Review: ‘Space Ghost’ #7 Is Pulpy, Monkey-Laden Fun

After the relatively heady subject matter of the previous two issues, Space Ghost #7 returns to the more lighthearted tone of the title character’s original animated series. This month’s story focuses on Blip, Jace and Jan’s “pet” monkey. This leads to a fun, pulpy sci-fi adventure which pushes the art in some interesting ways while balancing the goofier aspects of its plot with a bittersweet conclusion.

The issue begins in media res, the Space Ghost crew having crash landed on a mysterious planet. Someone is pulling Jace — who is finding it hard to think — from the wreckage. The implication, especially given the focus of the previous issue — is that Space Ghost is rescuing Jace. But a full page reveal establishes it is, instead, Blip the monkey, speaking with what one has to imagine is a British accent. The “animals as humans” and “secret city of smart animals” tropes are classics of the pulp adventure genre, from the Island of Doctor Moreau to Planet of the Apes to Gorilla Grodd and Gorilla City.

This issue, then, is playing in those tropes, with a tale in which Blip must rescue his adopted family from the Creature King, a telepathic bat-like animal who has used purloined Robo Corp technology to flip the script on the balance between humans and animals. Not only are the animals on this planet intelligent, the same technology that boosts their intelligence dampens humans’. The end result is a dual narrative, in which Space Ghost and Jan must fight against their ever-growing animal instincts while Blip and Jace race to shut down the MacGuffin that is boosting the animals’ intelligence. 

The pulpy plot beats are ably abetted by artist Jonathan Lau, who leans into the tone of the story by using heavier, darker lines in greater quantity throughout the issue. This creates a look that is both of a piece with what’s come before in the series, but one which also harkens back to the pulpy roots of the plot. There are certain panels and pages that look like they could be lifted from, say, an old Tarzan newspaper strip. 

Blip also makes for a surprisingly compelling protagonist. The specter looming over all his actions through Space Ghost #7 is the fact that Blip is stuck in a Flowers for Algernon situation, in which success means the death of his intelligence and newfound self-awareness. Yet never once does he hesitate in his efforts to save his family, or even stop to consider the costs of his actions.

This bittersweet reality hits even harder when writer David Pepose twists the knife further: not only does Blip essentially sacrifice himself to save Jace, Jan and Space Ghost, but the circumstances are such that his human family is left with no memory of his actions — or what they cost him. 

It’s an ending which adds just enough emotional oomph to a story that is otherwise goofy, pulpy fun. There’s a lot of ways the creative team could have handled the inevitable Blip-centric story; Space Ghost #7 is probably one of the better iterations. It successfully manages to lean into the inherent goofiness of a jet pack-wielding space monkey while including just enough pathos to give the story a touch of necessary narrative weight.