Some of our more seasoned readers may remember SilverHawks, a classic cartoon series that launched almost 40 years ago in 1986. Made by Rankin/Bass Productions (the same studio that created the iconic ThunderCats) the sci-fi adventure series ran for 65 episodes and followed a team of outer space heroes as they tried to bring escaped alien crime lord Mon*Star (and various other villains) to justice.
Although SilverHawks only ran for a single season, it still retains a strong cult following. Now Dynamite Entertainment, hot on the heels of their new ThunderCats series, is set to release a brand new SilverHawks comic book written by Old Man Logan and Predator writer Ed Brisson and illustrated by Gargoyles and Firefly artist George Kambadais.
Newsarama sat down with Brisson to find out more about why he campaigned to write the new book, how he’s expanding the existing lore – and if we’ll see a crossover with ThunderCats sometime soon.
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Newsarama: Let’s start off by touching on your relationship with the original SilverHawks cartoon, Ed. I believe this is a book that you were really campaigning to take on – what made it so appealing to you?
Ed Brisson: Yeah, this is a project that I’d been pushing for from the moment that Dynamite announced they were doing a ThunderCats book – both are in that same Rankin/Bass universe of shows and so it made sense that if ThunderCats took off, they’d want to explore the catalogue.
I was a big fan of the SilverHawks cartoon as a kid, I had the toys, I read the Marvel series. I loved the idea of cyborg space cops out to take down a galactic mobster. I love sci-fi, I love crime. You take those two things and bring them together and it’s like catnip for me. The line we’ve been taking is that it’s “The Untouchables in space,” which has always been there in its DNA.
Beyond that, I’ve always felt that SilverHawks was mostly overlooked. It lived in the shadows of ThunderCats, which to be fair was arguably the more successful show. There was a lot of potential with the set up and characters that hadn’t been explored in the show which makes the project ripe for exploration and expansion – that room to explore and build on existing lore was too enticing to pass up.
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What can you tease about the first story arc and where we pick up with the characters?
The first story arc is largely going to be us reintroducing the cast, spending a little time with each member before we bring them all together as a team. So, coming into the book, we’ll get to see Jonathan Quick as a lieutenant with Interplanetary Force 8; Bluegrass and Hotwing as entertainers – a musician and magician respectively; Steelwill and Steelheart as officers on the frontline; and Copper Kidd as one of the last remaining denizens of The Planet of the Mimes. Each will have a moment to shine and each will be impacted directly by Mon*Star’s current reign of terror.
The main plotline through these issues uses the cartoon as a jumping off point – Mon*Star had broken out of prison and is on the warpath – making up for the 100 years he was incarcerated. At this same time, Stargazer is on the brink of retirement, but because he built his career on having put Mon*Star behind bars in the first place, he’s putting off hanging up his badge and building a new team to go out and take down Mon*Star and his criminal cartel once again.
What new threats will the team be facing over the coming months?
Besides Mon*Star, we’re going to see quite a few members of his crime cartel causing all sorts of issues for the SilverHawks. Hardware, Windhammer, Mo-Lec-U-Lar, Poker-Face will all be popping their heads up in the first few issues, all of them playing a major role in the happenings of the first arc. Others will be popping in as well, but I don’t want to give it all away here. The big threat, however, is the secret that lies behind the true reason for Mon*Star’s elaborate prison break. The timing isn’t coincidental, there’s something else coming and it could destroy the entire Limbo galaxy.
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How does it feel to be writing new stories in such a well-loved world?
It feels great. It’s one of those dream-come-true projects for me. We’re going to be focussing primarily on the characters that people already know and love. There will be a few new secondary cast members introduced in the first issue – all members of the original SilverHawks task force that Stargazer and Condor were part of.
It’s been almost 40 years since the original animated series. How much did you need to update the characters and their world in the writing and the art?
Some of the designs are timeless. There were a couple of tweaks here and there – particularly with Bluegrass and Hotwing – but we largely stayed true to the original animated series. In terms of writing, the animated series never delved too deeply into any of the characters in terms of backstory and we never got to see many of the populated areas that the SilverHawks were protecting, so with the comic, we’ve started very much with our feet on the ground, showing Bedlama and some of the other locations in more detail. Also, as mentioned above, we’ve been spending more time with the cast, rounding them out and trying to make them feel a little more grounded and real than they might have in the past.
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Mon*Star is one of the coolest villains of the ’80s. How are you bringing him into the 21st century and distinguishing him as a unique bad guy?
The thing about Mon*Star that I’ve always loved is that he’s a space mobster. He’s like a supercharged Al Capone – if Al Capone could have transformed into a badass robot and rode around the galaxy on a giant space squid. I think there is a tendency to let characters like Mon*Star run wild, doing nasty business for the sake of doing nasty business, which would be to the detriment of the book. Within the series, we’re going to slowly zoom in on Mon*Star and get a real sense of where he comes from and why he’s so hungry for power. He’s more than just evil for evil’s sake. Delving into his past, his fears and desires, is going to put him into a place that we haven’t seen before and I think that’s going to help set him apart from his cartoon counterpart.
Are we likely to see any crossovers between ThunderCats and SilverHawks?
As far as I know, there isn’t anything planned yet. A lot of folks have already been asking for it and I’d love to see it as well, but I think we want to be sure to take the time to establish the SilverHawks as their own thing first. I think any crossover needs to be earned and the way we get there is by making readers care for the two properties first – Declan and Drew have already done that with ThunderCats, we just need the time to do that with SilverHawks.
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What do you hope readers get from the new SilverHawks comic?
Balancing the expectations of long-time fans while trying to attract new readers is always a challenge. That said, as I mentioned earlier, the show left behind a wealth of untapped potential in its characters and lore, which gives us plenty of room to explore.
Fans of the original cartoon will get to see all of their favourite characters and recognize a few plotlines woven throughout the story. Because we’re taking a deeper dive into character backstories, readers will be getting something that feels both fresh and familiar. By spending the time exploring how each member of the team ended up where they are – and the personal toll of Mon*Star’s wrath of terror – the hope is that we’re going to be putting out a series that provides a great jumping on point for those who aren’t familiar, you’re going to get all of the backstory right out of the gate.
In the end, if George and I do our job, if we pump all of the excitement we have for the SilverHawks into the book, the hope is that that excitement will be contagious. Old fans will have their love reignited, while also making a whole new generation of readers fall in love with the SilverHawks for the first time.
SilverHawks #1 is published on January 29 by Dynamite Comics.
The original ThunderCats comics are getting a lavish reissue.