I’m not old enough to have caught Thundercats or Silverhawks on their first TV runs, but the pre-Tom Toonami days introduced me to both these shows. With a new number #1, I thought it would be a good time to catch up with these characters that used to occupy so much of my afternoons in middle school. What I got in Thundercats x Silverhawks #1 was a fun, but confusing story that feels more like an fifth issue than a good onboarding spot for new readers.
The Thundercats are split up and seem to be at odds with each other. Panthro is stuck on on a ship of unknown origin in orbit with BB, a helper bot that speaks but is not understood by the reader. Lion-O is on New Thundera below with Tygra, Cheetara, and Snarf but there’s a tension between these characters. It seems like a lot has gone wrong in a very short period of time and while everything is laid out pretty plainly, but not very interestingly. Everyone is basically sitting around waiting for secrets to reveal themselves.
Dynamite
That’s when Chromium and the Copper Kid enter the picture. They land on New Thundera looking for some sort of anomaly that set off their scanners, and while out they come across Bengali. The lack of respect that Chromium shows Bengali leads to a classic misunderstanding-fight between two faces. Shortly after, it leads to a pretty not-classic accidental murder. This prompts the arrival of Quicksilver and Lion-O, who have their own fight as leaders of their respective groups.
This extended fight makes up the bulk of issue #1, and it’s satisfying to see classic action figures go at it. The colors are vibrant, the lines are clean, and the action is pretty intense, with dialogue that elevates the tempers that are already running high. There are two twists at the end of the issue that make a compelling case to grab the next issue, but again, just to find out what the significance of all this is, with no hope of truly understanding what happened to set up this first issue.
The only thing Dynamite loves more than its licensed comics is its licensed comics crossovers. I was pretty happy with how well the two properties gelled. They looked like they belonged together in a natural way and at no point did it feel like a cash grab putting them in the same book. The sci-fi cosmic sheriff angle of the Silverhawks went hand in hand with the harsh sci-fantasy of the Thundercats in a way that felt right.
Dynamite
The dialogue, however, felt pretty stilted. While not as densely scripted as a Silver Age comic book, the tone felt pretty classic and not in a fun, satisfying way. It felt more like archetypes speaking to each other in iambic pentameter than characters with real fears, hopes, and doubts.
Honestly, one of the more exciting moments of the book wasn’t part of the book at all. At the end there’s a four-page preview for Mumm-Ra: The Ever-Living #1 that looks slick as hell.
Thundercats x Silverhawks #1 smashes two ’80s properties together in a way that will leave Xennials happy, but anyone else scratching their heads at the significance of it all. The action is well choreographed and clear, but the stakes and consequences are not. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure I got it. I know that the Thundercats have had their own main title and several miniseries over the years, and Silverhawks recently started their own book as well, so the story is ongoing. I just wish Thundercats x Silverhawks #1 was a slightly better onramp for newer readers than it turned out to be. This is the beginning of a big crossover initiative between the two properties, so I assume things will clear up, but it’s a shame it wasn’t more clear at the beginning.
You must be logged in to post a comment.