Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron was one of Cartoon Network‘s earliest hits, though it was originally developed for syndication. It premiered in 1993 and lasted just two seasons, but lived on in reruns for several years and left an impression on those that saw it. Now, 32 years later, Razor and T-Bone are coming out of retirement in a new Swat Kats revival comic book…the first volume of which is now being offered on Kickstarter.
The situation is grim. Since we last left our heroes, Megakat City was successfully conquered by Hard Drive and his vile army the Dark Kats. One year since the last episode of the TV series, the city is now a dystopia where Hard Drive rules with an iron fist. Razor and T-Bone find themselves outclassed and outdated…none of their weapons seem to work against the firepower Hard Drive can pack now. But this pair doesn’t quit!
The Swat Kats comic includes the involvement of the original creators of the TV show, The Tremblay Bros. Its script was co-written by Kevin Roditeli (X-O Manowar, Bad Omens), Frank J. Barbiere (Avengers World, Author Immortal), with editing by Joseph Illidge (Legendary Batman Editor). Jorge Corona (Transformers, Batgirls, Lobo) is handling the art and Sarah Stern (Batgirls, Captain America) is splashing on the color. A special hardcover edition of Issue 1 is being offered on Kickstarter, full of bonus features, interviews and information.
The Swat Kats campaign is in its final three days. After originally asking for $40,000, the campaign has taken in half a million dollars. That’s allowed them to hit stretch goals like variant covers, trading cards, stickers, two bonus stories, and even an alternate 3D version of Swat Kars #1 (with glasses). Hitting $500K allowed them to finance a motion comic version of the issue starring the original voice actors!
You can get the digital edition of Swat Kats #1 for $15, the hardcover for $40, an “Artist Edition” of the same for $90, a slipcase for $100, and it keeps going up like that with more material (the most you can pledge is $5000). You’ll want to hurry though. The Swat Kats Kickstarter wraps up in just three days, on November 29.
