Western genre in other media
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The Western genre in other media is application of the Western genre to diverse other media.
Westerns have branched out in other forms of media, most notably as either straight western stories (as featured here), or western-horror hybrids, the latter of which have been done only a limited number of times on film, but much more in other media, and are dealt with under the general heading Weird West.
[edit] Comics
In comics, the western has been done straight, as in the classic comics of the lates forties and early fifties, featuring such revisionist (for the time) characters such as Pow-Wow Smith, and the more mainstream Hopalong Cassidy [1].
In modern times, the western comic has been done in a more Weird West fashion, usually involving supernatural horror, as can be seen in such comics as Jeff Mariottes's Desperadoes series, the one-off graphic novel, The Wicked West, or the more name-brand Jonah Hex from DC Comics.
Examples include:
- All-Star Western
- Bat Lash
- Hopalong Cassidy
- The Kents
- Loveless
- Captain Miki
- Pow-Wow Smith
- Tex Willer
- Trigger Twins
[edit] Games
In games the western has started to take a more modern root as well, shifting away from the simple make-believe and cap-guns of yesteryear and into the realms of modern video- and Paper and pencil games. These too are often done either straight, or mixed, using the western-horror motif (covered in more detail in the Weird West entry).
The classic computer game, The Oregon Trail, is a western where in history is preserved as much as it can be for a medium in which interactivity is a requirement. In the game the character travels to California across the famous route that so many others took west, battling cold nights, dwindling supplies, and dysentery as opposed to the more fanciful vampires and undead ghouls of other games.
Another modern western game, Neversoft's GUN, also tries to tell a serious, straight western story. During the course of the game which contains a few Spaghetti-western tropes, the character engages in many historical missions, such as protecting Chinese rail-workers laying track, or joining with Clay Allison and his band of freedom fighters. Many minor details have even been included, such as sod homes and brass brothel tokens, all to add to the realism.
Examples include:
- Call of Juarez
- Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
- GUN
- Outlaws
- The Oregon Trail
- Wanted: A Wild Western Adventure [2]
- Western Outlaw: Wanted Dead or Alive [3]
