As far as I can determine, there is only one television series in the history of the medium that actually qualifies as a bonafide interplanetary swashbuckler (or sword & planet tale). That's Filmation Studios' 1981 animated series Blackstar. Filmation also produced an excellent Flash Gordon cartoon, but Blackstar was cast much more in the Burroughs mold.This Saturday morning adventure cartoon chronicled the adventures of American astronaut John Blackstar, who, after being pulled through a black hole, finds himself stranded on the planet Saagar, where he joins a rebellion against a malevolent tyrant known as The Overlord. He comes into possession of a powerful magic sword (it's never told how he came by it) which is the twin of one wielded by The Overlord. If the two swords are joined, they become an all-powerful weapon, so Blackstar must strive at all times to keep it out of his adversary's hands.
Of course, this being a Saturday morning network show, he can never actually use the sword as a sword; he instead fires a variety of energy beams from the tip of the blade. Also because of its weekend a.m. timeslot, Blackstar finds himself helped and sometimes hindered by a group of small, pink-skinned, kid-friendly "trobbits." (i.e. "tree hobbits." The producers were apparently unaware that J.R.R. Tolkien had invented the term "hobbit.") Of course, he's got a few cool sidekicks, too – the oddly sexy alien sorceress Mara, a shape-changer named Klone, and a winged, reptilian steed named Warlock.
Most stories are pretty standard "sword & planet" tales, with Blackstar going up against various monsters, discovering lost cities, etc. The antics of the "trobbits" are painfully annoying, though I'm sure kids liked them. (I was probably too old to be watching Saturday morning cartoons in '81, anyway.) Still, they're pretty fun adventure stories, and I always liked the Filmation crew's character and production designs.
One episode that really stands out in my mind is the one where Blackstar's fiancee – also an Earth astronaut – follows his trajectory through the black hole to Saagar. Obviously, she intends to rescue her betrothed and take him back to Earth, but instead quickly falls into the hands of The Overlord, who covets the advanced technology of her spacecraft.
Eventually she is rescued by Blackstar and company, and is forced to take off without him. The episode ends on an intriguing note, however – as she emerges back through the black hole, she contacts mission control and tells them to prepare an invasion fleet! She clearly intends to go back for Blackstar, and this time with reinforcements! Unfortunately, the series ended before a sequel to this story could appear.
Watching the DVDs recently, I noticed a few similarities between Blackstar and my own Perils On Planet X comic. In both cases, our heroes are astronauts who pass through cosmic anomalies. Also, both Saagar and Xylos (Planet X) have green skies. The characters and stories are quite different, but there are definitely some amusing parallels.
Maybe watching the show as a teenager made a bigger impact on my imagination than I thought!
