Space Ghost #8: An Effective Tragedy

Space Ghost shines best when character arcs or character exploration is woven into an issue’s plot. Jace and Jan have taken center stage in that regard in the last two issues. That continues in Space Ghost #8 where they experience something that Space Ghost has experienced several times: fighting a bad guy that they have a personal connection with.

Unlike most villains from Space Ghost’s past, Jace and Jan are forced into a position where they are fighting their grandfather, Doctor Contra. While the reader knows from the previous issue that the villain, Anti-Matter Man, is really Contra, Pepose keeps that information from Jace, Jan, and Space Ghost. So rather than making Space Ghost #8 a story about whether the heroes dare to fight back, Pepose delivers a standard hero versus villain story. The reader is the only one aware of the potential tragedy brewing as the issue goes on. The result is a growing sense of anticipation and dread over the worst case scenarios.

This anticipation is fueled in part by the separation of Space Ghost from Jace and Jan. This is a story choice Pepose has made more than once in recent issues and in the process has built up the younger characters as strong heroes in their own right, not just as sidekicks. A side effect in Space Ghost #8 is that separating the characters while still having Jace and Jan hold their own feels natural as opposed to a contrivance just to create the potential tragedy that this situation with their grandfather could generate.

Anti-Matter Man is depicted almost exclusively as a fully black figure with no detail to add dimension. The less is more approach works quite well for the character. Space Ghost is typically a vibrant comic, and that’s the case here. Dalhouse leans toward a rich, bright color palette. The result is that Anti-Matter Man is the biggest point of visual contrast in the issue. Perhaps paradoxically, the images that most often jumps off the page in Space Ghost #8 are not the most colorful. It’s Anti-Matter Man who steals the focus every time he appears.

Increased visual detail when it comes to Jace and Jan pays off significantly here. Lau gets a lot of mileage out of eye shape and size in closeups on the two kids. The nuance he finds there and around their mouths, both key to creating rich expressions, allows more distant views to be broad in expression. The detail in closeups informs their mood when the following panels are further away.

The lack of shading also contrasts well with Space Ghost and other adult characters whose features are developed much more through extra individual lines and patches of lines. It’s a good way to keep the kids’ youthfulness clear and obvious.

In light of Anti-Matter Man’s all black appearance, the choice to invert his dialogue bubbles–white text on black fill–seems an obvious one. It’s a smart move from Esposito (possibly specified in Pepose’s script?). Placement enhances the effect considerably because like Anti-Matter Man himself, any time the dialogue bubbles are set against Dalhouse’s expressive, bright coloring, they jump off the page.