Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light is a science fantasy media franchise that consisted of a short-lived toyline of action figures and vehicles produced by Hasbro, and an animated television series by Sunbow Productions that ran for one season of thirteen episodes in 1987. Star Comics published a bimonthly comic book series that lasted six issues from November 1987 to September 1988. The animated series was the first Hasbro property to be produced by Sunbow without the aid of Marvel Productions, and utilized Japanese studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha for overseas animation work.

IDW Publishing published a five-issue crossover comic miniseries featuring the series characters and the Transformers from January to May 2018.

Some of the knights are given staves enchanted with various magic powers that are activated by its holder reciting a special verse. They could be used only once before they needed to be replenished in the animated series, but had unlimited use in the comic series. Characters who could not use these weapons instead had the power to infuse vehicles with magical powers, the spells for which were printed on official toy packaging but never used in either the comics or the animated series. In the Star Comics series, the female characters were given shields which operated in the same manner as the male characters' power staves.

Characters

Spectral Knights

Headed by Leoric, the Spectral Knights are magic users who use magic for the purposes of good; they are the protagonists of the series.

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! Character !! Description !! Totem !! Voice Performer

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| rowspan="2"| Leoric || Leader of the Spectral Knights and prince of the fictional city of New Valarak. In the first issue of the 1987 Star Comics series, he was named as the city's mayor during the Age of Science. He possesses the totem of the Lion and his power staff bestows the Power of Wisdom. He is the only Spectral Knight to have facial hair (a mustache), and his main adversary is Darkstorm. || Lion || Neil Ross

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|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Magical power:||Wisdom – "Whispered secrets of a shattered age, I summon you: renew this sage!"

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| rowspan="2"|Ectar || Leoric's lieutenant on matters relating to the city of New Valarak. Before the death of technology, he was a police detective in the city of Valarak who often matched wits against a master thief named Reekon, who later becomes a Darkling Lord and his main adversary.

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| rowspan="2"|Feryl || The youngest of the Spectral Knights. Like Ectar and Leoric, he lives in New Valarak. He possesses the totem of the Wolf and has no staff but operates the Capture Chariot, the Knights' main transport and attack vehicle that possesses the Power of Fire. His main adversary is Mortdredd. || Wolf || Beau Weaver

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|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Magical power:||Fire – "Draw upon the breath of stars, and scorch the skies with fiery scars!" He possesses the totem of the Bear and his staff bestows the Power of Strength that manifests as a magical archer firing an arrow. He is shown to have a romantic relationship with fellow Spectral Knight Galadria, while his main adversary among the Darkling Lords is Cindarr, with whom he is hinted at having a past history in the animated series. Arzon possesses the totem of the Eagle and his staff imparts the Power of Knowledge. He is one of the youngest Spectral Knights and can be quite impetuous, optimistic, and eager to help despite the danger. || Eagle || Hal Rayle

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|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Magical power:||Knowledge – "A whim, a thought, and more is sought. Awake my mind; thy will be wrought!"

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| rowspan="2"|Galadria || The only female Spectral Knight, Galadria hails from the city of Androsia. She is the love interest of fellow Spectral Knight Cryotek, and her main adversary is Virulina. Her totem is the Dolphin, and she had no staff but was given a magical shield imbued with the power of Healing in the Star Comics series.|| Dolphin || Susan Blu

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|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Magical power:||Healing – "By warmth of heart, your pain I feel. Grant me the power, your wounds to heal!"

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Darkling Lords

Headed by Darkstorm, the Darkling Lords use their powers for selfish aims and are the antagonists of the series.

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! Character !! Description !! Totem !! Voice Performer

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|rowspan="2"|Darkstorm || The leader of the Darkling Lords, and prior to their creation he commanded the allegiance of Reekon and Mortdredd. He secures the services of the other members by having them swear loyalty to him in exchange for freeing them from a trap during Merklynn's magical challenge. He bears the totem of the Mollusk and his power staff wields the Power of Decay, which included a counter spell to reverse its effects. His main adversary is Leoric. || Mollusk || Chris Latta

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|bgcolor="#CCCCCC"|Magical power:||Decay – "By what creeps, what crawls, by what does not; let all that grows recede and rot!" <br />Decay Reversal – "Power of rot, obscuring truth, what once was old restore to youth!"

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| rowspan="2"|Reekon || A career thief during the Age of Science, Reekon serves Darkstorm as a hired mercenary. He finds himself often engaging in a battle of wits against Ectar, with whom he has a professional rivalry and mutual respect. He possesses the totem of the Lizard and has no staff but operates the Dagger Assault, the Darkling Lords' rolling fortress that contains a small attack plane and containment cell used for magically removing animal totems.

  • Falkama (voiced by Jim Cummings) – A member of the same circle of wizardry as Merklynn. He is first seen in possession of an artifact called the Dragon's Eye, which Merklynn needs to replenish his magical pool. He is later used by Darkstorm in the latter's failed plot to depose Merklynn, and is then among a trio of fugitive wizards apprehended by the Spectral Knights and imprisoned by Merklynn. The character's name was created by Flint Dille from the surnames of comics writers Lee Falk and Larry Hama.
  • Bogavas (voiced by Jim Cummings) – An enigmatic wizard who is among the three escapees from the Wizards' Jail along with Falkama and Weazaskweaza. When the Spectral Knights capture and bring him to Merklynn, Bogavas denies knowing any real magic. Merklynn subjects him to a test to prove his honesty, which he seemingly passes and is thus allowed to go free.
  • Weazaskweaza (voiced by Bernard Erhard) – A wizard who is condemned to never tell the truth and was imprisoned in the Wizards' Jail along with Falkama and Bogavas. After the Darkling Lords take advantage of his curse to locate a lost underground shrine, Weazaskweaza betrays them and seeks a source of power inside the shrine that would allow him to supplant Merklynn, but is thwarted by Leoric and reimprisoned. According to Flint Dille, Weazaskweaza's name was an instance of inserting "crude adolescent humor" into the show. The figures had hologram stickers on both their chests and staffs, which resulted in their being expensive to produce. The toyline lasted one year, with figures of the twelve male characters produced along with four vehicles that were packaged with an exclusive figure. A second wave of characters was planned for release in 1988 but were never released due to the cartoon and the toyline's cancellation.

Around the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, a new action figure of Leoric was released at the convention and later at HasbroToyShop.com in limited quantities as part of the SDCC exclusive IDW Revolution set alongside Jetfire, Roadblock, Rom the Space Knight, a Dire Wraith, characters from the Micronauts, Matt Trakker and Action Man.

TV series

In the UK, when the series was released on VHS, on five volumes, in the 80s, under the distributor ‘Video Gems’, ‘The Trail of Three Wizards’ was only broadcast and never commercially released.

Episodes

Home media

The complete thirteen-episode series was released on DVD in the United Kingdom in 2004 by Metrodome Distribution, and included a special feature of a set of PDF files of the complete scripts to each episode.

Adaptations

Comics

Marvel Comics

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Marvel's Star Comics imprint published a bimonthly miniseries beginning in November 1987 that was cancelled midway through a four-part adventure in September 1988 after only six issues. The first issue was an adaptation of the first episode, "The Age of Magic Begins", but subsequent issues took the storyline in a different direction with changes from the animated series such as characters having unlimited use of their power staffs, with Witterquick and Cindarr combining the powers of their staffs to defeat an enemy in one issue. The animal totems were depicted in their natural forms instead of the two factions' representative blue or green.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Issue No.

! Title

! Summary

! Published

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| 01 || || The technologically advanced world of Prysmos is suddenly thrown into a dark age. The wizard Merklynn offers magical powers to knights across the planet who can penetrate Iron Mountain. Fourteen knights complete the quest and are rewarded with animal totems and power staffs. This issue adapted the teleplay of the premiere episode of the animated series. || November 1987

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| 02 || || The Visionaries begin fighting each other with their new powers before dividing into two factions. As the Darkling Lords search for a secret weapon, Reekon and Mortdredd discover they can magically power vehicles. On his own initiative, Mortdredd attacks the Spectral Knights in the Sky Claw, which ends in disaster. || January 1988

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| 03 || || The Spectral Knights learn of a long-buried doomsday weapon that will reverse the scientific principles of the planet. Realizing this could return Prysmos to the Age of Science, both sides vie for control of it, with the resulting battle burying the weapon forever. || March 1988

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| 04 || || The dreams of Witterquick and Cindarr are filled with a vision of an imprisoned woman, Sirena, who begs for their aid. They both quest to rescue her, fighting each other, finding the key and defeating the guardian. Learning that Sirena is an evil witch, the two knights unite their powers to defeat her. || May 1988

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| 05 || || The first of an intended four-part miniseries. Merklynn divides the Visionaries into teams to quest for four magical talismans: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Galadria and Cryotek find the Earth talisman, but it is jealously guarded by a tribe who worship it as a god. Cravex and Reekon goad the people into attacking the Spectral Knights, making off with the talisman in the confusion. In the aftermath, Galadria uses her new healing powers to heal the wounds of the now-penitent tribe. || July 1988

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| 06 || || Part two of the miniseries. Arzon and Feryl discover the Air Talisman is possessed by the High Flyers of Avitrix, people able to fly with artificial wings. Virulina and Cindarr attack, using Virulina's new power of disease to sicken the whole tribe. Arzon's power of wisdom is able to cure the High Flyers, who drive away the Darkling Lords and give the Air Talisman to the Spectral Knights. Arzon speculates about the truth of the talismans. The series was canceled with two parts remaining, leaving the storyline unresolved. || September 1988

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IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing released a five-issue Transformers vs. Visionaries miniseries from January to May 2018, written by Magdalene Visaggio and illustrated by Fico Ossio.

Film

In December 2015, Hasbro and Paramount Pictures were planning to create a cinematic universe combining Visionaries with the G.I. Joe, Micronauts, M.A.S.K. and Rom properties. A group of writers, including Michael Chabon, Brian K. Vaughan, Nicole Perlman, and Cheo Hodari Coker, was hired to develop storylines the following year in April, but the writers' room disbanded in July 2017, and the series has since remained in development.

Notes

References

  • TheVisionaries.net
  • Visionaries Online (archived)
  • Syndication listing at RadioDiscussions