Blackstar (TV series)

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Blackstar
BlackStarPoster.jpg
Blackstar promotional poster
Voices of George DiCenzo
Linda Gary
Alan Oppenheimer
Patrick Pinney
Frank Welker
ComposersYvette Blais
Jeff Michael
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes13
Production
Producers Norm Prescott
Lou Scheimer
Running time~21 minutes
Production company Filmation
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseSeptember 12 (1981-09-12) 
December 5, 1981 (1981-12-05)

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.

Contents

Story

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 Warlock, and Mara the Enchantress. Blackstar and his allies oppose the Overlord, who seeks to take over Sagar. [3]

Future Earth

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.

Planet Sagar

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

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's two halves

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.

Blackstar's fate

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.

Characters

Main

Villains

Supporting and minor

Locations

Among the identified locations on Sagar are:

Broadcast

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.

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Search for the Starsword" Gwen Wetzler Tom Ruegger September 12, 1981 (1981-09-12)
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 (1981-09-19)
3"The Lord of Time"Unknown Marc Scott Zicree September 26, 1981 (1981-09-26)
4"The Mermaid of Serpent Sea"UnknownTom RueggerOctober 3, 1981 (1981-10-03)
5"The Quest"UnknownStory by: Martin Pasko
Teleplay by: Robby London
October 10, 1981 (1981-10-10)
6"Spacewrecked"UnknownTom RueggerOctober 17, 1981 (1981-10-17)
7"Lightning City of the Clouds"UnknownTom RueggerOctober 24, 1981 (1981-10-24)
8"Kingdom of Neptul"UnknownMichael ReavesOctober 31, 1981 (1981-10-31)
9"Tree of Evil"UnknownMichael ReavesNovember 7, 1981 (1981-11-07)
10"The Air Whales of Anchar"UnknownMarc Scott Zicree, Michael ReavesNovember 14, 1981 (1981-11-14)
11"The Overlord's Big Spell"UnknownMarc Scott ZicreeNovember 21, 1981 (1981-11-21)
12"The Crown of the Sorceress"UnknownMarc Scott ZicreeNovember 28, 1981 (1981-11-28)
13"The Zombie Masters"UnknownMarc Scott Zicree, Michael ReavesDecember 5, 1981 (1981-12-05)

Home video release

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.

Merchandise

Toys

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. 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 Triton, Kadray's flying bull, 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.

Comics

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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References

  1. David Perlmutter (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 84. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. Don Markstein. "Blackstar". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  3. Hal Erickson (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 145–146. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  4. Gord Lacey (January 23, 2006). "Blackstar among BCI's acquisitions". TV Shows on DVD. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  5. "Blackstar DVD news: John Blackstar Gains The Star Sword This August With New Filmation DVD Release!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. June 22, 2006. Archived from the original on November 4, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  6. "The Complete Series". TV Shows on DVD. August 22, 2006. Archived from the original on January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  7. "Heroes and Heroines". TV Shows on DVD. August 5, 2008. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  8. "Site News DVD news: Navarre shutters BCI Eclipse division". TVShowsOnDVD.com. December 18, 2008. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  9. "Blackstar comics by French artist Gaty". Lambiek.net. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  10. "Blackstar comic by French artist Jean-Yves Mitton". Nightstoneunlimited.com. Retrieved June 22, 2012.