When I think of Space Ghost, I draw several comparisons between him and Batman. It goes beyond the fact that Alex Toth was asked by the execs at Hanna Barbara to design Space Ghost in a manner than emulated the Dark Knight, but in the history of the character. Space Ghost first appeared in 1966 with an action cartoon series that was, though formulaic, particularly violent and fun along the same lines as Jonny Quest. He may not have been terribly âdarkâ or âbroodingâ, but there was no doubt that he was an action character. Then the 90âs happened; Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Planet and the Brak Show hit the airwaves and Space Ghost was reduced to a self-parody. As funny and popular as those shows were, the original action-oriented superhero character was lost to popular culture. This parallels Batman in many ways. The Caped Crusader originated as a dark action hero, was reduced to cheap comedy and self-parody in the 60âs and was finally returned to his roots in the late 70âs.
Well, the 2005 DC Comics Space Ghost miniseries takes the character and returns him to his original characterization as an outer space wraith of justice.
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