San Diego Comic Con 2011 – Voltron Force Panel

For many adults there was one TV show that remains with us ever since we were children and that is Voltron. Behind everything, almost all of us have something to say about that show, for better or worse. This show is something that many of us loved and some remain fans to this day. This was one massive panel that took quite a while to get into. Present at the panel were Jeremy Carran of Worldwide Productions, Todd Garfield as the Story Editor, Keith Dawkins who is the Senior Vice President of Nicktooks, Joe Bebrandt, Bradon Thomas who is a Comic book writer, Adam Affrunti who is a THQ Producer, Traci Rodd of Viz Media, Jacob Chabot, Michael Montalvo, Brandon Sopinsky and Steed Sun from Mattel. To say the least it was a large panel with a lot of things to be offered.

The panel was moderated by Carrie Keggan of G4 who had one big surprise for us. Once she appeared on the stage, in her cape, she unveiled that she was wearing a Princess Allura costume. After she had the panel introduce themselves she acknowledged one more individual, Ted Coupler. For those who do not know, he is the one responsible for bringing Voltron: Defender of the Universe over to the United States. Many of us have this man to thank for the wonderful show we enjoyed after school.

Joe and Brandon spoke next. They will be handling a forth coming companion comic book. The first issue's cover will be done by Alex Ross. A lot will be done with influence from the original series and the new. Traci had something to add as Viz media would be releasing their own series. It is to be written by Brian Smith.

Jeremy was clear from the start that this venture was done by fans, for fans. He told us that they intend to revitalize the series and ramp it up. With that they will see that it has good writing and doing their best to bring in a new generation. It is time for them to learn and begin the cycle anew.

Brandon talked next about some of the will be some changes to the Voltron Force. Chiefly, it is the Space Explorers being closer to a Special Forces. This gives them more to do overall than what they had. Another is just what the monsters will do, with an example of the monster interrupting the transformation sequence. He also talked about the new toys that were going to be released. They are going to feature at least 22 points of motion and the 5 lions will not only fit the pilots but come together to form Voltron itself.

Next was Adam, from THQ, who talked about the game. It was made with a classic score and many video clips from the original show. Each of the lions has a unique attack to it. At the end of it, your team will form up Voltron and face the Robeast in mighty combat. The battle ends as it traditional should with the Blazing Sword. In addition they will be releasing a number of Avatar items for you. This does include the ability to form the Blazing Sword.

Keith Dawkins spoke next, focusing on how the new Voltron Force came to be. Apparently he was in a meeting discussing shows for children ages 6 to 12. He suggested Voltron as something that can relate to kids. Virtually everyone at the table had something to say about it. Keith then pursued getting the theme a revamp. When he called the people to see if they were interested, he got just as far mentioning the Voltron theme before they agreed enthusiastically. In the end, he described it as the Perfect Storm that set the stage for Voltron to return to television.

The final announcements they made was they will be having a live action movie. The studio handling the movie is Relativity Media. They were chosen for their enthusiastic response. This was one panel for classic anime fans. This was one worth seeing if only to learn about the new Voltron!