Space Armada

Mettalus contacts Space Ghost and invites him aboard his space armada to see his new weapons of mass destruction "preprogrammed metal men missiles". Mettalus announces that he will unleash his armaments in an hour. Space Ghost, Jace, Jan, and Blip attack Mettalus before the hour is up. Jace, Jan, and Blip go aboard Metallus' ship. Blip squirts some de-lubrication oil on Metallus and freezes him in his armor. Metallus is then sent to the galactic patrol.

Space Ghost, Jan, Jayce, Mettalus

Space Ghost is one of the most popular superheroes to come out of Saturday morning. Unlike comic book heroes Superman, Batman and Spider-Man, Space Ghost originated on television, embodying animation in the 60's. Legendary animator Alex Toth's use of bright colors, sleek lines and an almost sinister costume gave Space Ghost an undefinable hipness that TV watchers immediately clung to.

The hero's name stemmed from the fact that he was able to make himself invisible through the use of high-tech wizardry. He could also shoot heat rays, cold rays and plain old power blasts from the bands on his wrists.

Tagging along in his ship, the Phantom Cruiser, were Jan and Jayce, a teenage duo who assisted Space Ghost and could become invisible as well. Rounding out the team was monkey sidekick Blip, who had mastered his own invisibility technology enough to lend a hand wherever he was needed.

Gary Owens, a 60's mainstay ever since Laugh-In, was the voice of Space Ghost, while Jayce was voiced by Tim Matheson, who went on to be a succesful movie star in films like Animal House and Fletch.

In 1976, NBC brought back repeats of Space Ghost to accompany new episodes of Frankenstein Jr.. Space Ghost also appeared in new segments of Space Stars in 1981.

In the cartoon industry, Space Ghost is almost single-handedly responsible for the popularity of superhero cartoons in the 60's. The series was drawn so well and the stories were so imaginative that kids were glued to CBS every Saturday morning. This success forced the other networks to develop superhero shows like Superman in order to battle the mighty Space Ghost.

Perhaps the greatest evidence of Space Ghost's popularity came three decades later, when the Cartoon Network reinvented the superhero in a hilarious sendup of nighttime talk shows, Space Ghost Coast To Coast.