Space Ghost is a fictional character created by Hanna-Barbera Productions and designed by Alex Toth for CBS in the 1960s. Space Ghost is credited with being almost single-handedly responsible for the popularity of superhero cartoons in the 60's.
In his original incarnation, he was a superhero who, with his sidekick teen helpers Jan, Jace, and Blip the monkey, fought supervillains in outer space. In the 1990s, the character was brought back as a host for his own fictional late-night talk show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. In the 2000s, he was revamped as a serious superhero once again in a mini-series by DC Comics.
Television series
Space Ghost and Dino Boy
The original series debuted in 1966, in which the "Space Ghost" segments shared time with an unrelated segment called Dino Boy in the Lost Valley. Space Ghost was voiced by Gary Owens, Tim Matheson voiced Jace (Matheson was the voice of "Jonny" in Jonny Quest, another Hanna-Barbera adventure cartoon series) and Ginny Tyler voiced Jan. Don Messick provided vocalizations for Blip. Space Ghost and his helpers fought such recurring supervillains as Moltar (voiced by Don Messick), Zorak (voiced by Don Messick), Black Widow (voiced by Ginny Tyler; the character was named the Spider Woman in seven episodes), Metallus (voiced by Ted Cassidy), Brak (voiced by Keye Luke), and Creature King (voiced by Vic Perrin). The original series comprised 42 Space Ghost and 18 Dino Boy episodes, and ended in 1968.
Space Stars
22 new Space Ghost segments appeared on Space Stars in 1981. The episodes introduced a new assortment of villains including an evil version of Space Ghost named Space Spectre (voiced by John Stephenson) who came from an alternate universe. His spaceship, the Phantom Cruiser, was also given a sleeker and more modernized look. As in the original series, Space Ghost often came to the aid of The Herculoids and vice versa. They also frequently crossed paths with the Teen Force, and it appeared that Jan and Teen Force member Kid Comet were dating as well. Gary Owens reprised his role as Space Ghost, but Tim Matheson was replaced by Steve J. Spears as the voice of Jace, Ginny Tyler was replaced by Alexandra Stewart as the voice of Jan, and Don Messick was replaced by Frank Welker as the vocal effects for Blip.
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
The character Space Ghost hosts a talk show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which began broadcasting in 1994 on Cartoon Network. One-time villains Zorak (a giant praying mantis or locust, depending on the particular episode) and Moltar (a lava creature inside a metal suit) were Space Ghost's sidekicks (with guest appearances from many other old Space Ghost villains, most notably Brak). The show, as well as the short-lived Cartoon Planet, was a spoof of late-night shows such as the Late Show with David Letterman. Celebrities interviewed by Space Ghost included Beck, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Magicians Penn and Teller, Cassandra Peterson aka Elvira, Joel Hodgson, Carrot Top, Jim Carrey, Jon Benjamin, Conan O'Brien, Thurston Moore, Pavement, Adam West, Björk, Thom Yorke, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Goldie Hawn, Timothy Leary and Mark Hamill. In this series, he is played by George Lowe.
The show relied heavily on absurd, surreal or even dadaist humour. Space Ghost Coast to Coast continued to 2004 as the oldest program on Cartoon Network's late-night comedy/action programming block, Adult Swim. The characters of Jan, Jace and Blip, Space Ghost's old sidekicks, appeared twice on the show. After approximately eight seasons, the show went into hiatus, and the writers Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro used characters they developed in an unaired episode ("Baffler Meal") to create another popular "would-be spin-off", Aqua Teen Hunger Force. After that show proved successful, Baffler Meal was animated and aired in 2003.
New episodes of Space Ghost Coast to Coast appeared on the "Animation" channel of the GameTap service, beginning on May 30, 2006. Most guests were either gaming celebrities or musicians. On May 31, 2008, the show ended when the TV section of GameTap shut down.
Actors
Three actors played Space Ghost in the three "main" Space Ghost series:
- Gary Owens (1966â€"1982, 2011) in Space Ghost, Space Stars and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
- George Lowe (1994â€"present) in Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Planet, The Brak Show, Squidbillies, Perfect Hair Forever, Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters and Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion
- Andy Merrill (1995â€"1999) in Space Ghost Coast to Coast as "Live Action Space Ghost" and Cartoon Planet as "Dancin' Space Ghost"
Comics
Space Ghost has appeared in the following comic books:
- Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes (Gold Key, 1968)
- Golden Comics Digest (Gold Key, 1969)
- TV Stars (Marvel, 1978)
- Space Ghost (Comico, 1987)
- Cartoon Network Presents (DC, 1997)
- Space Ghost (DC, 2005)
Action figures
Space Ghost's Coast to Coast version was released as an action figure by Toycom, complete with a desk and chair, a series of cue cards and a mug. Also included were several different sets of hands, allowing the figure to be used either as the talk show host or the super hero or both. The shoulders and neck were ball-jointed, with a light plastic yellow cape. A transparent variant "invisible" figure and a variant with electric "light up" powerband were also released. A repaint of this figure was used to create a Space Specter figure.
In 2012 a new Space Ghost figure was released in the Jazwares Hanna Barbera series and came with a pack-in of Blip.
References
External links
- Space Ghost at the Internet Movie Database
- Space Ghost and Dino Boy at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Space Stars at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast at the Big Cartoon DataBase
