Recent Surge in Comic Book Genre

Recently I spent some time walking through the Barnes & Noble store and realized that there was a huge surge in comic books.  These aren't your traditional 75 cent comics that you used to see at your local Quick Stop store, but rather newly printed card stock cover reprints of multiple books.

At first I didn't think much of it.  I mean I've always seen Spiderman fans and Avenger fans walk into the store and read up on things, but then I noticed other comics.  Alien, The Walking Dead, Star Wars?  I mean these are huge blockbuster hits on TV and movies.

I guess they realize that there's a market for books in the industry.  The Walking Dead became one of the most successful cable television series in history.  Of course Star Wars is making a huge come back with JJ Abrams, but they seem to be pushing their comics more and more to fall more inline with their sister franchises at Disney.

And then I thought to myself about Robotech.  Recently there has been a splash about James Wan and Sony Pictures to push the movie forward.  In fact, there has been some readers debating with me on YouTube regarding how the next Robotech movie should be more for the blockbuster audience than the purist fans.

Of course I disagree.  I've been a Robotech fan since the 80's and sadly I'm also Japanese which means I had access to all of Macross from Japan.  So for me, just seeing the original version on top of the English one meant that I knew the bad from the good.  Some parts in Japanese were just so much more than the English.  And of course some of the English was better than the Japanese.

Either way, the new Robotech movie could revitalize the 1980's franchise for good.  Yes it could become like Star Wars and Avengers.  It could become like Transformers the movie series.

However, what makes this more interesting is that Director James Wan has free reign to what he wants to move the franchise ahead.

Of course for me personally, I'd like to see a pure Robotech film with no dilution of the power of song from the series.  And I would also like the first movie to embed some future franchises like Macross Plus and Macross II, and Macross Frontier.

That's the best right?  Having Sheryl Nome, Minmay, and Sharon Apple all be in one film from the get-go?  And of course there should have always been a spin off saga focusing on Max and Miriya.

All of this could happen if Sony does it right.  Plan ahead and focus on the characters rather than the Robotech timeline.   This way, the comic books would be a huge factor.

My thought and wishes go far beyond just 3 or 4 good movies.  My thought is that they would start campaigning for a television show like the Walking Dead.  Maybe even a cartoon series to continue the Macross series.

And even two or three more stand alone Robotech films not based on the SDF series.  Perhaps it could be more about the other lead characters.  Maybe it could be different characters from Macross Plus, Macross II and Macross Frontier meeting for the first time in their own series to unite and fight against the lead enemies of Marduk, Zentradi, and Meltrandi.

You see where I am headed with this?  The recent surge in comic book prints has given new opportunities for Robotech.

Perhaps the old toy line won't ever recover.  But there are always other ways to move the revenue stream ahead.  The fact that Walking Dead generates more than 14 million per episode says that creating a series not relying on the toy sponsorship is a viable business.

There are other revenue streams that the existing franchise in Japan already utilizes under JVC Victor with music and concerts.  And of course there's the Macross Museum dedicated to Shoji Kawamori.

If things go correctly for Sony Pictures,  they should expand with a ride park.  I mean it's this big folks.  With the right people in place they could make this work.

Why Robotech Will Surpass Aquaman

As I sit here at Starbucks (SBUX), I decided to just reflect back on old cartoons that I used to watch growing up.  Majority of the cartoons I watched were on Saturday mornings.  Most were just toy sponsored shows to push sales of their toy lines.  Aquaman originally ran in 1967, before my time, but re-runs were frequent back in the day of networks.  

So yes, I grew up watching Aquaman, Spiderman, and even the newer Super Friends.  It's not saying a lot because most of the kids these days don't even have Saturday morning cartoons anymore.  And let's just say that they are a bit spoiled when it comes to special effects and quality of cartoons to make re-runs viable anymore.

Having said that, I always frequented the local syndicated stations to watch episodes of my favorite Japanese cartoons.  Robotech, Starblazers, Ultra-man, and even Godzilla were very common shows on local TV.  Maybe some of you did watch Godzilla growing up, but for me it was just as good as Robotech or even Voltron.

Now some people think it's a revolutionary step for big producers to make live action films from Japanese cartoons.  But isn't that Spiderman, Superman, and even Avengers are all about?  They were just cartoons that translated well into big screen live action films?

When DC Comics and Warner Brothers Productions announced that they hired Director James Wan for Aquaman, it was like the biggest news for the DC universe.  For me?  Eh, not so much.  The reason is simple, Aquaman will more than likely turn out like the Green Lantern movies.  Not to mention Green Hornet which was a complete disaster in my book.

Unfortunately, DC has lacked the unity that Marvel has in the industry.  They don't tie in shows very well and they don't use the same studios to make it happen.  So for James Wan, he'll have to consult with say Tim Burton or maybe Christopher Nolan to conjure up something that can take the Aquaman Universe closer to Dark Knight and Superman.

If that happens, then Aquaman will have a chance.  Having said that, I have a complete opposite expectation of Robotech.  James Wan will have a chance to build something completely separate from the studios.  I mean DC is a large universe which controls half of the comic industry.

Marvel controls the other half of American comics.  But Robotech?  It's Japanese.  And every kid growing up in my generation knew it was Japanese.  We knew the characters were Japanese but in adaptation for English.  And we knew that the toy robots were Japanese toys. 

In fact, we all knew that the Transformers toys were Japanese as well.  There was no hiding that neither Marvel nor Hasbro really made the Transformers toys.  They were sheer Japanese with English adaptations.

Now here's the irony.  James Wan probably grew up watching Robotech in the Japanese story line which was translated into Chinese.  If I'm right, the Chinese release of the Japanese Anime was pretty much in tact as the Japanese version.

So for him, he'll have a different view from the executives at Sony.  The truth is that Robotech conveys well to the same audience as Aquaman.  Both the DC Comic fans and Robotech fans crossover.  Like myself, they probably grew up watching all the Saturday Morning cartoons.

And like me, they'll probably remember that Aquaman lacked any strength to make Super Friends powerful.  I mean he talked to dolphins and whales.  He swam in water without breathing.  And he was great when the enemies were in the oceans.  But other than that, much of the action for the heroes was on land.

Now in the past, water oriented shows have succeeded.  I mean Pirates of the Caribbean was mostly on water, but it's also a pirate show.  There was also Water World which was interesting for its time.  But for the most part, people are more interested in buildings exploding and jets flying than a guy swimming in the ocean.

Robotech offers a very interesting visual.  It's in space, it's in a city, and it's in the ocean.  Robotech originally starts off on Earth with the alien invasion taking place over the oceans.  In fact, SDF-1 of the U.N. SPACY connects to two aircraft carriers spaced folded into space by accident.  The two ships conveniently become the two arms of the huge robot fortress Macross.  Yes, even the mother space ship transforms into a robot.

The entire other half of the cartoon series takes place in space where jet fighters from the U.N. transforms into 50 feet robots to fight the aliens.  Now the city of Macross is enclosed inside the SDF-1 as it also was zapped into space by accident.  Millions die in the process, but a few citizens are saved to populate to SDF-1 space fortress.

During this time, there is unimaginable action between infiltrating aliens, spies who pose as humans, and even defectors of the alien race who want to live regular lives like humans.

The twists and turns of Robotech make it a sensational series.  In fact, you can easily compare it to Twilight and Hunger Games.  You can compare it to just about any of the super franchises that made Hollywood return to its glory.

Aquaman has its fan base and it definitely has a legacy in the DC Universe, but for the most part, it doesn't have the depth and strength of Robotech as a franchise.  It never did.  

I know because I grew up watching Aquaman and Robotech on TV as a child.  I remember it vividly.  And although I still adore the DC universe more so than the Marvel universe, there's just no comparison to Robotech.  Robotech is huge.  It has to be because Shoji Kawamori never stopped the series.  It continues on in new life today on TV in Japan.

You can simply compare Robotech to Gundam.  While you can compare Aquaman to the Wonder Twins.  Sure there's a legacy there, but it's not really a comparison. 

Director James Wan Official For Robotech

So it's set folks, Director James Wan will direct Robotech.  Sony Pictures moved really quickly to make this  happen.  Luckily for all of us, we know that James Wan can step in and make a film happen fast.

It's exciting for the movie industry these days since Star Wars Force Awakens is coming out and Rogue 1 is also set to release next year under the Godzilla director.  And finally, it has been confirmed that Godzilla 2 and Pacific Rim 2 are in the works for the future.

For me, Robotech is the first and only Japanese anime series adaptation which will break new barriers.  I mean there have been dozens of Anime adaptations for American movies.  None of ever worked.  One of the worst attempts was with Japanese Anime, "Kite".  It never really did anything to build confidence in Hollywood theatres. In fact, Sam L. Jackson was a big star that could have done something for Kite.  No luck there eh?

Ex Machima looks promising, and yes it is a Japanese Anime folks.  But again, it's a franchise that just doesn't have it for the future of Japanese animation to Hollywood.

Robotech has it.  It has it because of original director Shoji Kawamori.  He's the father of SDF Macross, but he's also the father of most of the infamous G1 Transformers toys.  Including Prime!

Forbes reported the latest confirmation that James Wan is on board.  And that's good news for all of us.  When a huge publication talks about Shoji Kawamori, I am sure that James Wan is reading and listening to the fan base.  We want Shoji Kawamori to be involved.  It's that simple.  No more derivatives, no more Michael Bay wash downs.  And no more Americanized characters of already beautiful Japanese characters.

Let's do what is right.  Lynn Minmay has to be Japanese-Chinese.  She was born in Chinatown of Yokohama.  Rick Hunter has to be Japanese.  He is a Japanese fighter pilot.  And Roy Focker (Fokker) has to be American.  He's the Sempai of the entire series.  The alpha male who builds the heart and soul of SDF Macross.

The main female characters like Claudia and Misa Hayase (Lisa Hayes) has to be accurate.  Claudia is American and she's African American.  That was by design to make SDF Macross an international cast.  Misa is also Japanese although her father is the Admiral of UN Spacy defense at former "NORAD" in Alaska known as Alaska Base.

Each character is so fundamental to the Robotech franchise and yet many will die off.  Each character will sacrifice to save each other.  And others will simply shine past the war to save the human race from the Zentradi invasion.

If James Wan does this right, he will acquire more rights to Macross including the Meltrandi, Marduk, and other properties that makes Macross.   The ultimate universe is including all these future empires as part of the process while introducing the Zentradi Expeditionary Forces for the first movie.

And although Lynn Minmay is the key to the human race, they should also start to integrate and seed Sharon Apple and even future characters like Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome.  The singers of Macross are important to the element of the story.

To possibly see Lynn Minmay, Sharon Apple, Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome all come into one movie to sing and protect the human race is the ultimate crossover that Harmony Gold could only talk about over a camp fire.

In the end, the Zentradi were the first invasion of aliens but not the last.  The Marduk attacked UN Spacy making a second run at Earth.  And eventually the Vajra enter the picture as a robot beast.

If James Wan can somehow make this work into an Anthology, we'd buy it.  Let's face it, it's what all fans would do in their spare time.  What if all these universes crossed and made history?

It's obvious that James Wan grew up in China.  His bilingual skills make him an asset for the film.  Most likely he can pick up a Chinese version of SDF Macross on DVD and watch it for himself.  The unabated version of SDF Macross in his native language may enlighten him to understand what us Robotech fans have been noticing for years.  

Yes, the American English adaptation of SDF Macross was good for its time on TV.  But the audience is savvy and smart enough to appreciate the origins of the Japanese version.  We know the story, we love Japanese, and we want it done right for Hollywood.  Accurate to Shoji Kawamori.

The Robotech Anthology Position

It's always fun to write about what will happen to the Robotech franchise.   I already know what Tommy Yune and Harmony Gold are attempting to do with their mediocre property rights to the franchise.  They are attempting to move away from Macross in favor of their own art direction and story plot.  However, we all know that Masters and New Generation just don't suffice to continue the Robotech franchise.  Macross is it.  We all know it.  Without the Veritech fighters, and Lynn Minmay the franchise is pretty much dead.

Sony Pictures must move past the first ever Robotech movie in favor of an anthology plot.  In many ways Carl Macek attempted to create a trilogy with three different generations of Robotech, but he then went ahead and created the fourth generation Robotech under Shadow Chronicles which ultimately didn't do what it was promised to do.

Robotech fans are a bit off in terms of the Macross origins, but there's nothing stopping from the next generation of Robotech fans to adore the origins of Macross through Shoji Kawamori, the author and founder of Macross.  Not to mention the father of a lot of the G1 Transformers toys.

The anthology will fall under a different direction.  For me, SDF Macross will be the entire premise of the series, but within the plots will be three or four different movies.  The first will be the Zentradi invasion of Earth and the SDF-1 Macross defending U.N. Spacey only to fail.   After all in DYRL?  We know that SDF-1 fails to save Earth.  It's desolated and destroyed before they can return from Pluto.  

  

The art direction can be true to Macross but maybe removing the 1980's style jets in favor of more Gen 5 fighter jets of present.  I'm assuming that the F-22A Raptor and F-35B are favored over the old F-14 fighters.  Also, there has been other properties that had made its way into America.  Manga Entertainment under permission of Harmony Gold released two other Japanese Macross movies.   Macross II Lovers Again and Macross Plus.

Both continue the legacy of the original SDF Macross series and is easily adaptable to the Robotech franchise although why Harmony has never done this is a mystery to me.   There are a lot of fans of Macross II even though most people hated it.  It was at a time when Shoji Kawamori was not brought back on board as a director and the VF designs were completely off from the original VF-1 fighters.  

I adored this movie because it continued the DYRL? time line.  For me, the idea of a second invasion by the Marduk another race which existed within the Zentradi forces was interesting.  But instead of controlling the Zentradi via Lynn Minmay, they used Emulators which were Marduk females who sing songs of war.

The premise might be weak compared to the original Shoji Kawamori Macross series, but it suffices as a second feature film.   Here's the issue, they should not abandon Lynn Minmay and Rick Hunter in the process.  I do believe they need to add in the new characters like Hideki and Ishtar.  I'm definitely hoping for additions of Silvie and other characters, but of course we have to kill off other characters like Roy Fokker and Ben Dixen in the first film.

The third installment might have to include the Shoji Kawamori film Macross Plus.  Most SDF Macross fans adore Plus.  It's back to the origins of fighter pilots and jets.  Of course this particular movie is a different timeline which includes Zentradi forces as part of the U.N. Spacey.   If that sounds odd it's not.  This is long after the war with the Zentradi and Earth is slowly reconstructing.

For me, Plus is a good premise but with much more intent.  For me, the movie should include a fully recovered Earth and a stronger U.N. Spacey.  In this timeline, Rick Hunter and Lynn Minmay must still exist.  However, we can add the mixture of the Zentradi characters and the new fighter pilots.  The addition of Sharon Apple as the IA is a gift to the saga.

Earth now has the capability of controlling forces using artificial intelligence.  And that's important because this character can out last just about every other character in terms of timeline.   Now some of you will frown that the movie series doesn't include Scott Bernard and the Invid.

I'm not saying remove them at all.  I say add these characters back into the story plot along the Macross timeline.  In other words, we shouldn't abandon the SDF-1 as a defense ship throughout the entire anthology.  Instead, James Wan should add SDF-2 and even Frontier.  They should add dozens of other space fortresses to potentially add spin off movies and even a TV deal.

In many aspects James Wan could make this one of the largest franchises in history of Hollywood.  That's because there has been so many spin offs of Macross that it has gained dozens of lawsuits.  For instance, some will argue that Jetfire is a Macross toy.  So Transformers and Robotech had a run in.   Others say that Battletech and Robotech used the exact same toys.  And it's true, Battletech did use VF-1 fighters, but hey it also spinned off over 200 novels in the book industry.  Battletech couldn't have happened without the Macross toys.

Others will point to MechWarriors which is another spin off franchise which has existed for decades in the video game world.  Basically Macross toys were used for all these franchised which made fans crossover rather easily.

The characters in Robotech never really cross.  That has to due with the fact that they are different generations.  Also Carl Macek put together three different cartoons.  However, in the new anthology none of the main characters have to be removed.  In other words, keep adding the main characters to the series without removing the old.

If they do this, then it's possible to stretch Macross out beyond the movies and into TV and video games.  It's also possible spawn a franchise that involves its own convention like that of Star Trek and Star Wars.

Sony has something here.  And considering that they are in dire straights, the time is now to expand Robotech.

Sony Pictures and Director James Wan must realize Robotech Macross Saga is BIGGER than Star Wars globally...

Here it is folks.  Living proof of the Macross fans across Japan.  In full force devoted to "song".   Starring May'n as Sheryl Nome and Megumi Nakajima as Ranka Lee.  The False Songstress who took after generations after Lynn Minmay saved the human race!  De Culture!!!!

Mr. James Wan please witness....  the love songs of Macross!!!

Sony Pictures and Director James Wan must watch these two films to conjure up the Robotech franchise of the future...

Mr. James Wan, please take time out of your day to watch these two films before you decide on a direction for Robotech Macross Saga.   That's because "song" is important for the future of the Robotech franchise.

Think Japanese and you shouldn't fail...

Robotech Director James Wan must see Shoji Kawamori as the Gene Roddenberry of MACROSS...

Don't get me wrong, having James Wan do Fast and Furious 7 was genius.  I mean former Director Justin Lin almost walked off the set on Tokyo Drift when the goons over at Universal told him they had to use an Indian girl to play the main cast rather than Japanese.   Justin Lin told the studios that Fast & Furious was born on the premise of engineering and love for Japan.   He knows this because Justin, like myself, grew up in the Import Racing world.   We didn't follow Hollywood.  They saw us, and they copied us.  That's the truth.

If you ever see the making of Fast & Furious, you'll notice that actors and movie directors went to the races at midnight to see what all the fuss was all about in Import Racing.   And the rest?  Well it's history.  Especially in the tuning scene and the police force!

James Wan is a bit more international.  His tributes to directors are probably much more vast than Justin Lin's.  That's because James Wan isn't American.  He's Chinese.  The fact that he is able to rise to the top is amazing in the world of white-washed Hollywood.   I mean all the execs care about is the American audience and pays very very little homage to Japan.

In the past, I frowned when Memoirs of Geisha didn't break new ground.  They used proven international stars from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and added Ken Watanabe as the main character.  The problem?  It's about Geisha?  Where was the honesty in that film?  Is that what you call a tribute to the Samurai?  To Kyoto?  To Shintoism?  Is that even a tribute to Akira Kurosawa?  The man who influenced and gave birth to those of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas?  (True story).

The joke is that American Robotech fans will hope for the watered down cast.  The fact that Rick Hunter had to be an American character was due to the fact that the execs forced it upon Carl Macek.  Macek knew Japan.  Trust me, I was in a conference room with him once.  I remember him vividly talking about the past and how it worked at Harmony Gold.

He knew that America wasn't ready for hardcore Anime.  He knew that George Lucas heavily watched Anime growing up.  He eventually admitted that he wasn't a fan of the original Shoji Kawamori story plot.  What most of us Macross fans know today is that the Japanese version is just much better?

The idea of "song" integrated in the Zentradi race as a memory of the founders or "Proto-culture" saves the human race.  Well at least Macross city and SDF-1.  We later find that the Earth was decimated by the Supervision Army leaving Macross as the last of mankind.

James Wan doesn't have to be Macross fan.  He doesn't even need to be a Robotech watcher.  What he needs to do is study Shoji Kawamori.  He'll quickly learn that Shoji designed the G1 Transformers Optimus Prime.  He designed and made every Veritech fighter known to man.  And he designed and wrote the fight scenes that look more like a scene from Top Gun than a GI Joe cartoon.

And most of all?  Shoji Kawamori is now considered a director that of the likes of Hayao Miyazaki.  There are plenty of tributes to go around with the series, but in Japan, Shoji Kawamori is seen as the most respected animator in the fanboy and mecha kingdom.

For most of you, you may not tie Shoji Kawamori to Transformers, but make no mistake, Transformers was like Robotech.  They took existing Shoji Kawamori designs and integrated them into the Marvel Universe.  They seized an opportunity by using Japanese robots.

James Wan must have grown up watching the Macross series and the continuation with Macross Zero and Frontier.  All of which was under Shoji Kawamori's studio.  And sure, there's a huge dispute among the three studios, Harmony Gold, Tatsunoko Pro, and Big West, but that never swayed Shoji Kawamori from continuing his life business.

James Wan can easily study the life of Kawamori to see just how much he struggled to bring Macross to the big screen and to the globe.  There was some ups and down at the studio, but in the end, none of this could ever have happened without his art.  Some people will compare Macross to Pacific Rim, but I compare Macross to Lord of the Rings, Twilight, Divergent, and Hunger Games.

In the end, it's that good.  And it's historical in the nature of Anime.  Sure, the Robotech version exists in the United States.  And professionals are talking about making this a Transformers type movie, but in the end, it's just so much more.

Forget the explosions for a minute.  Just focus on the love story and the enemy.  It's hard to hate the Zentradi as well because they are giant clones bred for war.  They have never experienced love, happiness, and just live their lives to kill.

Well that integration of love story is all due to Mr. Kawamori.