Mere space vacuum and lack of oxygen wasn’t going to stop the Western from venturing out into the universe. In the 1980s, there were a handful of science fiction western cartoons in TV land, The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers most notable among them.

It was a combination of space opera and western themes, produced for American audiences but animated in Japan and of much higher quality than similar series. It only ran for a single season of 65 episodes but—in the finest tradition of Japanese anime—managed to create a complicated and multi-level back-story and introduce dozens of characters.

In the 21st century, Earth allies itself with a few other planets against the expansionist Crown Empire and as a result receives advanced technology that enables them to colonize the stars. Most of the new worlds are agricultural in nature, with a distinct Old West flavor to them and the Galaxy Rangers are charged with keeping law and order in the frontier. In addition to their patrol duties, the Rangers are an elite force, enhanced by special bionic implants that give them super powers, which fight against the evil Crown Empire and its Queen. The Galaxy Rangers can activate their bionics by pressing the badges they wear on their chests. Though not often seen in the series, the Rangers ride cybersteeds, robotic horses with Artificial Intelligence.

The four Galaxy Rangers are a motley bunch led by Captain Zachary Foxx, a seasoned officer who was grievously injured in battle and received bionic replacements for the left side of his body. Shane “Goose” Gooseman is a genetically engineered super soldier—a Supertrooper—who was part of a disastrous experiment that turned all the other super soldiers into psychopathic criminals. Goose is the only good, compassionate one left and works hard at apprehending the Supertroopers still at large. Doc Hartford is a computer genius who has a special touch with software, using his implant to interface and manipulate various pieces of technology. Last but not least, Niko is a beautiful alien archeologist with amazing telepathic, telekinetic and clairvoyant powers; she and Goose seem to be sweet on each other. Ah, mutant bionic love.

The villains of the piece are a truly sinister bunch. The Queen of the Crown telepathically controls Slaverlords who in turn control the Empire for her. Slaverlords are real party-poopers, literally sucking the life force out of a room: psychocrystals that rip and trap a being’s energy power the slaverlords and the Queen needs a vast supply of hapless victims to run her empire. As (bad) luck would have it, humans turn out to have the best life juice, so the Queen and her minions are salivating at the chance to abduct and drain citizens of Earth. That very fate befalls Zachary Foxx’s wife, who disappears into the Queen’s crypt and is never seen again.

There are many other characters populating this universe. Waldo and Zozo are two friendly alien ambassadors with wildly different personalities; Captain Kidd is a sometimes menacing, but mostly bumbling pirate; Buzzwang is not only an android but can also breakdance—thank goodness he’s on the side of good.

The episodes were unfortunately shown out of sequence, creating continual confusion as to plot development. Broadcasters need to learn that kids have no trouble following complex story lines and long plot arcs when robot horses and bionic implants are involved.