Poking around the Internet Archive yesterday, I discovered the series bible to BraveStarr, the 1987 Space Western from Filmation. The most interesting part to was the illustration. They aren't credited, but some of them have a bit of Moebius vibe.
Others strike a gritty tone that the series and remind me of illustration in pulp magazines.
Even ignoring the text, I feel like there's rpg inspiration to be found in these pages.
5 comments:
Interesting. I was a little too old for Filmation's last gasp there when it came out, but when I dug into it years later it was obvious some of the creative team was pushing for a more adult and less cloyingly preachy show than was apparent at the surface level. This seems to support that aspect of things.
I remain faintly surprised that Rifts (with its endless Kitchen Sink cribbing) didn't include some kind of D-Bee species modeled on Thirty/Thirty in their Western books. Cyborg horses with giant guns seem right up Palladium's alley.
Also have to wonder, if the timing had been different and Bravestarr had existed during or before Star Frontiers' development cycle, how much influence might that have had? There were times when the game felt like it was flirting with Wild West tropes (Star Law deputies and marshals, the whole choice of Frontier as the setting name, some of the artwork) as-is, might it have gone farther with a little inspiration from the cartoon and given us something with a bit more of a scifan Boot Hill vibe?
Good points. Space Western has always has some currency in U.S. sci-fi, but I think it's easy to get it close to edge of silly. Or it was. Post-Firefly maybe people care about that less but about the ugly side of the Old West that is less culturally accepted today more.
2025 cultural sensitivity certainly wasn't a thing in the late 1980s, that's for sure.
Do have to wonder how much the brief but excellent run of Galaxy Rangers in 1986 affected the decisions around BaveStarr, which was presumably in the works during that year. There was also more than a whiff of the Western in Silver Hawks (another 1986 premiere, and with 65 episodes no less). The character Bluegrass is obvious, but the setting itself had a real frontier feel to it even if it wasn't as obvious about it as New Texas.
Definitely something in the zeitgeist for a stretch there.
I think I've dug the "space cowboy" vibe ever since the 1980 film "Battle Beyond the Stars." However, I've never had the chance to watch BraveStarr (whose protagonist bears more than a passing resemblance to Blackstar, a pulp fantasy cartoon I DID watch, back in the day).
BraveStarr has the best intro of the era. Music is on point, visuals are good, the narration is succinct, all info is here, and the action quickly shows who is who and what they do.
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