Moltar
(March 17, 1997 - July 9, 1999)
Voice Artist: C. Martin "Clay" Croker
You just can't keep a good character down.
In the 1960s, he was a villian known as Moltar, the Molten Man, a fiery presence hellbent on destroying the cosmic defender known as Space Ghost. After an ill-fated alliance with the Council of Doom, he was never seen again.
In 1994, he reemerged as a prisoner deep within the catacombs of Ghost Planet Industries, where he served out his sentence as a reluctant producer of the popular Cartoon Network talk show Space Ghost Coast To Coast. While he was doing that, Moltar got bored with listening to the once noble yet moronic host and wanted to see what else was out there.
He became an observer of worlds, witnessing numerous universes (including a universe where Space Ghost isn't a total jerk) and finding action just about everywhere. Filled with inspiration, Moltar created and launched a sentient Clyde 49 into space to transmit his findings back to the Ghost Planet control room. About a year after he first began his observations, the transmissions reached the Earth via Cartoon Network.
Every now and then, Moltar would dispense his dry wit and observations on the block, appreciating the villians and the heroes of the shows, reviewing video games every now and then, and making fun of heroes like Birdman and Space Ghost. He'd also give sage advice to the viewers, not unlike what TOM did during his time on the block, and on one occasion, Moltar gave a riveting speech about Reruns, why they're so prevalent, and to have patience about the new things to come.
Around spring 1999, Moltar wanted to actually travel throughout the universe himself, but since he was basically bound to the duties of a producer on Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast, so he wanted to build his own ship. After that was a wash, he got a used vessel he named the Ghost Planet Spaceship Absolution. After witnessing the heroic acts of a sentinent droid named TOM, Moltar was impressed and invited him to take the command of the Absolution and personally do the job Moltar once did, discover and explore universes, and transmit them back to Ghost Planet and Cartoon Network.
A lot of longtime Toonami fans favor the original host of Toonami than the current host. Afterall, most of them were already familiar with the big guy from his days on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Not surprisingly, when fans realized that the creators of that cult classic were also behind Toonami, the fanbase grew en masse (plus, Moltar's presence on Toonami explained why he wasn't on the gone-but-not-forgotten comedyfest known as Cartoon Planet). Long live Moltar, the baddest man to ever grace the television screens.
Whatever.
Little Known Facts
- Moltar was designed by legendary comic artist Alex Toth, who also designed the Superfriends and, like the Fleischer brothers before him, inspired the "animated" style of superhero animation utilized by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini in "Batman: The Animated Series," "Superman," "Batman Beyond," and "Justice League," not to mention inspiration for a number of comic artists like John Delaney and Ty Templeton.
- In addition to Moltar, C. Martin Croaker also does the voice of Zorak on "Space Ghost Coast to Coast," "Cartoon Planet," and "The Brak Show," and did the voice of Wally Gator for the earliest incarnation of "The Brak Show."
- As seen in Table Read (a unique version of SGC2C directed by Toonami's co-creator Sean Atkins), Clay really, REALLY gets into his characters.
- Clay is a frequent writer and designer of SGC2C as well as write random issues of Space Ghost-themed Cartoon Network comics.
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