Space Western Analysis
Jackson Oakey Blevins Science Fiction 10 April 2017
Understanding Space Westrens
Different types of science fiction subgenres have sprung up and dwindled down throughout recent times. One specific example of this is Space Westerns. space Westerns use the themes and tropes of Westerns within science fiction stories while taking place in space. These influences can include subtle things like the exploration of lawless frontiers, or the more extreme side with space cowboys riding robot horses and shooting ray guns. The origin of this sub genre can be traced back to late 1920s and early 1930s space opera comic strips such as Buck Rogers. When superhero comics declined in popularity in 1940s America, Western comics and horror comics replaced them. Horror comics became untenable in the mid-1950s and science fiction themes and space Westerns grew more popular as a result and have continued to keep growing. This is thanks to works like Firefly and Star Trek along with others that borrow space Western type characters such as Star Wars. When exploring what it means for a work to be a space Western is important to look at a variety of literature and film whether it be influences or actual space Westerns. Prime examples to …show more content…
Moore created one of the first space Western characters NorthWest Smith. She wrote nine short stories that include NorthWest and the strange events that happen to him. While every story is separate from one another, they all share a similar theme of the mixture of light and dark. For example, in the story Shambleau Smith saves a strange woman, from a group of people trying to hunt her. He takes her back to where he was staying and tells her that she can stay there until he leaves. Smith awakens in the night to see the lady taking her turban off, revealing herself to be a Medusa like creature. He makes eye contact with her, causing him to be too afraid to move. Her wormlike hair starts to enclose him and the experience is
Understanding Space Westrens
Different types of science fiction subgenres have sprung up and dwindled down throughout recent times. One specific example of this is Space Westerns. space Westerns use the themes and tropes of Westerns within science fiction stories while taking place in space. These influences can include subtle things like the exploration of lawless frontiers, or the more extreme side with space cowboys riding robot horses and shooting ray guns. The origin of this sub genre can be traced back to late 1920s and early 1930s space opera comic strips such as Buck Rogers. When superhero comics declined in popularity in 1940s America, Western comics and horror comics replaced them. Horror comics became untenable in the mid-1950s and science fiction themes and space Westerns grew more popular as a result and have continued to keep growing. This is thanks to works like Firefly and Star Trek along with others that borrow space Western type characters such as Star Wars. When exploring what it means for a work to be a space Western is important to look at a variety of literature and film whether it be influences or actual space Westerns. Prime examples to …show more content…
Moore created one of the first space Western characters NorthWest Smith. She wrote nine short stories that include NorthWest and the strange events that happen to him. While every story is separate from one another, they all share a similar theme of the mixture of light and dark. For example, in the story Shambleau Smith saves a strange woman, from a group of people trying to hunt her. He takes her back to where he was staying and tells her that she can stay there until he leaves. Smith awakens in the night to see the lady taking her turban off, revealing herself to be a Medusa like creature. He makes eye contact with her, causing him to be too afraid to move. Her wormlike hair starts to enclose him and the experience is