There is no shame in my admission that I have an unabashed love of Robotech. I love the animation, I love the RPG, I love the fiction, and heck, I even love the toys! Still, the Robotech RPG has to be one of the most impactful pieces of gaming literature I’ve ever used in my years as both a player and a DM.
Released as a licensed product by Palladium in 1986, Book One: Macross was something that jumped off the gaming store shelves as an opportunity for something completely different; that being a quickly resolved mecha combat rules set.
Still, no matter what folks might think of the game itself, I’m here as always to discuss the art from this particular product.
Covered in color by artist Kevin Long, this remains one of the few gaming core books ever covered and almost exclusively rendered by the same artist.
Long is at his best here, depicting the veritechs and other resource material provided by the Japanese animation. He also finds his own personal style as well, beefing up the products of robotechnology and showing them with more of a solid-state chassis and weapon system than depicted on screen. I always kind of took this as the American version of the story, and although some additional artwork is provided by artist Aubrey Bradford, I give Long full credit for this feel.
All interiors, and even the back cover, are done in standard era black and white illustration, and give us a solid understanding of each piece of the Robotech Universe puzzle for the Macross Saga as well as some tidbits we only got to glimpse in the TV show.
In all, I can’t complain here, as Long does an admirable job and even adds a bit of flare that helps sell the universe.
Artistic Rating: 3 [out of 5]
POSTED February 5, 2007 at 1:11 amGreat pictures i think you slohud have put master spaceship designer on your business cards. the evolution in designs shows huge promise might be worth having at least a doodle to see where your mind takes you in modern times. you never know til you try and who knows that ole buzz of satisfaction could be waiting to say hi again.
POSTED April 12, 2007 at 7:14 pmDave- This is a great website, and for the first time I have a clear and cocinse explanation of Star Blazers. I too, drew dozens of ships, most of mine were planetary exploration vehicles. I still have most of them, (mind you, these are from the 60’s and 70’s!) and a few years ago I took a look at them. They brought back alot of delicious memories. I am very glad I found this site, and I’ll keep checking in.
That’s a cute sketch, Patrick. I never saw Robotech, but I can idientfy with your love of nostalgia. I did watch those other shows among many others. If there were more hours in the day, I think I’d love to do some TMNT fan art myself. Take care!