Like a lot of people my age, my first introduction to Space Ghost was through the Coast to Coast late night talk show on Cartoon Network. Shortly after that began airing, they started to rerun the classic Space Ghost action cartoon shorts from 1966 (or, at least, I began to notice them). Although I loved Space Ghost as a comedian, I found him much more enjoyable as an actual intergalactic superhero. Jan, Jace and Blip were annoying as crap, but they’re not why I watched the show. Space Ghost had a really well-rounded rogues gallery, a great character design (thanks to comic book artist Alex Toth, no less), awesome superpowers and a sweet theme song.

Space Ghost-himself was voiced by none other than Gary Owens. You might recall him as the voice of Blue Falcon from the Dyno-Mutt show, Commander Feral from Swat Kats, Powdered Toastman from the Ren & Stimpy Show or even as the voice of 1960’s era Batman from the “Legends of the Dark Knight” episode of the New Batman Adventures. He’s known for having this commanding yet humorously heroic voice. He’s one of my favorites and the fact that he voiced Space Ghost made it all the cooler.

As far as plot goes, there isn’t much of one to speak of (these were 6-minute shorts, after all). Space Ghost is an outer space policeman who dwells on Ghost Planet with his sidekicks Jan (the girl), Jace (the boy) and Blip (the monkey). They fly around in the Phantom Cruiser, battling evil-doers like Zorak, Moltor, Brak, the Spider-Woman, Metallus, the Creature King, Tansut and numerous others. Space Ghost’s superpowers include the ability to turn invisible thanks to his inviso-belt, flight (by some unknown means) and his trademark power bands. The power bands give him the ability to shoot various destructive rays, like a heat ray or a freeze beam etc. He can combine the rays to create new effects and so-on.

There were 42 episodes of the original Space Ghost cartoon from 1966, as well as 22 episodes of the New Space Ghost produced in 1981. For whatever reason, Hanna Barbara has not seen fit to release the series in a box set, like they have most of their other flagship cartoons. Yet, thanks to the miracle of You Tube, I have managed to find a bunch of episodes for a recreational nostalgic marathon.

Episode #1: “The Ovens of Moltor”

Watch It!

The villainous Moltor has just completed a process to create a legion of Mighty Molten Men. He unleashes his first Molten Man on the unsuspecting Jan and Jace. The pair call for back-up from Space Ghost who arrives without delay. A short battle ensues and Jan and Jace are taken prisoner by Moltor. Space Ghost defeats the Molten Men and comes to the rescue. As soon as he arrives in Moltor’s lair, Moltor traps them in a tremendous oven. Space Ghost uses his power bands to blast out of the oven and the group escapes just as the asteroid lair explodes. It would seem that by blasting a hole in the oven, the ventilation caused such a rapid change in temperature the ovens could not withstand it and detonated.

One thing I never quite got about Space Ghost was that the villains almost always survived certain death. Now, I realize that’s a comic book cliché and I shouldn’t be perplexed by it, but it was different with Space Ghost. In Space Ghost, when the villains died, they really died. Hell, I remember one episode that ended with Brak being eaten by a school of space piranha. Yet he still managed to come back relatively unscathed. Another thing you might notice about this episode is that Moltor is wearing a yellow and white get-up. He’s most commonly recognized for his red and grey duds, which he wears in every appearance after this one.

Episode #4: “Space Armada”

Watch It!

Metallus invites his foe, Space Ghost, to come onboard his Man-of-War and see his latest plot to conquer the galaxy. Metallus introduces Space Ghost to his unstoppable Metal Men: robots that can out-think and out-maneuver any ship in the galaxy. He threatens to unleash them in one hour. Space Ghost takes on the Metal Men but is held at bay by their extreme numbers. Meanwhile, Jan, Jace and Blip sneak onboard the Man-of-War to try and sabotage Metallus’ plans. Metallus gets the drop on them and holds the two teenagers hostage. Blip sneaks past him and grabs a de-lube gun. He squirts Metallus with the de-lube gun, freezing the cyborg’s lubricant and rendering him paralyzed. The Metal Men are then called off and Space Ghost leaves Metallus to be picked up by the Galactic Patrol.

What was Metallus thinking? I mean, I know that supervillains are compelled to explain their devious schemes to the enemy before they enact them, but Metallus goes just short of inviting Space Ghost to a barbeque. And I’ve never even heard of “de-lube”, though it is rather convenient that there was one right behind Metallus, who just happened to *not* notice the monkey hanging around the two invisible teenagers. The Metal Men weren’t all they were cracked up to be, either, as Space Ghost obliterates them with relative ease.

Episode #7: “The Robot Master”

Watch It!

Metallus is back and this time he isn’t screwing around. Metallus unleashes a full-blown invasion on Ghost Planet, as his horde of robot spaceships tear the planet apart. Jan, Jace and Blip narrowly escape as Metallus takes over the command center. Space Ghost arrives and fights his way through a swarm of robot spacecraft. Space Ghost and his sidekicks get the drop on Metallus, who manages to hold them at bay with his ray gun. Blip sneaks up behind him, lifts Metallus’ head off his shoulders and drops a grenade down his gaping neck-hole (holy shit!). Somehow the explosion doesn’t kill Metallus, who tries to escape. Space Ghost captures Metallus and whisks him off to prison.

That is twice in a row Metallus has been defeated by a monkey in a space suit. He really isn’t fairing too well. The concept of the episode was pretty cool, with Metallus just all-out attacking the Ghost Planet with thousands of space ships. No more of that Bond villain crap like in his last appearance. Too bad he only seizes command for a total of 2 minutes.

Episode #9: “The Creature King”

Watch It!

Jan, Jace and Blip are out on patrol when their vehicle has a reactor failure. They crash-land on a bizarre planet filled with strange monsters. They call for help from Space Ghost but are quickly taken prisoner by a fleet of giant bat-monsters. The bats take them to the lair of the Creature King, a little green gnome-thing who has mental control over all the beasts on the planet. He intends to use them to conquer other worlds. Space Ghost arrives just in the nick of time but the Creature King threatens to unleash all the planet’s monsters on them. Blip brains the Creature King over the head with his flight pack, causing him to lose his mental control over the animals. A giant bat then swoops down and carries the Creature King off for reasons unknown. The heroes then depart as Jan and Jace bicker over whose fault the crash-landing was.

Yeah! Take THAT women-drivers! I’m sure the humor was more relevant in 1966. The Creature King managed to make a number of appearances in the series, even joining the Council of Doom for the finale. Oddly enough, when the Council of Doom appeared on Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the Creature King was absent. Honestly, I never liked the guy, anyway. Probably my least favorite of the returning villains.

Episode #14: “The Looters”

Watch It!

The marauding space pirate, Brak, attacks a gold shipment with sleeping gas missiles and makes off with the loot. Jan, Jace and Blip are vacationing on a tropical planet when they get the word about the heist from Space Ghost. By happenstance, Brak lands his ship on the tropical planet and unloads his ill-gotten booty in the caverns below. Jan and Blip investigate and Jan is taken prisoner. Brak orders her execution, but before she can be killed, Space Ghost and Jace arrive (Jace having called Space Ghost in). Brak and his minion man a pair of ray cannons and blast the crap out of Space Ghost. Jace then uses the sleeping gas on Brak’s minion to weaken their offensive. Space Ghost then uses his destroyer ray on Brak, causing the cavern to cave-in. The heroes escape just as Brak and his stolen gold are buried underneath tons of rubble.

Brak almost always had the most gruesome deaths at the end of his episodes. I already mentioned that he got eaten by space piranha in one episode, but here he gets buried alive. Yet somehow he always seemed to come back. Space Ghost was a pretty hardcore superhero, now that I think about it. I mean, he used his destroyer ray to try and kill Brak and then left him for dead under tons of rubble without even trying to dig him out. And people think Superman is a dick.

Episode #16: “The Challenge”

Watch It!

Zorak has returned and with a new devious scheme. He has created a robot called Titanor, with all of Space Ghost’s powers amplified. Zorak issues a challenge to Space Ghost: should he defeat Titanor, Zorak will disappear forever, but should Titanor win, Space Ghost must vanish. Space Ghost heads to Zorak’s lair to meet the threat, but is quickly hammered into crap by Titanor. Jan, Jace and Blip think something is amiss and sneak into the control room. They discover that, at some point, Zorak had switched out Space Ghost’s real power bands with fake ones, diminishing Space Ghost’s strength. The sidekicks retrieve the power bands and return them to Space Ghost. Space Ghost makes short work of Titanor with his pile-driver ray, but before he can arrest Zorak, the evil mantis escapes.

Finally, a Zorak episode. Watching Titanor pound on Space Ghost is hilarious, especially since he cartoonishly drives him into the ground like a nail. I had forgotten that Zorak was voiced by Don Messick, AKA Scooby Doo. Good to see a villain actually escape for a change, instead of being killed or arrested. But I guess that’s what makes Zorak Space Ghost’s arch foe.

Episode #17: “Hi-Jackers”

Watch It!

Jan and Jace spot Tansut and his crew raiding a space freighter. They follow him to his hide-out but are quickly captured. They call for help from Space Ghost, but before he can respond, the Phantom Cruiser is pelted by meteors. Now on their own, Jan, Jace and Blip have to escape Tansut’s clutches. Blip sneaks through the bars of their jail cell and beats the ever-living crap out of the guard. Now free, Jan and Jace use their wits to detain all of Tansut’s associates. Tansut then takes matters into his own hands and fires upon the sidekicks in his hover-thing. Space Ghost finally arrives and blasts Tansut’s vehicle, sending the villain spiraling into the Death Mists, a place where apparently no one has ever returned from. Space Ghost compliments the trio on their teamwork in his absence, as Jace tows the damaged Phantom Cruiser back to Ghost Planet.

A spotlight on Jan, Jace and Blip, showing that they’re more than just hostages. Pretty good in that regard. I used to make fun of Blip, but after watching these episodes, I have to say he’s pretty hardcore. I mean, the little chimp throws hand grenades at villains, belts them upside the head with his jetpack or crushes their skulls in doorways. He’s a killing machine! Also of note, is that while Tansut only appeared in one episode of Space Ghost, he was in just about every episode of Coast to Coast. He was the unseen narrator (the guy who sounded like an old man).

So that’s it for now. What I really want to track down is the 6-episode series finale featuring the Council of Doom. Not only did that arc pit Space Ghost against all his deadliest foes, but it was a massive cross-over special, to boot. Space Ghost and his sidekicks were teamed up with the Herculoids, Shazzan, Mightor, Dino Boy and Moby Dick. It was awesome.

If you still need a Space Ghost fix, try picking up the trade paperback of the recent DC comic or even the DVD season sets of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. And if you’re interested in the history of the character be sure to check out the Original Space Ghost FAQ, an exhaustive source of Space Ghost info.

I still vividly remember my first viewing of “Pryde of the X-Men”. At the time, my only experience with the animated X-Men was the Saban series, and with trade paperbacks not quite as frequent as they are now, my only exposure to the characters were the ones featured in the comics at the moment. So when I first saw this animated video, I was a fair bit disoriented (I was, like, 8 years old, anyway). My mom rented the VHS cassette from Blockbusters and copied it onto a blank Beta cassette for me. However, some copy protection thingamajig got in the way, and as a result, the cartoon would periodically turn black & white. A very strange way to view the cartoon, but never-the-less, I adored the thing and watched it ceaselessly. Eventually, I had all the lines memorized.

Pryde of the X-Men was produced in 1989 as a pilot for an X-Men animated series that never got picked up. Other Marvel Comics cartoons of the time, such as Spider-Man & his Amazing Friends and the New Fantastic Four, had already run their course and interest in Marvel Comics animation was supposedly lacking. It’s uncertain whether it was intended to take place in the same animated universe as Amazing Friends and the New FF. The animation for the pilot was produced by Toei Studios in Japan, who also did several episodes of the two aforementioned cartoons. The X-Men and Juggernaut had appeared in the Amazing Friends episode “A Firestar is Born”, and though they had different voice actors, a few consistencies in their types of voices remained. Most notable is Wolverine’s inexplicable Australian accent. I’ll never understand what was up with that. Meanwhile, Magneto had appeared in the New Fantastic Four, though he was presented as a really corny villain whose superpowers were finite and eventually ran-out by the episode’s end, allowing him to be arrested. He also appeared in Amazing Friends where he was once again defeated and sent to prison. At the beginning of this video, Magneto is being sprung from his prison convoy by the White Queen. Does this mean it’s all one big happy universe? Who knows? Food for thought, though.

The story opens with a quick narration from Stan Lee-himself, explaining to us what Mutants, X-Men and Magnetos are. We then see a heavily armored military convoy carting an imprisoned Magneto (the master of magnetism) across a desert highway. The White Queen pops up and uses her mental powers and energy bolts (what the…?) to break Magneto free. At Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, timid new student Kitty Pryde (who can phase through solid matter) arrives at the request of the headmaster, Professor Charles Xavier (the world’s most powerful telepath), and wastes no time freaking out. Professor X then introduces her to the X-Men: Cyclops (who can shoot optic blasts from his eyes), Wolverine (who has razor-sharp adamantium claws), Dazzler (who can turn sound into energy bolts), Storm (who can control the weather), Colossus (who can turn his body into organic steel) and Nightcrawler (who can teleport). No sooner do they all get acquainted, the X-Men are summoned by an alarm to deal with some mutant mayhem at a nearby observatory.

While the X-Men are off at the observatory, dealing with the likes of Pyro and the Blob (who are after the coordinates to the Scorpio comet), Magneto and the unstoppable Juggernaut attack the mansion. They break through the defenses and Professor X, using his telepathy, discovers that Magneto is after Cerebro’s mutant tracking circuit. Juggernaut and Magneto make short work of Kitty and the Professor, stealing the circuit and returning to Asteroid M. Asteroid M is the home base of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists (that’s right, “terrorists”): the White Queen (a psychic who can shoot energy from her hands now, apparently), Juggernaut (the unstoppable behemoth), Pyro (who can control fire), the Blob (the immovable fat man), the Toad (who can leap great distances…wow, he sucks) and their itty bitty punching bag, Lockheed (the adorable dragon-thing). Magneto has Toad install the circuit in a device he had built and uses his own power to summon the comet Scorpio onto a collision course with Earth. He intends to use the mass destruction to weed-out the weak (humans), allowing only the strong (mutants) to survive. This plan cannot fail.

The X-Men catch wind of this after they dig the Professor out of the rubble and head out for Asteroid M on their aircraft, the Blackbird. Kitty tags along, much to the Professor’s chagrin, and imposes her help upon the team. The X-Men infiltrate the Asteroid and each member is gradually distracted by one-on-one combat with a member of the Brotherhood. Some even defeat their enemy in a matter of seconds and then just stand around like they have nothing better to do (I’m looking at you, Wolverine). Eventually, only Nightcrawler and Kitty are left to face Magneto. With some fancy teamwork, they manage to redirect the course of Scorpio into Asteroid M. Magneto and the Brotherhood escape and the X-Men retreat, though Nightcrawler is left behind. Just as the Asteroid explodes, Nightcrawler teleports into space where he begins to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. The X-Men attempt to rescue him, but he appears to disintegrate. Just as everyone begins blubbering over Nightcrawler’s demise, he bursts out of a locker on the Blackbird, smoking. The X-Men then celebrate another victory, though Stan Lee tells us that the Brotherhood will be back (Oh No!). Oh, and Lockheed defects to the X-Men.

Pretty cut and dry Saturday Morning Cartoon schlock, isn’t it? The writers don’t really win any points for the plot, but to their credit, this was just the pilot, meant to introduce the audience to the characters and their universe as quickly as possible. Probably the one bit of writing that stands out is the dialogue, which can be rather clever in an “action movie” sort of way. There are a few mischaracterizations here and there. Since when can the White Queen shoot energy out of her hands? Also, Wolverine is uncharacteristically bitter towards Kitty, whom he’s usually shown to be good buddies with in the comics. Lockheed being with the Brotherhood is pretty random, as well.

The voice acting for this video is excellent, for the most part. The one voice everyone always remembers is Neil Ross as Wolverine. I will concede that the random Australian accent (Wolverine is Canadian!) is really bad and sucks the “cool” right out of the character. Michael Bell, better known as Duke from G.I. Joe, is casting perfection as Cyclops. He plays the Mr. Perfect leader-type magnificently. Cartoon legend Frank Welker voices Toad and Lockheed, channeling a Peter Lorre impression of some kind for the leaping villain and doing various hisses and grunts for the dragon. In a bit of irony, John Stephenson (Mr. Slate from the Flintstones) voices Professor X, though he had previously been the voice of Magneto in the New Fantastic Four. Pat Fraley stands out as the Aussie flamethrower, Pyro. You might remember him as Krang and Baxter Stockman from the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Then there’s Kath Soucie (Fifi from Tiny Toon Adventures, Phil & Lil from Rugrats) as Kitty Pryde, and she plays the role rather admirably.

What really stands out about Pryde of the X-Men is the animation, produced by the Japanese studio, Toei, who are known for Devilman, Sailor Moon, Transformers, Dragonball Z, One Piece, G.I. Joe and tons more. The animation is very high-quality; smooth and detailed with a lot of fluid and natural character movements. The fight scenes are done exceptionally well, too. Toad actually manages to kick a little ass, if you can believe that.

There’s a truly awful theme song included before the episode which should really just be forgotten. “Magneto’s hordes are on the way to pillage, burn and plunder! But there’s one team that will not yield: the team that strikes like thunder! X-Men! X-Men! Save the day! Save the day! X-Men! X-Men! Coming your way!” It makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

As cheesy as it all is, it’s worth seeking out if you’re a big fan of the classic Chris Claremont/John Byrne era of the Uncanny X-Men. The cast is selected from that time period, as are their outfits, and it’s all rather nostalgic. It has a fun post-Silver Age feel to it and, while occasionally violent, isn’t nearly as painfully dark as the Saban series could get. I picked up a copy of the VHS cassette off eBay for $2 bucks, and I bet you can find this thing on the internet for free by “other means”. It’s a fun little time-killer with some great animation and occasionally impressive voice-overs, even if the story tends to make the little sense and goes by in a flash.

Sam Kieth’s the Maxx remains my all-time favorite comic book run: 35 issues of some of the most emotionally-charged, intriguing characters and stories I’ve ever read, which were anything but the standard superhero formula. As a matter of fact, I would debate whether one can even qualify the Maxx as a superhero title at all, seeing as the only thing he shares in common with the superpowered crimefighters is a gaudy costume.

The Maxx: the animated series, run during Mtv’s “Oddities” block (along with “The Head”) was pretty much the Maxx comic book brought to vivid life, panel-for-panel. The cartoon so strictly adhered to the source material that it even went so far as to use actual artwork taken directly from the book itself, using various animation techniques to breath life into the static art. Indeed, the only moments in which the cartoon compromised accuracy was in situations involving copyright issues (like cameos from Pitt or the Savage Dragon and Mako) or where moments of additional humor were needed.

But before I continue to get ahead of myself, let me try my very best to break down the story of the Maxx for you. The Maxx is a bum who lives in a cardboard box in a dank alleyway. He wears an irremovable purple costume with big yellow claws and likes to think he is a superhero. However, in reality, he is nothing but a homeless loser who screws everything up and never actually fights crime. In his dreams, however, he roams the Outback, an astral plane where he battles wild monsters all to protect the safety of the Jungle Queen. But eventually he always awakens back in his smelly cardboard box, just the same old Maxx.

And that’s only for the first few episodes. Things change quickly with the Maxx, as characters discover more about themselves and their own personal inner-workings. It’s only a superhero/supervillain story for the first episode, which was really just the bait. The superhero action lures the audience in while the following episodes keep them hooked with emotional depth and strength of story.

His social worker, Julie Winters, is the only one who cares for him, but even her patience is limited. In reality, she is the Jungle Queen the Maxx dreams of; her inner self’s subconscious form. Complicating matters is the mysterious Mr. Gone, a serial rapist who knows the histories behind Julie and Maxx and what incident first brought them together, though neither can seem to remember what that is. Gone wishes to help Julie and Maxx learn of their origins, as he has an emotional investment in both characters, though his methods of making them remember isn’t always the most subtle. Then there’s Sarah, a nerdy average teenage girl who feels she isn’t special in anyway. Julie acts as her therapist, trying to help her work through her troubled family life. But what Sarah doesn’t know is that she’s deeply connected to Julie, the Maxx and even Mr. Gone in ways she can’t possibly imagine.

The animated series only lasted long enough to adapt the first 11 issues of the series and thus had to create an ending which wasn’t present in the comics (the Maxx’s own personal Outback and identity as revealed in the show are nothing like in the comics). Yet, even though it only gets through less than a third of the total story, what you have is one of the strongest arcs in the entire run of the comic and manages to hold together all on its own. Unfortunately, not all the answers are revealed in the show itself, but if you’re really interested, Wildstorm has released the entire 35-issue run of the series in trade paperback form. I can’t recommend them enough.

I like Batman, I like Spawn, I like the Ninja Turtles…but I don’t like them the same way I do the characters in the Maxx. They feel like real people. There are no cosmic battles or doomsday scenarios; every conflict takes place within the personal life of the character with the consequences sometimes coming down only to the loss or revelation of memories. The characters, as bizarre as they appear, are so incredibly human you can’t help but identify with them all in a way. I hate speaking so vaguely about them, but I really don’t want to ruin some of the strongest moments in the story, such as Julie’s origin; what defined her spirit animal and what made her the woman she is. It’s very tragic, very disturbing and all very real.

The Maxx isn’t all spooky and depressing all the time, though. Not by a long shot. It balances out the soap opera material with a steady dose of humor. There’s an episode (based on an issue drawn by David Feiss of Cow & Chicken fame) where the Maxx overdoses on PEZ while watching Saturday Morning cartoons and has a surreal dream sequence of the wackiest variety…yet even *that* serves a purpose to the story. The Isz, these little black gooey critters from Julie’s Outback which serve the will of Mr. Gone, are the standard outlet for comic relief, with their antics being genuinely funny. Several humorous gags featuring the Isz that weren’t present in the comic were added to the show and really do enhance it. Yet, as funny as they are, they can be damn sadistic at times, even going so far as to kill a few people.

The voice-acting for the show deserves some serious credit, as it sounds like they cast the voices within my head. Michael Haley provides a gruff, solemn voice for the Maxx, but at the same time knows when to interject a tone of humor. Barry Stigler is genuinely threatening as Mr. Gone, with a great villainous voice that still sounds “real” and not very “cartoonish”. Amy Danles breathes a terribly depressed life into Sarah, sounding like such an average, ordinary, mundane teenager she couldn’t have been cast more perfectly. Glynnis Talken’s Julie also hits the mark, sounding very strong and independent while also falling into a sense of vulnerability at just the right moments.

The animation isn’t something to really write home about. Much of the actual background artwork and even character cels were taken directly from the comic. I’d say over almost half of the artwork, really. At times, the animation can seem a bit flat or lifeless, despite how wonderful Sam Kieth’s art can be. Moments of actual animation almost feel out of place, seeming a bit too bright and full of life when compared to the dark, almost depressing appearance of the rest of the show. I suppose that’s my only qualm, though it isn’t really much of one. Well, that and the fact that the show was so short-lived.

There were a total of 13 episodes produced (14, if you count the recap episode), each at the length of 15 minutes. It’s a relatively short series and there’s absolutely *no* excuse for it not to be available on DVD, yet. Still, there are “other means” to acquire this series, and I can’t recommend it enough. There’s nothing else like it. The Maxx is disturbing, funny, exciting and sometimes very, very sad. One of the finer works of animation to come from American shores and with a comic series that’s even better.