Comics Review: "SPACE GHOST #6" Burns Like a Wildfire

SPACE GHOST VOL. 1 #6

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: David Pepose

ART: Jonathan Lau

COLORS: Andrew Dalhouse

LETTERS: Taylor Esposito

EDITOR: Joseph Rybandt

COVER: Francesco Mattina

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jae Lee with June Chung; Bjorn Barends; Anthony Marques and J. Bone

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (October 2024)

Rated “Teen”

“Two Against Moltar!”

Space Ghost is a superhero character created by the American animation studio and production company, Hanna-Barbera Productions.  The character first appeared in the Saturday morning cartoon series, “Space Ghost,” which was originally broadcast on CBS from September 1966 to September 1967 for 20 episodes.

In his original incarnation, Space Ghost was a superhero whose base of operations was a small world known as “Ghost Planet.”  He fought super-villains in outer space with his teen sidekicks, Jan and Jace, and their monkey, Blip.  His main weapons were power bands he wore around his wrists and lower arms; the bands fired off multiple energy beam-based attacks, including heat, cold, and force, to name a few.  Space Ghost could also fly, survive in space, and turn invisible (his “Inviso Power”).  He also had a space ship known as “the Phantom Cruiser.”

Space Ghost sporadically appeared in various comic book publications over a fifty year period.  Dynamite Entertainment has just launched a new Space Ghost comic book as part of its licensing agreement with Warner Bros.  Entitled Space Ghost Volume 1, it is written by David Pepose; drawn by Jonathan Lau; colored by Andrew Dalhouse; and lettered by Taylor Esposito.  In the new series, twins Jan and Jace Keplar and their pet monkey, Blip, meet that legendary cosmic vigilante known as “the Space Ghost.”

Space Ghost Volume 1 #6 (“Two Against Moltar!”) opens in the wake of the events in Zorak's lair on Grax-3.  Jace feels mentally shattered by the tough choice he had to make in that battle with religious zealot.  Now, Space Ghost and Jan fight as a duo, while Jace has decided that he no longer wants to be in on the action and violence.

Meanwhile, Robo-Corp is working hard to keep the forces of the Galactic Federation busy and distracted.  To that end, Robo-Corp's CEO, Doctor Xander Ibal, has decided to assist their heaviest hitter, Moltar, in his quest for vengeance against Contra Industries.  That Moltar's attack on Contra can gain Ibal access  to “Lucidium crystals” is an unexpected bonus.  Will Space Ghost and Jan alone be enough to stop the fiery, molten insanity of Moltar?

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  Space Ghost Volume 1 #6 is the latest.

Writer David Pepose and artist Jonathan Lau are creating a true heir to Hanna-Barbera's original “Space Ghost” television series.  They have fashioned a kind of sci-fi, outer space, Film-Noir sensibility to add to the original production's moody and ominous atmosphere.  Pepose and Lau have brought freshness and newness to Space Ghost without resorting to a reboot.  There are no dark and gritty theatrics of the kind that have plagued modern comic books ever since Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen made the industry's balls drop nearly four decades ago.

Space Ghost #6 is a special issue because the authors have seriously considered the trials and tribulations of a child soldier without turning Space Ghost into an episode of “Frontline.”  This issue brings some threads from the first story arc to a close, nicely, I must say.  As usual, Andrew Dalhouse's lovely colors add the perfect moody haunted tones, and letterer Taylor Esposito once again adds the fuel to make it all burn, baby, burn.

I'm having a blast reading Space Ghost Volume 1, dear readers.  I want this for you, too.  This Space Ghost is super, man.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Dynamite Entertainment's Warner Bros. comic book series will want to read Space Ghost Volume 1.

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Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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