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Published on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 - 2:12am

SPACE ANGEL!! SPEED RACER!! MILLENNIUM!! CONTINUUM!! SIMPSONS!! KNIGHT RIDER!! HercVault!!

I am – Hercules!!

“Space Angel” exerted a creepy fascination for thousands of smallfry in the 1960s. It utilized the money-saving Synchro-Vox technique pioneered by “Clutch Cargo” – superimposing live-action lips over static portraits (a technique now routinely exploited by “Late Night With Conan O’Brien”).

Space Angel was the secret identity of astronaut Scott McCloud, an agent of Earth Bureau of Investigation based out the Evening Star space station. McCloud’s crew aboard the space ship Starduster consisted of navigator-girlfriend Crystal Mace and the chubby, bearded Scottish engineer Taurus. McCloud patrolled the solar system and reported to Crystal’s dad, who ran the space station.

The drawings were created by none other than the great Alex Toth, who came from drawing golden age DC Comics heroes like Johnny Thunder and went on to design Space Ghost and Shazzan for Hanna Barbara. “Space Angel” represented Toth’s first brush with animation.

The show was assembled in four-minute episodes that could be run daily alongside better-animated theatrical cartoons on local kiddie shows. 52 weeks of cartoons comprised of 260 four-minute episodes were produced between 1962 an 1964. Volume One, on sale today, contains nine weeks worth of episodes for $12.99. Bonus features include an interview with Margaret Kerry, who provided Crystal’s voice and lips -- and also served as reference model for the insect-girl in Disney’s “Peter Pan.”

Stargate: Continuum reunites the cast of “Stargate SG-1” to tell the tale of an evil alien mastermind who goes back in time to ensure the government’s Stargate program never happens.

The Kansas City Star says:

… feels like an extended television episode. Granted, the actors had more time to consistently flesh out their characters. For instance, as Sam, Tapping is still her sci-tech-speaking self. And Shanks gets to cuss. (OK, that isn’t necessarily a plus.) But what it comes down to is this: “Continuum” will not draw new viewers in; it’s too much a made-for-fans film. And those fans will recognize where “Stargate” has gone many times before. Indeed.

DVD Talk says:

… As far as being able to enjoy the movie if you aren't an avid fan, I have my doubts since the movie so rapidly skims over major data needed to make sense of what is taking place. The story inconsistencies will be enough to cause flame wars on all the usual fan websites (my first viewing counted twelve, subsequent viewings and listening to the commentary track yielded more) but as more of an homage to the series, it worked well enough to provide the equivalent of a double length episode in the middle of the pack in terms of quality. … barely worth a rating of Recommended for any fan of science fiction other than the devoted following. …

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