40 years of
SilverHawks

The Origin Story went out on a Monday afternoon in September 1986, and by the first week of December the run was over and the SilverHawks were off the air for good. Forty years on, everything we have been able to find of it lives here: the episodes, the toys, the comics and the production scripts. It opens today.

Banner art generated with AI for this anniversary, in the style of the 1986 series.

Launch squadron

The people bringing this in

SilverHawks ran a single season in 1986 and then went quiet, and what is left of it survived in two ways: the people who made it held on to their paperwork, and the people who grew up on it held on to everything else. The squadron below is both, and between them they opened their shelves, their scans and their address books for the eighth of September, so the archive could open with something in it rather than a promise to fill it in later.

  • Peter Lawrence Peter Lawrence SilverHawks show runner
  • Sean McKeone Sean McKeone Author of Hall of Omens
  • JP JP @thundercats_classics
  • ThunderCats.org ThunderCats.org
  • Only My Toys Only My Toys Cesar - AI filmmaker

The first week

SilverHawks went out on weekday afternoons, so the opening was not one episode but five, Monday to Friday, in the week beginning 8 September 1986. Mon*Star breaks out on the Monday, and by the Friday the team has already lost control of the sun that the whole galaxy runs on.

  1. Mon 8 Sept The Origin Story When the intergalactic criminal Mon*Star breaks out of his prison, Earth sends a team of biomechanically enhanced humans to capture him.
  2. Tue 9 Sept Journey to Limbo The SilverHawks arrive at Hawk Haven and have their first encounter with Mon*Star and his Mob.
  3. Wed 10 Sept The Planet Eater Mon*Star employs the Sky Chomper to "eat" other spaceships and feed the debris to the Planet Eater, his biggest and most devastating weapon yet.
  4. Thu 11 Sept Save The Sun The Mob seize control of the massive Artificial Sun, the main source of power in the Galaxy of Limbo.
  5. Fri 12 Sept Stop Timestopper A delinquent with the power to stop time joins Mon*Star's gang and helps them plunder the Crystal Mine of Automata.

What is here

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Squadron

The roster

Metal view

Every SilverHawk is partly metal and partly real. Each portrait is split on the diagonal between the two. The switch advances the metal across the frame.

  • Quicksilver

    Quicksilver

    Capt. Jonathan Quick

    Role
    Field leader and tactician
    Fighting Hawk
    Tally-Hawk
    Voice
    Peter Newman
  • Steelheart

    Steelheart

    Sgt. Emily Hart

    Role
    Technician
    Fighting Hawk
    Rayzor
    Voice
    Maggie Wheeler
  • Steelwill

    Steelwill

    Sgt. Will Hart

    Role
    Strongman
    Fighting Hawk
    Stronghold
    Voice
    Bob McFadden
  • Bluegrass

    Bluegrass

    Bluegrass

    Role
    Pilot and second-in-command
    Fighting Hawk
    Side Man
    Voice
    Larry Kenney
  • The Copper Kidd

    The Copper Kidd

    Copper Kidd

    Role
    Navigator and math genius
    Fighting Hawk
    May-Day
    Voice
    Pete Cannarozzi (effects)
  • Commander Stargazer

    Commander Stargazer

    Stargazer

    Role
    Commander
    Fighting Hawk
    Sly-Bird
    Voice
    Bob McFadden

Where the show goes

Limbo star chart

Eight places the series names, plotted. The number on each is how many of the 65 episodes name it. Choose one to see which.

Galaxy of Limbo

15 of 65 episodes

  • 02 Journey to Limbo
  • 04 Save The Sun
  • 06 Darkbird
  • 17 Operation Big Freeze
  • 19 The Great Galaxy Race
  • 21 Hotwing Hits Limbo
All 65 episodes