Space Ghost #8 // Review
Somewhere in the past there was an invasion. General Metallus launched an offensive on Planet Vector. He had designs on constructing a perfectly-designed empire forged around the tragedy of countless dead falling at his feet as he marched through with a robot army. Vector happened to hold a young kid who managed to survive the massacre. Years later, he stumbles upon Metallus’ army Now he’s seeking revenge in Space Ghost #8. Writer David Pepose continues a largely enjoyable update on the old hero of cathode-ray tube animation with the aid of artist Jonathan Lau and colorist Andrew Dalhouse.
It’s a big galaxy. Space Ghost had been trying to track down Metallus for quite some time. He sought justice for so many over the years in which he had become a legend. Meanwhile, Metallus was marching ever-forward with his empire. It was inevitable that the two would run into each other once more. Now he’s within blaster’s reach of the one responsible for the death of his parents on Vector. Revenge is so very, very close and it will aid so many others who might otherwise fall under his growing might. Space Ghost is so very, very close to ending the suffering of so many.
Cheesy space opera action is really easy to commit to the page, but it’s really, really difficult to do well. Even some of the most famous and influential works in the genre can end-up falling more than a little bit flat. Pepose does a remarkably good job of framing the work in a way that is both over-the-top with its bombastic delivery of the intensity and still...perfectly well-framed with its action. The cheesiness of the premise never overcomes the heart of what it is that Pepose is crafting at the heart of the story.
Lau passionately follows the spirit of Pepose’s dramatic space action adventure. The action is remarkably well-articulated on the page. The full dramatic potential of some of the revelations that are being presented in the story aren’t quite framed wit enough of the right energy to really make it work, but the percussive nature of the action hammers its way into the page quite well. Though Dalhouse’s colors DO amplify quite a bit of the drama in a number of different scenes, there’s an overall murkiness to the color that isn’t perfectly well suited to the streamlined simplicity of the epic action that’s being brought to the page.
The origin of Space Ghost is framed with a very clever eye towards contrasting two different visions of justice. Pepose seems to be lining everything up for a much deeper exploration of the nature of justice, revenge and quite a lot more that MIGHT run the risk of overcoming the cheesy, fun space adventure energy of the character. Pepose seems ot have a remarkably clever handle on he overall action of the situation, though. The story seems to be in pretty good hands moving forward.
