Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns Page 4

  Superman discovers Frank Haldane's real motive for acquiring Navarro land is Montezuma's buried treasure. When Superman recovers his powers by blocking the light from the nearest red sun to Earth, he gives Montezuma's treasure to the Navarro Indians and sends Haldane on his way.

  The Addams Family

  (1973) [Animated TV series]

  Voice cast: Leonard Weinrib as Gomez, Janet Waldo as Morticia, Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester, Ted Cassidy as Lurch, Jodie Foster as Pugsley, Cindy Henderson as Wednesday; Creator: David Levy; Executive Producers: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; Director: Charles A. Nichols; Hanna-Barbera Productions; 16 × 30 min.; Color.

  Based on the Charles Addams cartoons, with Jackie Coogan and Ted Cassidy reprising their roles from the 1960s live-action TV series.

  “GHOST TOWN” (1:10) [WW]

  Air date: November 10, 1973

  When the Addams Family visits the land of the Old Prospector, they enjoy the challenge of scaring the ghosts of Ghost Town.

  “THE ADDAMS FAMILY GOES WEST” (1:15) [WW]

  Air date: December 15, 1973

  The Addams Family goes West and comes up against Wyatt Burp, Silly the Kid and Badmouth Ben.

  Adios, A-Mi-Go!

  [RPG book; WW]

  Authors: John Wick with Hal Mangold; First publication: 1998; Deadlands: The Weird West Dime Novel series #8; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  The Deadlands characters meet the horrors of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu and become involved in a race against time with their lives at stake in this crossover story with the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

  Adventures into the Unknown

  [Comic book]

  Horror anthology title that survived Fredric Wertham's moral crusade against comic books.

  “THE HAUNTED CANE” [WW]

  First publication: #168 (October-November 1968); Story: Ace Aquila [Richard E. Hughes]; Art: Steve Ditko, Sal Trapani; Publisher: American Comics Group (ACG).

  A dead man's cane haunts local townsfolk in the Old West.

  The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

  (1993) [TV series; SFW]

  Premiere: August 7, 1993; Main Cast: Bruce Campbell as Brisco County Jr., Julius Carry as Lord Bowler, Christian Clemenson as Socrates Poole; Creators-Executive Producers: Jeffrey Boam, Carlton Cuse; 1 × 90 min., 26 × 45 min.; Boam/Cuse Productions, Warner Bros. Television; Color.

  A combination of 1890s Old West traditional action and humor as Harvard-educated bounty hunter Brisco County Jr. (Bruce Campbell) is hired by the robber barons of the Westerfield Club in San Francisco to track down John Bly (Billy Drago) and the gang of outlaws who killed his father.

  This short-lived series introduced an eccentric element in the form of Professor Albert Wickwire's (John Astin) forward-looking inventions and took a Weird West diversion with the introduction of a story arc concerning a mysterious Orb from the future with the power to heal and give those who possess it tremendous strength.

  The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993), a television series starring Bruce Campbell (Boam/Cuse Productions, Warner Bros. Television).

  Season One

  [Weird Western-Steampunk episodes]

  “PILOT” (1:01)

  Air date: August 27, 1993; Special Guest Stars: Billy Drago as John Bly, John Astin as Professor Albert Wickwire; Story: David Simkins, Jeffrey Boam, Carlton Cuse; Director: Bryan Spicer.

  Brisco Jr. first learns of the supernatural powers of the Orb and its importance to John Bly, who seeks its powers.

  “THE ORB SCHOLAR” (1:02)

  Air date: September 3, 1993; Special Guest Stars: Robert Picardo as Puel, Billy Drago as John Bly; Story: Carlton Cuse; Director: Andy Tennant.

  Brisco Jr. tracks the Bly Gang to Poker Flats and comes into contact with the Orb.

  “NO MAN'S LAND” (1:03)

  Air date: September 10, 1993; Special Guest Stars: John Astin as Professor Albert Wickwire, Denise Crosby as Sheriff Jenny Taylor; Story: Tom Chehak; Director: Kim Manners.

  Professor Albert Wickwire's “Amazing Rocket Car” comes to the rescue when the all-female town of No Man's Land is threatened by the Swill Brothers and the armored Mobile Battle Wagon.

  “SOCRATES' SISTER” (1:05)

  Air date: September 24, 1993; Special Guest Stars: John Astin as Professor Albert Wickwire, Judith Hoag as Iphigenia Poole, John Pyper-Ferguson as Pete Hutter, William Russ as Jack Randolph; Story: Chris Ruppenthal; Director: Greg Beeman.

  Counterfeiters use Professor Wickwire's “Inner Space Suit” to retrieve lost treasury plates from the bottom of a lake before Brisco and Socratres' sister come to the rescue.

  “SENIOR SPIRIT” (1:08)

  Air date: October 15, 1993; Special Guest Stars: John Astin as Professor Albert Wickwire, R. Lee Ermey as Brisco County, Sr., Billy Drago as John Bly; Story: John McNamara; Director: Michael Lange.

  Requiring an orb rod owned by Brisco to complete his orb, John Bly kidnaps a boy whom he will exchange for the rod. Meanwhile, Brisco meets the spirit of his dead father, who gives him advice on how to confront Bly and rescue the boy.

  “STEEL HORSES” (1:13)

  Air date: November 19, 1993; Special Guest Stars: John Astin as Professor Albert Wickwire, Don Michael Paul as Juno Dawkins; Story: Tom Chehak; Director: Kim Manners.

  Brisco and Lord Bowler are hired to capture motorcycles stolen by Juno Dawkins and his gang but find themselves foiling an attempt to capture the Orb for John Bly on its journey to a government research laboratory in Nevada.

  “FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH” (1:17)

  Air date: January 14, 1994; Special Guest Star: Billy Drago as John Bly; Story: Kathryn Baker; Director: Michael Caffey.

  Brisco Jr., Bowler and Lillian Coles find themselves involved in a tangled web devised by John Bly in an effort to locate the Orb.

  “BYE BLY” (1:20)

  Air date: February 18, 1994; Special Guest Star: Billy Drago as John Bly; Story: Carlton Cuse; Producer: Paul Marks; Director: Kim Manners.

  A naked female time traveler named Karina (Melanie Smith) tells Brisco Jr. the truth about the mysterious Orb. Brisco Jr. finds himself travelling through time in order to reverse the death of Bowler and finally exacts revenge on John Bly for the death of his father.

  “BAD LUCK BETTY” (1:25)

  Air date: April 29, 1994; Special Guest Star: Jeff Phillips as Whip Morgan; Story: Tony Blake, Paul Jackson; Director: Joseph L. Scanlan.

  Socrates Poole's birthday celebrations take a spooky turn after he is kidnapped and finds himself in the small town of Midnightville. This episode incorporates the Bates house from Psycho.

  The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

  (1984) [Film; SFW]

  Premiere: August 15, 1984; Main Cast: Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai, John Lithgow as Lord John Whorfin/Dr. Emilio Lizardo, Ellen Barkin as Penny Priddy, Jeff Goldblum as New Jersey/Sidney Zweibel, Christopher Lloyd as John Bigboote, Clancy Brown as Rawhide; Executive Producer: Sidney Beckerman; Screenplay: Earl Mac Rauch; Director: W.D. Richter; 103 min.; Sherwood Productions; Color.

  Multi-talented Buckaroo Banzai and the members of his music band, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, tackle the evil Red Lectroids from Planet 10 in the 8th dimension.

  Western influences include the backstory of Buckaroo Banzai, who was raised in the American West by his Japanese father (who named his son Buckaroo out of his affection of the Old West). Jeff Goldblum plays Sidney Zweibel alias New Jersey, a surgeon who plays the piano and loves to dress up as a cowboy. This was described by Time magazine as “the first sci-fi western action adventure rock-'n'-roll melodrama farce.”

  See: Buckaroo Banzai

  The Adventures of Mendy and the Golem

  [Comic book]

  “HOME ON THE S-SST-RANGE!” [WW]

  First published: The Adventures of Mendy and the Golem #9 (March, 1983); Story: Leibel Estrin; Art: Dovid Sears; Publisher: Mendy Enterprises.

  Advertised as the “The World's
Only Kosher Comic Book,” this Western-themed issue features the adventures of the Klein Gang alias Rabbi Klein, his family and the living clay creature Sholem the Golem as they journey west to find out what has happened to the local butcher's source of meat, the cattle.

  The Adventures of Oky Doky

  (1948) [TV series; WW]

  Premiere: November 4, 1948; Main Cast: Dayton Allen as Oky Doky voice, Wendy Barrie, Burt Hilber; 30 min; DuMont Television Network; b/w.

  Cowboy Oky Doky relies on his magic milk pills to give him the strength to fight his enemies. A mixture of live action and puppetry as children play and perform on Oky Doky's dude ranch.

  See: Oky Doky Ranch

  The Adventures of Superboy

  (1988) [TV series]

  Main Cast: Gerard Christopher as Clark Kent/Superboy, Stacy Haiduk as Lana Lang, Ilan Mitchell-Smith as Andy McAllister, Sherman Howard as Lex Luthor; 30 min. × 100; Alexander Salkind, Lowry Productions, Color.

  Live-action adventures of Superman as a teenager in Smallville.

  “THE HAUNTING OF ANDY MCALISTER” (2:22) [WW]

  Air date: April 21, 1990; Guest Cast: Tom Schuster as Billy the Kid, Fred Ornstein as Uncle Nate; Story: Michael Carlin, Andrew Helfer; Director: David Nutter.

  On a weekend stay at the home of Andy McAllister's Uncle, Superboy, Lana and Andy become trapped on the other side of a wall that contains outlaws from the Old West. When Superboy discovers he has no powers, he must think of a way to return himself and his friends to the other side of the wall before the outlaws take revenge for being trapped by Andy's ancestor.

  The Adventures of Superman

  [TV series]

  Main Cast: George Reeves as Clark Kent/Superman, Noel Neill as Lois Lane, Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen, John Hamilton as Perry White; 30 min. × 104; MPTV; b/w, Color.

  Live-action adventures of the DC Comics superhero from the planet Krypton.

  “THE TEST OF A WARRIOR” (3:06) [WW]

  Air date: May 28, 1955; Guest Cast: Maurice Jara as Red Hawk, Ralph Moody as Medicine Man, Francis McDonald as Great Horse, George J. Lewis as John Tall Star; Story: Leroy H. Zehren; Director: George Blair.

  Superman—the Great White Bird—assists an aging Indian chief who must complete the three tests of a warrior to become the new chief of his tribe.

  See: Action Comics

  “BULLY OF DRY GULCH” (3:10)

  Air date: September 24, 1955; Guest Cast: Myron Healey as Gunner Flinch, Martin Garralaga as Pedro, Raymond Hatton as Sagebrush; Story: David T. Chantler; Director: George Blair.

  Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen find themselves stranded in the Western town of Dry Gulch where Olsen attracts the attention of Gunner Flinch (Myron Healey) and ends up in jail. Lois Lane seeks help from Superman who arrives to teach the town bully a lesson.

  The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers

  [Animated TV series; SW]

  Premiere: September 14, 1986; Voice cast: Jerry Orbach as Zachery Foxx, Laura Dean as Niko, Doug Preis as Doug “Goose” Gooseman, Hubert Kelly as Walter “Doc” Hartford; Creator: Robert Mandell; Animation: Tokyo Movie Shinsha; 65 × 30 min.; Gaylord Productions, Transcom Media; Color.

  Space Western adventures from the elite Series-5 Galaxy Rangers as they protect the Earth and its allies from the Crown Empire with the help of alien hyperdrive technology in the final decades of the 21st century.

  With stories and character design originating in America and traditional and computer generated animation from Japan, this joint production combined the space opera with the Western.

  Season One

  Phoenix (1:01); Tortuna (1:02); Mindnet (1:03); Queen's Lair (1:04); Chained (1:05); One Million Emotions (1:06); Space Sorcerer (1:07); Wildfire (1:08); Space Moby (1:09); Shaky (1:10); The Power Within (1:11); Renegade Rangers (1:12); Psychocrypt (1:13); The Ax (1:14); Traash (1:15); Edge of Darkness (1:16); Armada (1:17); Smuggler's Gauntlet (1:18); Ghost Station (1:19); Games (1:20); Stargate (1:21); Birds of a Feather (1:22); Showtime (1:23); Heart of Tarkon (1:24); Murder on the Andorian Express (1:25); Lady of Light (1:26); Tune-Up (1:27); The Magnificent Kiwi (1:28); Mistwalker (1:29); Progress (1:30); Natural Balance (1:31); Mothmoose (1:32); Bronto Bear (1:33); New Frontier (1:34); Shoot-Out (1:35); Scarecrow (1:36); In Sheep's Clothing (1:37); Invasion (1:38); Rogue Arm (1:39); Round-Up (1:40); Aces and Apes (1:41); Scarecrow's Revenge (1:42); Badge of Power (1:43); Boomtown (1:44); Super Troopers (1:45); Galaxy Stranger (1:46); Lord of the Sands (1:47); Buzzwang's Folly (1:48); Promised Land (1:49); Marshmallow Trees (1:50); Westride (1:51); Rainmaker (1:52); Changeling (1:53); Battle of the Bandits (1:54); Horsepower (1:55); Don Quixote Cody (1:56); Ariel (1:57); Rusty and the Boys (1:58); Trouble at Texton (1:59); Tortuna Rock (1:60); Fire and Iron (1:61); Tower of Combat (1:62); Gift of Life (1:63); Sundancer (1:64); Heartbeat (1:65)

  The Adventures of the Masked Phantom

  (1939) [WMW] Premiere: October 1, 1939; Main Cast: Monte “Alamo” Rawlins as Alamo/The Masked Phantom, Betty Burgess as Carol Davis, Art Davis as Larry Mason, Sonny Lamont as Dumpy, Dot Karroll as Grandma Mary Barton, Boots the Wonder Dog as Boots; Producer: B. F. Zeidman; Story: Joseph O'Donnell, Clifford Sanforth; Director: Charles Abbott; 56 min.; Equity Pictures Inc.; b/w.

  The Miracle Gold Mining company foreman's crooked gold smuggling is curtailed by the mysterious Masked Phantom (Monte Rawlins), a death-headed knife, a couple of sidekicks and Boots the Wonder Dog. A failed attempt to imitate the Three Mesquiteers formula with the “Roving Buckaroos.” Lew Porter and Johnny Lange provided the songs.

  After Sundown

  (2006) [Film; WW]

  Premiere: July 11, 2006; Main Cast: Susana Gibb as Shannon, Reece Rios as Mikey, Natalie Jones as Molly; Executive Producers: Christopher Abram, Keith Randal Duncan; Story: Christopher Abram, Michael W. Brown; Director: Christopher Abram; 90 min.; Wood Entertainment; Color.

  When a vampire gunslinger from the Old West is exhumed from his grave, he and his undead zombie slaves join forces in modern-day Texas.

  The Agency: Men in Back Dusters

  [RPG book; WW]

  Author: John Goff; First publication: 2000; Setting: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  This book reveals the secrets of the Union government organization known as the Special Services Agency, including training manuals and Agency-designed special equipment.

  Aguila Solitaria

  [Comic book character; Mexico; WW]

  First appearance: 1976; Creator: Héctor González Dueñas aka Víctor Fox; Publishers: Editora Ra-Ca-Na, Editora Cinco.

  Native American Aguila Solitaria has the power to fly alongside the eagle in this Mexican comic book series that also enjoyed success in Colombia.

  Alferd Packer: The Musical

  (1996) [Film; WW]

  Premiere: 1996; Main Cast: Juan Schwartz (Trey Parker) as Alferd Packer, Toddy Walters as Polly Pry; Executive Producers: Alexandra Kelly, Andrew Kemler, Jason McHugh; Story-Director: Trey Parker; 95 min.; Cannibal Films Ltd.; Color.

  A bizarre mixture of cannibalism, Japanese Indians and a musical set in the Old West. Alferd Packer (Trey Parker) denies accusations that he ate his fellow pioneers to survive a winter in the Rocky Mountains. From the co-creator of the animated television series South Park (1997).

  See: Cannibal! The Musical

  Alien Outlaw

  (1985) [Film; SFW]

  Premiere: 1985; Main Cast: Lash La Rue as Alex Thompson, Stephen Winegard as Wes, Kimberly Mauldin as Girlfriend, Sunset Carson as Sunset, Kari Anderson as Jesse Jamison; Executive Producer: George B. Walker; Story-Director: Phil Smoot; 90 min.; Color.

  An aging cowhand (Lash LaRue) and a group of beautiful girls help fight an invasion of aliens who plan to enslave humans and take over the world.

  Aliens in the Wild, Wild West

  (1999) [Film; Canada-Romania; SFW]

  Premiere: August 17, 1999; Main Cast: Taylor Locke as Tom Johnson, Carly Pope as Sara Johnson, Barna Moricz as Johnny
Coyle, Gerry Quigley as Bloody Bob, Gloria Slade as Elizabeth, George Ilie as Jiffyvawa “Jiffy” Zudo; Story: Alon Kaplan; Director: George Erschbamer; 90 min.; Canarom Productions, Castel Film Romania, Chesler-Perlmutter Productions; Color.

  Tom and Sara Johnson, bored with life in the present-day American West, are transported back in time to the Old West where they befriend an alien baby.

  All Flesh Must Be Eaten: Fistful o' Zombies

  [RPG book; WW]

  Author: Shane Lacy Hensley; First publication: 2003; Game: All Flesh Must Be Eaten; Publisher: Eden Studios.

  This supplement to the All Flesh Must Be Eaten role-playing game includes background on the Old West (1830-1865), the Wild West (1865-1900), and the New West (1900-1930), plus seven Western Deadworlds settings and conversion notes for the Deadlands role-playing game.

  All-New Booster Gold

  [Comic book]

  First publication: #3 (October 2007); Story: Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz; Art: Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund; Publisher: DC Comics.

  A comic book about a time-traveling superhero and former member of the Justice League.

  “52 PICK-UP CHAPTER 3: HEXED” [SFW]

  Booster Gold travels back in time to the Old West where he encounters Jonah Hex.