The Gladiators

Scott and crew race a space ship from the planet Anthenia to a newly discovered asteroid which contains a rare cosmic mineral in order to claim it. According to Anthenian law, the rivals must battle in the arena to settle the disputed claim.

Scott McCloud/Space Angel, Taurus, Crystal Mace, Professor Mace

Cambria's second cartoon using its patented Synchro-Vox system developed by Edwin Gillette for "talking animal" commercials in the 1950s. The Synchro-Vox system combined still animation cels of the characters and live actors' lips superimposed over the characters' heads to make the "animation." Producer Clark Haas referred to Cambria's process of limited animation as "motorized movement." Cardboard cutouts of the character sometimes would be moved by hand past the background. To produce Synchro-Vox, the voice actor would be filmed in closeup, with a mask hiding everything but the actor's lips. Heavy makeup was used to ensure that the actors' skin color matched that of the cartoon characters.

When in action, rather than animate the character, the cels were shaken, or the camera zoomed to simulate the motion. As Scott McCloud/Space Angel's face was covered by a space helmet, no lip movement was required for his characters in the Synchro-Vox process.

Each story took place over five episodes. Two hundred and sixty shorts were produced, packaged into 30-minute shows, or to air individually in syndication.