Broken Frontier

Two mighty robots face a universe at war but for the pilots of one team, that war is about to take a very strange turn.

Devil’s Due Publishing and writer Josh Blaylock turn back the clock to look at the creation of the Voltron robot in this new mini-series. With a lot of 1980s nostalgia floating around in pop culture, it is not surprising that this anime import would get a revival as well but is it a trip down memory lane or something else entirely?

The Lion Voltron team find themselves caught in a strange shared dream – one in which they must join forces with Lotar in order to survive on an unidentified, hostile world. Meanwhile, far across the universe, the Vehicle Voltron team fights against…boredom as they guard a space station with a secret so closely guarded that even the Voltron team do not know what it is. Of course, some secrets are hard to keep and when pirates steal the space station the Vehicle team finds themselves in need of a little back-up. The Lion team wakes up to come to the rescue but the web of fate works in mysterious ways drawing the Lion team, Lotar, and the pirate Captain Stride into an event that may change the face of the universe.

If nothing else, one has to give credit to Blaylock for packing a lot of action and information into this comic. It is a dense read and keeps the audience on its toes tracking future-past dreamscapes as well as the here and now. To Blaylock’s credit all of the characters seem to be true, expanded extensions of those who appeared in the English dub anime all those years ago and the voices ring true. There are also some nice hints of mystery and the subtle blending again of science and magic.

The art, by Mike Bear, is a bit more problematic. Bear’s style relies heavily on a scratchier, rougher line style which is far from either the familiar look of the anime or the smoother style of animation in general. More to the point, it does not really mesh well with the futuristic setting. When this is combined with the darker coloring by Beaulieu the action fails to jump off the page. In fact, everything seems muted, which robs some of the sense of action from the story.

With this first issue Blaylock has managed to give readers a taste of an intriguing mystery, a trip outside continuity to forge a new history for Voltron, and a return to some familiar characters that are fondly remembered by many. Unfortunately the artwork for the series is a bit of an acquired taste and feels an awkward fit for a sprawling space-and-time epic. Still, for fans of the English dub anime of the past this will be a must-get.