A little bit of my childhood died this week. Gary Owens, the voice of Space Ghost from the Hanna-Barbera TV series, passed away yesterday. While most people that know me or follow my website are aware of my Batman obsession, one of the things that they may not know is that Space Ghost was one of the first characters that got me hooked on the superhero genre.
Space Ghost was kind of a cross between Batman, Superman and Flash Gordon. His Power Bands and Inviso-belt gave him more abilities than Superman while getting him out of more tight situations than Batman’s utility belt. And while Batman might have had the Batmobile and the Batcave, the Ghost had the coolest spaceship in the galaxy. It was called the Phantom Cruiser and he kept it parked on his moon-sized lair, the “Ghost Planet”. Despite all of the powers and gadgets at his command, the booming voice of Gary Owens was a huge part of what made Space Ghost cool. The iconic shout of “SPACCCCCE GHOOOOOST” at the beginning and end of every episode was the foundation of my Saturday morning cartoon ritual.
RIP Mr. Owens. You will be missed.