Storm Hawks

Plot

The series takes place on Atmos, a mountainous world of scattered plateau-like land masses called terras, above the dangerous Wastelands. Flight is essential for travel, and technology runs on energy-generating crystals. Squadrons of warriors pilot Skimmers, motorcycle-like vehicles that transform into flying machines, led by Sky Knights under a Sky Knight Council. In the past, the original Storm Hawks fought the evil Master Cyclonis but were betrayed by one of their own, the Dark Ace.

Ten years later, a group of youths finds the wreckage of the Storm Hawks' carrier, the Condor, and unofficially adopt the name, though their youth prevents them from being taken seriously. They eventually clash with a new Master Cyclonis, granddaughter of the previous one, who commands the Dark Ace, the strongman Snipe, and his archer sister Ravess. The series follows their adventures battling Cyclonia for the fate of Atmos.

Characters

The Storm Hawks squadron has six members. Aerrow, voiced by Sam Vincent, is the daring Sky Knight with bright red hair and green eyes, a talented fighter who can defeat the Dark Ace. Finn, voiced by Matt Hill, is a wise-cracking sharpshooter with spiky blond hair and blue eyes, prone to a perpetual sugar rush and unsuccessful attempts at coolness; he and Junko form the comic relief pair. Junko, voiced by Colin Murdock, is a large, gentle Wallops with greenish-blue hair and a rhino-like appearance, possessing superhuman strength via his Knuckle Busters but focused on food and nonviolence. Piper, voiced by Chiara Zanni, handles tactics, navigation, and crystals, with excellent combat ability and extensive knowledge of Atmos; she has spiky midnight blue hair and orange eyes, and is the only character to defeat Master Cyclonis alone through her own skills.

Reception

Common Sense Media rated the series three out of five stars, noting that tweens, especially thrill-seeking boys, would enjoy the high-flying adventures, and that aside from typical cartoon peril with no lasting injury, there was little to concern parents, though the show lacked overwhelmingly positive messages or strong role models. Jeffrey Harris of IGN described Storm Hawks as OK for an animated kids show, but found it difficult to become invested in the story due to its reliance on cheap comedy, with stakes that never felt serious. He compared it unfavorably to Avatar: The Last Airbender, and found most characters flat, though he considered Stork a more genuine and interesting character as a cowardly lion type who pilots the Condor.

In other media

In May 2009, DMF Comics and Beach Creative Studios were reported to be developing a Storm Hawks comic book series. At the March Toronto Anime Con 2009, 50 ashcan copies of a special issue #1 were distributed, containing one story, a short story, and pin-ups. The book was made available to dealers for September 2009 release, but only Issue #1 was published. A mini comic titled Storm Hawks: The Escape was included free with the region 2 release of the Season 1 Volume 1 DVD. A MMORPG called Storm Hawks: Skyrace, developed by Bitcasters using BigWorld Technology, entered beta in November 2008 and was available for Australian beta testing in December 2008, but was taken down by August 2011 and is no longer playable.