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Surprise! It’s a new, one-off Hench-Sized comic review on a Monday! As part of my overall goal of easing up on my previously rigid blogging schedule, I’d like to review more one-off comics. As a would-be comics creator myself, I know how hard it can be to get people to care about your comic. So I want to offer my blog as a place where creators can get a good, honest, straight forward review of their issue or series.

We’re starting off with Space Ghost #1 by writer David Pepose and Dynamite Entertainment. I got sent this via email over the weekend and I think it’s the perfect starting point for this new initiative of mine. And then perhaps subsequent issues will become part of my normal Saturday review column.

I haven’t read a lot of Pepose, but the dude is living my dream life. He started out as an indie comics writer and comics journalist and now he’s doing professional projects for real publishers. And he’s reinventing Space Ghost for comics, kind of like how I want to do with the Street Sharks. I’m hoping if I mention that enough times, I will manifest a job of me writing a Street Sharks comic.

Seriously, if you own the license to Street Sharks, I will put in the work for you. I will watch all those old cartoon episodes and then craft a big, sprawling, exciting comic book world for the Street Sharks. And if you want to go a step further and hire a big name to help out, I will gladly collaborate with Vin Diesel to make this happen. But enough about me, let’s see how Pepose and Dynamite have put in the work on Space Ghost.

Also, quick shoutout to letterer Taylor Esposito, my favorite letterer in the business. He’s the letterer on my own indie comic, Gamer Girl & Vixen, and the dude is top notch. I would totally bring him on board for my Street Sharks comic, just saying.

Also, NO SPOILERS. All images in this review were taken from preview pages I found released online earlier this month.

Space Ghost #1
Writer: David Pepose
Artist: Jonathan Lau
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Taylor Esposito

I have zero history with the original Space Ghost cartoon or even the Adult Swim revamp. I’m sure I watched a bit here and there in my childhood, but not enough to sink my teeth into. So I’m coming at this character, this world and this comic as fresh as can be.

Jan, Jace and their pet monkey Blip are living on a space science colony when they’re attacked by space pirates! Shenanigans ensue to the highest order and a certain titular space hero stops by to do his thing. No spoilers!

Comic Review: 7/10 – Good.

This is a good, solid start to a traditional superhero-style imagining of the Space Ghost character. It’s got everything you could want. This comic doesn’t reinvent the wheel or go down any weird, Morrison-esque reinterpretations. It’s Space Ghost, with his classic look, in modern comic book form. It’s also packed with supporting characters and villains from his original cartoon, establishing Jan and Jace right away and making them key to everything. I think that’s a good choice. If you’re going for this style of Space Ghost comic, then embrace all of it and build the comic around it. And this issue does a fine job of that. There’s a bunch of exposition to get through, but it’s fine. We definitely get a good sense of our two main characters, and Space Ghost himself gets plenty of time to shine as an action hero.

Personally, I ding the comic a little for not taking a more measured approach or trying anything really new or exciting. As someone who doens’t care about Space Ghost, I can’t say there’s anything in this first issue that really captures my attention and demands I keep reading the series. It’s a very straight forward presentation of the character. It’s possibly a more serious take on the character, but it’s definitely not a gritty and hardcore reimagining. The artwork is pretty standard modern superhero comic book faire, and that’s fine. Everything looks clear, the classic characters look great and the action, explosions and space-age technology all look phenomenal. The artwork definitely fits what the comic is going for.

This first issue has good, if a little exposition-heavy writing, solid comic book art and does a great job of taking the world of Space Ghost and rebuilding it into this new continuity. You can tell a lot of attention was paid to making this comic happen, and I feel like there is definitely promise in more to come. This first issue was just all about setting the table with a lot of opening action.

TL;DR: This is a straight forward, solid adaptation of the classic Space Ghost show into a modern comic book. It’s a fun, action-packed comic that does a good job establishing the core parts of the comic with a good tone of voice, but it doesn’t really think outside the box, which I feel is important to really sell a new comic in this day and age.

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