1966 WEEK! Spaaaaaace Ghoooost! — UPDATED 9/10/26: It’s 1966 WEEK! Space Ghost debuted 60 years ago, on Sept. 10, 1966. Perfect time to reprint this piece from March 2021! For more 1966 WEEK festivities — including a special Space Ghost column — click here. Right on! — Dan — Our buddy, pal and columnist Fred Van Lente and groovy illustrator Ryan Dunlavey have a new issue of The Comic Book History of Animation out March 24 from IDW — and one look at the cover above will tell you what it’s about: SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS! Yes! With that in mind, Fred has put together THE TOP 13 SPACE GHOST VILLAINS — RANKED. Because why not? Dig it. — By FRED VAN LENTE One of the great joys of doing The Comic Book History of Animation with my frequent partner-in-crime, Ryan Dunlavey, has been going back and revisiting old toon favorites of the past, including one I was absolutely obsessed with as a kid — Hanna-Barbera’s Space Ghost, which premiered in the fall of 1966, the year when Adam West’s Batman became a ratings juggernaut for ABC in prime time. Fred Silverman, head of daytime programming at CBS, wanted as many cape shows on his revamped Saturday morning block as possible. In his autobiography My Life in Toons, Joe Barbera explained that he didn’t trust his own funny-animal artists to create a heroic human, so: “I hired Alex Toth, a great comic book artist, to produce some designs for an as-yet nameless superhero. He produced about forty variations on a character, and, when Fred was in L.A., he came to the studio to look at them. I spread the drawings—all painted in vivid colors on cels—across the floor. With a cigarette between his lips and a Tanqueray martini in hand, Fred tiptoed among them, agonizing over just the right combination of costume and color. “With Fred on the verge of buying the show—whatever it would be—we had yet to come up with a name. He had chosen a central superhero clad in white, with black hooded mask, and a flowing yellow cape. Talking to Fred on the phone, the name hit me: Space Ghost.” Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, who’d go on to be the showrunners for Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, as well as create a legendary animation studio...
1966 WEEK Meets the ART OF DAKOTA ALEXANDER! — Welcome to 1966 WEEK — a 60th anniversary celebration of an extraordinary, landmark year in popular culture. For seven days, we’re bringing you a whole host of features on everything from Star Trek, to Batman, to the Beatles, to the Monkees, and much, much more. (Just check out Walt Grogan’s latest fab banner, above!) Click here for more of the far out fun! — Dan — When I put out a call for 1966 stories, our pal Dakota here said something along the lines of, “I could do something on the five stars of The Marvel Super Heroes cartoon,” which debuted 60 years ago this month. So I sez to him, I sez, how about you put your illustrations in oldfangled TV sets? And he goes, “Sure.” And here we are, with Dakota following in the gigantic footsteps of Jack Kirby and co.! The show’s one syndicated season included 13 weeks of daily half hours, each episode consisting of three, seven minute segments starring one of the five heroes: Captain America on Mondays, the Hulk on Tuesdays, Iron Man on Wednesdays, Thor on Thursdays (of course), and Sub-Mariner on Fridays. So dig this: Neato. — Want more 1966 WEEK? Click here! Want more of THE ART OF DAKOTA ALEXANDER? Come back next week! — MORE — HEROES FOR HIRE: The 1970s POWER MAN AND IRON FIST Show We All Wanted. Click here. — SPIDER-MAN 2099’s BRAND NEW DAY: Some Things Never Change. Click here. — DAKOTA ALEXANDER is an American artist living in Japan. He’s worked on many projects, such as The Liberty Brigade, The Masters, Charon 13, and G.H.O.S.T. Agents. His latest is his love letter to Bronze Age superhero-horror comics, The Hunter, which is now available at his Etsy, Drums of the Serpent....
With THE LONG HALLOWEEN waiting in the (bat)wings…
An important update…
EXCLUSIVE: One of comics’ most iconic covers…
