Alternate Favorite Marvel Characters #7 - Cosmo

No, you didn't miss one. I'm going out of order from this point forward. I need more time for Alternate Favorite Marvel Character #8. And with that out of the way. . .

Character: Cosmo the Spacedog. I did not know "the Spacedog" was part of his official name.

Creators: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning. Wellinton Alves isn't listed on Wikipedia, but he was the artist of Cosmo's first appearance, which was. . .

First Appearance: Nova (vol. 4) #8. Cosmo isn't on the cover - just as well, I'm not eager to see how Adi Granov would have depicted him - so I went with a cover for an issue I had he featured prominently on.

First encounter: Nova (vol. 4) #8. Nova was out of its official Annihilation: Conquest tie-ins, though still on a storyline related to that event. The tie-ins ended on a down note, with a gratuitous character death. This story, where they not only introduced the setting of Knowhere, but had Nova fighting kinda-zombies alongside a telepathic/telekinetic Russian dog, was a welcome change.

Definitive writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Other than his few appearances in Skottie Young's Rocket Raccoon book, and that one issue of the last Nova series (that had Rich and Sam in it), I don't think I've read Cosmo written by anyone else. I sure as hell wasn't going to see what Bendis did to him.

Definitive artist: I don't actually have any of his work in this post, but I'd go with Paul Pelletier, the initial artist on Abnett and Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy. His work is less stiff than some of the other artists I've seen draw Cosmo, but still detailed where it needs to be. Cosmo can look mean or reserved when he needs to, or he can look like a friendly, happy dog when the situation requires.

Favorite moment or story: I'd have to pick his first appearance. It sets a lot of the tone for the character. Gives us enough backstory, gives us the basics of his powers and his personality. He's a calming presence, straightforward, protective, and friendly. He weathers Nova's oblivious questions with patience, and a little humor. He's fierce when he needs to be. Richard being in a weakened state due to the Phalanx means he has no chance of handling everything himself, so Cosmo gets plenty of chances to show what he can do.

What I like about him: Sometimes, it's just a good concept. Putting together a lot of odd pieces to make something interesting. Superpowered dog, Head of Security of a mecca inside the decapitated head of a space god floating at the edge of the universe, one visited by beings from every corner of space and time.

There's a lot of potential there, given just about anyone or anything can show up there for most any purpose. Powerful beings coming to contemplate existence, crooks looking to exploit a Celestial, refugees (given the number of conquering space empires in the Marvel U., there are probably a lot of people running from one or the other at any given time), conquerors. And Cosmo's the one at the front, having to deal with all of it. Meeting, greeting, assessing threats, protecting the vulnerable, being diplomatic with the various political entities that have a say (and their own interests).

Watching Cosmo negotiate that stuff is an interesting show. He's idealistic enough to see the value in a group like Peter Quill's Guardians of the Galaxy, so he'll go to bat for letting them HQ on Knowhere, but realistic enough to know he can't play favorites too much. Recognize there are valid reasons to be concerned about a team with Drax the Destroyer, Gamora (the Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy), Star-Lord (who hadn't been out of the Kyln prison for that long), not to mention Weird Shit Magnet Adam Warlock. These people can be friends and allies, but he still considers the safety of all the other people on the station. He has to, it's his job.

And he has the power to carry it out. When Adam Warlock finds out Cosmo is hiding Skrull refugees on the station, and misreads the situation, Cosmo has to put the mind whammy on him until he can explain the situation. Even with Adam showing up somewhat unexpectedly, Cosmo manages it.

I like looking for parts of his personality I can tie into his being a dog. His desire to help and protect others. When he meets Nova for the first time, Rich is confused, sick, and disoriented. No idea where he is or what's going on. Cosmo knows, and knows the situation is bad and they can't afford to sit around too long. But he still sits patiently and lets Rich collect his thoughts, lets him ask stupid, obvious questions to help find his bearings. My dad had a dog like that, Buddy, who would always hover nearby when a person or another dog was stressed. Not being aggressive, just standing there, watching and wagging his tail, reassuring. Cosmo being a telepath, where he can sense confusion or anxiety in the thoughts of those around him, probably increases that inclination.

You can see some of it in his friendship to Sam Alexander, where Sam is a kid running around on his own in space, doesn't seem to have any clue what he's getting into half the time. Cosmo is the kindly and protective uncle to him, who still busts his chops a little, gently. Not letting him get too swelled of a head, poking him about how much a girl he likes is running through his thoughts. (I think Cosmo also gets to serve as the sort of the angel on Sam's shoulder, in contrast to Rocket, who is the "cool" uncle/bad influence).

There's also the recurring theme of Cosmo enjoying get to fly, his version of your dog enjoying car rides. The idea was introduced the first time he met Nova, when Rich gave him a lift, and brought back, for one example, when he recruited the Silver Surfer into the Annihilators. That ability to enjoy the moment, the gift of a squeaky toy or specially baked dog biscuits.. Seeing a happy dog is nice.

Cosmo has a lot of backstory I'd love to see explored. He's been in space since before the Fantastic Four made their fateful trip. We don't know all the places he's been, things he saw before he came to Knowhere. How long has he been there, how long has he been security chief? What does he do when gets time off from his job? Does he have old friends to visit? Does he ever go back to Earth?

We see glimpses, hints of things he's done. We know he helped a bunch of decommissioned warbots establish a new, peaceful home for themselves on a quiet world (who then send him those special biscuits). We know he knew Sam Alexander's dad, or knew of him at least. There's a lot we don't know, but you can see the effect in how he approaches things. He isn't dismissive of potential danger, or take a fatalistic approach to it, but he isn't awed much either. He'll chat with Gladiator or the Silver Surfer, or even a Celestial is a casual, friendly manner.

When the Luminals brought one of their arch-foes to Knowhere, supposedly sealed securely in a box, Cosmo had a bad feeling. They stonewalled him, so he kept his eye on it. And when things went wrong, he got all the people on the station in that storage tesseract, while he stayed and tried to deal with the problem. That the problem involved the Luminals turning to zombies and rampaging across the station didn't seem to faze him much. Just one more thing to deal with. Time travel, almost dying and being shunted across alternate universes, almost dying and being tortured by the Magus. He takes it all pretty calmly, deals with the problem at hand the best can.

It's connected to his straightforward nature, his lack of interest in self-deception or denial. I don't know if that's the telepath in him, being able to see into people's minds, and so he can tell when they're lying to him or themselves. Or if it's that he's a Russian dog, and so he's going to be direct, and not waste time with trying to deny what he thinks is self-evident. He isn't blunt in a cruel way, saying it in the most hurtful way possible. It's more he knows there are things to do, and that it'll be easier if people just accept some fact of themselves. On a lighter side, his needling Sam about his crush on Lina, to maybe get Sam's butt in gear to actually talk to her. More seriously, telling Beta Ray Bill to get over it about being called the Annihilators.

You can certainly question whether that's a confidence-inspiring team name for the general populace - "Look, here come the Annihilators to save the day!" - but a) it was Quill's idea, not Cosmo's, and b) I can't imagine seeing the Kree Supreme Accuser, the leader of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, and the most prominent Herald of Galactus all appear on your planet is going to produce warm, fuzzy feelings in anyone. More, "Are we going to be conquered, then devoured, or devoured and they conquer the remains?" And the idea was that they'd show up and blast whatever cosmic threat appeared into atoms - just so long as Starlin doesn't write them fighting Thanos - was the point, so sure, accept you're the Annihilators and let's get to work.

Cosmo hasn't yet really gotten the primary focus. He's been a supporting character, someone to highlight the strangeness of space, how you're never quite sure what you'll find out there. But there is a solid base established for his personality and setting, that provide a lot to work with, should the day come when he gets that focus.

Cosmo doesn't fear no walking dead in Nova (vol. 4) #9, by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers), Wellinton Alves (penciler), Wellington Daz and Nelson Pereira (inker), Guru eFX (colorist), and Cory Petit (letterer). It always pays to be polite, but casual when asking favors of Celestial in Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #16, by Abnett and Lanning (writers), Wesley Craig (artist), Nathan Fairbairn (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer). To be fair, most of us would react like that to an interstellar surfboard ride, Beta Ray Bill better face the facts, and Peter Quill says what we all know in Thanos Imperative: Devastation, by Abnett and Lanning (writers), Miguel Sepulveda (artist), Rain Beredo (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer).