Recruited from every corner of known space by the Federal Interplanetary Force, the SilverHawks were engineered to be the first line of defense against Limbo’s ruthless agents of chaos.

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!

Recruited from every corner of known space by the Federal Interplanetary Force, the SilverHawks were engineered to be the first line of defense against Limbo’s ruthless agents of chaos. But during Mon*Star’s long incarceration, the program went dormant, and its state-of-the-art tech has drifted towards obsolescence. Now, as they take on the galaxy’s deadliest lawbreakers, Stargazer’s new team of untested cyborgs — including Quicksilver, Bluegrass, Hotwing, Steelwill, Steelheart, and The Copper Kidd — will face the ultimate trial by fire!

Rising star writer ED BRISSON (ThunderCats: Apex, The Uncanny X-Men) and acclaimed artist GEORGE KAMBADAIS (Gargoyles, Hercules) open up an all-new entry in the FIF’s legendary case files with SilverHawks #1.

This spin-off to the ever-popular Thundercats seems to take its cues from space westerns like Star Wars. Unfortunately that meant I was kinda comparing it to other space franchises I know. Not that I know many of them, but the characters followed the typical archetypes like Stargazer as the grizzled, tough retiree, Quicksilver, the leader looking to redeem himself after the death of his team, Bluegrass, the country singer, and so on.

Maybe it is due to the fact that it’s the first volume but there is no characterization beyond the surface of these archetypes. Unfortunate as Brisson tries to shock you with the death of several older Silverhawks, but as readers barely get to know them, it feels more of a plot device than emotional weight. Even the flashback issue #5, depicting the original Silverhawks’ first victory over Mon*star was predictable and failed to make me connect to the team or Stargazer’s fear of failing as leader. Even the premise reminded me of another property I’ve seen before, ie. heroes/cops with cyborg suits and body parts reminded me of the Bionic Man.

The problem also applies to the antagonist- Mon*star, and general worldbuilding of the universe. We hear more of Mon*star’s savagery than see it. As for the few planets we get to see like the city of Bedlama or the casino planet reminded me of Star Wars/Superman. Or in the case of the Planet of Mimes, was barely explored or given a distinct look. Nothing stood out in all the chrome and silver.

This color palette also hampers my ability to connect to the characters since they all look alike, and are wearing helmets. Thus confusing who is who during the fight scenes. It’s unfortunate since Kambadis’ work is dynamic and exciting when the fights get started with more splashes of color from the explosion and debris.

On the writing side, there is one good point in that it seems like Brisson is setting up a secondary, more conniving antagonist to make up for Mon*star’s lack of intimidation.

Newcomers might feel disappointed by the predictability of the Silverhawks universe that picks from different IPs, and the surface-level introduction to its cast. But there is potential for volume 2 to pick up which I’ll share my thoughts tomorrow.

2 stars