LionForge does not renew the Voltron license, ending the comic series at the previously published third volume, and killing the final project based on the once-popular DreamWorks show.
Hi, anon! Thanks for your note. Yeah, I’d heard about that! With s8 achieving only a…5% approval rating, ending the comic series was probably the best financial decision LionForge could have made, haha. I don’t at all blame them for wanting to avoid the issues that the official show left them with, and I am uncertain of any successes they’ve had with the three comics they’d published.
If Geekdad is any reliable source (idk if this article is the most reliable thing in the world?), then it sounds like their fourth issue, now cancelled, was attempting to downplay the s8 deaths. Their summary included something about Allura still searching for Honerva, even though s8 implied they both died in resurrecting the multiverse. So idk. The Volume 4 summary makes me think that they were trying to pull off an impossible task and got smart when they realized it was impossible.
Since they were strong-armed by Dreamworks to be compliant with s8 / no alternate continuities, I had no personal interest in supporting the comics.
But I’ll be curious to see if the Voltron franchise can save itself in the future. At the moment, it seems like a total reboot would be the way to go. But I imagine people need to heal and distance themselves from VLD before a reboot would be supported. If any legacy fans would even be willing to give Voltron another shot, idk.
What do you all think? Should Voltron eventually reboot, or just continue to fade out into oblivion?
This has been something that was on my mind for a long time. In season 1, Voltron’s first upgrade was Keith’s bayard which gave them the sword. Then later on, we got Hunk’s upgrade of a shoulder-cannon. Season 2 we got Pidge’s plant cannon. Shiro used his bayard along with everyone's bayards to form the Blazing Sword (this is just speculation, since the S5 trailer, which I’ll get to later), but so far we got nothing from Lance.
In the Voltron comics, this was even addressed during the second issue of the first comic. Voltron’s getting its ass kicked by the monster, and neither the sword or Hunk’s shoulder cannon is working. Pidge hadn’t gotten her upgrade at this point, so of course Lance thinks he should do something.
Between panels, nothing happens and Keith sarcastically says, “Good job, Lance”. Pidge makes a remark that kind of stuck to me, but I didn’t really know why.
What does Pidge mean by ready? I mean, I guess when Voltron got its upgrades, that’s when the lions thought their paladins were ready for a little hint at what they’re capable of when the plot demands it during times of peril (Red and Yellow were “telling” their paladins what to do). Yet even when Lance establishes the bond he has with Blue numerous times in the series...
The lion seems to think otherwise as of season 3.
But this comic took place all the way back in season one. Since then, Lance has grown and changed. He’s been switched to the Red Lion with the red bayard and is now Voltron’s “right hand”.
He might have foreshadowed Allura unlocking an upgrade in his talk with Keith, “she might even be able to unlock powers we don’t know of” after handing over the blue bayard, and she is picking things up faster than any of them. Even under Voltron’s TV Tropes it says in “Overshadowed By Awesome” that throughout season 3, whenever Lance did something cool (fly in with Red who’s extremely fickle of who’s allowed to pilot her sorry, Coran gets a bayard change to a sniper rifle) Allura comes in with something greater; flying Blue, unlocking the sonar scanner that took Lance two seasons to get, outsmarting Lotor and even getting an awesome bayard whip. I’m not knocking Allura at all, it’s just that with all of this I thought she would get the upgrade before Lance.
However, season 5 may hint otherwise.
(Oh, parallels, I love them)
This moment could be directly paralleling Keith when he first unlocked the sword with Red telling him what to do. However, because bayards are reflective of a paladins personality, I wonder if Lance will unlock something else entirely. Going with this specific way the artists decided to frame this scene, I’d be surprised if they just went with the sword, because while Lance may not have been ready to unlock Blue’s upgrade, maybe he’s finally getting his special weapon with Red. There’s no way they’re putting this much emphasis into this scene that was so similar to another we’ve seen that something big isn’t going to happen.
{I have a fear that I’ll be prove wrong, but this is just speculation and theorizing}
So after all this rambling, I was thinking, but what does this mean for Lance this season?
Like many others have hoped, I think this will be Lance’s season where he starts to grow even more than before and perhaps become more comfortable in his new role. I’m not hoping for Black Paladin Lance, as I feel putting him in a leadership position will only burden his conscious more (no matter how well you’re able to lead others), and I feel that many people overlook the importance of support roles in a group when the leadership one seem so much more promising and interesting. While Lance still likes the idea of glory and being in the spotlight, I think even he knows that he does better supporting others. Let’s not forget, he gives Allura the pep talk she needed to hear and even says she’s “the heart of Voltron”.
As Voltron’s right hand, I think Lance is starting to understand that his place isn’t where he’ll be directly leading others, but somewhere he can support and encourage his friends. With him going full intense anime while using Red’s bayard, I think he’s finally "ready” to accept that.
Lance is coming into his own as the red paladin, and I hope if this is his season, it will be a glorious one.
This Wednesday, the first issue of Cloudia and Rex debuts from Buño books and Lionforge comics created by Ulises Fariñas, Erick Freitas and yours truly! I can’t stress how proud of this book I am. Please check it out if you’re interested in all-age, inclusive adventures featuring myths, gods, monsters and a family that’s just trying to keep it together in the middle of it all! POC creators working on POC characters trying to create a unique experience for everyone.
The first issue of Cloudia and Rex debuts from Buño books and Lionforge comics created by Ulises Fariñas, Erick Freitas and yours truly! I can’t stress how proud of this book I am. Please check it out if you’re interested in all-age, inclusive adventures featuring myths, gods, monsters and a family that’s just trying to keep it together in the middle of it all! POC creators working on POC characters trying to create a unique experience for everyone.
