Blackstar | |
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![]() Blackstar promotional poster | |
Voices of | George DiCenzo Linda Gary Alan Oppenheimer Patrick Pinney Frank Welker |
Composers | Yvette Blais Jeff Michael |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Producers | Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer |
Running time | ~21 minutes |
Production company | Filmation |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 12 – December 5, 1981 |
Blackstar is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. [1] The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being The Freedom Force , a segment of Tarzan and the Super 7 . Blackstar has many notable similarities to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , which was produced shortly afterwards.
John Blackstar is an astronaut from Earth, stranded on the planet Sagar after his spacecraft was swept into a black hole, taking him to an ancient alien universe. [2] On Sagar, Blackstar allies himself with the Trobbits, the shape-changing Klone, the "dragon-horse" Warlock, and Mara the Enchantress. Blackstar and his allies oppose the Overlord, who seeks to take over Sagar. [3]
Very little is known about Blackstar's Earth, though its technology is undoubtedly far advanced, as evidenced by Blackstar's "photon-based" ship and Katana's "fusion-drive" timeship capable of multidimensional travel. Neither Blackstar nor Katana bear any insignia related to any agencies in the real world. Blackstar's insignia appears on his golden collar.
Sagar, where John Blackstar ends up being stranded, is located in an ancient alien universe. It is subject to attacks by the evil Overlord, who seeks to conquer the planet.
John Blackstar's race is not specified in the series, though it is often speculated that he could have Native American heritage and ancestry, anticipating Bravestarr , a later Filmation series, by roughly six years.
As an astronaut, Blackstar might have been extensively trained in many fields. He is intelligent, and he often prefers to outsmart his opponent rather than rely on physical talent, even though his constant contact with the Starsword grants him super-human athletic abilities and near invulnerability.
The Powerstar was a mighty magical weapon that was split in two through unknown events, with Blackstar and the Overlord each possessing one half. Blackstar's weapon, the Starsword, is able to absorb, store, and reflect any external form of energy, and is virtually indestructible. It can also produce blasts of pure energy capable of destroying a target. The weapon generates an invisible "aura" that imbues Blackstar with superhuman senses, strength, endurance, reflexes, speed, agility, and almost unlimited invulnerability to harm and extreme temperatures. Presumably, the Overlord's Powersword confers similar abilities. For a brief time in the episode Spacewrecked, the Starsword and the Powersword are re-joined together into the Powerstar.
In the sixth episode, "Spacewrecked", Blackstar was briefly reached by his former Earth girlfriend, Lieutenant Katana, who spent some time on Sagar before a misadventure with the Overlord forced her to leave. Katana did not appear in any other episodes, although the story ended with her asking a superior for permission to organize an armed rescue mission.
Among the identified locations on Sagar are:
The premiere episode aired September 12, 1981, and the entire series original run lasted until December of that year. After its cancellation, Blackstar was re-run during the 1983–84 season, on the heels of He-Man 's popularity. Despite favorable ratings from that 1983–84 reairing, plans for a second season had already been previously scrapped.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Search for the Starsword" | Gwen Wetzler | Tom Ruegger | September 12, 1981 | |
Note: This was the first episode to air, though it was the second episode produced. It was however, the first scripted episode.[ citation needed ] | |||||
2 | "City of the Ancient Ones" | Gwen Wetzler | Michael Reaves | September 19, 1981 | |
3 | "The Lord of Time" | Unknown | Marc Scott Zicree | September 26, 1981 | |
4 | "The Mermaid of Serpent Sea" | Unknown | Tom Ruegger | October 3, 1981 | |
5 | "The Quest" | Unknown | Story by : Martin Pasko Teleplay by : Robby London | October 10, 1981 | |
6 | "Spacewrecked" | Unknown | Tom Ruegger | October 17, 1981 | |
7 | "Lightning City of the Clouds" | Unknown | Tom Ruegger | October 24, 1981 | |
8 | "Kingdom of Neptul" | Unknown | Michael Reaves | October 31, 1981 | |
9 | "Tree of Evil" | Unknown | Michael Reaves | November 7, 1981 | |
10 | "The Air Whales of Anchar" | Unknown | Marc Scott Zicree, Michael Reaves | November 14, 1981 | |
11 | "The Overlord's Big Spell" | Unknown | Marc Scott Zicree | November 21, 1981 | |
12 | "The Crown of the Sorceress" | Unknown | Marc Scott Zicree | November 28, 1981 | |
13 | "The Zombie Masters" | Unknown | Marc Scott Zicree, Michael Reaves | December 5, 1981 |
In mid-January 2006, BCI Eclipse Entertainment acquired the rights for the series. [4]
BCI Eclipse LLC, under its Ink & Paint classic animation entertainment label, and under license from Entertainment Rights PLC, released Blackstar: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on August 22, 2006. [5] [6] The 2-disc set features all 13 original, uncut episodes of the series in story continuity order, fully restored and re-mastered for optimum audio and video quality, plus several bonus features.
On August 5, 2008, episodes were released on a DVD named Heroes and Heroines, with episodes from many series. [7]
By early 2009, this release has been discontinued and is out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations. [8]
In 2007, 3 PAL DVDs containing 2 episodes on each were released by Boulevard Entertainment in the UK, though no subsequent DVDs have been released, leaving the remaining 7 episodes unreleased, as Boulevard Entertainment went into liquidation in 2014.
Galoob produced action figures from 1983 to 1985 after the show's cancellation, attempting to tap into the He-Man boom. The first series was re-released alongside the second and third series of figures with "laser light" stone-sparking action.
While Blackstar, Klone (with his Cloud Cat disguise), and Mara were the good guy action figures, Overlord, Vizier, a Lava Loc, a Palace Guard, Kadray (which listed him as a Wizard King), and Neptul were the bad guy action figures alongside the villains Gargo (a Vampire Man), Meuton (a Wasp Man), Tongo (a Leopard Man), and White Knight (a warrior of Overlord) who did not appear in the cartoon series.
Evil characters were packaged with demons while good characters were packaged with Trobbits. Trobbits were also packaged individually with Rif, Terra, and Gossamer being the tougher ones to find.
Warlock the dragon and the Space Ship were each released in two color variations. Also released were Kadray's flying bull Triton, the Trobbit Wind Machine, and Battle Wagon. The Ice Castle was constructed with very thin plastic, making it very fragile.
In Greece, Blackstar action figures (the "laser lights" with stone-sparkling action version) were released under the name "Κυρίαρχοι του Σύμπαντος" (Masters of the Universe) by ElGreco toy company, until they were eventually phased-out by the introduction of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Two independent comic adaptations were made for the French market. One was a 3-episode series by artist Christian Gatignol (a.k.a. "Gaty") published by Éditions Vaillant in their long-running comic magazine Pif Gadget . [9] The other was a 46-page one-shot published by Éditions LUG (then the publishing house translating the bulk of Marvel Comics in French) by artist Jean-Yves Mitton, the creator of famed French super-hero Mikros . While Gatignol's version stays close to the original, Mitton went his own way with the Blackstar mythos, creating new enemies for Blackstar to fight (Antrax the coal giant, Telekrane the phantom witch), and stating that Blackstar and Mara had a romantic relationship. While Katana does not appear, she has a counterpart in Blackstar's original girl-friend from Earth, Leia, who appears in a flashback. It is also explained that Blackstar suffers partial amnesia from his crash on Sagar and had all but forgotten Leia when he started his relationship with Mara. [10]
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