I
thought it would be fair to tell you about the course of my life
which led to the Web site you are now viewing. Like most any other
young boy who grew up in late-20th-century American society, I
was partially raised by the television. My escape from the typical
"problems" of childhood was into the fantastic worlds brought
to me over the airwaves. And although I did see a LOT of shows
as a young boy, my favorites were those cartoons and shows sporting
fantastic machinery. My first big fascination lay with Speed
Racer, and the only real reason I watched the show was to
see how many cool gadgets were squeezed into the Mach 5. I was
also hooked on the "supermachine" television shows of the early
'80s, such as Knight Rider and Airwolf. Forget the
cheezy characters and bad plots... I watched those shows for the
MACHINES.
Of course, in 1985 premiered a new robot cartoon show unlike any
other on television at the time... a little jewel called Robotech.
Rather than robots being sentient, mechanical aliens from another
planet who just happened to have Earth handy as a battleground,
Robotech was something different. Robotech's "robots"
were, in fact, not robots at all. Instead, they were mechanized,
humanoid-shaped machines (known to us anime freaks as "mecha")
that were piloted by humans... much in the same fashion as a fighter
jet or a tank. The mecha themselves were simply tools or plot
devices used to help accelerate the story played out by the characters.
Robotech's characters also had a realistically HUMAN quality
to them. And, of course, the mecha were simply very cool to watch.
And, thus, I was a Japanese anime fan long before I even knew
what "anime" was. My fascination with Robotech led me to
a well-known booked titled "Robotech Art 1." In the back was an
article tracing Robotech's original Japanese roots, as
well as a history of Japanese anime & manga (comics) dating back
for many years. My interest was quickly picqued, and I found myself
hunting through local comic shops to find anything I could on
the original Japanese versions of Robotech... namely, Macross,
Southern Cross, and Mospeada. That's when, around
1992, I discovered a magazine called "Mecha Press."..
I snagged up the first few issues of the Canadian-produced "Mecha
Press" magazine. While I was able to find sources of Macross
info and videos through this mag, the publication's main focus
was on this little series called Mobile Suit Gundam. I
was drawn in by detailed descriptions of a epic, fascinating character
story laced with politics, sociology, psychology, military issues...
and, of course, cool mecha. In fact, I learned that Gundam
was actually the pioneer series which launched the "realistic"
mecha revolution of the '80s... including my beloved Macross.
I knew that there was a local anime club in the Oklahoma City
area, and I had seen them running anime videos at local conventions.
So I rented a room and bought a weekend pass for the next con,
determined to fulfill two very important goals: find and join
up with this local anime club... and see some Gundam!
Finding the anime guys was no problem... I was immediately drawn
into their little group, and I am still good, close friends with
several of those people today. And, I finally got to see what
my soul had been searching for... dreary-eyed and tired, I soon
found my adrenaline rolling at 2:00 A.M. in the morning in a little
hotel room, watching the film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.
My life was changed forever...
Several dozen model kits, countless video tapes, laserdiscs, and
DVDs, and eight years later, I am still running high on this mecha
anime phenomenon. About four years ago, I first went online and
found the Gundam Mailing List, and with the help of many of its
members, I put together the first (at least, I think it
was the first) regularly released and updated list of Gundam
mecha specs. Called "Burke's Big List O' Gundam Mecha", it
received regular updates and postings to the Gundam Mailing List,
until I decided to take it in a new direction. My work on the
Big List spawned the idea of putting the information it contained
up on the World Wide Web, complete with line-art design illustrations,
series reference info and links, etc. The Web page you are now
viewing is the result. I hope, as a fellow "mecha junkie," that
you will get as much use and enjoyment out of this page as I have
putting all the work into it.
So stay tuned, keep enjoying the site, and believe in the sign
of Zeta!
