I could do this all day -- SilverHawks, ThunderCats, Centurion, He-Man, MASK, GI Joe, Voltron, Transformers, BraveStarr. Back when cartoons were worth getting up at stupid o’clock in the morning to watch. Before second-grade animation became the next “big thing”. Back before kids were too hyped up on their A.D.D. medication to allow them to see any kind of cartoon violence. We’re talking pre-animé, cotton candy, dumbed down, kids with iPhones and the attention spans shorter than Britney’s next comeback tour.

Hell, yeah.

So the basic story here involves ThunderCats being a hit, and Rankin/Bass wanting to make more cash, so let’s take the same formula, and move it into somewhere cooler: space.

The long and the short of it is that the galaxy of Limbo is in danger. There’s a bad guy, and in the typical imaginative naming theme that is prevalent in cartoons of the time, he goes by the name Mon*Star. Col. Stargazer, a space cop (coz they’re cooler than regular cops) recruits the SilverHawks -- part man, part metal (potentially the same metal that techno tried to kill) -- to help save the galaxy.

What you need to know before thinking too hard about this series is that it’s an “alternate” galaxy. Whilst we assume that all our heroes (except the Copper Kidd) were recruited from Earth, here in Limbo there is no vacuum of space and gravity works outside of a planet’s atmosphere... in short, the laws of physics don’t apply. Got that? Good. Now we can continue.

So, episode after episode the SilverHawks are pitted against Mon*Star, and his band of freaky bad guys, who have come up with a new scheme to help them rule that galaxy. SilverHawks crash the party. Mon*Star turns into his giant, spiky-faced alternate form, SilverHawks still manage to rain on his parade, Mon*Star swears that he’ll get them next time (Gadget) and we end with a handy fact about space for the kiddies, probably to help convince parents that a show about superheroes with lasers in their metal shoulders is educational.

All in all, watch it if you remember it -- or were a fan of other cartoons of the time. If not, you’ll look at those of us who rave about it with nostalgic passion like we’re nuts. I’ve only just discovered that they made pajamas with wings under the arms, just like a SilverHawk... you’ll have to excuse me, but I need to see if I can find some on eBay. In an adult’s size.

   -- Jason Murdoch