Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles

Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles
Cover to Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles #2. Art by Omar Dogan.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics/Wildstorm
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Publication date	October 2005 - January 2006
No. of issues	5
Main character(s)	Rick Hunter, Lisa Hunter, Vince Grant
Creative team
Written by	Tommy Yune, the Waltrip brothers
Penciller(s)	Omar Dogan, the Waltrip brothers
Inker(s)	Omar Dogan, the Waltrip brothers
Collected editions
Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles	ISBN

Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles is a five-part comic book mini-series written by Tommy Yune along with the Waltrip brothers, who were previously the art-and-writing team of the Robotech II: The Sentinels comic series. It was published under DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. It bridges the gap between The Sentinels and the new movie Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, and also features characters from the Robotech Masters Saga. The series is important, in that it provides an explanation and deepened background for many of the events seen on screen in the movie, and clears up many apparent contradictions within the original animation.

The story of Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles focuses on the betrayal of the Robotech Expeditionary Force by T. R. Edwards, as he defects to the side of the Invid Regent. The story begins with the REF's Plenipotentiary Council ordering the arrest of Edwards, and Admiral Rick Hunter leads a team down to Tirol to arrest Edwards for treason, only to find that Edwards has already cleared out his facility in Tiresia, kidnapped Lynn Minmay, and killed her cousin Lynn-Kyle. The REF forces are attacked by Invid Inorganics, and Edwards launches offplanet in a newly developed battlecrusier, the Icarus.

Rick alerts Admiral Lisa Hunter, in command of the SDF-3, of the development, and Lisa attempts to prevent Edwards from leaving, but the SDF-3 is unable to get a lock on his ship or his Ghost Squadron fighters, which are using newly developed Shadow technology that makes them invisible to the REF's sensors. As Edwards' ship moves to escape, the Invid Regent's Supercarrier defolds nearby, confirming the REF suspicions that Edwards has allied with the Invid. The SDF-3 prepares to attack but the Supercarrier is able to fire first - the blast shears off the front sections of the SDF-3 and causes extensive damage. The Supercarrier and the Icarus engage their fold drives and escape, with the REF unable to follow. Lisa is seriously injured in the attack, but is soon stabilized and taken downplanet to Tirol for recovery. A few days later, Dr. Jean Grant and her husband, Captain Vince Grant, meet with Rick to tell him that Lisa will survive. Rick, thankful for the news, states that he was looking forward to Lisa resigning her commission after she found out she was pregnant with their first child. It is then that Jean is forced to tell Rick that Lisa's injuries were so severe that she has miscarried, causing Rick to nearly collapse in shock and sadness. The tragedy takes its toll on Rick and Lisa – in the year it takes for the REF to rebuild, Rick's once-black hair turns grey, and Lisa is still in a wheelchair with braces on her legs.