by Paul Green
Selected works: A Confederate General from Big Sur (1964), Trout Fishing in America (1967), In Watermelon Sugar (1968), The Hawkline Monster (1974), Willard and His Bowling Trophies (1975), So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away (1982).
Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer
[Video Game; WW]
Premiere: August 2007; Developer: Vis Entertainment; Publisher: Evolved Games; Platform: Play Station 2
Brave, a young shaman in training, begins his quest to find the legendary shaman Spirit Dancer before the demonic Wendigo completely destroys his Indian village and its people. On his quest, Brave encounters the Sasquatch, wolves, buffalo, a blizzard, river rapids and evil spirits.
BraveStarr
(1987) [Animated TV series; SW]
Premiere: September 14, 1987; Voice cast: Pat Fraley as Marshal Brave Starr, Charles Adler as Deputy Fuzz/Tex Hex, Susan Blu as Judge J. B.; Producers: Norm Prescott, Lou Scheimer; 65 × 30 min.; Filmation Associates; Color.
A shaman bestows animal powers upon the young Native American BraveStarr: eyes of the hawk, ears of the wolf, strength of the bear and speed of the puma. After crashlanding on the frontier planet of “New Texas,” BraveStarr grows to manhood and becomes the lone Marshal of New Texas. With the help of his sidekicks, robotic steed Thirty-Thirty, Deputy Fuzz, the beautiful Judge J.B. and his advisor Shaman, BraveStarr maintains law and order in a constant battle with Tex Hex and the Carrion Bunch for the control of the valuable mineral Kerium.
This animated Space Western was the final TV series from Filmation Studios.
Season One
The Disappearance of Thirty-Thirty (1:01); Fallen Idol (1:02); The Taking of Thistledown 123 (1:03); Skuzz and Fuzz (1:04); A Day in the Life of a New Texas Judge (1:05); Rampage (1:06); To Walk a Mile (1:07); Big Thirty and Little Wimble (1:08); BraveStarr and the Law (1:09); Kerium Fever (1:10); Memories (1:11); Eyewitness (1:12); The Vigilantes (1.13); Wild Child (1:14); Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here (1:15); Eye of the Beholder (1:16); The Wrong Hands (1:17); An Older Hand (1:18); Showdown at Sawtooth (1:19); Unsung Hero (1:20); Lost Mountain (1:21); Trouble Wears a Badge (1: 22); Who Am I? (1:23); BraveStarr and the Treaty (1:24); Thoren the Slavemaster (1:25); The Price (1:26); Revolt of the Prairie People (1: 27); Hostage (1:28); Tunnel of Terror (1:29); The Good, the Bad and the Clumsy (1:30); Balance of Power (1:31); Call to Arms (1:32); BraveStarr and the Three Suns (1:33); The Witnesses (1:34); Handlebar and Rampage (1:35); Runaway Planet (1:36); The Bounty Hunter (1:37); Buddy (1:38); The Day the Town Was Taken (1:39); BraveStarr and the Medallion (1:40); Legend of a Pretty Lady (1:41); Sunrise, Sunset (1:42); Call of the Wild (1:43); Tex But No Hex (1:44); Space Zoo (1:45); Tex's Terrible Night (1:46); Running Wild (1:47); Thirty-Thirty Goes Camping (1:48); The Haunted Shield (1:49); Ship of No Return (1:50); Little Lie That Grew (1:51); Brothers in Crime (1:52); Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century, Part 1 (1:53); Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century, Part 2 (1:54); New Texas Blues (1:55); Jeremiah and the Prairie People (1:56); The Ballad of Sara Jane (1:57); Brothers Keeper (1:58); BraveStarr and the Empress (1:59); Night of the Bronco-Tank (1:60); No Mad Is on Island (1:61); The Blockade (1:62); No Drums, No Trumpets (1:63); Shake Hands with Long Arm John (1:64); Strength of the Bear (1:65)
BraveStarr: The Movie
[Animated film; SW]
Premiere: March 18, 1988; Voice cast: Pat Fraley as Marshal Bravestarr/Thunder Stick; Charles Adler as Deputy Fuzz/Tex Hex, Susan Blu as Judge J. B.; Producer: Lou Scheimer; Story: Bob Forward, Steve Hayes; Director: Bob Tataranowicz; 91 min.; Filmation Associates; Color.
This theatrical sequel to BraveStarr the television series tells the story of the discovery of the mineral ore Kerium and the source of BraveStarr's conflict with Tex Hex and Stampede.
Bubba the Cowboy Prince: A Fractured Texas Tale
[Children's book; WW]
Author: Helen Ketteman; First publication: New York: Scholastic Press, 1997; Illustrations: James Warhola; Juvenile.
A variation on Cinderella set in Texas where the fairy godmother is a cow, and cowboy hero Bubba is the stepson of a wicked rancher.
Buckaroo Banzai
[Comic book; SFW]
First publication: November 1984; Publisher: Marvel; Moonstone.
A two-part comic book adaptation of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. The character was revived by Moonstone in February 2006 when a Preview Edition introduced an ongoing Buckaroo Banzai comic book series to a new generation.
Buckaroo Betty
[Comic book character; WW]
First appearance: Femforce #20, 1989; Creators: Bill Black, Rik Levins, Billie Marimon; Publisher: AC Comics.
Sheriff Elizabeth “Betty” Fury alias Buckaroo Betty finds herself traveling through time from 1887 Texas to modern-day Wisconsin where she is revealed as the daughter of the Haunted Horseman. Following the death of her husband, Sheriff Mike Bates of Apache, Texas, Betty Bates reverted to her maiden name of Betty Fury. In later adventures Buckaroo Betty takes on the mantle of The Hood together with its supernatural powers.
Buckaroo Betty in Best of the West #43. Art: Ed Coutts. © 2009 AC Comics/Nightveil Media, Inc. Used with permission.
Buford and the Galloping Ghost
(1978) [Animated TV series]
Premiere: February 3, 1979; Executive Producers: Joseph Barbera and William Hanna; Producer: Art Scott; Directors: Ray Patterson, Carl Urbano; 30 min × 13 min.; Hanna Barbera Productions; Color.
Animated series containing two segments per episode: The Buford Files featuring a bloodhound and two crime-solving teenagers and The Galloping Ghost. The episodes were originally broadcast on Yogi's Space Race (1978).
Galloping Ghost segment: Voice Cast: Frank Welker as Nugget Nose, Hal Peary as Fenwick Fuddy, Marilyn Schreffler as Wendy, Pat Parris as Rita.
The Fuddy Dude Ranch is haunted by the ghost of gold prospector Nugget Nose and his invisible horse. Ranch hand Wendy summons Nugget Nose by rubbing on her gold nugget necklace.
SEASON ONE [GALLOPING GHOST SEGMENTS; WW]
Phantom of the Horse Opera (1:01); Too Many Crooks (1:02); Sagebrush Sergeant (1:03); The Bad News Bear (1:04); Robot Round-Up (1:05); Pests in the West (1:06); Rock Star Nuggie (1:07); Frontier Fortune Teller (1:08); I Want My Mummy (1:09); Mr. Sunshine's Eclipse (1:10); Klondike's Kate (1:11); A Ghost of a Chance (1:12); Don't Elmo the Great (1:13).
Bulls-Eye
[Comic Book; WW]
First issue: July-August 1954; Creators: Joe Simon, Jack Kirby; Publisher: Mainline Publications-Charlton Comics
Bedraggled peddler Panhandle Pete is Bulls-Eye, an outlaw pursued by the law and renegade Indian chief Yellow Snake. The comic book entered Weird Western territory with the story “Devil Bird” in issue #3. The Devil Bird being a pterodactyl in Indian country.
Buon funerale. Amigos! ... paga Sartana
(1970) [Film; Italy-Spain; WW]
Premiere: 1971; Main Cast: Gianni Garko as Sartana, Daniela Giordano as Abigail Benson, George Wang as Peng/Lee Tse Tung, Antonio Staccioli [Ivano Staccioli] as Blackie, Franco Ressel as Samuel Piggot; Producer: Sergio Borelli; Story: Giovanni Simonelli (as Jean Simon); Screenplay: Roberto Gianviti, Giovanni Simonelli; Director: Anthony Ascott [Giuliano Carmineo]; 96 min.; Elios Film; Color.
Following a massacre whose victims included the owner of a mine, some of the local townsfolk (banker Hoffman, the corrupt sheriff and a Chinese gambling hall owner) show interest in buying the prospector's property. Sartana discovers the real motive for interest in the mine is gold.
Gianni Garko reprises the role of Sartana in the third film of the series. It marked a return to the dark, mysterious avenging spirit persona first seen in Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte.
See: Have a good funeral, my friend ... Sartana will pay
Buon funerale. Amigos! ... paga Sartana (1970), a film starring Gianni Garko as Sartana.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice
(1875-1950) [Author]
Born in Chica
go, Illinois, on September 1, 1875, Burroughs graduated from Michigan Military Academy in 1895. After enlisting in the U.S. Army, Burroughs was assigned to George Armstrong Custer's former regiment the 7th U.S. Cavalry at Fort Grant, Arizona Territory.
Following his premature discharge in 1897 due to a heart murmur, Burroughs failed at a number of jobs including railroad policeman in Salt Lake City, accountant and pencil sharpener wholesaler. Allegedly he was inspired to begin his writing career after he read issues of pulp magazines and decided he could “write something just as rotten.”
His short time at Fort Grant in Apache country helped Burroughs create a convincing backdrop for his initial John Carter of Mars story “Under the Moons of Mars” which he sold to All-Story Magazine in 1911. When Tarzan of the Apes proved an even bigger success and Hollywood film studios adapted his work, Burroughs knew he could finally lay his past career failures to rest. A series of stories and novels followed, set in various fantastic locations including Venus and the center of the Earth.
The victim of a number of heart attacks in his final years, Burroughs finally succumbed to one final attack on March 19, 1950.
Selected works: Tarzan of the Apes (1914), The Return of Tarzan (1915), A Princess of Mars (1917), The Gods of Mars (1918), The Warlords of Mars (1919), Thuvia, Maids of Mars (1920), The Mucker (1921), At the Earth's Core (1922), The Chessmen of Mars (1922), Pellucider (1923), The Land That Time Forgot (1924), The Cave Girl (1925), The Moon Maid (1926), The Master Mind of Mars (1928), A Fighting Man of Mars (1931), Apache Devil (1933), Carson of Venus (1939), Synthetic Men of Mars (1940), Llana of Gathol (1948).
Burroughs, William S.
(1914-1997) [Author]
William Seward Burroughs II was born into an upper-class family and named after his paternal grandfather who had built the first adding machine in St. Louis in 1885. Burroughs studied at Harvard University and worked briefly as a reporter for the St. Louis Dispatch before gaining notoriety for shooting and killing his common law wife in Mexico City. From the September 8, 1951, New York Daily News account:
William Seward Burroughs, 37, first admitted, then denied today that he was playing William Tell when his gun killed his pretty, young wife during a drinking party last night.
Police said that Burroughs first told them that, wanting to show off his marksmanship, he placed a glass of gin on her head and fired, but was so drunk that he missed and shot her in the forehead.
After talking with a lawyer, police said, Burroughs, who is a wealthy cotton planter from Pharr, Texas, changed his story and insisted that his wife was shot accidentally when he dropped his newly-purchased .38 caliber pistol.
Mrs. Burroughs, 27, the former Joan Vollmer, died in the Red Cross Hospital. The shooting occurred during a party in the apartment of John Healy of Minneapolis. Burroughs said two other American tourists whom he knew only slightly were present.
Following the initial court hearings, Burroughs abruptly exited Mexico when he found himself without representation. (His lawyer had fired gunshots at a car full of drunken teenagers after they sideswiped his new car. One of the teenagers later died and Burroughs' lawyer fled the country.) Burroughs finally returned in 1953 and was found guilty of homicide and sentenced to two years in prison. He had already served thirteen days and his prison sentence was suspended by the Mexican judge. Burroughs walked away a free man. Rumors circulated of bribery and preferential treatment because of Burroughs' well-to-do background. Nothing was proven.
At the initial hearings, Burroughs claimed Joan Vollmer's death was caused by the accidental firing of his gun. However, in the early 1980s Burroughs admitted to biographer Ted Morgan that he had taken part in a William Tell dare game. “It was an utterly and completely insane thing to do.”
Burroughs later earned cult status thanks to his notorious reputation which also included drug addiction, an open homosexual lifestyle and his association with Beat poets Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
On August 1, 1997, Burroughs suffered a heart attack. He died the following day.
Selected works: Junkie (1953), Naked Lunch (1959), The Soft Machine (1961), The Ticket That Exploded (1962), Nova Express (1964), The Wild Boys (1971), Cities, of the Red Night (1981), Ghost of a Chance (1991), The Place of Dead Roads (1995)
The Burrowers
(2008) [Film; WW]
Premiere: September 2008; Main Cast: Doug Hutchison as Henry Victor, Sean Patrick Thomas as Callaghan, Jocelin Donahue as Maryanne, William Mapother as Parcher, Karl Geary as Coffey, Laura Leighton as Gertrude; Executive Producers: Peter Block, John Sacchi; Story-Director: J.T. Petty; 96 min.; Blue Star Pictures; Color.
In the Dakota Territories, a family of settlers are attacked and abducted. But the search and rescue party members have no idea that the menace comes from deep below the ground in the form of a mutated species.
Burst Angel
(2004) [Anime; Japan; SFW]
Premiere: April 6, 2004; Creator: Takayasu Hatano; Director: Kouichi Oohata; Story: Fumihiko Shimo, Masashi Sogo; Director: Koichi Ohata; Gonzo Digimation, TV Asahi; 24 × 24 min.; Color. U.S. version: Voice Cast: Monica Rial as Jo, Alison Retzloff as Amy, Jamie Marchie as Meg, Clarine Harp as Sei, Caitlin Glass as Takane, Greg Ayres as Kyohei, Mike McFarland as Leo; FUNimation Entertainment, Gonzo.
Four female guns-for-hire fight underworld crime syndicates and the corrupt organization known as RAPT in a nightmarish Tokyo of the future.
The character of Meg wears a sexy cowgirl outfit complete with holster and hat in an anime that emphasizes sexual imagery, action and violence with themes of Western vigilante justice in a science fiction setting.
Burst Angel © 2003 GONZO/Project BAKUTEN. Licensed by FUNimation® Productions, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
Season One
Hell Comes Silently (1:01); The Heartless Gunfighter (1:02); City Where the Beast Howls (1:03); The Brothers Die at Dawn (1:04); Mansion Where Lurks the Demon (1:05); Wash This Garden With Blood (1:06); Black Sky (1:07); The Wounded Outlaw (1:08); Party of the Dragon (1:09); Uncharted Cyberspace (1:10); Eastern Angel, Western Hawk (1:11); Tower of Tears (1:12); Showdown in Osaka (1:13); Wild Kids (1:14); Slingin' Oil (1:15); The Man with No Name (1:16); Dueling Angels (1:17); The Immortal Classmate (1:18); 24-Hour Strategy (1:19); Blood Red Highway (1:20); New Sheriff in Town (1:21); Genocide Angels (1:22); Red Sea Gallows (1:23); Angels Explode! (1:24)
See: Bakuretsu Tenshi: Angel's Adolescence
Burst Angel: Infinity
(2007) [OVA; Japan; SFW]
Release date (U.S.): November 13, 2007; Animation: Gonzo; Director: Koichi Ohata; Gonzo, Media Factory, FUNimation Studios; 25 min.; Original video animation (OVA); Color.
A cyborg targets Meg after hospitalizing her friend Shierly in New York.
See: Burst Angel
Buster Crabbe
[Comic Book; SW]
First issue: November 1951; Publisher: Famous Funnies Publications
This Western title based on the actor best known for the Flash Gordon serials began crossing science fiction and Space Western genres starting with issue #3 when the cover art showed cowboy Crabbe confronting green, club-wielding aliens.
La Cabeza de Pancho Villa
(1957) [Film; Mexico; WW]
Premiere: December 18, 1957; Main Cast: Luis Aguilar, Crox Alvarado, Jaime Fernández, Pascual, García Peña, Flor Silvestre; Producer: Luis Manrique; Story: Ramón Obón; Director: Chano Urueta; 94 min.; Universal; Spanish; B/W.
The second film in the re-edited Headless Rider serial features the mysterious Headless Rider, a black-hooded cult interested in a box to place Pancho Villa's head, ghosts, skeletons and a singing cowboy and his comical sidekick.
See: El Jinete Sin Cabeza, La Marca de Satanás
Cannibal! The Musical
[Film; Stage Play; WW]
Video release title for Alferd Packer: The Musical. The film has also been adapted for the stage as Cannibal! The Musical by various t
heater groups since 1998.
Canyon o' Doom
[RPG book; WW]
Author: Hal Mangold; First publication: 1999; Setting: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
Reverend Grimme and his cannibal cult seek the elusive City o' Ghouls, rumored to be located in the Grand Canyon.
Captain Ken
[Manga; Japan; SW]
First appearance: Weekly Shonen Sunday, December 18, 1960; Creator-Story: Osamu Tezuka; Publisher: Shogakukan Inc.
The mysterious Martian-loving Captain Ken has to contend with a lookalike and feuding families in the frontier town of Heden City.
The theme of this Space Western (set on a future Mars where migrating humans are persecuting Martians) parallels 19th century American Western settlers persecuting the Native American population.
Captain Marvel Adventures
[Comic book]
When youngster Billy Batson is told by an ancient wizard that he has been chosen to be his successor, he is ordered to say “Shazam!” and is transformed by a bolt of magic lightning into adult superhero Captain Marvel. To turn back into Billy Batson, he just repeats “Shazam!” The comic book featured a few Western stories.