ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5 Review: Two Legendary Teams Finally Fight as One
ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5 delivers the payoff this crossover has been building toward, throwing two legendary teams into the same battlefield and forcing them to discover that survival will require something more difficult than raw power: trust.
Dynamite Entertainment’s ambitious collision of two classic animated universes reaches an important turning point in issue #5. Writer Declan Shalvey is joined by artists Drew Moss, Alessandro Ranaldi, and Pasquale Qualano, colorist Igor Monti, letterer Jeff Eckleberry, and editor/packager Nate Cosby. Shalvey also provides the main cover.
Rather than treating the crossover as an excuse to simply place recognizable characters in the same panels, the creative team continues exploring what happens when two heroic groups with different histories, technology, loyalties, and ideas about justice are forced to depend on one another.
If you need to catch up, revisit our look at ThunderCats X SilverHawks #4 before jumping into this latest chapter.
The Crossover Finally Feels Like a True Team-Up
One of the most enjoyable things about ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5 is that the crossover is no longer simply about two teams occupying the same story.
They are beginning to function together.
The opening conflict wastes little time reminding readers how dangerous the situation has become. The Darkbirds represent more than another wave of disposable enemies. Their ability to overwhelm the battlefield forces both groups to stop thinking as isolated units.
That makes the action considerably more satisfying.
The ThunderCats bring instinct, strength, speed, and experience forged through survival. The SilverHawks bring technology, aerial capability, tactical precision, and an entirely different approach to combat.
Issue #5 finally allows those strengths to complement one another.
The result feels like the crossover readers were promised from the beginning.
Darkbirds Turn the Battlefield Into Chaos
The Darkbirds provide the issue with a relentless physical threat.
Early in the battle, the situation escalates to the point that the SilverHawks’ protocols treat the conflict as being beyond control, bringing increasingly dangerous forces into play.
What follows is fast, chaotic superhero warfare.
Characters are scattered across the battlefield. Attacks come from multiple directions. The ThunderCats find themselves facing enemies built around technology very different from anything they normally encounter, while the SilverHawks are forced to reconsider exactly who their allies are.
The creative team keeps the scale large without allowing the battle to become meaningless visual noise.
There is always another objective beneath the fighting.
That becomes especially important when Copper Kidd emerges as a critical piece of the puzzle.
Copper Kidd Becomes One of the Issue’s Most Important Players
One of the smartest choices in this chapter is giving Copper Kidd a role that goes beyond simply adding another familiar SilverHawks character to the crossover.
A device brought from the future may hold the key to disabling the Darkbirds, but understanding how to make that technology work becomes a challenge of its own.
Flashback and Copper Kidd attempt to solve that problem while the battle continues around them, creating an effective contrast between the physical warfare outside and the technological problem-solving happening within it.
The device initially fails.
That failure matters because it prevents the solution from feeling too convenient.
Victory requires experimentation, cooperation, and another attempt while everyone else is desperately trying to keep the Darkbirds occupied.
When the plan finally begins to work, the payoff feels earned.
Lion-O and Steelheart Clash Over Justice
The action may dominate much of the issue, but some of its best moments arrive after the immediate threat begins to fade.
The philosophical differences between the ThunderCats and SilverHawks become impossible to ignore.
Lion-O approaches leadership through loyalty, responsibility, and the belief that people can change.
Steelheart sees responsibility differently.
For her, actions demand consequences.
That disagreement comes to the surface when the question of Bengalli’s fate becomes unavoidable. The ThunderCats consider him one of their own, while the SilverHawks still have unfinished business with him.
Suddenly, defeating the enemy is easier than deciding what justice should look like afterward.
That is exactly the sort of conflict this crossover needs.
A weaker story would have every hero immediately agree simply because they are all protagonists. Shalvey instead recognizes that heroic characters can share the same battlefield without sharing the same philosophy.
Bengalli Gives the Story Its Emotional Weight
Bengalli emerges as one of the most interesting characters in the issue.
There is guilt surrounding his actions, questions about responsibility, and the complicated reality that events were not always completely within his control.
By the end of the conflict, he does something far more meaningful than simply winning another fight: he accepts responsibility.
His decision gives the chapter emotional weight that the large-scale battle alone could never provide.
Bengalli acknowledges his mistakes, recognizes the suffering caused by what happened, and ultimately accepts the consequences rather than allowing his friends to keep fighting on his behalf.
That moment also gives Lion-O an opportunity to demonstrate why he has grown into an effective leader.
His loyalty is powerful, but he must also respect Bengalli’s choice.
That tension between friendship and responsibility gives the issue one of its strongest character moments.
The Artwork Handles a Huge Cast Remarkably Well
A crossover involving ThunderCats and SilverHawks could easily become visually overwhelming.
There are colorful costumes, metallic bodies, energy attacks, flying characters, massive environments, robotic enemies, and enough recognizable heroes to fill nearly every panel.
Yet the visual storytelling remains surprisingly readable.
Drew Moss, working with Alessandro Ranaldi and Pasquale Qualano, keeps the action moving while making the individual characters distinguishable even during crowded sequences.
The visual contrast between the franchises continues to work particularly well.
The ThunderCats have a more organic visual identity built around physical movement and animal characteristics.
The SilverHawks are sleek, metallic, technological, and aerial.
Put those aesthetics together and the pages have tremendous visual variety.
There is also an appropriately animated quality to the action. Characters leap across enormous distances, energy blasts slice through panels, mechanical warriors descend from above, and SilverHawk companions swoop into battle.
Those elements capture the spirit of the original animated properties without making the comic feel trapped in the past.
Igor Monti’s Colors Help Unite Two Very Different Worlds
Igor Monti’s colors deserve particular recognition.
The ThunderCats and SilverHawks come from visually different worlds, yet neither group appears out of place beside the other.
Metallic blues, silvers, yellows, oranges, reds, and deep background tones help separate characters during crowded battles while maintaining a consistent visual atmosphere.
The result is a crossover that looks cohesive rather than assembled from two unrelated franchises.
That is important.
The story needs readers to believe these characters now occupy the same universe, and the visual team sells that idea.
More Than an ’80s Nostalgia Crossover
It would have been very easy for ThunderCats X SilverHawks to depend entirely on nostalgia.
Put Lion-O beside SilverHawks characters.
Show the logos.
Include familiar weapons.
Let everyone fight.
Done.
Instead, this series has gradually developed into something more interesting.
Issue #5 reinforces the idea that these worlds have consequences for one another. Technology can move between them. Characters can alter each other’s histories. Decisions made in one era may affect another.
Even Flashback’s conversation about the future reminds readers that this crossover is playing with more than geography. Time itself has become part of the larger mystery.
That gives the series room to grow beyond the initial novelty of seeing these franchises meet.
Review Verdict
ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5 is one of the strongest chapters of the crossover so far because it finally delivers the combination of action, character conflict, teamwork, and consequences that the premise deserves.
The Darkbirds provide the spectacle.
Copper Kidd provides an important piece of the solution.
Lion-O and Steelheart provide the ideological conflict.
And Bengalli provides the emotional heart.
Declan Shalvey understands that the most interesting part of a crossover is not simply watching characters meet. It is watching them discover what they agree on, what they absolutely do not agree on, and whether they can still stand together when those differences matter.
By the final pages, the ThunderCats and SilverHawks feel considerably more connected than they did at the beginning of the series.
But that does not mean everything has been resolved.
Far from it.
Score: 9/10
Why You Should Read It
Pick up ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5 if you enjoy:
- ThunderCats and SilverHawks mythology
- Large-scale crossover battles
- Classic animation properties expanded through modern comics
- Team conflicts that extend beyond simple misunderstandings
- Science fiction mixed with fantasy
- Strong ensemble storytelling
- Fast superhero action
- Stories exploring loyalty, responsibility, and redemption
Fans who grew up with either franchise should find plenty to appreciate, but Dynamite continues doing enough world-building that the series is becoming more than a nostalgia project.
Where to Buy ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5
You can view the official ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5 listing at Dynamite Entertainment for additional information about the issue.
If you’re looking for a physical copy, check with Heroes & Hitters Comics and ask about availability or adding ThunderCats X SilverHawks to your pull list.
Supporting local comic shops is one of the best ways to keep books like this on shelves while discovering variants, back issues, and other titles connected to the expanding ThunderCats universe.
Final Thoughts
ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5 feels like the chapter where this crossover truly clicks.
The early issues established the characters, the larger conflict, and the complicated relationship between these two teams. Now the story is delivering the payoff.
The ThunderCats and SilverHawks fight together.
They solve problems together.
They survive together.
But importantly, they still do not agree on everything.
That final element may be the most important.
A crossover becomes far more interesting when its heroes maintain their own identities instead of immediately becoming one perfectly unified super-team.
Lion-O’s instinct to protect his people clashes directly with Steelheart’s commitment to justice. Bengalli stands between them, carrying the consequences of everything that has happened.
And somewhere beyond the immediate victory, the future remains uncertain.
ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5 delivers the spectacle fans came for while proving that this crossover has enough character and mythology underneath the action to keep the story moving forward.
ThunderCats and SilverHawks are finally fighting as one.
Now the question is whether that alliance can survive what comes next.
Join the Discussion
What did you think of ThunderCats X SilverHawks #5?
Do you think Lion-O is right to defend Bengalli, or does Steelheart have the stronger argument that he must answer for what happened? And which ThunderCats/SilverHawks pairing would you like to see get more attention before the series concludes?
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