Activate interlocks, dynatherms connected, infracells-up, mega thrusters are go, Let’s Go Voltron Force! These words resonated through me as a child who grew up in the 1980’s. Even now as an adult Voltron is still one of the coolest things to me and will read and watch anything that has Voltron Lion Force in it. Which brings me to the topic at hand, Dynamite Entertainment joined forces with Cullen Bunn (Deadpool, Captain America, Magneto) and Blacky Shepherd to form Voltron once again with Voltron: From The Ashes, and I for one couldn’t be anymore excited that I got a chance to read these comics.

When I was given this assignment I couldn’t wait to open it up start reading the first five issues of this series. I knew in order for Voltron to be successful with readers who were born in the mid 90’s a new cast of characters where going to have to be introduced or the franchise had to be completely rebooted like Netflix is going to be doing this year,  and Cullen Bunn and the folks at dynamite hit the nail on the head in blending both the old with the new.

Voltron: From The Ashes takes place over 200 years after the Voltron defeats the Drule Empire. Haggar the Witch and her cat Coven have been drifting through the galaxy abandoned, asleep and defeated. She has nightmares about that day, but she is unaware of the outcome between her Robeasts and Voltron. The galaxy has been  in peace for two hundred years, Voltron’s original pilots Commander Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk and Princess Allura are long gone but are still flashed back to throughout the series. And the Monks of Arus are now training a new set of pilots to take over Voltron if and when he is needed again. These new pilots are Jayce, Vega, Kirin, Niki and Rei ( no not the same girl from Star Wars The Force Awakens her name is spelled Rey). Haggar is eventually found adrift by Gr’ Rawr and she quickly begins the process of creating new Rrobeasts for her new warlord. Shortly after, Haggar, Gr’ Rawr and his army along with Haggars Robeast attack a peaceful and unaware Planet Arus and has called upon the new Voltron Pilots. After a lengthy hard  fault battle, our fearless Pilots help Voltron defeat the Robeasts and Haggar once again

The plot it’s self was solid, it goes back and forth between the original Pilots and the new Cadets/Pilots. Jayce reminds me a lot of Lance. Lance always seem to go to the beat of his own drum, had a hard time following rules, but when it cam to crunch time he was always there to be a good teammate. Also what is unique to Voltron is not one, but two strong female leads, which is a bit of fresh air and I think this could help Voltron get more females interested in Voltron, just as Star Wars did with Rey and so far it has worked. What’s nice with the new Pilots is the creators didn’t do what a lot of franchises did is they take a new group of people and make them exactly like to predecessors like what Ghostbusters is doing with the new movie with the all female cast, you know who which characters resemble the older cast without even seeing a trailer yet for the movie.

The new villain in this series is weak, Gr’ Rawr is not anywhere near a King Zarkon or Prince Lotor or even Emperor Zeppo of the Drule Empire. His name sounds more like a Klingon, than a fearless warlord of the galaxy. I feel like Cullen Bunn spent more time trying to introduce us to the new Voltron Pilots, than he did trying to build up the new enemies besides Haggar. Haggar needs no build up as she has been with Voltron from the very beginning and we know how she ticks. The series would be much better story wise if they delved more into Voltron’s new found enemy. Overall as big fan of Voltron I am still very satisfied with the direction of the story to this point and I look forward to reading the rest of the comics.

The artwork for this series is amazing, it is reminiscent of the cartoon I grew up loving and I am very greatful for that and I think readers who also loved Voltron growing up will also be grateful too. The cover art done by Alex Milne is iconic and does a great job of depicting Voltron as being bruised and battered but not out. The artwork inside done by Blacky Shepherd is flat out amazing. It pops, its colorful. He does a great job making the Castle of Lions more modern as it should be since years has passed by and things have changed for the better.

Story: Cullen Bunn Art: Blacky Shepherd
Story: 7.5 Art: 10 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Read

Dynamite Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Saturday morning cartoons in 1980s were the first time I was introduced to anime, before I knew what anime was. I remember watching shows like Speed Racer and Robotech, noticing then just how cool everything looked and how different it looked from the other cartoons. Then I watched Voltron, and saw a cartoon that was different, from the others, as it had a princess, it had robots, it had friends who had to work as a team and most of all, and they were saving the universe. This cartoon, was definitely one of the few cartoons, that years after watching it, I can still remember certain episodes beat for beat.

The only cartoon, that came close was Silverhawks and Bionic Six, but neither of them had the pinned down the dynamics of true friendship and teamwork quite like Voltron. The show only lasted two seasons, but there were several attempts to bring it back, always to mediocre results. Since then, the franchise has seen new life in comics first being at Devil’s Due Entertainment and now being at Dynamite Entertainment. This new series, Voltron: From the Ashes, picks up 200 years later, introducing the world to a new generation of pilots.

In the first few pages, the first few words, sounds just like what the voiceover in the cartoon would have said, bringing me back to my grandmother’s living room, in front of the TV, watching my favorite cartoon with my cousins. The reader is introduced to, Haggar, known as the “Mother of Monsters”, a vampire looking alien, who has some seriously dangerous powers and dreams of a fight between Voltron’s original crew and some Kaiju to include RoBeasts. We are also introduced to the new team which Jayce, Nikl,Vega,Rel, and Kirin, a totally different team, than the original crew, but with similar personalities, all cadets at the Voltron Academy, who feel that there isn’t a need for Voltron. In the last few pages, Haggar awakens, to find out that she has been taken in by a crew of Ra’Hraaag, but I have a funny feeling that is, they are the ones who have been captured by her.

This miniseries reminds me so much of Robotech’s Third War, where we are introduced to soldiers, who knew of Rick Hunter, but are forging their own path and fighting their own war against the Invid. The story By Cullen Bunn provides a superior starting off point for anyone not familiar with series at all. The art by Blacky Shepherd provides a fine emulation of the animation, that long loved fans, have loved about the original series. In ending, old and new fans will love this series, as it is truly the next generation of Voltron pilots.

Story: Cullen Bunn Art: Blacky Shepherd
Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Dynamite Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review