Retro Rebellion: Voice Actor's Corner

When I got started doing this blog series, my main goal was to show the whole world that voice actors deserve to be in the same place, the same category as all famous people combined. It is not just towards voice actors who are alive, it is also applies to voice actors who have since passed away. And here is one of those voice actors I am going to talk about, who recently passed. So, let us sit back and remember the legend that was Jack Angel.

Born on October 24, 1930, born of Greek descent, Jack Angel was not only a voice actor, but also a radio personality (more on that later). He graduated from San Francisco State University in 1957 and was hired as a disc jockey at a local California radio station. And for 2 decades, he was one of the most popular personalities in radio. Then, one voiceover demo later, given to Gary Owens (another voice with the one of most recognizable baritone voices) and forward it to his agent and the rest as they say was history. From that point on, he left the radio business and became a full-fledged voice actor. And for almost 4 decades, Jack Angel has been voicing characters past and present until his death on October 19th, 2021. He was survived by his second wife and 3 children. Now that we dealt in the abridged version of his life, let's get down to the very characters he voiced. Since he did so much for 40 years in voice acting, I will focus on the voices of the characters that I know the best. Let us begin, shall we?

Kaze no yō ni hayaku!

Samurai (Superfriends): Even though he voiced already established DC heroes like Hawkman and The Flash, Angel's first gig in voice actor (aside from voicing the aforementioned heroes) was voicing an original character in Superfriends and one of many heroes born of a different ethnicity, including Black Vulcan (created since Hanna-Barbera couldn't use Black Lightning due to the disputes with co-creator Tony Isabella), Apache Chief and El Dorado. But of all the original Superfriends, born of different nationalities, Samurai was the only one to not only have a real name, but also an origin story to boot. Toshio Eto was once a college professor, mostly with history (parts of it Japanese). All that change when he got powers from beyond the stars by the New Gods of New Genesis, in their mission to save the universe from their evil counterparts from planet Apokolips and their tyrannical leader, Darkseid. Pledging to use his power to fight evil, Toshio calls himself Samurai, in honor of his past ancestors. His powers, when saying phrases in Japanese, were based on the teachings of Sun Tzu and the Art of War, straight from the Japanese phrase, Fūrinkazan, which means "Swift as the Wind, Gentle as the Forest, Fierce like the Fire and Immovable like the Mountain". It was Samurai who inspired me to do an original character for a possible Arrowverse show that I am working on, who also doubles as a legacy character because that character is also his son. But that story is for another time.

"Wet-Suit may be mean to the bones, but he's also quite bright, being well-read in both the classics and the standard texts of military tactics. Pretty amazing considering that the level to which he has developed his toughness would seem to indicate full-time occupation..."

Wet-Suit (G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero): Navy SEAL Brian M. Forrest made his first appearance in the 5 parter, "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!". Angel's take on this character is what Wet-Suit was all about, tough, brash, abrasive, crass, and sarcastic, yet has a strong sense of duty for country and his fellow Joes. He is best known for his friendly rivalry with fellow Joe and tough to nails marine, Leatherneck, who often butt heads in which part of the military is best, Marines or Navy? Wow, and I though College Football was that intense.

Left: Ramjet and Astrotrain; Right: Ultra Magnus and Cyclonus; Middle: Omega Supreme (My favorite out of the aforementioned Transformers Mr. Angel voiced).

Ramjet, Astrotrain, Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus and Omega Supreme (Transformers): I couldn't decide which one to pick, so I put all the 5 Transformers Mr. Angel voiced. Each of them with their unique personalities. Let's start with Ramjet. He is the leader of the three coneheaded Seekers (the others being Thrust and Dirge). He is both competent and serious, especially keeping his fellow coneheads (no relation to Beldar and Prymat), Thrust and Dirge in line, since they are cowards at hearts. Astrotrain, the Triple Changer Decepticon, who can change into a train and a shuttle and vice versa. His biggest flaw was not just the fact that he is single-minded, but he also craves power, almost in the same manner as Starscream, which was displayed in the episodes, "The God Gambit" and "Triple Takeover." For Ultra Magnus, taking over for Robert Stack (who voiced him in the movie), he made up for the blunders in the movie, by become an honorable warrior and leader, especially helping out Rodimus Prime in adjusting his role as leader of the Autobots. Cyclonus, on the other hand (and filling in for the late Roger C. Carmel (which I can't remember hearing him in the movie)), is as ruthless and cunning as they come, just like his master, Galvatron. And out of the voices Jack Angel did for Transformers, my most favorite out of them is the giant Autobot himself, Omega Supreme. Though is vocabulary is limited when he speaks (e.g., Death: Illogical, Survival: Imminent), Omega Supreme's actions speaks louder than words, especially dealing with his former friends turned archenemies, the Constructicons. Come to think of it, if Voltron was a sentient being (just like his Japanese counterpart, GoLion), when he speaks, he would definitely sound like Omega Supreme himself and my mind would be totally blown. Speaking of which...

"People of Arus, hear me! By right of conquest and our holy destiny, your planet has been annexed into the mighty Drule Empire! I am Zarkon, your new ruler!"

King Zarkon (Emperor Daizabal) (Voltron: Defender of the Universe (Beast King GoLion)): Omega Supreme may be my favorite Transformer he voiced but voicing the king of Planet Doom himself is indeed my most favorite character Jack Angel ever voiced. Although he voiced other characters like Yurak and later Cossack the Terrible, this is the one character I identify Jack Angel with when watching Voltron as a whole. Like his Japanese counterpart, Emperor Daizabal from GoLion, King Zarkon is indeed as ruthless, heartless and evil as they come. As member of the Drule Empire, Zarkon spreads destruction and slavery in his wake. But they only that comes between him, and galactic conquest was the Voltron Force. Even though the show ended its run, Angel reprised his role as Zarkon in two occasions. The first was 5-part Sprite Commercial in 1998, where Zarkon declared war on hip-hop, only to be stopped by Voltron, piloted by rappers Goodie Mob, Fat Joe, Common, Mack 10 and Afrika Bambaataa.

And the second was one of those Happy Honda Days commercials during the holiday season a few years ago, where we see some of our favorite toys from yesteryear come to life and promote new cars from Honda. One of them features Voltron and Zarkon, not only with Angel reprising again, but also with Neil Ross, Michael Bell and B.J. Ward (Keith, Lance and Allura) joining in.

And there you have it. The life and times of the late, great Jack Angel. Thank you for making our childhood so memorable and much cherishing to boot. As long as we remember you and your voicework, you will never truly be gone. I will leave you know with this fanart of King Zarkon himself, which I shared with Mr. Angel himself long ago on Facebook before leaving the site permanently. Until next time. Godspeed, Jack Angel. Be at peace, good sir. Till all are one.