was a doubt that Donald loved Carla, but that he was an evil man selling fake maps knowing the people he swindled weren’t coming back…then planning to off them himself when they try to return. There’s no indication he’s going to stop being evil, so the reason she left him is still there. Maybe the episode spelled it out better but right now I’m still not able to check into that.
What I think overall: It’s a good origin for Yellow Dancer and despite the hiccup at the end with Carla’s motivations it’s a decent story.
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