Starcom: The U.S. Space Force

This is another under the radar gem, I mainly remember this franchise mainly from the toys as this show of course like most animated shows from the 80's was based on a Mattel Toy line. I thought it was kind of cool from the vehicles they had, and the figures had magnets on their feet which you can stick to some spots on the vehicles or even just on your fridge if you wanted to play with the figures there. But unfortunately, with the amount of competition the franchise had, the toy line along with this show just flew under the radar. Personally, I think it's too bad, this show really had potential to be another big franchise but unfortunately didn't' have enough time to gain altitude.

I really like the premise you can say the show is "G. I. Joe" but in space sort of, but that's beside the point the premise I like because I honestly don't see much in animation as its military sci-fi. Which to me is cool as I love that genre of sci-fi, but isn't utilized much in the visual medium, the only other animation show (not anime that's different altogether) I can think of is "Exo Squad" another under the radar gem and one I reviewed.

Part of what makes this show unique is despite in space is there are no aliens and not every planet has been ventured and colonized, which I'm fine with because it gives the show and the world in it a slightly grounded feel, showing despite the technological advancements we still have a ways to go. But also gives the show a tight focus as the opponents they fight aren't aliens but fascists/terrorists that consist of humans and robots, this also gives the show more of its grounded feel showing despite how far we've came we still have some of the same problems to deal with.

Animation is top notch, really looks like a show that could of easily of been from the 90's. Really like the crisp sharp detail on the vehicle, tech but also character models as well as the smooth movement of them. The music is solid I wouldn't say anything too memorable but a good listen, really like that intro which was cool almost like the one's you'd see from "G. I. Joe" with cool music and both sides going into battle. But I like the music has sort of a militaristic feel which fits as this show is military sci-fi.

The characters not much to say about them their decent they all serve their functions and have some unique personalities. And the writing is solid there are a few memorable episodes (well the only ones sadly) which help bring hints of depth to this final frontier world and demonstrated like with a lot of shows on a limited run, how this show could of possibly gone further had it been given the chance.

But the real star of the show is the action along with the vehicles and tech they have which I think are cool as usual with most 80s toys, form the land vehicles to the star fighters which are my favorites most notably the Starmax, seeing those I wanted to fly one of those. The fight chorography is solid, from the areal battles, vehicular assault as well as ground battles.

It would be cool if this show was given a relaunch or a comic book series of it. Have some plot arcs as well as an ongoing plot arc in each season, we would see characters on long missions that could affect the outcome of the current war their fighting. Individual episodes where we would see the star commanders and characters that serve them expertise utilized more and depth to who they are. More vehicles of different kinds along with a roster on both sides that gradually grows, along with some more depth into this final frontier world. Sadly, it probably won't happen as the fanbase for this isn't that big, let alone it's hard to revive, build, and maintain franchises that don't get much attention anymore or at all; still, it's a nice thought to consider.

If you're looking for more vintage 80's cartoon, this show is worth a flight.

Rating: 3 stars.

I remember the toys a little bit more than the show, I had a whole bunch of them. It was around the time of the 'transforming machine' cartoon era after shows like Voltron, and of course Transformers. StarCom took place in a space environment with cool ships and space stations. The figures had magnets on their feet, and the ships had swing open hatches and cargo bays that would slide open just like it would in the show!

A great memorable 80's cartoon. I don't recall much of the plot except they were fighting with the guys in the dark brown suits. Still I remember it being a fun show from my childhood, and fueling my love for sci-fi.

StarCom as a series was very enthralling to me, at first as a child and on through to my teenage years. It was the first TV series I had ever seen that seemed to accept some sort of science fact into the sci-fi equation. (Naturally, as you may have guessed, Trek is my cup of tea now!)

The characters were easily likeable, the storylines underpinned in real life science (ie. accurate depiction of the gas layers of Jupiter, the temperatures of moons such as Io when in direct sunlight, and so on.)One thing it did really smell of was promotion. If NASA wanted to get kids interested in space sciences, this was the way to do it! Can anyone confirm that??

It also presented a quite possible format of future space exploration: A space station built into one of the asteroids in the rings orbiting Saturn and so on. Great Saturday morning stuff.