Space Ghost

Real Name: Thaddeus Bach (according to recent D.C. mini series) / Tad Ghostal (according to Coast to Coast cartoon)

Identity/Class: Human (probably) with high tech equipment granting incredible powers

Occupation: (originally) Interstellar police officer (later) Talk show host

Affiliations: Jan, Jace, Blip (sidekicks); Mightor and Tog, Moby Dick with Tom and Tub, Dino Boy and Ugh, Shazzan with Chuck and Nancy, the Herculoids, Teen Force; Batman

Enemies: Zorak, Brak, Metallus, Spider-Woman, Creature King, Moltar (the six are collectively known as the Council of Doom when working together), Space Spectre (his alternate universe counterpart), the Wizard, the Toy Man

Known Relatives: Chad Ghostal (evil twin, Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast - might be Space Spectre's civilian identity); Leonard Ghostal (father, Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast)

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: The Ghost Planet

First Appearance:Space Ghost cartoon (Hanna-Barbera for CBS, 1966)

Other Appearances: The Space Stars (1981); Space Ghost: Coast to Coast

Powers/Abilities: Space Ghost's powers seem to stem from his costume and the power bands he wears on his wrists. With it he can fly, and is able to travel underwater and in outer space without requiring further equipment. His belt hides an "inviso button" which can turn him invisible or generate a protective force field. He can fire a viso penetron beam from his eyes, and has a communicator located in the silhouette on his chest. His power bands seem to be able to harness the electromagnetic spectrum to enable him to fire a wide variety of different types of energy blasts, including, but not limited to: force ray, destructo ray, stun ray, heat ray, freeze ray, sonic ray, electro ray, magnetic ray, anti-matter ray, force shields, hypno force ray, and straightforward lasers. Multiple types of ray can be combined to increase his firepower. The bands also grant him superspeed, and the ability to create time warps. Probably his single most impressive power is his ability to teleport, transforming himself into pure thought and energy through concentration and will power, so that he can teleport elsewhere and reassemble there.

He travels around in a heavily armed space ship called both The Phantom Cruiser and the Ghost Ship. That said, he can fly through space faster under his own steam, so presumably he only uses it to save energy or when he has company for the trip.

History: Thaddeus Bach was a member of the Eidolon Elite, an intergalactic police officer, until the day he questioned orders given to him by his superior Wraith. Unfortunately, the corrupt Wraith could not afford to have anyone looking too closely into his affairs, or those of the underground group he ran, so he murdered Thaddeus' pregnant wife, and left Thaddeus for dead on a ghost planet which had once been known as Earth. There he was found by Salomon, a weapons engineer who had become a hermit on the ghost world. Though he disapproved of Thaddeus' desire for revenge, Salomon equipped Thaddeus with weapons and a ship, and he left to track down Wraith and his men. He returned to Meridian, only to find it being invaded by the insectoid hordes of Zorak. Finding a higher purpose than revenge (though he managed to exact that too), Thaddeus managed to repel the invaders, saving the orphans Jan and Jace in the process. Afterwards, dubbed "Space Ghost" by his two charges, he returned to Salomon, to let him know that Thaddeus would now seek to bring justice to the galaxy.

Comments: Created by Alex Toth. Space Ghost is owned by Hanna-Barbera. His original cartoon ran from 1966-68, and he was voiced by Gary Owens.
A picture of Space Ghost minus his mask was published in Toon Magazine Volume 1 #3 in 1994, taken from model sheets drawn by show designer Toth. You can see what he looks like on the right.
Space Ghost has occasionally encountered other Hanna-Barbera heroes (prior to becoming a talk show host in Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast), including the Herculoids, Dino Boy (in one of the comics), Shazzan, Mightor, and Moby Dick (the last three all during the "Council of Doom" story).
The original sixties series ran a total of 42 episodes, the first 36 bookending another cartoon, Dino Boy. The last six episodes, which formed the second season, were made up of a crossover story called "The Council of Doom"
Space Ghost was revived in 1981 as part of The Space Stars, which aired on NBC between September 12th 1981 and September 11th 1982, adding 22 more episodes to the character's story.
His most recent run on TV was as a talk show host in Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast, where some of his old enemies (Brak and Zorak) are seen to be working alongside him. The evil duo have even managed to get their own spin-off, without their arch nemesis - a sitcom called the Brak Show. Space Ghost has continued his career as a presenter with Cartoon Planet, and has even released two CD's, Space Ghost's Surf & Turf and Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Que. Probably not to be considered the same version of Space Ghost, if you are bothered about continuity. George Lowe supplies the voice for this new version of Space Ghost.
Gold Key produced one issue of a Space Ghost comic in March 1967, and he had adventures in their Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes #3, 6 and 7, plus in Golden Comics Digest #2. Nearly ten years later he returned to the medium, in Marvel's Hanna-Barbera TV Stars #3. It was 1987 before he ventured once more onto the printed page, this time for Comico, in Space Ghost #1, and he had another Space Ghost #1 for Archie Comics in 1997. A new version, detailing his origin (listed above), is currently being published.

Jace

Real Name: Jace

Identity/Class: Human augmented by high-tech equipment

Occupation: Sidekick to Space Ghost

Affiliations: Space Ghost, Jan, Blip

Enemies: same as Space Ghost

Known Relatives: Jan (twin sister)

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: same as Space Ghost

First Appearance: Space Ghost (1966)

Powers/Abilities: Jace wears a small jet-pack to let him fly, and a belt that grants him inviso power. His suit allows him to survive in outer space, and contains a communication device in the chest emblem.

History: Jace is one of Space Ghost's wards (his siter Jan being the other). Given equipment by his mentor, he often accompanies him on missions. He looks to be in his middle teens.

Comments: Jace was voiced by two actors in the original series, Tim Mathieson and Steve Spears.

Jan

Real Name: Jan

Identity/Class: Human augmented by high-tech equipment

Occupation: Sidekick to Space Ghost

Affiliations: Space Ghost, Jace, Blip

Enemies: same as Space Ghost

Known Relatives: Jace (twin brother)

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: same as Space Ghost

First Appearance: Space Ghost (1966)

Powers/Abilities: Jan wears a small jet-pack to lets her fly, and a belt that grants her inviso power. Her suit allows her to survive in outer space, and contains a communication device in the chest emblem.

History: Jan is one of Space Ghost's wards (her brother Jace being the other). Given equipment by her mentor, she often accompanies him on missions. She looks to be in her mid-teens.

Comments: Jan was voiced by two actors in the original version of the show, Ginny Tyler and Alexandra Stewart.

Blip

Real Name: Blip

Identity/Class: Monkey with high tech equipment

Occupation: Pet to Jan and Jace

Affiliations: Jan, Jace, Space Ghost

Enemies: same as Space Ghost

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: same as Space Ghost

First Appearance: Space Ghost (1966)

Powers/Abilities: Like Jan and Jace, Blip is equipped with a jetpack, a belt giving inviso power, and a communicator on the chest of his suit.

History: Blip is Jan and Jace's pet monkey. He wears a suit like theirs, which allows him to travel and survive in space. Since enemies often ignore him, he frequently ends up rescuing his friends when they are captured.

Comments: Blip was voiced by Don Messick and Frank Welker in the original series.

Zorak

Real Name: Zorak

Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial

Occupation: Would be universal conqueror; (as of Coast to Coast) band leader for the Original Way Outs; (in the Brak Show) schoolkid, best friend of Brak

Affiliations: Brak, The Council of Doom; The Original Way Outs

Enemies: Space Ghost

Known Relatives: (all only seen or mentioned in Coast-to-Coast) Raymond (nephew, eaten by Zorak); Uncle Judy (uncle and father of Raymond); Aunt Lars (aunt, and mother of Raymond)

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: (original) Mobile throughout the universe; (Coast to Coast) prisoner in the Coast to Coast Studios, on the Ghost Planet; (Brak Show) in Brak's neighbourhood

First Appearance: Space Ghost

Powers/Abilities: Zorak has amazing recuperative powers, healing swiftly from even severe wounds. As well as his natural weapons (claws and mandibles) Zorak also uses a variety of guns and other technological weapons. His main one is his matter intensifier, but he has also employed a giant robot, Titanor, among other devices.

History: Zorak is a gigantic preying mantis (though he sometimes refers to himself as a locust). He and Space Ghost have been enemies since they met, with Zorak's schemes of universal domination being constantly thwarted by his heroic nemesis.

(Coast to Coast) A prisoner of Space Ghost on the Ghost Planet, Zorak is made to work off his crimes by acting as band leader on Space Ghost's new chat show. He is also forced to room with Brak apparently.

(The Brak Show) In a continuity nightmare (assuming anyone cares) Zorak is Brak's best friend at school, and they both live in a (human) suburb.

Comments: The original voice of Zorak was Don Messick. In Coast to Coast and the Brak Show C.Martin Croker takes over the role.

Brak

Real Name: Brak

Identity/Class: Human / extra-terrestrial hybrid (if we are to believe The Brak Show)

Occupation: (Space Ghost) interstellar pirate; (Coast to Coast) moocher; (The Brak Show) school kid

Affiliations: Zorak (ally in Space Ghost, room mate in C to C, best friend in The Brak Show); The Council of Doom (member); Wally Gator (school friend)

Enemies: Space Ghost; Thundercleese (next door neighbour, The Brak Show)

Known Relatives: Mom (The Brak Show, clearly non-human); Dad (The Brak Show, clearly normal human); Poppy (The Brak Show, grandfather, deceased); Sisto (The Brak Show, brother)

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: (Space Ghost) Mobile throughout the universe; (C to C) Ghost Planet; (The Brak Show) Mom and Dad's house

First Appearance: Space Ghost (1966)

Powers/Abilities: Unknown

History: (Space Ghost) The cat-like Brak was one of space's most terrible pirates, until he had the misfortune to run foul of Space Ghost. In spite of his initial defeat, he continued to return to plague the hero several times.

(C to C) Now imprisoned on the Ghost Planet, Brak would mooch around the Coast to Coast studios, eating food from the craft table.

(Cartoon Planet) Brak moved up to being Space Ghost's co-host on this cartoon showcase, introducing other toons.

(The Brak Show) Having gained his own sitcom (full title "Brak Presents The Brak Show Starring Brak"), Brak is now a school kid alongside Zorak and Wally Gator, living with his Mom and human Dad, and playing pranks on his robotic neighbour Thundercleese.

Comments: Brak's voice was supplied by Keye Luke in the original version, and by Andy Merrill since the 1990's.

Matt Renner informed me of Sisto, Brak's brother who was introduced in The Brak Show. He mentions that "Sisto is a slightly smaller version of the Brak species, but his costume is colored entirely in black and red with no blue. Also, he always appears in the same way -- he walks in from one side of the screen, walks across the screen, and at some point farts before walking off. His name was not even spoken for a number of episodes, but it was established sooner or later who he was."

Moltar

Real Name: Unknown

Identity/Class: Either mutated human or extra-terrestrial

Occupation: (Space Ghost) evil genius; (C to C) programme's director

Affiliations: The Council of Doom

Enemies: Space Ghost

Known Relatives: Linda (wife, another lava person, as of C to C); Zoltran (brother in law)

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: (Space Ghost) mobile; (C to C) The Ghost Planet

First Appearance: Space Ghost (1966)

Powers/Abilities: A molten man, Moltar's body exudes a lot of heat.

History: (Space Ghost) Moltar was the leader of a group of lava monsters which battled Space Ghost. He returned to fight the hero several times.

(C to C) Having been captured, Moltar's community service is to act as the director of Space Ghost's talk show. Locked into the control room, he doesn't take his duties too seriously.

Comments: In Coast to Coast his voice is provided by C. Martin Croker

CLARIFICATIONS: None

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

Back to US Independents Page

Home

All images and characters depicted on this site are copyright their respective holders, and are used for informational purposes only. No infringement is intended and copyrights remain at source.