Wednesday Cover: Space Western!

Two great tastes that taste great together - Charlton Comics' 1952 Space Western! This book ran six issues and featured Spurs Jackson and His Space Vigilantes, who battled alien invaders, Commies and Nazis (in space)! And that's all I know - except that these covers were drawn by Stan Campbell - because I've never read an issue! Looks like fun, though!

I'm going to have to check out the public domain comics archive, Comic Book Plus, and see if I can read some of these Spurs Jackson adventures...

Out West With Bat Masterson

Still wandering the range with late-50s TV Westerns. Finished up the second season of Have Gun - Will Travel on DVD. The writing on the show is terrific and I think Richard Boone's Paladin is one of the all-time great television protagonists, but the picture quality on the official CBS discs is pretty poor, especially considering how much they charge for the sets. Still, if I can find the later seasons as inexpensively as I found S2, I'll probably pick them up.

Right now, I'm working my way through the first season of Bat Masterson, the 1958  series starring Gene Barry (Burke's Law, The War Of the Worlds) as the legendary gentleman gunslinger. Not quite as literate or innovative as Have Gun - Will Travel, it's still a really good half-hour Western, with well-written stories, great guest casts, and a charismatic, offbeat hero.

The DVDs are really nice, too - they're put out by an outfit called TGG Direct, and sport very good transfers from clean prints. Contrast is good, and the audio is clear and crisp. These are fully authorized DVDs, too, licensed from MGM. Much better looking than the Have Gun - Will Travel transfers (or the many public domain discs of old TV shows out there); they're about on a par with the Wanted Dead Or Alive discs I own. The price is extremely reasonable, too - where Have Gun - Will Travel sells for around $40 per season, Bat Masterson retails for $15 or less.

If you're into vintage TV Westerns, Bat Masterson - both the show and the DVDS from TGG Direct - comes highly recommended.

Bat Masterson Complete Season One

Bat Masterson Complete Season Two

The Cathode Ray West

As regular readers of this blog (if there are any at this point) are aware, I go through various "phases," where one genre of film or television dominates my viewing for a few weeks or - sometimes - months. I recently indulged in a late night binge of Eurospy movies from my video collection, and right now, I'm in the midst of a fascination with late Fifties TV Westerns.

I don't own a whole lot in the genre - I have the first season of Have Gun - Will Travel, the first season of Maverick, and all three seasons of Wanted Dead Or Alive on DVD. I thought I could watch more of these old Western series on Netflix Instant, but was very disappointed to discover that all they currently have available for streaming are a few Bonanza episodes - and I saw way too much Bonanza as a kid to watch it again now. So, I've been alternating between Have Gun episodes and Wanted episodes on DVD.

I wish I had all of the Have Gun - Will Travel seasons - Richard Boone's "Paladin" is one of my favorite TV characters ever - but those sets are pricey. I did find a discounted copy of the Season Two set online and recently ordered it, along with the first season set of Bat Masterson, starring Gene Barry. I've never seen Bat, but I'm a big fan of the actor, and his tongue-in-cheek detective series, Burke's Law, is one of my favorite "classic" TV crime shows. (Now that I think of it, VCI Entertainment really needs to get the remaining seasons of Burke's Law out on DVD soon....)

I hope to get the second season of Maverick when it becomes available next month, and, based on a recommendation by my pal - and Gravedigger collaborator - Rick Burchett, I'm thinking of  maybe picking up the Yancy Derringer series, which starred two-time Tarzan, Jock Mahoney, if I get a few extra bucks anytime soon. I'm a fan of the actor, and the New Orleans setting sounds promising.

So, how long will this 50's TV Western "kick" last? Who knows?