“Funny, I thought we had more wallpaper than this.”
Robotech: Aftermath #11
Academy Comics, Ltd. (February, 1995)
The Belmont Saga: “Burt Finds A Job”
WRITER/ARTIST: Bruce Lewis
In Belmont, a man named Burt wants to find a job, so good on the title. After running into a bad situation with a Zentraedi named Feld, Burt learns another Zentraedi got the job he was hoping to get, forming a resentment against “Trods”, which I guess is an insult name for Zentraedi. Both end up signing up with the Engineers, whose current project is a new sewer system for Belmont. Annoyed by the work, Feld decides to run off despite Burt’s chastising. When a malfunction happens in the sewer system the trainees have to look for Feld, who ends up saving Burt’s life. Turns out he thought about what Burt said and being saved by Feld despite how he treated him makes the former foes into potential friends.
What they got right: On it’s own the story is okay. I don’t think Burt was all that racist and Feld was just a jerk who needed perspective. In the short time the comic had it seems to be a bit quick but I guess I can accept it.
What they got wrong: The regular Robotech cast has almost nothing to do in this story. Lunk leads the team that made the sewer system but don’t really see him do anything. Annie gets a check-up after her cancer being purged by the IHE and she goes with Rand to monitor the treatment plant where Burt and Feld are working. There’s a nod to Clone that shows me I have these in the wrong order but otherwise nothing of importance really happens involving the regular cast.
What I think overall: It’s not a bad story but in a series that already doesn’t feel like Robotech or the heroes of the Third Robotech War (not happy about Rand and Rook appearing to break up and we don’t know what’s happened to Sera and Lancer’s relationship) it just doesn’t excite me.
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