Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 ~ The Start Of A Postwar War [Comic Review]

Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 shows us that the war doesn’t end even after its conclusion. There’s still a peace to fight over between human and Zentraedi. Alas, the fighting is getting so fierce that it might as well be a postwar war.

Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 ~ Details

Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 is the first issue of this upcoming new sci-fi comic book series. Brandon Easton (Transformers, Kamen Rider Zero-One) is the writer for this new comic, with Simone Ragazzoni (Power Rangers) as the artist, and Bryan Valenza as the colorist. InHyuk Lee is the cover artist for the main cover art above. Meanwhile, Derrick Chew, Simone Ragazzoni, Josh Burcham, and Nahuel Grego are the artists for the various cover art. Titan Comics is the publisher behind this comic.

Where to Purchase

Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 will go on sale on August 2, 2023 for a retail price of $3.99. You can preorder it at your local comic book shop or directly from Titan Comics. If you live in either the UK or Europe though, then you can preorder the same from Forbidden Planet.

Variant Covers

Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 ~ Synopsis

Normally, this would be the part of my review where I give a spoiler-filled plot summary of Robotech: Rick Hunter #1. However, this is the spoiler-free version, mostly because this comic hasn’t come out yet. Thus, you will all be getting the official synopsis from Titan Comics. You can read that below:

After the devastating events of the Macross saga, RICK HUNTER must face an all new threat, along with the ghosts of his past – when a Zentraedi splinter group attacks Yokohama, Rick is called to investigate! Piloting the new prototype YF-4 Veritech, Rick encounters old friends and new enemies, all while recounting the moments of his life that shaped most epic moments in the ROBOTECH universe!

Preview Pages

In addition to the synopsis, Titan Comics also has preview pages for us today. You know, so we can better understand what Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 is about. Enjoy:

Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 ~ The Good

If you’re a Robotech fan, then Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 just might be the comic for you. The comic delves deep into the lore of Robotech for many of its plot points. In particular, this comic seems to focus pretty heavily on the titular Rick Hunter himself. We get to see his past, and how it affects the present-day ongoing events. Whether for good or for ill.

The artwork of Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 is also pretty good. It’s not exactly the same as the original animation by Artland and Tatsunoko Productions when they worked on Super Dimension Fortress Macross in 1982. However, Simone Ragazzoni does a pretty good job of giving us his own take on the art style of the anime while still having nods to that sweet ’80s anime style. That is, if Rick Hunter’s spiky hair didn’t clue you all in on that already.

Robotech: Rick Hunter #1 ~ The Bad

Alas, I do have complaints about Robotech: Rick Hunter #1. My first complaint is that the comic does not do a particularly good job with character deaths. Without going into spoilers: the story kills off a side character very suddenly. How suddenly, you might ask? Literally on the same page, the comic introduces them in. That’s not a good way to handle character death. You don’t just suddenly kill someone off moments after introducing them. You take the time to build them up as characters and then kill them off. Killing off a character on the same page you introduce them to just eliminates any feeling the audience feels upon seeing the character die. Unless the whole point of the character is to die, in which case, it feels like the story is cheapening death, despite the story’s marginal efforts to try and give that character some degree of posthumous character development.

My second complaint is the lack of Lynn Minmei in Robotech: Rick Hunter #1. You’d think that she’d be a major character since she is on the covers. And yet, the only time we ever actually see her in this issue is in a photo in a single panel, where someone is showing Rick Hunter a box of his stuff. That’s it. We get a namedrop for her, but that’s also it. It feels more iike Lynn Minmei is a background set piece than a character, which makes the covers make no sense. The fact that Lynn Minmei isn’t even in the character bios page just makes it worse. Maybe the story will include her into it later, but until then, this first issue is getting a 75 out of 100 from me.

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