Writer Brenden Fletcher discusses Robotech’s place in remix culture and how that influences his new comic.
A hardcore fan is at the helm.
Writer Brenden Fletcher, known for his work in comics such asGotham Academy,Batgirl,Isola, andMotorcrushlovesRobotech.
Not just theMacross Sagalike many more casual fans.
Q: So where to begin?
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Heres a good place to start.
I was never in love with Dana Sterling as a character.
I dont know a whole lot of people who were.
AnyRobotechfans are probably all really in love with theMacrosssaga.
Did anyone like that mecha?
Q: The mecha were not the strong point ofSouthern Cross/Masters.
I dont mind the Ajax actually.
I thought the Ajax was always a little cool.
I was so-so on the Hover Tank until I got the Matchbox toy for Christmas.
That thing was amazing.
I loved that thing.
I would go over to his house just to play with that Hover Tank.
I got the non-transforming, weird, hybrid VF1S.
Her past, her future, her emotional state.
Why thats her focus over anything else inSouthern Cross.
Theres at least a little bit of context behind that in theMasters Saga.
Thats something that I really want to dig into in my arc in my story for this comic.
What is the cause of being in that place in your life?
I think we all know what the answer is with Dana.
Its that her parents left her on Earth at ten years of age, seemingly never to return.
Theyre both in need.
You watch theMasters Sagaand these are both kids in really weird places in their lives.
Neither of them are necessarily happy.
Neither of them are happy at all.
Bowie is not comfortable being a part of this military machine at all.
Theyre both longing for something else.
Knowing that their parents are off doing something else that was seemingly more important than them.
During Simons story when Dana comes out of hibernation I would guess shes about 30 years of age.
She comes into a world just before she would have been born.
Max and Miriya never got together.
Danas never been born.
So whats the point of Dana?
Where does she belong?
Did she ever matter to her parents?
They just left her.
I mean we know as human beings; of course she mattered to her parents.
[When] they left her behind, in their minds, it was to protect her.
Dana carries this with her.
It is a story about her own broken nostalgia.
The way that we could almost have nostalgia for the Robotech that we grew up with.
And she might have to experience that all over again.
In this case her parents arent even a couple, so what is the point of it all?
What was the point of her saving the universe, coming back in time and saving maybe this universe?
Or maybe every timeline?
She doesnt know yet.
What was the point of her existence [if this] doesnt really matter?
If this timeline can continue forward without her.
What part does Dana Sterling play in the universe, and meta texturally, in the story ofRobotech?
So many people with Robotech say, it’s possible for you to just skip that second part.
Youre taking somebody who wasnt supposed to be there and dropping them in.
There were some shots of theMastersbeing edited intoMacrossto help tell theRobotechstory.
There are very few instances where we are seeing that mash up for real happening.
I love people talking about re-imagining whatSouthern Crosscould have been.
Not to say, I think they did an amazing job with it to turn it into the Masters.
It actually gives the child of Max and Miriya more depth.
I mean more depth than she had as Komilia in spin offMacrossstuff.
Her hair color is the same as Komilia.
Im looking at both.
Im looking atMasters, but Im also looking atSouthern Cross.
Im now working in a space where there are no limits to the way a character can exist.
Simon rewrote those rules through the series he did with Brian Wood and this Event Horizon thing.
All bets are off now.
This is the world that I get to play in.
What was that like for you when you were first handed the idea of doing this comic?
Did you know all these things were going to happen?
No, no, no.
Ive got a lot on my plate.
I am a hugeRobotechfan.
I just about lost it.
I did leave the meeting saying, Let me think about it.
Let me think about it.
It went on to be a little bit of a negotiation, but my mind was reeling.
I think everything that Simon and the guys have put together is fantastic.
Very humbled and very nervous to be filling their giant shoes with this.
I dont think I can.
I can do something fun with a little bit of a different flavor.
I think that was why Chris had asked me to take it over.
He knew I was a big fan.
Its why its being relaunched I think because the tones different.
Its definitely got a more anime flavor to it.
I like to be able to shift over to that when its appropriate.
The stuff that attracted me toRobotechto begin with is the soap opera stuff.
Slice of life stuff, the love triangles, is why I was in it.
I mean I love the cool transforming robots, but the love triangle was what sold it to me.
Thats where I am with this, not to say that there is a love triangle.
I love that, I think its great.
So I think weve got a great sci-fi military set up.
Weve already seen a little bit of that in the back up stories.
Is the purpose of those back stories to set up things for your run?
Does it take place before that run?
Minmei is one of those.
What happened to Minmei.
But, is that just a recording?
Whats the deal with that?
If this isnt Minmei, well whos doing this and why?
I think they are a bunch of clues about why as well.
So then the titleRobotech: Remixitself, talk a little bit about that.
How does that play in?
At its core for me,Robotechis one of the first artifacts of remix culture in greater pop culture.
I mean it might not be, its a corporate entity.
Its a thing that was done to meet a demand.
Hitting an episode number and just piling stories on to another story just to get a certain number.
I think its unprecedented, incredible.
I think that I want to honor that with this series.
Opening all these other doors that Simons opened, its taking this to the nth level here.
Im a big fan of all this stuff.
Hopefully if youre taking that into account when reading this story.
Ill let you look to the future of the overall Robotech narrative through a different lens.
Where can it go as a comic?
Where can it go outside of the comic once you understand it in this context?
What does that mean to her?
What does that mean to the other characters?
What does that mean to the future ofRobotechas a brand?
What does that mean for us as creators?
What do you want to see then as a fan?
I know what I want to see.
Im going to have a go at put that in the story.
Can you give us a little bit of an idea of what that might be?
What can I say?
I may have already said too much.
You literally having her experience deja vu all the time in reference of course to theSouthern Crossopening theme.
Again, its much likeRobotech, experiencing her life again, but not the exact same way.
It is changed, it is different.
She hasnt dealt with all of this stuff.
Exploring that would be something Im very interested to see.
That is the crux of this thing.
Have it be more connected.
Not having the weird boy crazy stuff.
Now youre telling a story and being able to comment on it without changing it either.
Was that important for you to do?
I think honoring what Simon and Brian have all labored over for these years is important to me.
I want to put my best foot forward from that point that they left behind.
I feel like what Im doing is the natural extension of where Simon has left it.
I also dont want to spoil the end of Event Horizon.
Im sure there are other choices that could have been made.
Im sure I could have pitched something else.
This is what I want to see after knowing Event Horizon.
After just looking at what I find interesting about these characters.
Even in of itself, to make it an appealing thing whereSouthern Crosshad maybe failed on a few accounts.
Its all very interesting.
The characters of Jeanne versus Dana are very interesting.
These are all things that Im looking at and commenting on in a way.
I want to do that.
I want to talk about the importance of Jeanne Francaix as a character.
I want to talk about the importance of Deja Vu as an opening theme song.
Its important to me that we acknowledge the past while were remixing to create the present and the future.
All those moments where she has a breakdown.
That moment in that back alley and shes got the things that became the Cha-Chas.
That moment where her artifice is down, she loses her mask.
Or basically every scene with Bowie.
Thinking about why Danas mask is important for her [and] for Bowie.
As kids who grew up for a number of years almost as siblings.
Dana feeling for this young boy whos in a place that he shouldnt be and wanting to protect him.
Knowing that he is suffering emotionally the way she is, but he cant cover it.
[She tries to] lift him up through her own performance.
In Danas Story she sees Bowies not having a great time.
Shes like, Oh Ill sing.
Ill tell you a story.
That is exactly it.
I think you’re free to see it in Curtain Call.
Bowie is a 10-year-old boy in this story.
Dana is a 40-year-old woman.
She has watched her best friend be born and grow to a 10-year-old boy.
She knows what happened with her Bowie in the past.
Knowing what could become of him.
Knowing where his heart is and wanting to do anything in the universe possible to protect it.
Just the fact that she took him to a music concert.
Its part of the culture war against the Zentradi.
InMastersBowie is obviously a musician and thats where his heart is.
He would rather play music than fight.
Dana even plays guitar.
Musica had a hand in controlling the clones through music.
It goes without saying that in theNew Generationwe have Yellow Dancer.
As a kid that stuff was so important to me.
I grew up around music.
My parents were musicians and its part of what sent me toRobotech.
That music played such an integral role in every part of the saga.
So that will play a part in everything that Im doing here.
The two composers of theSouthern Crossscore.
Im a big nerd.
Have you listened to the music score?
Theres an action cue thats essentially Synchronicity II by The Police.
We assume thats the same one that we saw in that weird vision at the end ofMasters.
What about the one that Dana mentions with Zor where he says, Do you have a boyfriend?
and she answers, No, I just had a brother.
I dont know if I should say anything.
It might be something that is addressed in the very concrete way in the story.
People who might be coming to this for the first time.
I admit that its a challenge to make it streamlined.
I hope its appealing to everybody.
I cant pull myself far enough away from it to know that it is or not.
Everyone else whose read it is sort of too deep in the weeds to know for sure.
