Silverhawks

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The Silverhawks Logo
The Silverhawks Logo

Silverhawks was an animated children's television series developed by Rankin/Bass and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1986. In total, 65 episodes were made. It was created as a space-bound equivalent to their more popular series, ThunderCats.

There was also a Silverhawks comic book series put out by Star Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics).

Contents

[edit] Overview

Rankin/Bass follow-up to their successful Thundercats was this series about a team of human heroes in the 29th century who were given metal bodies and hawk wings to stop organized crime in the Limbo galaxy.

Bionic policeman Commander Stargazer recruited the SilverHawks, heroes "partly metal, partly real," to fight the evil Mon*Star, an escaped alien mob boss who transformed into an enormous armor-plated creature with the aid of Limbo’s Moonstar. Joining Mon*Star in his villainy was an intergalactic mob: snakelike Yessman, blade-armed Buzz-Saw, bull-headed (literally) Mumbo-Jumbo, weather controller Windhammer, shapeshifter Mo-Lec-U-Lar, robotic card shark Pokerface, weapons-heavy Hardware, “and the musical madness of Melodia!”

Quicksilver (formerly Jonathan Quick) led the SilverHawks, with his metal bird companion TallyHawk at his side. Twins Emily and Will Hart became Steelheart and Steelwill, the Silverhawks’ technicians and strongmen. Country-singing Col. Bluegrass played a sonic guitar and piloted the team’s ship, the Maraj (pronounced "mirage" on the series, but given that spelling on the Kenner toy). Rounding out the group was a youngster “from the planet of the mimes,” Copper Kidd, a mathematical genius who spoke in whistles and computerized tones. At the end of every episode, Copper Kidd was quizzed (along with the home audience) on various space facts.

Launching from their satellite base, Hawk Haven, the SilverHawks flew into battle five days a week for one season.

[edit] Characters

The Silverhawks, and other Heroes:

  • Comdr. Stargazer, a tough and grisly old cop with bionic capabilities. He captured Mon*Star several years ago, and had him imprisoned. Older than the other Silverhawks, and longs to return to Earth for either a vacation or retirement. He chiefly serves as the Silverhawks "eyes and ears", keeping them apprised of their current situation.
  • Quicksilver, was the former head of the Interplanetary Force H, and is the current field leader of the Silverhawks. Has a cyborg/bird companion called Tally Hawk. Known for his quick reflexes (and even quicker thinking), Quicksilver is an accomplished tactician and athlete.
  • Bluegrass, second-in-command of the Silverhawks. Bluegrass is the chief pilot of the group, and a cowboy at heart. He is the only Silverhawk who can not fly, but he is the one that flies the team transport vehicle, the Maraj. He likes to use his weapon/instrument/companion bird Sideman as an interface with the Maraj's advanced dynamic piloting system, which he affectionately dubbed "Hot Licks."
  • Steelheart & Steelwill, twin brother and sister. They are the "gearheads" of the team. They share an empathic bond in that when one sibling feels something, the other feels it as well. They are the only Silverhawks who have had real stainless steel hearts implanted during their transformation.
  • Copper Kid, a mathematical genius from the Planet of the Mimes. He "speaks" only in mathematically calculated tones and whistles. At the end of each episode, he was quizzed in several astronomy lessons by Bluegrass as training to be a potential reserve Maraj pilot. The Copper Kid is a natural acrobat.
  • Hotwing, a gold Silverhawk of African American heritage who was added mid-season. A magician, and skilled illusionist.
  • Flashback, a green time-traveling Silverhawk from the far future. He travels to the other Silverhawks' present timeline on occasion with critical information that could save their lives. Flashback decides to stay with them eventually.
  • Moonstryker, a turquoise Silverhawk with no wings, he propels himself through space by a powerful cyclone he can form around his body.
  • Condor. An old ally of Commander Stargazer, whom Condor calls "Gaze". Condor is a lone operative, and believed by the other members to be either a bounty hunter or federal marshal.
  • Seymour, the television show's comic relief, he is a space cabbie with the quote "Y'know what I mean?". He might be inspired by Space Cabbie, a 1950s science fiction character.
  • Zeek the Beak, Seymour's pal, is a green bird-like alien. He often accompanies Seymour on cab rides.

Mon*Star and his gang, or the Bad Guys (the Mob):

  • Mon*Star, an alien mob boss that escaped from his cell, located at Penal Planet 10. He uses the power of Limbo's Moonstar to transform into an armor-plated, spiked creature with rocket boosters in his elbows. Mon*Star rides a giant "space-squid" called Sky-Runner, and has a 'pet' bat named Sky Shadow. He has some bad blood with Stargazer due to their past conflicts, and extends that animosity to the Silverhawks. Like Thundercats's Mumm-Ra who transforms by saying “Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!” Mon*Star transforms into his alternate form by calling on the Moonstar to give him "The mind, the muscle, the menace," of Mon*Star.
  • Yess-man, a snake-like creature that is basically Mon*Star's all-purpose lackey, thrall, and/or sycophant. Notorious for constantly saying "Oh yess, Boss... yess."
  • Hardware, an extremely intelligent creature that carries an over-sized rucksack full of self-engineered weapons and equipment. Hardware has the uniquely honed talent for invention, and can devise devilishly effective machines with little time invested in research and development (as opposed to a real inventor). Mon*Star considers Hardware his most dangerous minion because of this talent.
  • Melodia, a musical mistress who serves as a nemesis and counterpart to the Silverhawks' Bluegrass. Melodia is usually seen cruising around in a roadster, causing havoc and assorted acts of terror as diversions. Melodia almost always carries a musical synthesizer as weapon.
  • Buzz-Saw, a totally cybernetic (and independently sentient) war machine with razor sharp circular saw cutting blades that can be used as projectile weapons.
  • Windhammer, an environmental terrorist with a huge tuning fork that enables him to manipulate or generate destructive weather patterns.
  • Mo-Lec-U-Lar, a unique creature with the ability to shift into any shape or form or state of matter. He was Mon*Star's master of disguise and hitman.
  • Zero the Memory Thief, a long-nosed shady character who steals memories using a cattle prod-like weapon and records them on cassettes. He occasionally did business with Mon*Star's gang when the opportunity suited him.
  • Mumbo Jumbo, a minotaur who is basically the grunt for the Mob.
  • Poker-Face, owner of the Starship Casino, who has slot machines for his eyes and carries a cane with playing card suits decorated on it.
  • Timestopper, a cocky juvenile delinquent with the ability to suspend all ambient motion and kinetic energy around him (freeze time, as it were) for a minute.
  • Bounty Hunter, was imprisoned by Comdr. Stargazer for 200 years. He is broken out by Mon*Star and now wants revenge. He can absorb energy directed at him, and use it to sustain his physical form.

[edit] List of episodes

  1. The Origin Story 09/08/1986
  2. Journey To Limbo 09/09/1986
  3. The Planet Eater 09/10/1986
  4. Save The Sun 09/11/1986
  5. Stop Timestopper 09/12/1986
  6. Darkbird 09/15/1986
  7. The Backroom 09/16/1986
  8. The Threat of Dritt 09/17/1986
  9. Sky-Shadow (09/18/1986)
  10. Magnetic Attraction 09/19/1986
  11. Gold Shield 09/22/1986
  12. Zero The Memory Thief 09/23/1986
  13. The Milk Run 09/24/1986
  14. The Hardware Trap, Part 1 09/25/1986
  15. The Hardware Trap, Part 2 09/26/1986
  16. Race Against Time 09/29/1986
  17. Operation Big Freeze 09/30/1986
  18. The Ghost Ship 10/1/1986
  19. The Great Galaxy Race 10/02/1986
  20. Fantascreen 10/03/1986
  21. Hotwing Hits Limbo 10/06/1986
  22. The Bounty Hunter 10/07/1986
  23. Zeek's Fumble 10/08/1986
  24. The Fighting Hawks 10/09/1986
  25. The Rengade Hero 10/10/1986
  26. One on One 10/13/1986
  27. No More Mr. Nice Guy 10/14/1986
  28. Music of the Spheres 10/15/1986
  29. Limbo Gold Rush 10/16/1986
  30. Countdown to Zero 10/17/1986
  31. The Amber Amplifier 10/20/1986
  32. The Saviour Stone 10/21/1986
  33. Smiley 10/22/1986
  34. Gotbucks 10/23/1986
  35. Melodia's Siren Song 10/24/1986
  36. Tally-Hawk Returns 10/27/1986
  37. Undercover 10/28/1986
  38. Eye of Infinity 10/29/1986
  39. A Piece of the Action 10/30/1986
  40. Flashback 10/31/1986
  41. Super Birds 11/3/1986
  42. The Blue Door 11/04/1986
  43. The Star of Bedlama 11/05/1986
  44. The Illusionist 11/06/1986
  45. The Bounty Hunter Returns 11/07/1986
  46. The Chase 11/10/1986
  47. Switch 11/11/1986
  48. Junkyard Dog 11/12/1986
  49. Window in Time 11/13/1986
  50. Gangwar, Part 1 11/14/1986
  51. Gangwar, Part 2 11/17/1986
  52. Sneak Attack, Part 1 11/18/1986
  53. Sneak Attack, Part 2 11/19/1986
  54. Moon*Star 11/20/1986
  55. The Diamond Stick-Pin 11/21/1986
  56. Burnout 11/24/1986
  57. Battle Cruiser 11/25/1986
  58. Small World 11/26/1986
  59. Match-Up 11/27/1986
  60. Stargazer's Refit 11/28/1986
  61. The Invisible Destroyer 12/01/1986
  62. The Harder They Fall 12/02/1986
  63. Uncle Rattler 12/3/1986
  64. Zeek's Power 12/04/1986
  65. Airshow

[edit] Action Figures

The Silverhawks action figure line by Kenner was based on the animated television series and was first released in 1987. Each figure was packaged with a companion bird and had an action feature of some type. The second series of figures are generally harder to find than the first with Ultrasonic Quicksilver being the most difficult. The MonStar with Laser Lance, Copper Kid with Laser Discs and the Copper Racer vehicle were not produced but were shown in the 1988 Kenner toy catalog. The series 1 Hawk Haven Fortress was never produced either, due to the high production costs it would incurr.

[edit] External links

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