In the nearby galaxy of Limbo, the deadly mob boss Mon*Star has escaped from his confinement on Penal Planet 10 – and he’s looking to take revenge on everyone who put him there! At the top of that list is Commander Stargazer, the grizzled space cop who personally took Mon*Star down the last time he went on a rampage. To recapture Mon*Star and his gang of super-criminal associates, Stargazer must put his retirement on hold and assemble a new team of his famed bionically enhanced law enforcers – the SilverHawks! SilverHawks #1 kicks off the return of the property with a bit of a classic vibe.
I grew up in the 80s and part of that was watching so many animated series. Either rushing to get home afterschool or getting up early on Saturday mornings, there were so many shows to choose from, many considered classics, some long forgotten, and some with a solid cult classic fandom. SilverHawks was one of those shows I remember watching but don’t remember the specifcs and definitely remember the toys. My memory basically was that there were a few heroes each with a bird inspired design and each with a different color metal as a suit. But, beyond that, I couldn’t tell you their names or much lese. So, it was fun to dive into SilverHawks #1 as so much rushed back to me including their cool villain designs and their general space cop theme (there were a lot of animated cop shows it seems).
Written by Ed Brisson, SilverHawks #1 is the setup. We get a sense of the world, the characters, and what they’re up against. Brisson lays out the basics and does so in a relatively entertaining way. But, overall, the comic feels a bit flat in some ways. It hits a lot of tropes, old grizzled cops, the cop that wants to retire, but there doesn’t quite nail an emotional connection. It’s almost like a Cliff’s Notes version of the old series for a new generation quickly running us through the motions and getting the details out of the way. But still, it’s entertaining in that not much depth flashy 80s cartoon sort of way.
The art by George Kambadais adds to the comic’s strengths and weaknesses. With coloring by Ellie Wright and lettering by Jeff Eckleberry, the comic hits the notes to tell its story but the characters come off rather void of emotion. Their expressions in their faces and their bodies just misses any sort of reactions you might expect. A criminal escapes and characters say what you’d expect but the reaction to the news, there’s no shock, frustration, anger, nothing. But, the team does put together a world and characters who look great. It captures all of the original designs and feel of the animated series quite well.
SilverHawks #1 is a fine debut. It dusts off a concept and characters that have been on the shelf for quite some time. It does a solid introduction to it all. But, it doesn’t give us much of a connection to anyone. It’s very surface level in that way. Overall, it hits the nostalgia buttons but doesn’t add much beyond that.
Story: Ed Brisson Art: George Kambadais
Color: Ellie Wright Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read
Dynamite Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
