Dynamite To Publish Voltron: Year One

[Rich Johnston]

I'm going to be honest with you, I don't get Voltron. We didn't get it as a kids cartoon here when I was growing up, it's not a part of my pop culture history, and it looks really bad. That's until Dynamite puts it on covers and then it looks really cool.

So here it is, Voltron Year One, written by Brandon Thomas, drawn by Craig Cermak, with covers by Admira Wijaya and Jonathan Lau. Here's the pitch;

Before they were known as the legendary Voltron Force, they were Space Explorer Squadron #686 of the Galaxy Alliance -- four young men, led by Commander Sven, tasked with keeping the Earth safe and the skies clear in an increasingly dangerous universe. It was no surprise that central command came to them first with an impossible rescue mission and asked them to face an enemy even they didn?t truly understand ? one that threatens the fragile coalition of planets they?ve risked their lives to maintain.

?Finally, one of the greatest (though misunderstood) characters in the entire Voltron mythos gets a chance in the spotlight, as we dig into his time leading Space Explorer Squadron #686, soon to be known as the legendary Voltron Force,? says writer Brandon Thomas. ?In the fateful missions leading up to the rediscovery of Voltron, any and all burning questions will be answered---what?s the real reason Sven?s tenure piloting the Blue Lion was always destined to be a short one? What event ensured that Keith and Lance would forever be rivals? Why has Pidge always been the most dangerous member of the team? And the biggest burning question of all---did the Galaxy Alliance send this particular squad of space explorers after Voltron because they thought they would succeed or because they knew they would fail??

I think I need to go to Wikipedia. Oh good, it's working again.

[fredmanson]

I would have preferred a Robotech or a Bomber X comic book than "that". It reminds me the awful X-OR, Space Sheriff TV series!!

I hope that a British publisher will relaunch a Thunderbirds and a Lady Penelope comic books!!!

[Evan Meadow]

Before I finished reading the press release I was already going "led by Commander Sven? That's one heck of a retcon attempt."

But then I finished reading it. Interested to see what this story entails, that's for sure.

But like the recent press release about the new Dejah Thoris mini series, can't these really just be the next arcs in the ongoings. Do we really need a completely separate mini just so Dynamite can have more then one title of a comic floating around out there. They'v already seen enough times how they oversaturate the licenses they get.

[Thad]

I've always liked Sven. I liked what DDP was doing with him before that series got cancelled.

Haven't picked up the Dynamite series yet but this is tempting, partly because a prequel by its nature escapes from the relentless formula that defines Voltron.

[Hollow]

I'm going to be honest with you, I don't get Voltron. We didn't get it as a kids cartoon here when I was growing up, it's not a part of my pop culture history,

Neither of mine. He had "that other series" - Saber Rider and the Star-Sheriffs - which is much, much superior and to this day is one of the most beloved animated series over here.
But hey at least neither we nor you had "Les chevaliers du Zodiaque".

[ahlhelm]

Voltron is one of those great shows that had a lot of potential, but even the kids would say "This should be better".

That being said, I've enjoyed Brandon's work on the Dynamite book so far so I'm definitely curious about this one.

[GreyMouser]

its amazing how many articles on this site are about dynamite. hell, we see less of Avatar even tho they own BC!
its also amazing how much of dynamite's titles are rehashes from the past. characters they didnt create, but that they are trying to own. on one hand i like that they are bringing them back, on the other hand it seems a bit lazy and maybe kinda slimy.

Fred:
hell yes, i would love to see Robotech make a return to comics. but not at dynamite.

[ahlhelm]

its amazing how many articles on this site are about dynamite. hell, we see less of Avatar even tho they own BC!
its also amazing how much of dynamite's titles are rehashes from the past. characters they didnt create, but that they are trying to own. on one hand i like that they are bringing them back, on the other hand it seems a bit lazy and maybe kinda slimy.

Fred:
hell yes, i would love to see Robotech make a return to comics. but not at dynamite.

I like a lot of Dynamite's material, but if I was to guess, I would say they're paying for coverage on the site. I'm assuming Rich or the Avatar boys could answer that one better than I.

The last two attempts at Robotech were pretty bad. If they could get the Waltrip brothers to do it, or bring James Luceno (one half of the novel writing Brian McKinney) in, I might be interested. But as I stand now, I think Robotech has told the stories it needs to tell under it's current leadership.