Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles
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| Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles | |
 Cover to Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles #2. Art by Omar Dogan. |
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| Publisher | DC Comics/Wildstorm |
|---|---|
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | limited series |
| Publication date | October 2005 - January 2006 |
| Number of issues | 5 |
| Main character(s) | Rick Hunter, Lisa Hunter, Vince Grant |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Tommy Yune, the Waltrip brothers |
| Penciller(s) | Omar Dogan, the Waltrip brothers |
| Inker(s) | Omar Dogan, the Waltrip brothers |
Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles is a five-part comic book mini-series written by Tommy Yune along with the Waltrip brothers, who were previously the art-and-writing team of the Robotech II: The Sentinels comic series. It was published under DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. It bridges the gap between The Sentinels and the new movie Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, and also features characters from the Robotech Masters Saga. The series is important, in that it provides an explanation and deepened background for many of the events seen on screen in the movie, and clears up many supposed contradictions within the original animation.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story of Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles focuses on the betrayal of the Robotech Expeditionary Force by T. R. Edwards, as he defects to the side of the Invid Regent. The story begins with the REF's Plenipotentiary Council ordering the arrest of Edwards, and Admiral Rick Hunter leads a team down to Tirol to arrest Edwards for treason, only to find that Edwards has already cleared out his facility in Tiresia, kidnapped Lynn Minmei, and killed her cousin Lynn-Kyle. The REF forces are attacked by Invid Inorganics, and Edwards launches offplanet in a newly-developed ship, the Icarus.
Admiral Lisa Hunter aboard the SDF-3 attempts to prevent Edwards from leaving, but finds they are unable to get a lock on his ship or his Ghost Squadron fighters, which are using Shadow Technology. The Regent's ship defolds, and fires on the SDF-3, crippling it. During the battle, Lisa, who is pregnant, is injured, and miscarries.
Back on Tirol, Dr. Emil Lang and his android assistant Janice Em try to investigate the Shadow technology, which is making Edwards' ships impossible to detect. The Sentinels pledge to help the REF rebuild and prepare for their next encounter with the Invid. Particularly the Karbarrans, who help rebuild the fleet, and the Haydonites, who help reverse-engineer the Shadow technology, an area they excel at. One year later, Vince Grant leads the capital ship Tokugawa against Edwards and the Regent at Optera. However, the Tokugawa is severely damaged by a surprise attack by the Icarus. Edwards uses the battle as a chance to dispose of the Regent and Breetai while they are engaged combat. The death of the Regent gives him and his living computer control over all of the Invid forces. Grant's ship is left crashing into Optera's atmosphere.
Edwards rounds up the survivors, including Vince, and brings them to the Invid hive, where he reveals his plan to use the Regent's army to "liberate" the Earth from the Invid Regis. Rick arrives in the SDF-3, and leads a team to rescue Minmei and the survivors of Grant's party. They capture Lazlo Zand and rescue Minmei, but Edwards is pushed into the Genesis Pit by Janice, where he and the living computer are fused and mutated into one monstrous being. Janice tells the rest of the team to escape, and uses herself as a beacon for the SDF-3 to lock onto so it can destroy the Edwards-creature. Janice uploads herself to a new body created by Lang and the Haydonites so she can act as a liaison, but the upgrade is only partial, and Janice's memory is damaged.
From Edwards, the REF gets the Neutron-S missiles, which the Haydonites help them to replicate. The series ends with the SDF-3 testing the missiles, and causing the unexpected creation of a black hole.
[edit] The Sentinels revisited
The rebooting of the Robotech universe relegated everything except the original 85-episode series to secondary continuity. This includes the Sentinels comics, and the Jack McKinney novels, both of which tell the same story, but diverge on many of the finer details. As part of this reboot, the Wildstorm Robotech comics before the Prelude miniseries feature a retelling of the years between the SDF-1 crash and the first animated episode, "Boobytrap." Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles picks up where the Sentinels comics left off, during the events surrounding T.R. Edwards's betrayal. With the reboot, it is still generally acknowledged that the basic events of The Sentinels still occurred, although many minor details (including the timeline) are now slightly different. Most notably, Edwards who was the main human antagonist during Sentinels has been reinterpreted as a more ambiguous character.
[edit] Character fates
Several key Robotech characters are killed off during this comic series, some on screen, and some are confirmed when watching the follow-up movie. They include:
- Lynn-Kyle (shot by Edwards)
- Breetai (killed when the Tokugawa's cannon fires on the Regent's ship)
- The Regent (killed when the Tokugawa's cannon fires on the Regent's ship)
- T.R. Edwards (killed by the SDF-3's Synchro-cannons)
- Exedore (killed aboard the Deukalion during the Neutron-S missile test and events in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)
- Dr. Emil Lang (killed aboard the Deukalion during the Neutron-S missile test and events in Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles)
Dr. Lang's fate is unknown. He was aboard the SDF-3 during the Neutron S missile test, not the science ship Deukalion as stated.
A number of characters from Robotech and The Sentinels were not shown in this comic series and their fate as of the Shadow Chronicles remains unknown.
- Bowie Grant (referred to in dialogue)
- Tesla (Invid traitor and contender for Regent's throne. No mention in dialogue)
- Captain Raul Forsythe (acting captain of SDF-3 in Lisa Hayes' absence. No mention in dialogue)
- Max Sterling (referred to in dialogue)
- Miriya Sterling(no mention in dialogue)
- Aurora Sterling (no mention in dialogue, possibly retconned out of existence) - possibly replaced with Maia Sterling
- In addition, the only Sentinels alien characters to get any panel time, dialogue or have their names mentioned were the Karbarran Lron and Ambassador Veidt of the Haydonites. Sentinel representatives were briefly seen in issue #1 who represented Peryton, Spheris, Garuda, and Praxis but they remained unnamed and had no dialogue.
