''Skysurfer Strike Force'' is a science-fiction superhero

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...

that was featured on

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's Amazin' Adventures cartoon block and was co-produced by

Ruby-Spears Productions Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vete ...

and

Ashi Productions is a Japanese anime studio, located in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan, known for its four magical-girl anime, especially ''Magical Princess Minky Momo''. It was established by Toshihiko Sato and other artists on December 20, 1975, as ''Ashi Productions ...

. The show lasted two seasons (13 episodes for each season) in the mid-1990s. The first episode (first episode of the first season) aired on September 10, 1995, and the last episode (final episode of the second season) was on October 26, 1996. The show then aired in reruns on the

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in 1999 through 2000. It was the final creation of

before shutting down. The titular five-piece superhero team are Earth's guardians against the vile Cybron and his bio-borgs who use the powers of flight and the sky for their crusades against evil. The Skysurfers used technologically advanced watches that transformed them from their casual clothing to their battle attire and weapons, similar to the ''

Battle of the Planets ''Battle of the Planets'' is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime series '' Science Ninja Team Gatchaman'' (1972). Of the 105 original ''Gatchaman'' episodes, 85 were used in the ''Battle of the Planets'' adaptation, produced by Sandy Fr ...

''. During the transformations, their cars transform into rocket-powered aerial surfboards.

Series information

A mysterious explosion causes the destruction of an artificial intelligence lab that kills scientist Adam Hollister; in the aftermath, he is framed for the incident - his son, Jack, sets out to prove his father's innocence with a belief that someone else was responsible for the explosion and stole an experimental computer brain from the lab; this man who stole the computer brain merges it with his own and transforms into the master criminal known as Cybron, additionally founding a team of wrong-doing bio-borgs to aid him in his schemes. To fight Cybron and his forces, Jack and his four friends become a sky-themed superhero team known as the Skysurfer Strike Force.

Characters

The Skysurfers

The title protagonists of the series, the Skysurfers are a team of five ordinary civilians who use their wrist-worn Digitrans to transform into their Skysurfer identities: # Jack Hollister aka Skysurfer 1: Born on July 9, 1975, Skysurfer One uses a beam saber as his

signature weapon A signature weapon (or trademark weapon or weapon of choice) is one commonly identified with a certain group or, in the case of literature, epic poems, comics, and film, where it is a popular ''trope,'' for both heroes and villains to be associat ...

. He has amazing reasoning skills, and when confronted with a situation, he replies "What if it is?". # Micky Flannigan aka Skysurfer 2 - Crazy Stunts: Born on June 18, 1979, Crazy Stunts uses a blaster pistol for each hand as his signature weapon. The pistols can also shoot out whip-like wires and are powered by small

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

s. Crazy Stunts is a "happenin' young dude" and often uses phrases like "Hey, dudes" and other current jargon. # Kimberley "Kim" Sakai aka Skysurfer 3 - Sliced Ice: Born on December 24, 1978, Sliced Ice uses a sword that can freeze things in its path as her signature weapon. She is also a scientist. # Nathan "Nate" James aka Skysurfer 4 - Air Enforcer: Born on March 31, 1974, Air Enforcer uses many rocket launchers, missiles and a wrist blaster as his signature weapons. # Brad Wright aka Skysurfer 5 - Soar Loser: Born on June 26, 1978, Soar Loser (a play on "Sore Loser") uses many small yellow

boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

s and one gigantic red boomerang as his signature weapons. (Note: This Skysurfer's name is a pun on the phrase "sore loser")

Cybron & the Bio-Borgs

In the universe of ''Skysurfer Strike Force'', these villains are the series' leading

antagonists An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

: *Cybron - The man responsible for framing Adam Hollister and the creation of the Bio-Borgs. He's mean, conniving, and, with the computer brain he stole, super intelligent. He plans on ruling the world and plots his defeat of the Skysurfers. He cares for no one but his daughter, Cerina. *Cerina - Cybron's daughter, who shows signs that she is more than likely human. She has no powers and usually stays away from missions or battles. She seems to have a crush on Skysurfer One. *Replicon - A blue-skinned

shapeshifter In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...

who turns parts of his body into automatic weapons

*Grenader - Basically a giant, walking grenade. He blows up when his pin is pulled and reassembles moments later. His usual function is demolition. *Lazerette - Cybron's only (clearly) female bio-borg, she can shoot laser beams from her eyes and mouth. *Noxious - Shoots toxic gasses from his arms. *Chronozoid - Controls time for short periods. *Dr. Five Eyes - Has eyes all over his body, one on his forehead can Hypnosis, hypnotize his victims. *Zachariah Easel - A talented artist who can bring any artwork to life.

Episodes

Season 1 1. City of Terror: written by Kyle Christopher and Mark Jones 2. Death Paint: written by Steve Hayes and Ted Pedersen 3. Voodoo Master: written by Ted Pedersen and Francis Moss 4. Alien Attack: written by Mark Jones 5. Titan of Terror: written by Michael Maurer 6. Cyber-Magic: written by Michael Maurer 7. The Ancient City: written by Mark Jones 8. Time Storm: written by Francis Moss and Ted Pedersen 9. Killer Ants: written by Michael Maurer 10. The Dogs of Doom: written by Michael Maurer 11. Mountain of Fear 12. Terror Toons: written by Ted Pedersen 13. Life Force: written by Steve Hayes and Ted Pedersen Season 2 14. The Black Box: written by Michael Maurer 15. Terror in the Jungle 16. The Crawling Horror 17. Crime City 18 & 19. Attack of the Slitha Monsters: A two-part story. Written by Michael Maurer 20. Sword of Power 21. Danger in Space 22. The Water Beast 23. The Price of Freedom 24. Two Minute Warning 25. Island of Fear 26. Diamonds of Death

Media availability

VHS

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released three VHS tapes of the series in 1995 which contained two episodes from the first season: * City of Terror (Episodes 1 and 2 (Season 1, first 2 episodes)): ** ''City of Terror'' ** ''Death Paint'' * Voodoo Master (Episodes 3 and 4 (Season 1, next 2 episodes): ** ''Voodoo Master'' ** ''Alien Attack'' * Titan of Terror (Episodes 5 and 7 (2 season 1 minus number 6)): ** ''Titan of Terror'' ** ''The Ancient City''

DVD

From 2006 through 2007, ''Digiview Entertainment'' released the first 20 episodes (the entire first season and the first seven episodes of the second season) on DVD. Digiview's DVDs are stripped-down releases, carrying only the episodes and a basic interactive menu. They are found in thin-cases in discount stores (such as

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

) and have been found for as low as a dollar in video bargain bins. * Alien Attack (Season 1, first 4 episodes): ** ''City of Terror'' ** ''Death Paint'' ** ''Voodoo Master'' ** ''Alien Attack'' * Time Storm (Season 1, next 4 episodes): ** ''Titan of Terror'' ** ''Cyber-magic'' ** ''The Ancient City'' ** ''Time Storm'' * Mountain of Fear (Season 1, next 4 episodes): ** ''Killer Ants'' ** ''Dogs of Doom'' ** ''Mountain of Fear'' ** ''Terror Toons'' * Life Force (Season 1's finale and season 2's first 3 episodes): ** ''Life Force'' ** ''The Black Box'' ** ''Terror in the Jungle'' ** ''The Crawling Horror'' * Crime City (Season 2, next 4 episodes): ** ''Crime City'' ** ''Attack of the Slitha Monsters'' Parts 1 and 2 ** ''Sword of Power''

VHS/DVD notes

* No VHS releases featuring several more episodes and importantly including season 1, number 6 in-between numbers 5 and 7 were released at all. * For the DVD releases, after the entire first season and season 2's first 7 episodes, the final 6 episodes of season 2 were never released on DVD - this means that it is unknown if the entire show will ever be DVD-released as all of the produced seasons and episodes released on DVD with no abrupt stoppages in episode releases, no lacks of in-between episodes (no in-between episodes included in an orderly fashion after and before other episodes as with volume 3 of the VHS release) and no endings in releases before the final episodes of either the show itself (no releases of season 2's final episodes) or both of its seasons (no releases of each season's final episodes).

Notes

For the second season the show's opening featured a song by Japanese all-girl rock group Super Junky Monkey: "Skysurfers!!", and a more jazz-themed selection entitled "I Call Myself Sliced Ice" plays during the end credits (Note: the title of this jazz-themed song mentions one of the Skysurfers' identities: Kimberly Sakai's identity, Sliced Ice) in place of the series' trademark theme background music.

References

External links

Official Website (via Internet Archive)
* {{Ashi Productions 1990s American animated television series 1995 American television series debuts 1996 American television series endings 1990s American science fiction television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated superhero television series Anime-influenced Western animated television series Brain–computer interfacing in fiction Ashi Productions Television series by Ruby-Spears