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Space Ghost is a cultural icon who dates back to the '60s. Modern audiences mostly know him from his cult-classic animated late night talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast. But his roots lie in classic Silver Age superhero storytelling thanks to the cartoon that started it all.
Now, Space Ghost is coming back into the spotlight as a superhero with his upcoming Dynamite Entertainment ongoing title from writer David Pepose, artist Jonathan Lau, colorist Andrew Dahlhouse, and letterer Taylor Esposito, which calls back to Space Ghost's action adventure roots, but in a way that's all new for modern readers.
Newsarama spoke with writer David Pepose ahead of Space Ghost's May 1 release to dig into what it's like bringing a beloved character into a new comic story, what villains and supporting characters we'll get to see, and why Space Ghost has stood the test of time.
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Newsarama: David, what was it that really connected you to Space Ghost and made you realize this was the right project for you?
David Pepose: When Dynamite first approached me about tackling Space Ghost, what drew me in was the sheer potential behind the character. This is a superhero that’s like what if Batman fought crime across the Star Wars universe — and then gave him a dazzling array of powers, an immensely likable trio of sidekicks, and the most iconic rogue’s gallery this side of Gotham City.
Created by the legendary Alex Toth, Space Ghost is a hero that’s endured because of the sheer coolness of his design — but when his cartoon first debuted in 1966, his universe was only explored in five-minute bursts, with little continuity or backstory to flesh things out. To me, Space Ghost is a character with all the ingredients of a perfect superhero — but I feel like there’s never been enough time to find out who he really is. Space Ghost’s universe felt like truly unexplored territory to me — the kind of story where a creator could really leave their mark.
It's been some time since Space Ghost has been a lead character in comics. What are your goals as you're bringing him back to his traditional superhero roots?
If you don’t know who Space Ghost is — or you only know him from his talk show host days in Space Ghost: Coast to Coast — I’m excited to show you why he’s the greatest superhero in the galaxy. Telling our story primarily across done-in-one adventures, we’re going to be exploring Space Ghost’s universe, pitting him against a gauntlet of his most classic foes, all while showing how this lonely hero evolves as he finds himself as the sole protector of a pair of teenage orphans. This is very much an ensemble book, a story of how a surrogate family came to be, with Space Ghost as the ultimate single dad — but it’s also a spacefaring epic that pits Space Ghost and his sidekicks against a cosmic conspiracy that could consume the universe. I’ve been writing it like Batman: The Long Halloween meets JJ Abrams’ Star Trek!
To me, writing Space Ghost felt like a golden opportunity to push the limits of where we could take a pure, elemental superhero story — writing this has been a different sort of animal than the work I’ve done at Marvel, because this has all the trappings of a superhero universe, but without sharing any of the toys. That can be an exhilarating but also daunting thing to wrap your head around — Space Ghost has so many iconic villains, for example, which means you have to come up with a big swing with every single issue. And meanwhile, Space Ghost and his supporting cast don’t have the kind of pre-established continuity to draw their personalities from — it’s all on us! It’s been such a gift to be able to tackle a project like that, to be able to bring all the lessons that Marvel has taught me and use them to build a universe from the ground up.
You're bringing the whole Space Ghost crew along for this story, including Jan, Jace, and even Blip the space monkey. What's it been like developing that dynamic in a modern context? What are your big touchstones for their group relationship?
I haven’t enjoyed writing a book this much since Savage Avengers, and I think a big reason for that is because of the ongoing dynamic between Space Ghost and his wards Jan, Jace, and Blip. When I was rewatching all the original episodes of Space Ghost, I was struck by how his sidekicks were such an important part of the series — whereas Batman regularly has solo adventures without Robin, having three sidekicks felt like such a pointed statement to me.
But in the original cartoon, there was no backstory to how this came to be — Space Ghost, Jan, Jace, and Blip all show up fully formed, their dynamic is already set in stone. With only five minutes of runtime in 1966, that felt like the style of the time — but that partnership felt like something that was really worth exploring to me. How do Jan and Jace find themselves caught in Space Ghost’s orbit? How does Space Ghost’s mission change now that he’s got two kids and a monkey to protect? What sort of circumstances would throw these characters together, and how could they learn and grow and change based on that?
To me, Jan and Jace are absolutely the heart and soul of our series. I wrote them as something like Dick Grayson and Babs Gordon meets Lex and Tim from Jurassic Park — they’re the same kind of point of view characters that Kitty Pryde was a generation ago in X-Men, as we first meet Space Ghost through their eyes. They’ve each got such wonderful voices and personalities to them — Jan being the thoughtful, feisty older twin, a natural sharpshooter with a blaster who isn’t afraid to tell off Space Ghost if he needs it; while Jace is the impetuous younger twin, a born mechanic and pilot whose humor and maturity level is probably closer to Blip’s. But ultimately, I think Jan, Jace, and Blip are characters who have their own tragedies that interlock with Space Ghost’s — and I think it’s their ongoing dynamic from becoming orphaned rescues to trusted sidekicks to a found family in their own right that’s my favorite part of the series.
Space Ghost has a rogues gallery that is almost as well-known as he is. What can you tell us about the baddies that he'll be facing as this series rolls on?
Real talk, I can’t wait for readers to get to experience Space Ghost’s deep bench of iconic villains — I think Space Ghost has a rogues gallery that’s every bit as stacked as Batman, Spider-Man, or the Flash. Characters like Zorak, Brak, Metallus, and the entire Council of Doom are going to be playing prominently across our run. Like Space Ghost himself, Alex Toth gave each of these villains immediately eye-catching designs that fed into their central concepts and personalities. With the additional runway that the monthly comics format provides, I saw it as a really cool opportunity to add new wrinkles to these classic supervillains, to find new and exciting ways for them to organically populate Space Ghost’s universe.
Brak, for example, always struck me as almost blue-collar in his ambitions — he wasn’t a world conqueror, he was a pirate looking to hijack the nearest gold freighter — so how could we give him a twist that speaks that opportunistic side? Whereas a villain like Metallus reminds me of equal parts of Doctor Doom, General Zod, and Bane — a grizzled tactician leading a robotic army who could absolutely put the hurt even on a hero as tenacious as Space Ghost. And Zorak, a villain who is a homicidal praying mantis — I saw him as a character with an inherently alien view of the world, and so we’ll be playing that up in a really cool way. He’s the one villain who could scare even Space Ghost — which will make for even greater stakes with Jan, Jace and Blip now in the picture. Space Ghost has such a variety of villains out there, which lets us play with such a fun variety of genres and tones — you should expect to see all his classic bad guys, plus a few deep cuts you might not see coming...
You're working with Jonathan Lau, colorist Andrew Dahlhouse, and letterer Taylor Esposito on Space Ghost. What's it been like developing that working relationship? What makes them the right team for the job?
I can’t say enough great things about working with Jonathan Lau, Andrew Dalhouse, and Taylor Esposito on this book. Jonathan has this wonderful balance to him, where he’s able to deliver these show-stopping moments of incredible superhero action — seriously, there’s a sequence in Space Ghost #2 that might be one of the most beautiful two-pagers I’ve ever been lucky enough to be a part of — before immediately switching gears to these heartfelt character moments of just watching Jan and Jace hanging out at Space Ghost’s base on the Ghost Planet. Jonathan immediately understood what I was going for with this series — Space Ghost is of course our title character, and he gets so many cool and dramatic moments to show off that amazing Alex Toth design, but Jonathan also understood that this was an ensemble book, and that Jan, Jace and Blip are just as important — everybody gets their deserved time in the spotlight here.
And Andrew and Taylor each are doing amazing work that only elevates what Jonathan and I are bringing to the table. There’s a real sense of energy on each page — Andrew bringing so much drama and mood and atmosphere to sequences like Tansut and his gang invading Space Colony Omicron, or watching Jan and Jace have one last emotional moment with their father. And Taylor honestly does the same thing for my writing — he adds such energy and even an old-school cartoony bounce to the proceedings that never lets readers forget where we came from. Honestly, I’m working with such a top-shelf team, and it just inspires us all to bring our A-game to each and every issue.
You've kept Space Ghost pretty true to his original Alex Toth design for this comic. What is it about this simple character design that's stood the test of time, even into a modern take like this?
Alex Toth was a genius, no other way to put it. I think it’s the use of contrast that really makes Space Ghost stand apart — you’ve got the black cowl, the wavy yellow cape, the ethereal white jumpsuit. It’s a simple design, but it’s one that endures, and can work with any style — Jonathan and Andrew have done such a brilliant job showcasing Space Ghost in action, while Jae Lee’s variant cover for our first issue takes an entirely different twist with the colors, showing Space Ghost’s body almost as negative space. I think having a character who largely exists in black, white, yellow, and red also pops so beautifully with the off-the-wall space settings that Space Ghost inhabits, that you find your eyes immediately drawn to it. There’s a reason why Space Ghost has survived nearly 60 years, and I’d say that Alex Toth’s design was a chief factor.
Space Ghost is a classic Silver Age character who hasn't really had a big comic book moment in a long time. What do you want to tell fans who have been waiting to see Space Ghost take the spotlight again, as well as those who will be seeing him in this context for the first time?
To me, Space Ghost feels like a cultural icon whose time in the spotlight has finally come. There’s an entire generation who doesn’t know who he is in this context, but I think that makes for the perfect launchpad to bring this character back to his roots, to bring the incredible energy and vibes of the original Hanna-Barbera cartoon and recapture them through the lens of modern-day storytelling. We’ve designed this series to be a perfect jumping-on point for newcomers and diehard fans alike — you don’t need to do any readings or viewings to get into our series, because we’ve already done all the homework for you. (Laughs)
But in all seriousness, a book like Space Ghost is a dream project for creators like me — this is a series where our partners at Dynamite and Warner Bros. haven’t just allowed us to cut loose, but have actively encouraged us to do so. This series is my big swing for 2024, and I couldn’t be more excited for readers to see what we’ve got planned. To me, Space Ghost isn’t just any superhero, but the perfect superhero — and we’re telling the kind of epic, character-driven story that feels like the sorts of comics I fell in love with as a kid. So tell your local comics shop that you want them to add Space Ghost to your pull list — because we plan to show you why he’s the greatest superhero in the galaxy.
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