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Wing Commander: Academy debuted on September 21st, 1996 on the USA Network’s Saturday morning lineup. This cartoon chronicled the early exploits of some of Wing Commander’s more well-known characters, including Christopher Blair, Todd "Maniac" Marshall, Geoffrey Tolwyn and Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka of the Empire of Kilrah. The show also introduced some new characters, such as Gwen "Archer" Bowman, a cadet and friend to Blair and Maniac, as well as some other regular pilots in their training squad, "Hyena" and "Payback." The plot took place at the outset of the first Wing Commander, set in the year 2654, with a few unexpected revelations. The captain of the TCS Tiger’s Claw is Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn, who made his first appearance in the Wing Commander universe in Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi as Admiral Tolwyn, commander of the 3rd Fleet and the TCS Concordia. Colonel Halcyon, the wing commander of the Tiger’s Claw seen in the original Wing Commander game in 1990, is nowhere to be found.

Fans of the ever-popular Wing Commander series of games celebrated the long awaited debut of Wing Commander: Academy, an animated adventure that was introduced with an episode titled "Red and Blue." Long time fans of the Wing Commander series were struck by the style and feel of the cartoon which evoked the first two games of the series. Warm and treasured memories were refreshed and given new substance as we see many of the elements that first brought us into the Wing Commander fold being faithfully reinterpreted in a brand new format. The asteroid fields, the pilots, the capital ships, the fighters, and the cat-like Kilrathi portrayed in the cartoon are enough to warm the heart of the most jaded fan. The older-generation Scimitar is featured prominently, and gives fresh appreciation of this sturdy fighting ship. The ever-present Dralthi is the Mark I model, and its presence brings a smile to those who remember their first tour with the Terran Confederation in the Enyo System so many years ago. The appearance of an early model Arrow and the simulated Hellcats from Wing Commander III and IV serve to remind us that this in indeed the authentic Wing Commander universe.

We met the familiar characters of Christopher "Maverick" Blair, Todd "Maniac" Marshall, and the formidable and imposing Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn. The voices, superbly acted by Mark Hamill, Tom Wilson and Malcolm McDowell were clearly several notches above the usual Saturday morning fare. From the beginning it was clear that the animated series, like the games themselves, would emphasize plot and character development and not mindless shoot-em-up action. The action is there, naturally, but it was fit into a much broader context, and was not the end in itself.

Blair is a young cadet, eager for glory, and has not yet developed the confident, mature and somewhat brooding manner of his later years, and it is clear that his greatness is slowly mounting. Maniac is well in-character as irrepressible, obnoxious, erratic. But the character of Tolwyn is perhaps the most complex. Even in these earliest days of the Kilrathi conflict we see hints of the paranoia that will eventually be his undoing.

The Kilrathi are all that we expect them to be: deadly, aloof, and possessing an almost comic sense of honor. When we briefly meet Prince Thrakhath himself, the sense of foreboding and unpredictable danger are palpable.

Wing Commander: Academy’s television run has since ended at its thirteenth episode, but its mark in Wing Commander’s history remains.