A Rushed But Satisfying Conclusion — Reviewing ‘Space Ghost’ #12

As much as its a comic book truism that a hero’s Rogues Gallery will eventually organize itself into some kind of “Legion of Doom” alliance, it’s also true that said alliance will almost always come undone by its own members. Sure enough, after the Council of Doom made its move against Space Ghost last issue, that’s exactly what happens in Space Ghost #12.

Team Space Ghost certainly does its part to fan the flames, but their success largely belongs to the infighting of their enemies. It’s a turn for the story that feels a bit rushed — perhaps due to the upcoming restart of the series — but nevertheless makes for a satisfying end to this volume.

With Blip in the hands of Doctor Ibal and Ghost Planet on the verge of total destruction, things are looking bleak as the issue opens. But once the Jan and Jace perform a little ad hoc surgery on Space Ghost using one of his power bands — a sequence aptly rendered by artist Jonathan Lau like something out of a horror movie — the tide is ready to shift.

With Jace, apparently a reader of comic books, rightly surmising that since their foes are super-villains, each with their own personal agendas and obsessions, it would be easier to turn them against each other than for the back-footed Team Space Ghost to take them all on at once. With that in mind, they proceed to coordinate their counterattacks in such a way that the schisms within the Council of Doom are widened.

The ensuing sequence is fun, albeit a bit rushed. As with the conclusion to the series’ last two-parter, there’s simply a letdown that comes from resolution relative to the setup. But it also feels like writer David Pepose has more ground to cover than space allows, with next month’s annual and the series’ relaunch to setup while closing out this story.

Pepose scripts and plots it all ably, but there’s so much to do it doesn’t leave much room for Lau to build to as many big, iconic visual moments as usual. Aside from a page where colorist Andrew Dalhouse gets to flex his muscles as Space Ghost glows bright white amidst the molton core of Ghost Planet as he staves off disaster, much of the resolution unfolds via cramped panels filled with figures.

The end result is still plenty entertaining. And it all leads to an ending that resolves the immediate threat while still raising the broader stakes of the story. But it’s hard not to feel like the story could have used another issue or half-issue to really give the defeat of the Council of Doom a little room to stretch out and allow Lau to cut loose.