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A Voltron #4 Commentary By Brandon Thomas

Published Wed, 09 May 2012 14:00:13 -0500

Brandon Thomas writes about his fourth issue of Volron from Dynamite;

This is my favorite issue of the series thus far, and that's because everything finally feels balanced. Like every single element that I want to offer fans in my Voltron run is starting to blend together and gel almost exactly like I wanted it to. We've got the space explorers on the verge of rescuing Voltron and showing just how dangerous they are outside the lions, a glimpse at how different the piloting interface was when Dr. Zarkon was in the drivers' seat, and a heavy dose of foreshadowing and subtle illusions to things that'll drive us into the next arc and beyond. On top of all that, or maybe because of it, think artist Ariel Padilla delivered his best pencils yet, and this chapter is a more representative sliver of how me writing the further adventures of Voltron is really going to be. That said, let's dig in a little bit more at how this particular issue shaped up, and how it all fits into the larger story…

Pages 2-4-

An argument almost a hundred years in the making starts us off, and it was fun to really bookend the relationship between Zarkon and Sigis by showing their first face-to-face meeting, along with their last. If there's one thing I wish we had more space for it'd be to expand on their interactions, because I really enjoyed putting them in a room and watching their ideologies crash into each other. But even though there's some definitive animosity there (over things yet to be revealed) we tried to push this idea that they'd come to an understanding once in the past that was deeply important to both of them. Which will just make that upcoming twist of the knife even more devastating for a man once told about as emphatically as possible, "You can trust me, Zarkon. You can trust the planet of Arus."

Page 5-

Most important page in the entire book.

Page 7-

Ah, the oneupsmanship between Allura and Pidge continues here. Really love playing with that aspect of their relationship, and think it'll become a permanent mainstay going forward. Lance taking out his guard with the choke wire is also funny, because he dispatches someone else in Year One almost the exact same way, and I completely forgot that was in this issue first until the artwork came back. Nice little tie-in, even though it was an unintentional one.

Pages 10 & 11-

Know that with the increasing importance and prominence of digital, some have theorized that double-page spreads are headed the way of the dodo, but I just can't help it, I'll still love them and use them until they're pried out of my cold, dead fingers. Don't know if this is normal, but I usually give the super spreads code-names too, and this one was called "Voltron Around the World," or something like that. Figured that having Voltron spend some time on Earth would be a total waste if we didn't also get to see him do battle in some famous cities, and/or near some notable landmarks.

Also something we wanted to get across was what seems to be an excessive level of brutality and violence displayed when Zarkon piloted the machine, as while there is a ton of cartoonish swordplay and fighting in the original series, Voltron never drowned a Robeast, or cut one's head off, impaled them, etc. When we start delving into what an "anchor" is, and just how much one's intent matters…to everything really, think these pages will take on a slightly different meaning. But you know, for now, they look pretty great and allow me to cut across a number of years in what I think is a nice and efficient way.

Page 13-
I was "this" close from going with the full-on Kanye West quote in panel two, but even still, I think this did the job nicely. And I've been trying to be careful not to fall completely into the "evil superior" trope that often crops up whenever someone is dealing with any aspect of the military in popular fiction, but even though he is essentially taking the keys to the car here, the point is that he's entirely right to do so. There shouldn't be one person in charge of something as powerful and potentially dangerous as Voltron, and the fact that there was up to this point, was more a personal indulgence to both Zarkon and Sigis than any kind of real tactical rationale. But it wasn't enough that Zarkon actually participated in the creation of Voltron for me, I wanted him to do something that changed the way it was controlled and piloted as well.

Page 15-

Now, I fully acknowledge the "guy losing his family in a moment of absolute tragedy" thing is a well-worn road of character motivation, and though it appears this is the straw that broken the Zarkon's back, it's actually not the biggest, most important piece of the puzzle. It spurs him into action and triggers a moment of impulsiveness that leads him to that straw, but believe it or not, there will come a time when this is not the thing that changes his entire existence. I do think this image of him sitting in the room with the bodies of his family is pretty chilling, and we actually had to add an extra body bag because Ariel gave Zarkon an additional daughter back in issue two. So it's even more awful than initially intended.

Page 18-
This theme of misplaced trust is one that echoes throughout this entire storyline, and it's something that clearly defines the rise and fall of Zarkon. Honestly, I'm probably projecting a little here, as one of the most powerful emotions that I've ever personally experienced is betrayal. The scar it leaves behind is a unique thing, and in this case, yes, it's the death of his family, but the larger issue is that he continually places his faith in people and institutions that prove to be completely unworthy of that faith, which ultimately leads him to ruin. That's always something that I fear personally, that the people who know me the best, who know all of my weaknesses, insecurities, and faults will one day use them against me. And that I won't have seen it coming, even though I know I should've.

So that's essentially Zarkon's greatest failure—the inability to make good decisions in regards to who to trust, forcing him to distrust everyone and everything. And this decision and perspective only serves to hollow him out to a certain degree, making a space for something far darker and more malevolent than he ever thought possible.

Page 19-

That moment where Keith grabs his head in agony, like he can actually feel some of Sigis' intense pain as Zarkon attempts to rip him out of the Black Lion? That's an important bit right there and something we dig into much more extensively down the road…

Page 20-
Adore this page for both its visuals and the Jack Bauer moment Keith gets. Props to the cool lighting effects that colorist Marcelo Pinto gave everybody's space suits, and this right here is how I want to see the Space Explorers. This notion that their powerful robot lions are what makes them an effective fighting force is one we've been rebelling against since the very beginning of the series, and that first panel on the page really is just another critical step to selling that idea.

Page 22-
I had this image (and these lines) in my head a long time before I'd written them, and think it's a great note to leave things on before heading into the pulse-pounding conclusion.

Now, I've been pretty upfront about my love of Commander Keith Kogane, and how I always gravitate towards the "leader" in any ensemble, whether it's in comics, on TV, in movies, etc. I don't know, personality defect or something, but that's the way it's always been. And having decided to tell a story that unfortunately puts some of our main characters on the back burner (temporarily), most of the big hero moments are given to Keith. This isn't just because I love him and his perspective to death (which I do), but also because this storyline is the last time that he'll have everything all figured out. What happens next is going to place an incredible amount of pressure and responsibility on his shoulders, and though saying it's all downhill from here is overstating a bit, the victories will be more and more hard fought as the game will soon be changed for pretty much everybody.

So really, he should enjoy this moment of overpowering self-righteousness because they'll be much harder to come by in the near future. But the fact that he doesn't know that is what makes all of this so much fun. He thinks he knows what's at stake, who the real threat is, and where this is all going. Soon he learns that's the furthest thing from the truth, and this is the first in a string of issues that I'm really proud of, as I feel this one is where I turned the corner and started to feel differently about the entire process. Like I all of a sudden knew exactly what I was doing, and could both survive and thrive writing a monthly comic. Hopefully, you all agree that we're really turning a corner here, because things only get more and more interesting from here on out…

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