Voltron comic and new series

[Effect]

Has anyone checked out the new Voltron comic seres being put out by Devils Due? They started with Volume 2 #1 and its a ongoing monthly series but it seems like it still story arcs in that issues 1-5 are one arc but #6 picks up where things left off in the previous arc. Seems like that might be the trend. Anyway I just order the first trade paperback but I think that was done by Image though DD are selling them.

Personally I'm really liking the art in the comics from what I've seen of the previews and that they are having both Lion Voltron and Vehicle Voltron in the comics. The way they introduced VV seems interesting.

Here are some links if anyone is interested. The second trade paperback "Paradise Lost" which has issues #1-5 of the Volume 2 should be out this month. They are on issue #9(coming out at the same time as the 2nd TPB).

http://www.voltronforce.com/comic.html

http://www.voltronforce.com/series.html

http://devilsdue.net/VoltronVol2.html

http://www.devilsdue.net/5pagers.html (links to the previews for the issues).

I really looking forward to the new series. Just wish I remebered more of the original series and that they finished the 3D series. I liked it.

Here are some images for quicker access.

From Volume 2 #2 page 4

http://www.devilsdue.net/5pagers/volt202/volt202p4.jpg

From Volume 2 #6 page 4

http://www.devilsdue.net/5pagers/volt06/Voltron_06_04.jpg

From Voluem 2 #3 page 2

http://www.devilsdue.net/5pagers/volt03/Voltron_II_03_02.jpg

I like the last one, VV team chasing the LV team. The images of the new sereis on Voltron Force, while small seem pretty decent animation wise.

[wolfx]

Looks cool. Definately better than that 3D one.

slightly OT: Is Voltron made up of 2 different anime series, hence the lions one and the lil vehicles one?

[Effect]

I think so. I think the Lion series came first and the Vehicle was second. I think that is shorter. The 3D version was suppose to be a sequel since in the beginning the explain what happen at the end of the Lion series. Now sure what the new series is suppose to be. Might be a remake.

[wolfx]

I think so. I think the Lion series came first and the Vehicle was second. I think that is shorter. The 3D version was suppose to be a sequel since in the beginning the explain what happen at the end of the Lion series. Now sure what the new series is suppose to be. Might be a remake.

I was thinking more like Robotech was made up of Macross, Southern Cross and Mospeada....Voltron is made up of 2 different anime.....

[myk]

Looks cool. Definately better than that 3D one.

slightly OT: Is Voltron made up of 2 different anime series, hence the lions one and the lil vehicles one?

Right. I believe that those two robots came from two entirely different stories/universes, whatever you wanna' call it.

[SDFcommander]

Effect,

Thanks for that link to the Voltron Force web page. I have been looking for that!

I love the comics! Infact, I was an avid collector until my local comic book store closed down

On the flip side I was able to get a mint Voltron series 2 #1 at this year's SD Comic Con for only $1.00!

AND

I was able to buy a TPB of series 1 and have it signed along with ALL my other Voltron comics by the artists and writers by Devil's Due!

I'm also looking forward to the new MPC Lion Voltron Toy. It's looking really good with more of a sleeker look like the anime and tons more articulation than the Lion Bot I had. I just hope it comes with all the weapons like my Lion Bot did. Let's just hope it does not cost and arm and a leg

Edited September 10, 2004 by SDFcommander

[wolfx]

Did some googling and came with this

The cartoon series known as Voltron tells the story of five pilots who are battling to save the planet Arus, and the rest of the universe, from the diabolical King Zarkon. The only thing that stands in Zarkon’s way is Voltron, a mighty robot that is composed of five spaceships that look like lions.

Voltron was originally released in Japan under the name GoLion. In 1984 World Events Productions bought the rights to the series from Toei, the Japanese company that created the series. World Events Productions went on to make new season of Voltron episodes that were never released in Japan. They still own the rights to Voltron and re-released a new version of the series in 1997.

In the early 80s a Japanese toy company made a number of die-cast metal Voltron toys. Some of these toys were distributed in America by Matchbox. Not long after this, the rights to make Voltron toys were sold to a toy company called Panosh Place that made a whole new line of Voltron toys. These included a new Voltron, a line of action figures, vehicles, and a castle. Voltron disappeared from the cartoon and toy scene for about a decade. In 1997 it was resurrected, and a whole new line of Voltron toys were released by a company called Trendmasters. In 2000 a version of Voltron I was re-released by a generic toy company. The figure was called 15 in 1 robot.

http://www.virtualtoychest.com/voltron/voltron.html

Pretty interesting that the 2nd half of voltron was never released in Japan but made to sell more toys and probably make the cartoon longer, just like how Macross was made longer into Robotech to reach the minimum series quota. And those Voltron II toys...wth? I don't remmeber that piece of crap.

[Effect]

Yeah. I can't wait to get the MPC Voltron toy as well. I found one place last night that was preordering it for $150. That was for all the lions to be made into Voltron which is a great price I say for all of them. Though they look small. I hope they won't cost that much. I also hope the quality control is better then the Robotech MPCs.

http://www.toynami.com/voltron.html

I take it that the VV might have been the additon episodes?

Anyway did Voltron Lions ever have a clear ending or did it just end after one battle/story arc? I'm thinking it did if 3D Voltron was a sequel but I'm not sure. It was only recently that I found out that Thundercats actually had an ending since I didn't remember it and missed it when it aired on Cartoon Network when it was one.

Another question. How big is the company that has that owns Voltron?

Edited September 10, 2004 by Effect

[rikiryou]

Well, yeah, Voltron is made of 2 series. Vehicle Voltron's original counterpart was known as Dairugger XV, hence the 15 vehicles. Then the other one: Golion. It's interesting that we don't see people mourning and complaining about how these two series are butchered whereas on the other hand we have Macross purists everywhere. Can't comment on how badly they messed things up though, since I haven't seen the two in their original format. But overall we don't seem to be finding many people peeved about Voltron, so I guess it's a good thing then?

Edited September 11, 2004 by rikiryou

[UN Spacy]

Any chance for Bandai's Soul of ____________ treatment for the Go-Lion and Dairugger?

I'd pick up BOTH of them in a second.

[Effect]

Seems that Madman is releasing the original series in Austrialia.

http://www.madman.com.au/

http://www.madman.com.au/voltron/index2.html

Seems like they are also releeasing Star Blazers and Battle of the Planets.

I just wish word on who is doing the US release of Voltron. Word is suppose to come any day now.

http://www.voltronforce.com/dvd.html

http://www.voltronforce.com/licenses.html

Just thought I'd add that for those interested.

[areaseven]

http://www.voltronforce.com/dvd.html

http://www.voltronforce.com/licenses.html

Just thought I'd add that for those interested.

Found this under the Licenses link:

Live Action Voltron Movie - Yep, you heard it here first. We are in talks to get our very own Voltron movie produced. We have absolutely NO other information on this deal as of now, so PLEASE don't bombard us with email questions about this as we won't be able to respond. Thank you very much!

[areaseven]

Checked out their Toys section and read the opening line. This is just too funny:

Do you all remember the classic toys by LJN, Panosh, and Matchbox?  How about the re-releases by Trendmasters and all the new toys they made based on the 3rd Dimension series?  You ever wish there were top-notch, to-scale, Gundam-like models?...

  Well, as most of you already know by now, TOYNAMI has been granted the license for limited edition Voltron collectibles and action figures... their I-MEN were released a few weeks ago and are available at various outlets

[Effect]

What I find kinda funny is comparing to how WEP seems to be doing things vs. how HG is doing things with Robotech. Both the origins of the two fanchises seem similar, both tryin to make comebacks. Both attempt series during the 90s wich Voltron actually seeing the light of day and lasting 2 seasons before Netter went out of business. Interesting to see how open WEP is with Voltron and how secretive or shady at times HG is with Robotech.

Yeah I notced the movie statement.

Edited September 11, 2004 by Effect

[SDFcommander]

When I went to the Comic Con, I saw a painted version of the MPC Lion Voltron. It did not transform, but it showed what the sculpt and the paint scheme looked like it was the same size if not bigger than my Lionbot. At the time though, all the buzz was about the MPC Alpha so I don't think the Voltron toy got much attention.

I tried to find a picture of it next to the Alpha to get a sence of scale, but I could not find a pic. Here is a pic of it though. It looking pretty good!

Does anyone remember " Stealth Voltron" and "Voltrex Voltron"?

What were those? Did they ever make it in the show?

[Effect]

I was wondering what those were. Saw an image of them before.

Voltrex was suppose to appear in the 3rd season of the 3D Voltron series I think but it wasn't made though it was renewed for a 3rd season from the information I found.

Edited September 11, 2004 by Effect

[areaseven]

Does anyone remember " Stealth Voltron" and "Voltrex Voltron"?

You had to bring those up, didn't you?

[SDFcommander]

Does anyone remember " Stealth Voltron" and "Voltrex Voltron"?

You had to bring those up, didn't you?

Sorry. Did not mean to bring back bad memories

[justvinnie]

Does anyone remember " Stealth Voltron" and "Voltrex Voltron"?

You had to bring those up, didn't you?

Wow... that's some pretty crappy toy designs... It's none of the modes look good. What were they thinking???

vinnie

[Otaku-Smeghead]

I've been faithly reading the Series since it came out last year. and I have the TPB of the virst series. The Art has kind of Suffered and there is less robot fighting in the most recent issues but I'm gonna keep reading. I do love how the writers are able to incoprreate VV into the ongoing series.

[JRock]

I'm planning on getting the TPB.

As for answers to Voltron:

Voltron Origins: Similar to Robotech, Voltron is based on three separate series/toy lines

Voltron I (AKA Vehicle Force Voltron) is based on Dairugger XV

Voltron II (AKA Gladiator Force Voltron) is based on Albegas. This is the little known Voltron. An anime has been based on this, and World Events Productions had the rights to air it, but didn't because of the huge popularity of....

Voltron III (AKA Lion Force Voltron). This Bot is based on GoLion. The most well known of all the Voltrons.

Stealth Voltron, Vortex Voltron are all American creations and are treated by Voltron fans with the same amount of respect us Lying Macross Purists treat Harmony Gold

WEP's treatment of Voltron: I also saw mention that some people find it fascinating that people are not complaining about WEP's butchering of the original series. There's a reason for that.

Unlike Macross, and to a slightly lesser extent, Mospeada, The three shows that formed into Voltron were never popular in Japan, and quickly forgotten. And the few Japanese that remember the shows dismissed them as poorly written extended toy commercials (GOD, that sounded familiar ) This is one of the reasons why Toei sold the entire rights of GoLion to WEP.

Soul of Chogokin versions of GoLion and Dairugger XV? Not gonna happen. I would LOVE to see them. But given the nonexistance of these two titles in JP fandom and that GoLion is flat out owned by WEP, it's a bitter pill to swallow to keep it real. Toynami better not screw this up!

DVD Releases: WEP did announce that Voltron will come to DVD. One of the most interesting aspects of the press release is that "Japanese footage" will be included as extras. Whether it'll be in the form of scenes that WEP had to cut due to content or, as I hope, be a couple of full length JP episodes to compliment the US versions (ala Battle of the Planets DVD) is unknown at this time. This is where e-mailing WEP comes into play. I Hope the distributor will be Rhino, as I like the way they handled the TF and GI Joe shows on DVD.

Madman's AU release has awesome looking packaging complete with the best looking original Voltron logo out there. But there's no extras, and it's unknown whether or not the show has been cleaned up a bit.

[Magnus]

It looks like the Toynami Voltron can't bend at the knees.

For 130 bucks, that's really frigging lame.

[mpchi]

I'm planning on getting the TPB.

As for answers to Voltron:

Voltron Origins: Similar to Robotech, Voltron is based on three separate series/toy lines

Voltron I (AKA Vehicle Force Voltron) is based on Dairugger XV

Voltron II (AKA Gladiator Force Voltron) is based on Albegas. This is the little known Voltron. An anime has been based on this, and World Events Productions had the rights to air it, but didn't because of the huge popularity of....

Voltron III (AKA Lion Force Voltron). This Bot is based on GoLion. The most well known of all the Voltrons.

Stealth Voltron, Vortex Voltron are all American creations and are treated by Voltron fans with the same amount of respect us Lying Macross Purists treat Harmony Gold 

WEP's treatment of Voltron: I also saw mention that some people find it fascinating that people are not complaining about WEP's butchering of the original series. There's a reason for that.

Unlike Macross, and to a slightly lesser extent, Mospeada, The three shows that formed into Voltron were never popular in Japan, and quickly forgotten. And the few Japanese that remember the shows dismissed them as poorly written extended toy commercials (GOD, that sounded familiar ) This is one of the reasons why Toei sold the entire rights of GoLion to WEP.

Soul of Chogokin versions of GoLion and Dairugger XV? Not gonna happen. I would LOVE to see them. But given the nonexistance of these two titles in JP fandom and that GoLion is flat out owned by WEP, it's a bitter pill to swallow to keep it real. Toynami better not screw this up!

DVD Releases: WEP did announce that Voltron will come to DVD. One of the most interesting aspects of the press release is that "Japanese footage" will be included as extras. Whether it'll be in the form of scenes that WEP had to cut due to content or, as I hope, be a couple of full length JP episodes to compliment the US versions (ala Battle of the Planets DVD) is unknown at this time. This is where e-mailing WEP comes into play. I Hope the distributor will be Rhino, as I like the way they handled the TF and GI Joe shows on DVD.

Madman's AU release has awesome looking packaging complete with the best looking original Voltron logo out there. But there's no extras, and it's unknown whether or not the show has been cleaned up a bit.

Was Golion being edited in storyline, script & music in the Voltron incarnation?

Maybe this can explain why I didn't like the show when I saw it much much younger in HK in the late 80s. The music I remember felt very non-Japanese, as if its an American cartoon. But yet I saw these huge diecast toys of it in stores that is clearly Japanese made. End up didn't like the show much, as I was too used to the Japanese flavor of all the robot animes back then.

Up until this day after reading this thread, that I may realize that HK might have been broadcasting the Voltron version of Golion the whole time! Now I think of it, even the credits were in English, which was strange to me at that time. While the Dairugger VX & Albegas I watched back then is the Japanese version, just with a Chinese dub. I liked Albegas quite a bit, and the toy was very cool, having the 3 robots stacking their body parts differently to form 3 modes.

Man, after all these years...

I guess you can say I don't like Voltron very much if my above assumption is correct, just like I don't like Robotech.

[JRock]

Was Golion being edited in storyline, script & music in the Voltron incarnation?

Maybe this can explain why I didn't like the show when I saw it much much younger in HK in the late 80s. The music I remember felt very non-Japanese, as if its an American cartoon. But yet I saw these huge diecast toys of it in stores that is clearly Japanese made. End up didn't like the show much, as I was too used to the Japanese flavor of all the robot animes back then.

Up until this day after reading this thread, that I may realize that HK might have been broadcasting the Voltron version of Golion the whole time! Now I think of it, even the credits were in English, which was strange to me at that time. While the Dairugger VX & Albegas I watched back then is the Japanese version, just with a Chinese dub. I liked Albegas quite a bit, and the toy was very cool, having the 3 robots stacking their body parts differently to form 3 modes.

Man, after all these years...

I guess you can say I don't like Voltron very much if my above assumption is correct, just like I don't like Robotech.

GoLion was edited on all three aspects.

The music in Voltron is more orchestral based. The theme song of GoLion was typical JP shonen anime fare. A bunch of boys singing on how GoLion will save the day (Typical from Tetsujin 28 onward). I remember reading that GoLion was a braggart with an ego the size of China (Not to mention a few Macross World member whom shall be anonymous ), and that the gods of the Universe separated him into five lions as a lesson. Of course that wasn't close to what Voltron was. An Emergency tool to fix the universe of the robeast of the week.

I do know that WEP had International rights outside of Japan so it could be a possibility that it was aired in HK. It's understandable that people from the East don't get Voltron, as this was something that at the time us Westerners didn't see all the time.

[rikiryou]

Actually people from the East DO get Voltron. I even thought it was a Philippine dub back then, lol (since I saw a Channel V program interviewing the folks who dubbed Voltes V). It was aired in Malaysia back when I was a kid.

A bunch of boys singing on how GoLion will save the day (Typical from Tetsujin 28 onward).

Yep, don't you just love it? XD Typical Super Robot themes and whatnot.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

How many of you actually think paying 150$ for the MPC Voltron is actually worth it? I mean sujre its 12 inches, but thats only like 1-1/2inch taller than the trendmasters retooled daigokin reissue. We can almost say for certain that the MPC will have less diecast but I mean look at it, ok yea we get leg dweivel and ball joints on all the lions legs, but most of the toy is bland I fail to see why 150$ is a justified price for this where as the trendmasters reissue was only 30$ and hell the much taller one that could fit figures was @60$ then reduced down once the cg show came off air.

PLus the daigokin is much more regal and detailed looking. more panel lines and crap. I mean yea its nice and all we get a new one by toynami that isnt robotech but man that price sucks. Would i get it if it was cheaper? perhaps but i can say for sure unlike thje alpha, not many people will be in a rush to get this.

[skunkobot]

Uhm... It's not spandex! Yay. Sorry, I'm still stuck on how cool their flight suits look.

Yeah, Toynami's Voltron could be good... could be bad... Need pics of a more final version before making any more specific calls.

I remember a while back I had the choice between Magnaboss and the metal reissue of voltron, and I made the wrong choice. I love Magnaboss and all, but you know... you could still find him later. Then a couple of years after that I spotted it in an import shop, for like 20-30 bucks. And once again I passed. Then when I finally had teh money to do it available... nada!

I'm going to have to pick up the comic series,and I hope the new show is good.

Oh, and I caught one ep of Voltron 3D. I was thoroughly non-impressed. However I did get chills when they combined with the same audio as (or a good recreation of) the original show.

BTW, my 'puter's start up sound is the Voltron combo sequence.

Edited September 12, 2004 by skunkobot

[Effect]

Never seen the reissue before but $150 the price is better then the Robotech MPCs. Each Voltron MPC collection would be around $50 I believe though. Tought I'm not sure if the price is good or bad for a collection of 5 toys that are fine by themselves but also combine into a larger figured. Though I wonder which piece will the actual sword come with or if each one will have part of the sword. Does anyone know?

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Never seen the reissue before but $150 the price is better then the Robotech MPCs. Each Voltron MPC collection would be around $50 I believe though. Tought I'm not sure if the price is good or bad for a collection of 5 toys that are fine by themselves but also combine into a larger figured. Though I wonder which piece will the actual sword come with or if each one will have part of the sword. Does anyone know?

uh dude its packed in combined mode.Says so on toynami site. So it basicalyl comes in one big box. I am not sure if you are familiar with the old school daigokin or the trendmasters retooled reissue a few years back..

Its like this.

Even at 12 inches long, that equates to the liions not being too big on their own. You cant p[ossibly say the price is better than the robotech MPC, hell @50$ each for a lion i would say rip off. even right now 150 % 5=3-$ and thats STILL too much!! THe lions at most (black lion) would be 7 inches long. Arms 5 inches long. I highly doubt they will be really big. godaikin go lion was only an inch shorter than the toynami upcoming one and THAT in itself had small lions as well.

The lions are a lot smaller than u think...in fact the toynami one(this is being generous here) the seperate components should be only a LITTLE bit bigger than power ranger zord components...that in itself is not big at all. PLus the sword will come with the set. These dont look like they are being sold seperately as the box design and such and the msrp was already set long ago.

[MrDisco]

i've been collecting the voltron comics since v1 (including the variant covers). its not a bad read and has kept my interest thus far but i imagine at some point i'll drop it just like i dropped thundercats and parts of Transformers - the stories are never hard hitting enough (i.e the good guys always win, no one ever dies, etc).