Ching-A-Ling was founded in New York City, New York in 1966. The Ching-A-Lings started life as a Puerto Rican street gang in the Bronx area before patching over the New Rochelle Motorcycle Club, at which point the former street gang transformed themselves into a motorcycle club. Bridge Rats MCC was founded in 1993; steadfast in its origins to the bohemian market town of Hebden Bridge; also known as the ‘Hebden Bridge Rats’ or simply ‘Bridge Rats’. The Club patch represents the old Packhorse Bridge located in the centre of Hebden Bridge that dates back to 1510.

The tunnel rats were American and Australian soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War.

Later, similar teams were used by the Soviet Army during the Soviet–Afghan War and by the Israel Defense Forces in campaigns in the Middle East.

Vietnam War[edit]

During the Vietnam War, 'tunnel rat' became an unofficial specialty for volunteer combat engineers^[1] and infantrymen from Australia and the United States who cleared and destroyed enemy tunnel complexes. Their motto was the tongue-in-cheek Latin phrase Non Gratus Anus Rodentum ('not worth a rat's arse').^[2]

In the early stages of the war against the French colonial forces, the Viet Minh created an extensive underground system of tunnels, which was later expanded and improved by the Viet Cong. By the 1960s, the tunnel complexes included hospitals, training areas, storage facilities, headquarters, and barracks. These diverse facilities, coupled with sophisticated ventilation systems, allowed VC guerrillas to remain hidden underground for months at a time.

During the Vietnam War, U.S. and ANZAC troops uncovered a great number of enemy tunnels while patrolling or conducting larger operations. The men of the 3 Field Force, an Australian combat engineering unit that served in Vietnam from 1965-1966, have made a convincing argument that they were the first allied troops to enter the tunnels. ^[3] Tunnel rats were given the task of destroying them, gathering intelligence within them, and killing or capturing their occupants—often in conditions of close combat. Typically, a tunnel rat was equipped with only a standard issue M1911 pistol or M1917 revolver,^[4] a bayonet, a flashlight, and explosives.

Many tunnel rats reportedly came to dislike the intense muzzle blast of the relatively large .45 caliber round, as the .45's loud report could often leave one temporarily deaf when fired in a confined space.^[5] Consequently, some preferred to clear tunnels armed with a .38 Special revolver equipped with a sound suppressor^[6] and other non-standard weapons.^[7] 'A few of the OSS-ordered World War II era suppressed High Standard HD .22 automatics made their way into Tunnel Rat hands. But these weapons were very few in number and wanted by a number of other special units. Personal weapons were used by the rats, ranging from .25 caliber automatics to sawn-off shotguns.'^[8]

Besides enemy combatants, the tunnels themselves presented many potential dangers to tunnel rats. Sometimes they were poorly constructed and they would simply collapse. Tunnels were often booby trapped with hand grenades, anti-personnel mines, and punji sticks. The VC would even use venomous snakes (placed as living booby traps). Rats, spiders, scorpions, and ants also posed threats to tunnel rats. Bats also roosted in the tunnels, although they were generally more of a nuisance than a threat. Tunnel construction occasionally included anti-intruder features such as U-bends that could be flooded quickly to trap and drown the tunnel rat. Sometimes poison gases were used. A tunnel rat might therefore choose to enter the tunnels wearing a gas mask (donning one within was frequently impossible in such a confined space). According to U.S. tunnel rat veterans, however, most tunnel rats usually went without gas masks because wearing one made it even harder to see, hear, and breathe in the narrow dark passages.

Tunnel rats were generally men of smaller stature (165 cm (5 ft 5 in) and under), who were able to maneuver more comfortably in the narrow tunnels.^[9] Tom Mangold and John Penycate, authors of one of the definitive accounts of tunnel warfare in the Vietnam War, reported that U.S. tunnel rats were almost exclusively white or Hispanic soldiers, many of whom were Puerto Rican or Mexican American.^[10]

By Mangold and Penycate's account, the contributions of tunnel rats first garnered public attention in January 1966, after a combined U.S. and Australian operation against the Củ Chi tunnels in Bình Dương Province, known as Operation Crimp. The 'Diehards' of the U.S. Army's 1st Engineer Battalion, whose exploits are featured in Mangold and Penycate's book, later claimed a special place for tunnel rats in American military history during their rotation through the Cu Chi District of Vietnam in 1969.^[10]

In the years since the Vietnam War ended tunnel rats have suffered from a high percentage of Agent Orange injuries and diseases due to soldier's exposure to the chemicals on the ground, or that leeched from topsoil into the tunnel environment. While in the tunnels, soldiers were breathing air heavily saturated with Agent Orange.^{[citation needed]}

Afghanistan[edit]

Afghanistan features an extensive series of historic tunnels used for transporting water and the 'kariz.' During the 1979–1989 Sovietwar in Afghanistan, such tunnels were used by Mujahideen fighters. The Soviet 40th Army therefore fielded their own tunnel clearance and demolition units, which were given the task of clearing the tunnels of enemy combatants, disarming booby traps, and destroying the underground complexes.^[11] According to contemporary accounts, the U.S. Marine Corps and British Royal Marines were involved in similar work in the war in Afghanistan.^[12][13]

Israel[edit]

SAMOOR ('Weasel'), a formation within Israel's Yahalom elite combat engineer unit, is charged with many of the same missions that tunnel rats performed during the Vietnam War.^[14]

References[edit]

1. ^'Historical Vignette 062 - How Army Engineers Cleared Viet Cong Tunnels,' U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://www.usace.army.mil/About/History/Historical-Vignettes/Military-Construction-Combat/062-Viet-Cong-Tunnels/
2. ^Tom Mangold and John Penycate, The Tunnels of Cu Chi: A Harrowing Account of America's Tunnel Rats in the Underground Battlefields of Vietnam (New York: Random House, 1986).
3. ^Thomson, Jimmy with Sandy MacGregor (2011). Tunnel Rats. Melbourne, Australia: Allen & Unwin. ISBN9781742374895.
4. ^http://www.historic-firearms.com/m1917-revolver.html M1917 revolver
5. ^http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=2423 TUNNEL WEAPON: THE BANG IN THE DARK By Kevin Dockery.
6. ^http://www.sadefensejournal.com/wp/?p=2724 WEAPONS LAB: SMALL ARMS DEVELOPMENT AT USALWL25 August, 2014
7. ^Jones, Jonathon. Beneath the Bamboo: A Vietnam War Story.
8. ^http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=2423 TUNNEL WEAPON: THE BANG IN THE DARKBy Kevin Dockery.
9. ^'The Tunnel Rats of Viet Nam'. Viet Nam. Digger History: an unofficial history of the Australian & New Zealand Armed Forces.
10. ^ ^abMangold, Tom; John Penycate (2005). The Tunnels of Cu Chi. Presidio Press. ISBN0-89141-869-5.
11. ^Grau, Lester W.; Ali Ahmad Jalali (November 1998). 'Underground Combat: Stereophonic Blasting, Tunnel Rats and the Soviet-Afghan War'. Engineer.^{[permanent dead link]}
12. ^'Taliban using ancient well and tunnel system'Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine
13. ^'Taliban Secret Weapon: Ancient Irrigation Trenches'
14. ^'Israel's 'tunnel rats' brace for new guerrilla war', Mar 8, 2012 Reuters

Sources[edit]

• Mangold, Tom; John Penycate (2005). The Tunnels of Cu Chi. Presidio Press. ISBN0-89141-869-5.
• Rottman, Gordon (2006). Viet Cong and NVA Tunnels and Field Fortifications of the Vietnam War. Osprey Publishing. ISBN1-84603-003-X.
• Rottman, Gordon (2012). Tunnel Rat in Vietnam. Osprey Publishing. ISBN978-1-84908-783-4.
• Kirchner, Paul (2009). More of the Deadliest Men Who Ever Lived. Paladin Press. ISBN978-1-58160-690-4.
  • Marett, Jim (February 9, 2018). 'My Life as a Tunnel Rat'. New York Times.

External links[edit]

• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-17A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-18A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-25A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive

Biker Mice from Mars is a science fictionactionanimated series created by Rick Ungar that began airing in 1993, in the United States and lasted for three seasons.^[3] It follows three anthropomorphicmice motorcyclists named Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie who escape a war on their home planetMars before arriving to defend the Earth from the evil that destroyed their homeland (the Plutarkians) and to one day return to Mars. The mice's signature weapons consist of a cestus and a laser (Throttle), a bionic arm (Modo), and flares (Vinnie). Despite the frequent battles, no blood is shown, no firearms are used and many villains are monsters, aliens, and robots.^[4][5][1]

Plot[edit]

On the planet Mars, there existed a race of anthropomorphic mice who enjoyed motorsports and had a very similar culture and society to that of human beings. At some point in time they were all but wiped out by the Plutarkians, an alien race of obese, foul-smelling, worms-eating, fish-like humanoids who plunder other planets' natural resources because they have wasted all of their own. Three survivors: Throttle, Modo and Vinnie, manage to find a spaceship and escape the Plutarkian takeover but they are soon shot down by a Plutarkian warship and end up crash-landing on Earth in the city of Chicago, specifically in the scoreboard of Quigley Field. There they meet a charming female mechanic named Charlene 'Charley' Davidson and discover that the Plutarkians have come to Earth to steal its natural resources.

The Biker Mice investigate the crumbling ghetto of the windy city and soon discover that Chicago's leading industrialist, Lawrence Limburger, is actually a Plutarkian who disguises himself as a human, plotting to ransack Earth's resources to send to his own dying planet. Limburger enlists two henchmen, mad scientist Dr. Karbunkle and the idiotic Greasepit to help him steal Earth's natural resources and send them to Plutark with the help of some supervillains that they transport from another location in the galaxy. The Biker Mice dedicate themselves as heroic vigilantes destined to stop Limburger's evil schemes. The most frequent sign of victory is destroying Limburger's tall tower, forcing him to constantly spend money and time to rebuild it by the next episode.

Characters[edit]

Protagonists[edit]

• Throttle (voiced by Rob Paulsen)^[6] - The tan-furred leader-figure of the trio with a quiff and ponytail. He is the most logical, level-headed, rational and calculating of the three. Throttle lost his eyes in an incident on Mars that also caused the losses of Modo's right arm and the right side of Vinnie's face, and was given malfunctioning bionic eyes in captivity: as a result, he wears green sunglasses with field spec capabilities, and on his right hand he wears a powered glove which increases the strength of his blows with that fist. He also carries a holstered laser pistol and sports a leather biker vest, making him the only one of the trio to carry a weapon or wear clothes instead of armor. His first symbolic quote in the series was, 'In this wild and woolly universe, there are three things you can count on: your brains, your bros and your bike!'.
• Modo (voiced by Dorian Harewood) - The gray-furred gentle giant of the trio who sports an eye patch, suggesting that his eye may have been damaged during Karbunkle's experiments. He lost his right arm in the same incident that burned off the right side of Vinnie's face and destroyed Throttle's eyes. His robotic arm replacement has a built-in laser cannon and great strength, and he wears powered shoulder pads in addition to it. When angry, his right eye flashes red. He is prone to fits of rage when he or his companions are referred to as 'rats'; his first signature quote actually was 'RAT?!! My mama didn't raise no stinkin' rat! UNDERSTAND?!!'. Modo is by far the strongest of the three mice, but despite outwardly looking the most threatening and aggressive, he is the most empathetic and sensitive of the group, frequently referencing what his gray-furred mama used to say. Modo does not want any harm to befall Charley, and as such, she 'mothers' him in return. His bike is the only one out of the three with a definite name ('Lil' Hoss'), and the one with the most demonstrated AI capability.
• Vinnie (voiced by Ian Ziering) - The white-furred thrill-seeker and self-proclaimed lady-killer among the trio, a classic example of an egomaniac (with an inferiority complex, especially during his early days as a Freedom Fighter). The right side of his face was burned off in the same incident where Throttle lost his eyes and Modo lost his right arm, thus he wears a flexible face-plate. Vinnie rides a red sport bike as opposed to the other's choppers and is the most active of the three, often volunteering for the most dangerous tasks, enjoying the rush and subsequent glory and bragging rights. He wears a green cross-belt on his chest and wields expandable flares. His bike seems to have the greatest arsenal of weaponry between the three, and he is the best overall biker of the trio. He has a recurring catchphrase, 'What a rush!', and has a signature laugh of triumph. Vinnie is definitely the wildest, most fun-loving and egotistical of the group; all three are adrenaline junkies, but even Throttle and Modo cannot understand how he is still alive, considering the risks he takes. Despite his 'hyper-masculinity', Vinnie is actually a very loving and caring individual. He flirts endlessly with Charley, who constantly rebuffs him, but anytime she does reciprocate, Vinnie can only blush in extreme shyness. Several times in the show he shows his disgust for cheese to the point where he does not even want to hear the word.

Supporting characters[edit]

• Charlene 'Charley' Davidson (voiced by Leeza Miller-McGee) - The Mice are always backed up by Charley, an auburn haired, green-eyed human mechanic, who owns the Last Chance Garage in Chicago. She is a headstrong woman and is always ready to go into battle, though the Biker Mice try to keep her out of dangerous situations, never because they think she is incapable or weak, but because they could not bear anything bad happening to her. Aside from being the target of Vinnie's affection (which she playfully blows off), she is also responsible for repairs and upgrades to the Mice's bikes, is a high-tech genius in her own right, and is as skilled a biker as the Mice. Her name is an obvious pun on Harley Davidson.
• Rimfire (voiced by Brian Austin Green) - Modo's nephew who is overprotected by his peers on Mars because of his age, despite the fact that he, too, is clearly capable of what it takes to be a worthy Freedom Fighter. He first appeared in the episode 'Back to Mars, Part 2' when the three Mice were escaping prison. He appears again in the episode Stalkers, where he also crashed into the scoreboard at Quigley Field while escaping from intergalactic rogue bounty hunters (who view the Biker Mice as the big championship stock) that eventually request Limburger's permission, and he played a crucial role in their defeat. He also appears in the 3-part episode Once Upon a Time on Mars, where the viewers see for the first time how his age led to distrust from some of his peers.
• Carbine (voiced by Leah Remini) - General Carbine is the de facto leader of the Freedom Fighters, a former Army officer who defected during the Plutarkian-Mars war. She and Throttle are lovers, but their relationship suffers complications owing to her position among the Freedom Fighters.
• Stoker (voiced by Peter Strauss) - Stoker is the founding father of the Freedom Fighter movement on Mars, and as seen in Once Upon a Time on Mars, revealed that Mars was sold, beginning to have doubts over the fight; eventually he continues fighting as part of the rebellion. He plays a more crucial role in the 2006 revival, where he fights to protect his invention from the invading Catatonian Empire.
• Harley (voiced by Kath Soucie) - A mechanic/nurse among the Freedom Fighters. She was involved in a love triangle between Vinnie and Stoker, until Vinnie's injuries moved her enough to make him the face-plate and cross-belts he wears. Hardly had they come to an understanding, she was abducted by Mace towards the end of the Freedom Fighters' insurrection. She returns as an antagonist in the 2006 series.

Antagonists[edit]

• Lawrence Lactavius Limburger (voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard) - The main antagonist of the series and archenemy of the Biker Mice. Lawrence Limburger is a bloated alien from Plutark and has an odd fascination for Earth's criminal society of the 1930s. He is the head of Limburger Industries, the biggest industrial company in Chicago. Wearing a purple business suit and a rubber mask in order to look human at most times, he attempts to mine it and other parts of Earth of various resources including random earth, dirt, rock, snow, metal and oil, which he plans to send back to his own dying planet. He is highly resourceful and cunning, but always failing due to the Biker Mice's interventions. His headquarters is a very tall tower called Limburger Plaza. Unfortunately for him, his plans are foiled and his tower is either destroyed, torn down, launched into space or even disappears completely by the Biker Mice at the climax of almost every single episode, a few episodes lampshades this by showing his tower apparently fine at the end only to collapse anyway when hit by something else usually caused by the events. Limburger reappears in the 2006 sequel series, initially as a bootlicker for the Pit Boss but later as a co-conspirator alongside the Catatonians.
  • Dr. Benjamin Boris Zachary Karbunkle (voiced by Susan Silo) - A thin, sly mad scientist of an indeterminate human-shaped species. Karbunkle used to work for Limburger's superior Dominic T. Stilton until Limburger bribed him to cross over. Karbunkle's main task is to think of machines and robots to either battle the Biker Mice, gather resources from Earth, or look up the villain of the week with his dimensional transporter. What is common knowledge is that during the War of Liberation on Mars he gave Modo his bionic arm (though in the pilot he pretended to be unfamiliar with it, calling it an interesting invention) Stoker his bionic tail and Throttle his malfunctioning bionic eyes. Karbunkle was also the one who built the Mind Bender Beam, successfully used on Stoker to brainwash the Freedom Fighter leader into obeying the Plutarkians. Karbunkle is a sycophant, often seen admiring Limburger and praising him; however, Karbunkle's top priority is Karbunkle. He is often seen torturing Fred the Mutant, cares little about his co-worker Greasepit and has traded Plutarkian employers many times. Karbunkle is very sadistic and is known to enjoy torturing people, wears a white lab coat, high heeled boots, has a green pair of goggles which he never takes off and once in a while, his red underwear is revealed. Also reappears in the 2006 series as well, and suffers the same fate as Limburger.
  • Greasepit (voiced by Brad Garrett) - The stereotypical cartoonish bungling bad guy sidekick usually in charge of whatever project Lawrence Limburger is running at the time. He fails in his endeavors most of the time, which Limburger soon learns to factor into his planning. Greasepit rides a motorized tricycle into battle against the Biker Mice at the head of his goons and wears a pair of gardening trousers like a mechanic's. As his name suggests, Greasepit constantly oozes oil and he is consistently clumsy, often falling over or dropping critical pieces of Limburger's schemes. Greasepit is the first villain Limburger ever hired though, his advert was 'spiced up' to make him seem more capable than the bungling goof he is by his agent (who is possible also his mother). Briefly reappeared in the 2006 series as a henchman for new series villain Ronaldo Rump during the end of the story arc.
  • Fred the Mutant (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - Fred has a happy lot in life. He thrills at the thought of receiving pain and that is his one purpose as well, being the subject of many of Karbunkle's testings as well as physical abuse by Limburger. He is a midget with clothing similar to portrayals of Quasimodo, is bald and has three pink eyes with black irises, a bushy tail, duck-like feet, and a tentacle instead of a right arm.
• Plutarkians - The Plutarkians are a race of fish-like aliens that either plan to obtain Earth's resources or conquer Earth. Each of them is named after a cheese. Besides Limburger, the Plutarkians consist of:
  • Lord Camembert (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - Limburger's higher-up, whom Limburger finds disgusting especially when he makes him do the embarrassing Plutarkian greeting. In some other cases, he will appear with the entire Plutarkian council with Limburger in a panic over what task is current. He often appears on the vidcom or in person to Limburger and berates him for his failure, often at a loud yelling voice. As High Chairman of Plutark, Camembert holds highest power of the planet for four-year term at once.
  • Napoleon Brie (voiced by Luke Perry) - Limburger's chief Plutarkian rival from Detroit, except that Brie usually seems to be rather successful. He and his 'Number one' (voiced by Jeff Bennett), a gun for hire with a big red beard and sunglasses, dominate Detroit. Despite this, Brie's attempts at taking out the Biker Mice turn out just as futile as Limburger's. Brie's efforts are not helped by his undermining Limburger at the same time. Small of stature and the owner of a large variety of facial masks although he only ever wears the one with a crazy eye and speaks with an accent very similar to Elmer Fudd.
  • Provalone - A Plutarkian lawyer.
• Pit Boss (voiced by Stu Rosen) - The Pit Boss is the burly ruler of the Pits outside of town. The Pit Boss has an electric whip that he uses to keep his slaves in line.
  • Pit Crew - The henchmen of Pit Boss who will come up and rob various places, often taken hostages as well.
• Mace (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - Mace is a Nomad rat who appears to be disguised as a mouse and into intervening with the mice and the Plutarkian war in secret and sometimes coming into conflict with Vinnie, but he escaped by grabbing Harley.

Supervillains[edit]

In most episodes, Limburger orders Karbunkle to use the transporter to bring into Chicago one of the very powerful supervillains in the universe. Generally each of them have one special ability which is useful for Limburger's plan in hand. Most of them seem to use an asteroid station called Black Rock as their main hideout when they are not summoned by those willing to pay for their services. On one notable occasion in the episode 'A Scent, a Memory, a Far Distant Cheese', Limburger and Karbunkle accidentally got sucked into the transporter and appear at the Black Rock where all the villains up to that episode confront him for not paying them as they asked for. The episode 'Diet of Worms' shows that the other Plutarkians can use the same supervillains.

The following supervillains are listed in order of appearance:

• X-Terminator - A robotic bounty hunter that rides a customized combat motorcycle. He was the first supervillain that Limburger summoned to destroy the Biker Mice.
• Lectromag (voiced by Mark Hamill) - An electromagnetic supervillain who the Biker Mice often have a hard time defeating.
• Tunnel Rat (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - A rat who is an expert at driving any digging vehicle.
• The Loogie Brothers (voiced by Neil Ross and Jess Harnell) - Hacka and Honka Loogie are known as the 'Scum of the Universe.' They were summoned by Limburger to stink up Chicago and later summoned to take advantage of Chicago's garbage crisis.
• Evil Eye Weevil (voiced by Jess Harnell impersonating Elvis Presley) - A Martian villain and former stunt performer who can induce hostility in anyone. Limburger summoned him to break the Biker Mice apart.
  • Pukes of Hazard (voiced by Jeff Bennett and Rob Paulsen) - The aides of Evil Eye Weevil.
• Corroder Cody (voiced by Charlie Adler) - An eyepatch-wearing human-shaped villain who was hired by Limburger to purloin the oil refineries.
• Munsterella and Gorgonzola (voiced by Elinor Donahue and Eddie Barth) - A towering reptilian humanoid duo.
• Weathermeister (voiced by Russi Taylor) - A female villain and old friend of Karbunkle. She can control the weather by placing her weather stickers on a map.
• Pulverizer (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - A cyborg. He assisted Limburger into stealing a military weapon called the Annihilator.
• Stone Cutter (voiced by CCH Pounder) - A female jackhammer-wielding supervillain. Limburger enlisted her to help steal Mount Rushmore.
• Jet Blaster (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - A robotic villain with no legs who can fly unusual devices. He was hired by Limburger to cut Chicago from Earth so that he can send it to Plutark.
• Slobber the Mutt (voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard) - The leader of the hyena-like Sand Raiders on Mars.
• Catscan (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - A cat-like villain with psychic powers that was used by Limburger in a plot to get the Last Chance garage condemned.
• Billie Monnie (voiced by Susan Silo) - A bird-like bounty hunter. She was originally after Limburger until he paid her to target the Biker Mice.
• Mechanic - A cyborg who can control any mechanical devices and just makes sounds. He once infected the motorcycles of the Biker Mice.
• Icebreaker (voiced by David Warner) - A supervillain who has powers over cold and heat. He assisted Limburger in a plot to retrieve a satellite module that ended up in the North Pole due to interference from the Biker Mice. Modo defeated Icebreaker by deflecting his ice beam back at him with his bionic arm.

Episodes[edit]

2006 revival[edit]

The Biker Mice from Mars returned to TV screens in 2006. The 2006 Biker Mice From Mars series is a continuation of the story, and gives more airtime to another character, General Stoker.^[7]

The new 28 episode series began airing in the UK on Toonattik on GMTV (now known at weekends as CITV) on August 26, 2006.^[8] However, due to production problems at the studio in the Philippines the series was not finalized until late 2007, resulting in the launch in the USA and many other countries being delayed until 2008 as it still needed to be dubbed.

Metal wolf chaos xd physical. Given that it is a game by FromSoftware, it borrows mechanical sensibilities from their Armored Core franchise and retools them for an arcade style experience; needless to say Metal Wolf Chaos XD plays amazingly well with the Xbox One controller (arguably the best way to pilot a mech).Ultimately that’s what Metal Wolf Chaos XD is – a noisy and energetic arcade game that was commonplace during the ‘90s with an emphasis on blowing stuff up in creative ways. Metal Wolf Chaos XD is fast, frantic, and always so very epic in its set pieces. As a one-man vigilante, there can’t be a more badass feeling than conducting presidential duties from a mech instead of from the old desk at the Oval. The titular Metal Wolf mech is easy to control, with a great sense of mobility and plenty of big weapons to play with. And of course chasing that high score.

The series was largely influenced by the major toy line that was manufactured by Italian giant, Giochi Preziosi in 2005. GP retained Pangea as developers of the toy line, working in tandem with creator and executive producer, Rick Ungar. Characters, vehicles, and weapons used in the series were first developed by Pangea and turned over to G7 Animation for integration into the series. The team of Ungar, G7, and Pangea collaborated in order to maintain consistency between the intellectual property and the execution of the primary toy range, as the GP licensing monies were utilized to set in motion the series development.^[9]

The new series launched in autumn of 2008 in Italy on Italia 1, and on August 9 of the same year on 4Kids TV on Fox.

The series also launched successfully in Finland on MTV3 and in Australia on Channel Ten in October 2006.

Broadcast history[edit]

The series has been aired from 1993 to 1996 in the United States on many first-run syndicated affiliates.

The series has been aired on the YTV (English) and Le Canal Famille (French) channels in Canada.

In the United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997, the series was aired on Channel 4 and from 1998-99 on its youth strand T4. CITV on ITV2 re-ran the series at 07.55 Monday to Friday for a 10-week strip from early September 2006. It was repeated on ITV2 at 08.25 Monday to Friday for 10 weeks from March 27, 2007.

The cartoon was broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ Two on weekday afternoons from 11 September 1995 to 1996.^[10]

Reruns currently air on the El Rey Network in the United States.^[11]

Broadcast US history[edit]

• Syndication (September 18, 1993 – February 24, 1996)

Video games[edit]

An LCD game of same name was released for Tiger Electronic Game on 1993.

A Biker Mice from Mars video game was released by Konami for the Super NES in 1994. The PAL version features extensive advertisements for Snickers candy bars.

In 2006, another Biker Mice from Mars video game was released based on the 2006 revival in Finland, Australia and the United Kingdom for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 platforms. The game did not receive any major positive ratings although it was a major sales success throughout Scandinavia.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, a Biker Mice from Mars mobile game was released by 9thImpact for iOS and Android devices through the App Store and Google Play Store. The game is divided into episodes, each with a different storyline which unfolds as the player completes the levels.^[12] Commenting on the new game, series creator Rick Ungar said that Biker Mice fans would enjoy the snappy banter, classic catchphrases and irreverent satire that they would expect from the series, in addition to the non-stop action.^[13]

Comic books[edit]

Marvel Comics published a three issue series in the early 1990s. A fourth issue was solicited on the reader's page.Marvel UK published its own series. The whole American series and portions of the British series were published in Germany (also by Marvel UK) in 7 magazine-sized issues from 1994 to 1995.

See also[edit]

• Avenger Penguins (UK Counterpart)

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abFowler, James E. (1994-08-19). 'The locally conceived 'Biker Mice From Mars' series is seen in more than 50 countries. The stars make a live appearance Saturday'. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
2. ^'A Bedrock of U.S. Cartoon Production'. Los Angeles Times. MANILA. AP. August 28, 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
3. ^Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 80–81. ISBN978-1538103739.
4. ^'Roll Over, Michelangelo, It's The Mice'. Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
5. ^Schmeltzer, John (1993-09-19). '3 Mice From Mars A Cause For Hype, Hope'. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
6. ^Forman, Ross (1994-11-08). 'Cartoon-voice Actor Is All Talk'. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
7. ^'Bikermice.tv'. Bikermice.tv. Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
8. ^'Children's TV'. CITV.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
9. ^'Biker Mice return to GMTV News'. C21Media.net. 2005-05-22. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
10. ^RTÉ Guide. 9-15 September 1995 edition and subsequent dates.
11. ^https://www.elreynetwork.com/shows/classics/biker-mice-from-mars
12. ^'Biker Mice from Mars'. 9th Impact. 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
13. ^'Biker Mice from Mars Land on iPhone, iPad and Android'. Prnewswire.com. 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2016-07-22.

External links[edit]

• Biker Mice from Mars at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on August 27, 2015.
• Biker Mice from Mars on IMDb
• Biker Mice from Mars (2006 series) at TV.com
• Biker Mice From Mars (2015 video game) on Google Play Store
• Biker Mice From Mars (2015 video game) on App Store