Greetings from New Texas

Who can't forget BraveStarr, the Space Western animated series which ran from September 1987 to February 1988? He was forever battling the evil Tex Hex, and his many adventures included the apecats, his trusty sidekick Thirty/Thirty and his ability to call on spirit animals whenever he needed an extra boost.

He could invoke:

• Eyes of the Hawk
• Ears of the Wolf
• Speed of the Puma

But what of the Bear? Currently all references are to the Strength of the Bear, but many swear they remember it as the Power of the Bear.

Origin

The character has an unusual origin. His enemy, Tex Hex, was conceived by the company producing the show when they were working on their animated version of Ghostbusters. It was decided to pull this entirely from Ghostbusters and write an entirely new series around him, the problem being he was a "baddie". This meant a hero was needed - hence BraveStarr. With the two main characters in place, the setting was the only thing left to create. A space western was settled on, the desert planet New Texas in the 23rd century, 2000 light years from earth.

There were 65 episodes made and the original series ran from September 1987 to February 1988. A set of toy action figures were launched, but unfortunately Filmation, the company producing the series, shut down in 1989.

New Texas

The series was set 600 parsecs from Earth on New Texas, a planet orbiting 3 suns, which is mostly desert apart from the wetland area where the "apecats" live. BraveStarr carried a neutra-laser pistol, which he only used as a last resort, preferring a peaceful solution to any conflicts he had to resolve.

His main enemy was Stampede, who was the ringleader of a band of outlaws - a huge horned fire-breathing beast.