I am sure that when we think back on our youth, we all have happy memories of coming home from school and spending the rest of the day hooked to the television, watching the most recent episodes of our favorite cartoons.
From the comfort of our homes, these cartoons provided an escape from reality and took us on thrilling journeys. Today, we will be looking at the sci-fi cartoon series “Silver Hawks,” which is set in a futuristic world full of robots, superhuman beings, terrible monsters, and other adventures.
Silver Hawks, a 1986 creation by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, was viewed as a sister show to Thundercats, a hugely popular animated series at the time. We will be delving into every facet of this enduring programme and educating you on the Silver Hawks in this video.
What was the show all about?
An alternate futuristic Earth serves as the setting for the science fiction animated series Silver Hawks, which takes place there. The Galaxy of Limbo needs a group of superheroes to defeat the intergalactic bad guy “Mon-Star” once he escapes from prison. This resulted in the development of the “Silver Hawks,” a team of people who undergo genetic modification to become superhuman “cyborgs.”
The Silver Hawks then journeyed to Limbo where they worked under Commander Stargazer’s guidance to exterminate the ‘Mon-Star’ threat. The series was produced by Rankin and Bass, and it ran for four years with a total of 65 episodes. The developers of Silver Hawks also released a comic book series and a merchandise line with collectible toy figures of the show and characters to increase the fun. To learn more about Silver Hawks, let us examine it in further detail and watch a few of the pilot episodes.
Exploring the initial episodes
Silver Hawks premiered in 1986 with an episode titled ‘The Origin Story.’ Right from the opening sequence, the Silver Hawks are introduced as warriors who ‘fly on silver wings and fight with nerves of steel.’ While the Silver Hawks fly across the sky on the screen, a voiceover tells us that they have sacrificed their human bodies to become cyborgs that can withstand the journey to Limbo.
The Silver Hawks were sent to Limbo on a mission to protect the world from the ruthless ‘Mon-Star.’ The show is set in a futuristic world in the year 2839, where the Mon-Star has just broken out of prison and looms as a threat to the universe. ‘Mon-Star’ controls an intergalactic mob made of various villains such as Mumbo-Jumbo, Melodia, Mo-Lec-U-Lar, Hardware, Poker Face, and Wind Hammer.
The Silver Hawks have been newly formed to protect the universe, and they are essentially ‘super androids’ that possess the ‘minds of men and the muscles of machines’! Their bodies were modified to have shoulder jets, talons, steel wings, and upper arm jets, among other things.
The Silver Hawks were initially a team of five members led by ‘Quicksilver.’ As the name suggests, Quicksilver was known for his speed and quick reflexes in life-threatening situations. He also had a pet, ‘Tally Hawk,’ whom he could control with the help of a control panel. Tally Hawk was also the show’s mascot, and he was half metal-half hawk. He has wings as sharp as a blade, and these wings could cut through any metal that obstructed his path. Though he does not have many powers, Tally-Hawk could still shoot lasers, and spy on Mon-Star for the Silver Hawks.
Other members of the group include Bluegrass, Copper Kidd, and a pair of twins named ‘Steel Heart’ and ‘Steel Will.’ Copper Kidd was a young alien, who originated from a faraway planet called ‘Mimes.’ The twins, Steel Heart and Steel Will, were given mechanical hearts that helped them function better in the Galaxy of Limbo. They were considered as the mechanics and the gearheads of the group.
Steel Will and Steel Heart even shared a psychic bond and could communicate with each other mentally even while being far away from each other. Within close distance, they also had the ability to combine their powers to fight as one. Steel Heart was especially very intelligent, and the group often relied on her to help them get out of dangerous situations. On the other hand, Steel Will was the strongest member of the Silver Hawks, and he could defeat even the most powerful members of Mon-Star’s mob, such as ‘Mumbo-Jumbo.’
The group is closely monitored by ‘Commander Stargazer’ who keeps a watchful eye from his headquarters at ‘Hawk Haven’, and helps the Hawks in their missions.
The Silver Hawks’ origin story begins when Commander Stargazer from the ‘Galaxy of Limbo’ reaches out to Earth for some help after an intergalactic prison breakout on Penal Planet-10. Stargazer informs his counterparts on Earth about a ‘moon starburst,’ which helped the villainous Mon-Star break out of prison.
Mon-star used the rays from the moon starburst to summon energy from the universe, which made him powerful enough to defeat all the prison guards and escape Penal-Planet 10. He first reached out to his pet squid, ‘Sky-Runner,’ which could transform into a spaceship whenever Mon-Star needed a ride. He then gathered an entire mob of criminals, starting with Mo-Lec-U-Lar, who serves as Mon-Star’s undercover guy.
Other members of Mob-Star’s mob include Melodia, whose musical power has shattering consequences; ‘Mumbo-Jumbo’- the strong guy of the crew; ‘Hardware’- who helps Mon-Star secure all the weapons he needs; and Windhammer, who can blast powerful bouts of energy across the universe and stir up storms.
Commander Stargazer asks for some volunteers from Earth to help deal with Mon-Star, and the agents on Earth hand-picked a team of their most powerful heroes. These humans then underwent many bodily enhancements to be able to survive in outer space and were fitted with mechanical wings, laser shooters, and retractable talons, among other things. Thus, the ‘Silver Hawks’ finally came to power, and they spent some time training with their newly given powers and wings. Once the Earth Commanders were convinced that the Silver Hawks were ready, they authorized them to leave for the Galaxy of Limbo.
In the second episode, titled ‘Journey to Limbo,’ the Silver Hawks finally leave for Limbo. Bluegrass is handed the responsibility of operating the spaceship. Unlike the other Hawks, Bluegrass did not have any special powers and was just entrusted with the task of maneuvering their space ship across Limbo. Bluegrass dressed like a cowboy, and he always carried around a guitar named ‘Hot Licks.’ Though he personally did not have any powers, his guitar can shoot lasers which helps him in battles to some extent.
Bluegrass successfully pilots the spaceship, and the Silver Hawks arrive in the Galaxy of Limbo. They visit Commander Stargazer at his headquarters, ‘Hawk Haven,’ and he welcomes the group to Limbo as soon as they arrive. Without any further ado, Stargazer tells the Silver Hawks about the menace of Mon-Star. It appears that Mon-Star has developed his base on ‘Brim-Star,’ where he can receive plenty of light and energy from the Moon Star’s light. He has set up a huge headquarters and intends to rule the entire Galaxy of Limbo from Brim-Star.
In the meantime, Mon-Star’s assistant ‘Yes-Man’ learns about the presence of the Silver Hawks and tells Mon-Star about this group of cyborgs. Mon-Star decides that he must visit Hawk Haven and greet the Silver Hawks. He summons the energy of the Moon Star, which transforms him into an even more powerful being, and then leaves his headquarters with his mob. As he reaches Hawk Haven, Mon-Star challenges the Silver Hawks to step out of their spaceship and fight him.
The Hawks get ready for battle, and they spread out their wings as they fly across space in order to attack Mob-Star. They work in a group to attack him with their combined strength, and both parties struggle as they try to attack members of the opposing team.
In the meantime, Yes-Man and Melodia also leave Brim-Star to join Mon-Star in their battle. Melodia comes face to face with ‘Bluegrass,’ who also uses a musical instrument as a weapon. The villainous Melodia has finally met her match, and even though she puts up a good fight, Bluegrass eventually overpowers her.
By the end of the episode, the Silver Hawks defeat Mon-Star and his gang of criminals, who retreat to Brim-Star. However, this was only the start of a very long battle, and Quicksilver points out that the universe will only be safe once the criminals are put behind bars.
While Mon-Star and his gang roam freely around Limbo, they continue to create trouble for the Silver Hawks, who are adapting to their new life in this galaxy. In the third episode titled ‘The Planet Eater,’ Mon-star brings out his ‘Sky Chomper’ – a massive ship capable of destroying and engulfing all the other ships in the galaxy. One of the galactic patrol stations notices a ‘UFO’ in their galaxy, and they alert Commander Stargazer while this UFO approaches their spaceship with great speed.
While Stargazer alerts the Silver Hawks and sends them to investigate the problem, we learn that this UFO is actually the ‘Sky Chomper,’ which is under Mon-Star’s control. He moves closer to the patrol station in his Sky-Chomper, which engulfs the spaceship and destroys the patrol station within seconds. The Silver Hawks watch this incident unfold and stand by as they wait for further instructions from Commander Stargazer.
Mon-Star even intends to destroy Hawk Haven with his Sky Chomper, and Commander Stargazer decides to send the Silver Hawks to ‘Brim-Star’ to find out why Mon-Star is on a rampage to destroy all space ships. However, as they approach the ‘Brim-Star,’ Mon-Star’s technology picks up the presence of the Silver Hawks in their vicinity. He orders ‘Wind Hammer’ to use his powers and create a space tornado that will destroy the Silver Hawk’s spaceship.
Wind Hammer creates a galactic whirlwind that causes their ship to lose balance, and Bluegrass struggles to maintain the balance of their ship. They finally have no choice but to turn back and return to Hawk Haven, and Bluegrass uses the ship’s ’emergency boost’ to power through the storm.
They return to Commander Stargazer and come to a decision to send ‘Tally-Hawk’ to Brim-Star. Tally Hawk can use its power to capture images from Mon-Star’s headquarters, which will help the Silver Hawks uncover the mystery of the Sky Chomper. Blissfully unaware of this plan, Mon-Star is relieved that the Silver Hawks have left him alone, and he sets out to destroy more and more spaceships.
While the rest of the Silver Hawks gather to see the footage from Tally Hawks’ camera, Copper Kidd wanders around Hawk Haven and ends up in trouble with Commander Stargaze. Stargaze scolds him and decides to ground him for some days, which angers Copper Kidd, and he decides to leave the place all by himself. He gets in a spaceship and travels all the way to Mon-Star’s territory.
When the Silver Hawks find out that Copper Kidd ran away all by himself, they set out to rescue him and enter Mon-Star’s headquarters. They find out that Copper Kidd is trapped in Mon-Star’s machines and even comes face-to-face with Mo-Lec-U-Lar. The Silver Hawks also find out that Mon-Star is destroying those ships with a ‘planet-chomper,’ and he will soon have the power to literally eat them all alive. He has been working on this plan for a while now and has become powerful enough to consume the entirety of Limbo.
They realize that it’s imperative that they blow up the planet chomper and put a stop to Mon-Star’s plans. However, they have very limited resources and only three minutes of time to destroy the planet eater, as well as rescue Copper Kidd. The episode keeps one at the edge of their seats as they manage to rescue Copper Kidd with just 45 seconds remaining before the blast. The Silver Hawks manage to thwart Mon-Star’s plans and save the Galaxy of Limbo from a massive crisis at the end of the day.
However, Mon-Star continues to create new problems for the Silver Hawks, who once again have to prevent a crisis in the next episode titled ‘Save The Sun.’ The Galaxy of Limbo has an artificial sun, and this sun needs to be refueled every once in a while. Commander Stargazer monitors this refueling of the artificial sun, and he expresses his concerns regarding the vulnerability of the artificial sun.
In the meantime, Mon-Star and his gang of criminals devise a plan to take over control of the Galaxy of Limbo’s artificial sun. While Stargazer monitors the area around the sun from his headquarters at HawkHaven, he notices a breach in the perimeter as a strange vehicle approaches the sun.
Mon-Star’s mob hijacks the sun, and Commander Stargazer commands the Silver Hawks to do something about it. The Hawks spread out their wings and travel to the sun, where they have to fight against Melodia and Hardware. They easily overpower Mon-Star’s mob and manage to save the sun from Mon-Star’s control.
As the show progresses, Silver Hawks face many new villains and members of Mon-Star’s mob. In the fifth episode, the Silver Hawks find it challenging to stop Mon-Star’s crimes due to a new addition to his mob known as ‘Time Stopper.’ As the Silver Hawks try to stop Mon-Star and his gang of criminals from committing a robbery, Time Stopper intervenes and freezes time. He can freeze time for up to one limbo minute, and additionally, he can also freeze anyone he wants for the same period of time. However, Time Stopper has one weakness. He cannot use his powers in the darkness and has an intense fear of the dark.
After Mon-Star got away with the robbery, the Silver Hawks broke into his headquarters to steal the robbed goods back and restore them to their original place. However, it is not that easy to get away with this task, and the Silver Hawks end up face to face with Mon-Star and Time Stopper once again. Only this time, they use Time Stopper’s fear of darkness against him and defeat him with ease. The Silver Hawks then return to Hawk Haven and hand the stolen crystals back to Commander Stargazer.
Exploring Some of the important characters
The show’s main characters were the five Silver Hawks, along with their ‘Commander Stargazer’ and a pet bird ‘Tally Hawk.’ Together, these Silver Hawks fought against Mon-Star and his mob of criminals.
Mon-Star was the evil antagonist of the show, who appeared in almost every single episode of Silver Hawks. He was a ruthless criminal and a very tough opponent to defeat. He had been imprisoned on the ‘Penal Planet 10,’ but he managed to break out of the place with some help from Limbo’s Moon-star. Mon-Star posed such a huge threat to Limbo that Commander Stargazer had no option but to ask for some assistance from his counterparts on Earth.
The Silver Hawks were then brought into existence and sent to Limbo with the sole purpose of getting rid of Mon-Star. However, Mon-Star was in no way an easy opponent to defeat. Mon-Star traveled around Limbo on a giant squid that could convert into a vehicle whenever the mob leader needed a ride. He even had a huge mob of aliens and robots, who all had unique powers that helped Mon-Star create more troubles for the Silver Hawks. Mon-Star got his energy from the ‘Moon-Star,’ which turned him into a giant monster clad in armor from head to toe.
In this enhanced form, Mon-Star was virtually invincible. He could shoot laser beams, protect himself from any attacks with help from his strong armor, and even shoot arrows with his elbows. He was also very wealthy, and had a vast collection of weapons and high-tech machinery that could be used to cause mass destruction on Limbo. Mon-Star set up his headquarters at Brim-Star, from where he controlled his mob as well as kept an eye on the Silver Hawks.
The youngest Silver Hawk, Copper Kidd, originated on the far-off planet known as ‘Mimes.’ He is a gifted mathematical genius and a worthy member of the Silver Hawks. Copper Kidd mostly kept quiet, and used only electronic tones and whistles to communicate his messages.
Just like other citizens of his home planet, ‘Mimes,’ Copper Kidd had a light blue body. He wore a copper armor on top, which gave him the name ‘Copper Kidd.’ His armor had laser shooters, attached talons, and other such enhancements that helped him while fighting against Mon-Star’s mob. He even has a mini-computer attached to his arm, and he uses this computer to disrupt radio transmissions and mess up the workings of electronics, among other things.
Copper Kidd also carries two razor-sharp metal discs as his choice of weapon, and these discs come in handy when he has to deflect any attack from his opponents. Since he is still a kid, he has an inquisitive nature, and he often tinkers with the machines and space ships at Hawk Haven. He was very handy with technology as well as advanced machines and vehicles. Sometimes, the episodes even ended with short snippets of Copper Kidd learning to man new vehicles and taking off for solo adventures in Limbo.
When Mon-Star captured the original Silver Hawks, more Silver Hawks were sent to the Galaxy of Limbo in order to make up for their absence. One of these newer Silver Hawks was ‘Hotwing,’ who was introduced in an episode titled ‘Hotwing Hits Limbo.’ Hotwing was a magician-turned-member of the Silver Hawks, and he had many magical tricks up his sleeve. He could conjure magic lasers that can create fires, find missing items with his mind powers, and even create a glass shield to protect himself in combat, among other things.
He could also levitate objects in space, redirect and change the course of laser rays shot by his opponents, and even make objects appear out of nowhere. He was accompanied by a fighting hawk named ‘Gyro,’ and even Gyro could perform some of Hotwing’s laser tricks. Hotwings was a compelling addition to the Silver Hawks team.
Commander Stargazer has been around for about 300 years, and he kept an eye on any looming threats in the Galaxy of Limbo. He stayed at his headquarters’ Hawk Haven’, where he spent his days monitoring Limbo and sending instructions to the Silver Hawks from behind his desk. He was originally from Chicago but had moved to Limbo centuries ago. Hardly days before his retirement as a cop on Earth, he was sent to Limbo for assistance in imprisoning Mon-Star on the Penal Planet 10. Since he was from an older time, he did not have the same technology or built-in wings when he transformed into a cyborg before leaving for Limbo. However, he did have one mechanical eye that gave him advanced vision.
After spending years on Limbo, Commander Stargazer had taken to mentoring the Silver Hawks from the comfort of Hawk Haven. He had spent a long life protecting Limbo, and it was him who had captured Mon-Star and sent him to the Penal Planet in the first place. At Hawk Haven, Stargazer has many advanced technologies and weapons that he has gathered in his years of working as a Commander.
Marvelous Verdict on this evergreen show
Silver Hawks was a widely loved cartoon series back in the 80s, and it remains an evergreen show in our memories from our childhoods. It first aired on television in 1986, and the show’s futuristic storyline was an immediate hit with the audiences.
There weren’t many such science fiction shows back then, and Silver Hawks was quite a breath of fresh air. Fans especially loved the creation of the Silver Hawks and the half-bird, half-human origins. However, the real star of the show was Mon-Star, and his large mob full of villains with their unique powers and M.O.s. The show’s storylines were exceptionally creative, and the creators had an eye for detail, especially with regard to character designs.
The show also had pretty good animation, considering it was created in the 80s when animation technology was not so advanced. Fans also enjoyed the show’s catchy soundtrack, and the ‘Silver Hawks’ title theme was one of the coolest theme songs at the time. The storylines were also quite engaging, and overall, the show was very well executed with rich plot lines and well-planned character arcs.
The sci-fi element of the show, along with a dash of adventure and action, made it a thoroughly enjoyable watch. Some people consider Silver Hawks to be a rip-off of ‘Thundercats,’ but this is far from true. Silver Hawks stands out as a pretty iconic show on its own and deserves a lot more recognition than it gets!
Plans of a reboot have kept fans interested
Fans of this sci-fi cartoon show will be thrilled to know that the much anticipated ‘Silver Hawks’ reboot is finally coming to life. It is being revived by the ‘Nacelle Company,’ which has partnered with ‘Super7’ to create a modern-day Silver Hawks reboot. Since Silver Hawks were created as a companion series to ‘Thundercats,’ they were often overshadowed by the popularity of the Thundercats.
This also explains why Silver Hawks hadn’t been rebooted yet, since this show was considered to be a lesser-known and ‘underrated’ show compared to Thundercats. Nevertheless, it had amassed quite a fan following and was considered a fan’s favorite, especially in the ‘animated fantasy’ genre. It seems that the time is now suitable for a modern-day remake, as the show’s concept has the potential to be an epic hit as a fantasy animated series. Moreover, ‘Super 7’ is also gearing up for the launch of the Silver Hawks collectible toys line, which will be released along with the reboot.
Silver Hawks’ sci-fi elements make for a very promising reboot if done right. The backdrop of a galaxy, adventures in space with an array of technologically advanced weapons and space ships, and characters that originate from various planets all have the potential to come together and create an excellent modern-day reboot. Of course, it depends on the creators to fully utilize these elements of the show and retain the charm of the original Silver Hawks from the ’80s. Though the reboot’s release date has not been declared yet, fans can look forward to an official announcement anytime soon!
Conclusion
To wrap it up, Silver Hawks was quite a legendary show that offered a thrilling package of action, adventure, and sci-fi, as well as exciting storylines involving intergalactic villains and superheroes. Often overshadowed by the Thundercats, this show can be considered as one of the most underrated animated TV series of that time. Silver Hawks had a lot of potential in the science fiction genre, and it was quite a hit with the audience back in the 80s. A modern-day reboot would be an excellent idea and quite a treat for all the Silver Hawks fans out there!