In February, Dynamite will add SilverHawks to its nostalgic list of new comic titles based on popular works. Author Ed Brisson and artist George Cambadice lead the book, along with Lucio Parrillo, Jay Lee and June Chan, James Stokoe, Gerald Borges, Declan Shalvey, Leslie “Raylix” Lee, Mannix’s David Cousins shows off his talent on the cover.
Brisson and Cambadice chatted with Beat about entering Galactic Limbo.
Deanna Destito: Why did you want to bring back the Silver Hawks?
Ed Brisson: I’ve been a huge Silverhawks fan since I was a kid, but I never thought they got the love they deserved. I’ve always dug the combination of police procedurals and far-future sci-fi angles. But the team has always lived in the shadow of another Rankin-Bass program, the Thundercats. That’s a shame because I always thought of them as equals.
Beyond that, I’ve always felt that there’s a deeper lore that may be hinted at within the show but is rarely explored. This opens up huge possibilities in telling new stories within the same world.
George Cambadice: Well…that was quite a milestone for me. For example, the nostalgia for the animated TV show that I loved as a kid and the chance to work on it and expand on that story, and of course, working with Ed Brisson for the first time and working with[editor]Nate Cosby again. I’ll work!
Destito: What can fans old and new get from this new series?
Brisson: It’s always a tightrope walk trying to appease old fans while appealing to new readers, but as I mentioned above, this show is a thread that allows us to delve deeper into its characters and lore. I think it gave me a lot of opportunities.
To satisfy long-time fans, it features a lot of familiar faces and plot lines from the original manga, but delves deeper into the characters’ backstories to make them feel more balanced and grounded. I plan to. Digging deeper and showing how each character joined the team and how they’ve been directly affected by Mon*Star’s reign of terror will help stargazers and those unfamiliar with the crew. I think it provides a great place for people to jump on board and not get lost.
Cambadice: I hope fans new and old have as much fun as I do while I work on this piece!
Destito: What are some classic characters and who is your favorite?
Canbadice: All main characters appear. To be honest, I love everyone! However, without sounding super basic, my favorite is Quicksilver. He’s their leader and he’s pretty cool at that!
BRISON: As George mentioned, all the familiar faces like Quicksilver, Steelwill, Steelheart, Bluegrass, Copper Kid and Stargazer will be there. We get Hot Wing as a member of the team pretty early on, and this is one of the places where it diverges from the manga, with Hot Wing joining about halfway through its 65-episode run.
On the other side of the law, Mon*Star, an intergalactic terrorist organization, is the main villain, and fans will love the likes of Hardware, Poker Face, Melodia, Windhammer, Mo Wreck You Ra, and many more.
My favorites tend to change depending on who I write about, but bluegrass was my favorite when I was a kid. The guy’s a rock’n’roll space cowboy with a mohawk, there’s no way he’s going to be that. Hot Wing is also one of my favorite players, and I’m really looking forward to seeing George’s transformation.
Destito: What was it like adding your own touch to the series?
Cambadice: So far, I’m excited about it and kind of emotional… In the last few years that I’ve been with Dynamite, I’ve worked with some great writers on characters that I loved as a kid. When a child says, “When I grow up, I want to be an artist or a writer.” They imagine being able to work on a character like this…and I get to do it! I get to do what little George dreamed of when he was 10 years old. It’s done. I think this is great.
Brison: It was a lot of fun. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun writing a book. I love expanding on the familiar and putting a fresh spin on it. It was a very satisfying experience to take the time to write the team before they formed, showing who they were and why they ultimately decided to join up with the Silver Hawks. Nothing can ruin the manga. It’s all additive, and I think readers will be very happy with it.
Destito: If you could cross over with the Silver Hawks, which team would you choose and why?
Cambadice: That’s a difficult question…the obvious answer is right there. Of course, I’d love to see a crossover between the ThunderCats and Silver Hawks, but if you think outside the box a little…a crossover with Voltron might be cool.
Brisson: I feel like ThunderCats is like that. We’d love to do that because fans have already asked us the question a million times. Like George said, Voltron could be a lot of fun. It certainly feels like these two teams could exist in the same world.
SilverHawks will be released on February 5th!
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