The penultimate issue of this arc is here, but does it successfully carry the story forward?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

The traitor has been revealed, and #686 finally has the smoking gun necessary to bring him down once and for all. Only one problem though—central command has been infiltrated by zombie robots, and they’re promising to execute a “flesh sack” every ten minutes until their demands are met. And cut off from the rest of his team, Commander Sven has no choice but to form an alliance with the same man he’s sworn to expose at all costs. Finally face-to-face with his enemy, yet on the run from ones even more dangerous, what Sven does next changes everything. “Fearless Leader” goes penultimate, and this is where the future becomes set in stone…

The history of the Voltron Force, before they were the Voltron Force continues to be explored in this series.  The latest release continues to allow the narrative to swim in some very dark waters, as our heroes must face some rather precarious situations.

Brandon Thomas delivers an excellent script that will please any reader willing to open up this comic book.  Each character has something to do, even as the story more or less falls squarely on Commander Sven and his ongoing dilemmas.  Tough decisions are made, lines are drawn and our heroes do the best they can with the information they have.  That’s the greatest strength of this tale, as the author quite handily displays the ability to give each character a strong enough voice to justify their actions even if they are questionable at times.

Craig Cermak delivers a lot of beautifully realized panels here, that will impress fans and newcomers alike.  From start to finish his line and pencil work evokes both a somewhat bleak yet rather hopeful vision of the Voltron universe, while employing some realistic characterizations even during this jaunt’s crazier moments.  Simply put his skills elevate the quality of an already stellar story.

Voltron: Year One #5 is a superb issue that continues to lead this arc to what will presumably be a very strong finish.  Recommended.

4/5