This Robotech article contains minor spoilers up to issue 22 of the Robotech Titan Comics’ series.
The Robotech comics are finally giving some major love to the franchise’s underdog, The Masters Saga. While the original Robotech anime was made up three different anime programs, the first and third “sagas” of the show have always received way more attention in the comic world. The Macross Saga has had endless sequels, sidequels, prequels, and retellings. New Generation hasn’t had quite as many but it’s still a major player.
The Masters Saga on the other hand has only received adaptations of the original episodes, a brief miniseries in the late 90’s, and its characters have made scant appearances in other comic series. Much of this is down to it not having as many fans as the other sagas. On first watch though it doesn’t feel quite as compelling as Macross Saga or New Generation, with its slow start and not quite as developed characters. Still, Masters is beloved by the very hardcore fans that appreciate it for what it is and the ideas it added to the Robotech universe.
For years these fans have hoped more Masters Saga content would be released… and that’s about to happen in a big way thanks to the new Robotech comic from Titan Comics. While a few Masters saga references have made it into the comic, including Moon Base Aluce and a relative of Nova Satori, the new Event Horizon arc has made Masters essential to the story.
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For those not reading, it’s basically everything a Robotech fan can dream of. Lazlo Zand has been experimenting with alternate universes and along the way managed to anger the Invid Regess. She’s sent her forces into all realities, including the new comics reality where Rick Hunter and Minmei have the unique ability to see what the Regess is up to. Elements from all three sagas, the novels, and past comics are combining together into one reality-spanning story that, in its most recent issue, even dropped a reference to the original Robotech movie.
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Most importantly though is one character who’s traveled through time to help Rick and the others fight against the Regess, Dana. Yes, that’s right. The daughter of Max and Miriya is now interacting with the Macross Saga characters in their prime. More importantly, this is a Dana who is free of the footage restrictions of the original series.
Dana was always a character with a lot of potential, being the only known half human half Zentradi on Earth. It’s hinted she’s faced extreme prejudice but despite it all has an upbeat attitude. Sadly because her footage was taken from a totally different series than The Macross Saga, we never got much deep insight into her upbringing outside of snippets of exposition from the Robotech narrator. It made Dana more of an interesting idea for a character than what we (mostly) got on screen.
Now, free of that restriction, comic writer Simon Furman has been given a chance to reintroduce a post Masters war Dana who’s come face to face with her parents… who, thanks to changes in the timeline, don’t even love each other. While Dana is now just one of many characters in the Event Horizon arc, she’s just getting prepped to take center stage.
Brenden Fletcher (Batgirl, Gotham Academy) has currently been writing backup stories, which are setting story lines up for his own run after Event Horizon concludes. In what we’ve seen so far, Dana has set up Max and Miriya on a date and it doesn’t go well. She’s even joined by a young version of her best friend Bowie!
According to Tommy Yune, President of Animation at Harmony Gold, Brenden’s run will focus on “Dana… being a fish out of water with the world that Simon has set up for us.”
This won’t just be a retelling of the Masters Saga either. With all the changes in the main timeline Event Horizon will wrap up the Macross saga but “very differently than the original Robotech series,” says Yune. “That [will] take the subsequent two sagas of Robotech in a very different direction.”
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Dana as a fish out of water sounds like the perfect vehicle to explore her character! What better way to see how her upbringing affected her than trying to get her parents together? Plus interacting with younger versions of her fellow 15th Squadron mates. Will we see how she meets Bowie? What will she do to Lazlo Zand if she gets her hands on him? Could Zor somehow make an appearance? What about that brother Dana mentioned once? So many possibilities! This is finally the chance to give us the Dana the show never could.
This is a bold new direction for the Titan Comics series, focusing on a character from the least popular saga of the original series. It’s a gamble for sure but Dana alone has potential to make an incredibly rich story. Hardcore Masters fans need to pick this comic up, it’s the story you’ve been waiting over two decades for.
Shamus Kelley is a pop culture/television writer and official Power Rangers expert. Follow him on Twitter! He also co-hosts a Robotech podcast, which covers the original series and the new comics. Give it a listen! Read more articles by him here!