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Responding to reports sent by one of their many sensor nebulae, the Invid became aware of a large supply of active Protoculture on the Earth. Apparently the Invid regard unprocessed Protoculture as a food source. They are drawn to it with almost metaphysical determination.

The New Generation

Regular series / July 1985 - July 1988
Based on episodes 61-85 of the 1985 TV series produced by Harmony Gold in association with Tatsunoko Prod. Co.

THE LOWDOWN

The ramifications of Zor Prime's final sacrifice have struck planet Earth. The dispersal of the Flowers of Life has not gone unnoticed by the Invid, the alien race that the original Zor stole the Flowers from to create the mysterious energy source known as Protoculture. Led by their queen, the Regis, the Invid arrive on Earth en masse and swiftly conquer it, routing out the last remnants of the Army of the Southern Cross.

But all hope is not lost. A new generation of young men and women have grown up in the dark reaches of space, aboard starships and on colonies set up by the Robotech Expeditionary Force. Equipped with the latest in Robotech weaponry, they start to return to their mother planet in hopes of freeing the Earth from its latest alien invaders.

Unfortunately, the attempts to defeat these alien parasites seems futile. An entire wave of starships and Veritechs is destroyed in a matter of minutes--save one, the damaged Veritech of one Lieutenant Commander Scott Bernard. Driven to battle by both duty and the memory of his lost fiancee, he is on the road the morning after his crash, headed towards the Invid headquarters at Reflex Point with every noble intention of destroying it single-handedly. Luckily for him, his journey provides him with an assortment of bizarre allies--nature loving scavenger Rand, biker chick Rook Bartley, guilt-ridden mechanic Jim "Lunk" Cooper, former soldier and transvestite nightclub singer Lancer, and hopeless preteen romantic Annie "Mint" LaBelle. Together, this rag-tag assemblage of fighters and cheerleaders travels across the Americas, faced with enemies both human and Invid in their journey towards a common destination and a final battle with an impossibly powerful foe.

BACKGROUND INFO

Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, much like the following year's Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, would be but a footnote in mecha anime history if not for its inclusion in Robotech. MOSPEADA--retitled Robotech: The New Generation--served as the temporarily concluding chapter in the war for Protoculture. The fact that MOSPEADA seized on several of the elements that made Macross a hit in an attempt to replicate its success made it an easy fit as the third generation of the Robotech saga--we have three-form fighter jets that turn into robots, a singing star, alien invaders equipped with their own giant robots, alien defectors, and ultimately love conquering all. Sort of. And the geniuses at Artmic even threw in transforming motorcycles and famed character designer Yoshitaka Amano provided the designs for the series' eclectic cast. Is it any wonder that this part of the series tends to be the second-favorite part of the Robotech saga?

Despite remarks to the contrary by Invid War co-creator Tim Eldred, Comico's adaptation of these episodes weren't too shabby. Carl Macek's first issue script wasn't some of his best work, but it did present an interesting slant on the worst day in Scott Bernard's young life, and a few of the touches Macek put in the script provide insight into the way things could have developed had Robotech's production had so many problems over the years. The workman-like scripts that followed for twelve of the next thirteen issues, courtesy of Macek's Macross Saga successor Jack Herman, both added and subtracted little from this series' rather episodic adventures. The later issues, some of the more important chapters in the series infrequently developed overall storyline, were thankfully handled by the deft writing pen of Markalan Joplin, whose talents similarly livened up the adaptations of The Macross Saga. In case you haven't noticed, both Macross and New Gen shared the problem of rotating writing talent, and shared the same ROTATION of writing talent. The same cannot be said for the art end; while Reggie Byers did do some Macross Saga issues, he more consistently stuck with New Generation, where his penchant for scary eyes, dopey mouths, and awkward poses plagued the book for month after month. The consistency of his work was both comforting and terrifying--you knew what to expect, but you knew what you would get would look kind of odd. He did have some very good months, including his first issue and some of his issues at the tail end of his run. Byers left to pursue work of his own creation, and the excellent Thomas Tenney--who did a bang-up job replicating the style of the original animation--took over for the last few months of the series run. Between Joplin's superb writing and Tenney's dazzling artwork, the final few months of The New Generation were sheer Robotech bliss, sometimes giving the original TV episodes a run for their money in terms of overall quality.

THE NEW GENERATION

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