‘Space Ghost Annual’ #1 Review — A Successful Season 1 Finale

The concluding issue of the first volume of Dynamite’s Space Ghost series and the transition from this volume into the next is being billed like the transition from one season of TV to the next. It’s a suitable approach for a character whose origins are in television. It also provides a suitable framework for evaluating this issue and the end of “season one,” which largely works thanks, ironically, to the way it more or less sidelines the title character.

The annual picks up where Space Ghost #12 left off, with the Council of Doom defeated but Doctor Ibal victorious — and thus, possessed by the collective intelligence of Ultimata, which, thanks to the captive Blip, is extending its control over the galaxy. What follows is pretty standard comic book/season finale fare, as Team Space Ghost storms Robo Corps headquarters to free Blip and stop Ultima.

To say they succeed is hardly a spoiler; Space Ghost (volume — or season — 2) #1 is already solicited. But how they do it is notable. Even though Space Ghost is the title character and ostensible star of the book, in the end, it’s Jace and Jan who do most of the heavy lifting. Jace plays the key role in any story involving evil robots by showcasing the importance of human skill and ingenuity in the face of cool robot logic. Jan, meanwhile, strikes the killing blow against Ultima, freeing Blip and working past a gut-punching simulation of her deceased father cast by Ultima trying to convince her to give in.

This allows Space Ghost to spend most of the issue doing cool comic book stuff while fighting the possessed Council of Doom, which in turn allows artist Jonathan Lau and colorist Andrew Dalhouse to do some fun stuff with panel layouts and action sequences, like when Space Ghost fights off Ultima’s possession and glows white hot while his cape and cowl almost fade out out of existence in comparison. Writer David Pepose also smartly underscores the weakness of Ultima highlighted by Jace by making the Ultima-controller Council of Doom much less effective than in their opening salvo in issue #11.

In the end, the defeat of Ultima and the culmination of this “season” of comics rests on the same thing — the importance of family, and the rededication of Space Ghost, Jan and Jace (and Blip) as a family unit. In true season cliffhanger ending fashion then, the closing pages of Space Ghost Annual #1 threaten to completely upend that dynamic — while, in the wake of victory over Ultima, teasing the threat of next season’s Big Bad. It’s a one-two punch of a conclusion that both reiterates the season long arc of the book while setting the stage for what’s to come — just like a good season finale should.