BRAK
Entry by MICHAEL EURY

“Hi, my name is Braaaak!”—not the bloodcurdling introduction one might expect of an interstellar pirate, but with this member of Space Ghost’s rogues’ gallery, one must expect the unexpected.


First seen in “The Looters,” a Space Ghost episode (original airdate: October 22, 1966) of Hanna-Barbera’s original Space Ghost and Dino Boy series (1966–1968), Brak, voiced by Keye Luke, and his fellow pirates overtake a gold-transport spacecraft with their sleep-inducing gas. Capturing Space Ghost’s interloping sidekicks, Brak ultimately wars with the crusading superhero when he comes to their rescue. The saber-toothed space thief who hides his features behind a cat-like helmet often wielded a ray pistol in his crimes, and struggled with Space Ghost in animated episodes and in a 1987 Space Ghost comic book.


The irreverent cable-TV comedy Space Ghost: Coast to Coast (1994–2004) recast the superhero into a talk-show host who interviewed real-life celebrities, with foes Zorak, Moltar, and the formerly fearsome but now loopy Brak (voiced by Andy Merrill) brought on board as a threesome “Paul Shaffer” to Space Ghost’s “David Letterman.” Brak, a notorious moocher whose pirating was now limited to food raids in the television studio, ultimately wormed his way to co-host status on Coast to Coast before landing his own 2000 short-lived variety show, Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak, followed by The Brak Show (2000 to 2003), an animated sitcom seen in the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” programming block. In this Space Ghost prequel, grade-schooler Brak was a supervillain-in-the-making living in suburbia with his human father, bewitching cat-like mother, and wind-breaking brother Sisto, and attending class with Zorak and 1960s Hanna-Barbera 'toon star Wally Gator. The offbeat show’s plots involved everything from a putting on a neighborhood musical (with guest-star Charo) to battling Thundercleese, the robot that lived next door. The Brak Show merchandising included a 2005 DVD collection and action-figure set; in his Coast to Coast incarnation, Brak appeared as an action figure and a maquette.

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Space Ghost’s foe/pest, Brak. © 2007 Hanna-Barbera. (Note: This image does not appear in The Supervillain Book.)

The Supervillain Book is © 2006 by Visible Ink Press. Everything above is reprinted by permission of Visible Ink Press®. The Supervillain Book is also currently featured in MoCCA's Stan Lee Retrospective in New York. You can order it through these links to amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.



You can read an interview about The Supervillain Book on THE PULSE here:

http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/ubb/get_topic/f/36/t/006131.html

A is for Absorbing Man here:
http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/ubb/get_topic/f/36/t/006140.html