Review: ‘Space Ghost’ #11 Sets Up a Killer Finale
SPACE GHOST #11
TL;DR
Space Ghost #11 is a kinetic, emotionally loaded penultimate issue that juggles three timelines without sacrificing the story a single one. David Pepose closes out the arc's henchmen one by one and ends on a cliffhanger that puts it all on the table for the finale.
Creative Team
Writer: David Pepose
Artist: Jonathan Lau
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Dynamite
Full Review
As the penultimate issue of this volume’s run, Space Ghost #11 close enough doors to give closure to certain storylines while leaving the biggest one wide open.
The issue is split across three timelines: the Cretaceous period, where Space Ghost and Blip are being hunted by Tempus's Time Tyrants; the dystopian future of Cetia-7, where Jace and Jan encounter Space Spectre and fight through a world already conquered by the Legion of Rock Robots; and the present, where Tempus watches his grand plan unfold from Planet Chronos. Pepose manages all three without leaving any of them feel like unnecessary story. The pacing is tight and the cuts between timelines help weave them together into a combined narrative.
The future timeline delivers the issue’s most striking moment. Doctor Zorket, the scientist whose brain has been running the Legion of Rock Robots against his will, begs Jace and Jan to end his suffering. The kids granting him mercy by deactivating the plasma matrix and take down the entire facility. Andrew Dalhouse's colors shift from icy colds to deep reds as the overload hits giving a visual representation of things changing, while Jace and Jan debating the philosophical reasoning allows Pepose’s writing to show how much has changed for the characters. It’s a sign of how much these siblings have grown since the beginning of his Space Ghost Vol 1.
As usual, Jonathan Lau’s art looks amazing. He choreographs the book's many moving pieces cleanly throughout each timeline. The Cretaceous action is frenetic and fun (there’s a giant T-Rex!), with Space Ghost and Blip turning their environment into a tactical advantage that flips them from the hunted to the hunters. Taylor Esposito's lettering anchors the multi-timeline structure through distinct caption box colors that distinguish each era without ever calling attention to themselves.
The closing pages land hard. The discovery that Grandpa Contra had keyed the Time Arch reactor to the family's genetic signatures, a contingency planted inside the very technology the Rock Robots were trying to weaponize, deepens the Contra family mythology in a way this run has been building toward for months. And then Tempus shows up himself to finish the job.
One issue left. Space Ghost versus the Time-Master. That's a finale that I can’t wait to see play out!
Rating: 4.5/5
