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Space Ghost, the Saturday morning cartoon star of the 1960's, is reintroduced to the world in pure comic book splendor. Hanna-Barbara's creation was a big hit with Saturday morning viewers, but this is not your Saturday morning cartoon hero. This is a more realistic and true to life adaptation of the intergalactic hero.

Joe Kelly's story is engrossing. How did space ghost become this champion of space and other worlds? Watching the TV show one could only imagine and presume how this character came to this role. Kelly has our hero begin as a member of an intergalactic police force that keeps peace throughout the galaxy, then advancing to an elite crime force called the Wrath. The Wrath's leader is deceiving and treacherous in every since of the word. He tricks Officer Thaddeus Bach into killing a group of gunrunners and steals the money for the sale of arms. Kelly lets the reader feel all the angst and despair of Officer Bach's dilemma. Kelly also reveals that Officer Bach has a beautiful and loving wife and a child on the way. Officer Bach's caring concern for his wife and unborn child is a daily concern because of his chosen profession as an Eidolon Officer. Kelly's gripping ending to part one of this six-part mini-series is overwhelming. Officer Bach, coming to terms with his wrongdoing, wakes up his wife. While trying to explain to her what went wrong he is kidnapped. When he awakes he is horrified to learn of what the Commandant has done to his wife and child. The Commandant coldly and without remorse ends the life of Thaddeus Bach.

The artwork by Ariel Olivetti is outstanding and true to form. Olivetti truly expressed and painted the characters with pure artistic passion. Olivetti drew the face of Officer Bach as a strong and rugged enforcer of the law, a brutishly handsome type. For so many years the viewers could not put a face with the hero because we never saw him without his mask. Alex Tooth, an artist who drew for various comic book publications for many years, was the original designer of Space Ghost. I think he would be proud to see Olivetti give a face to his original vision. The action in the story is only limited but very violent, and you can sense that Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti are just getting us ready for what's to come.

Space Ghost #1 is a fantastic and gratifying book. Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti let new readers experience what viewers of the 1960's cartoon show and the "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" fans could not feel for so many years, a real serious storyline for our intergalactic hero and great artwork to visualize the man behind the mask. I cannot wait to see what is destined for our him, only time will tell with this extraordinary team. Maybe Space Ghost could become an on-going series. The cover by Alex Ross captures the very essence of the book. So enjoy the series; it is destined to be a classic.