Posted By Dan Greenfield on Nov 1, 2025 | 2 comments

SCOTT SHAW! SATURDAYS…

By SCOTT SHAW!

Every decade or so, Archie Comics publishes a wave of new and experimental comics brimming with creativity that are usually canceled after a half-dozen or so issues, never to be seen again due to poor sales. Unfortunately, Cosmo the Merry Martian was one of those that came and went too soon.

Created by writer Seymour “Sy” Reit and cartoonist Bob White, Cosmo wasn’t particularly “merry,” but definitely a guy you’d like — a friendly, young every-alien who was chosen by Mars’ spaceship inventor Professor Thimk to pilot the first expedition to Earth. He was accompanied by his nervous li’l pal, Orbi. In the second issue, we met Cosmo’s cute girlfriend, Astra, who also traveled with him.

Cosmo #3

Reit was an animator, a comic-book script writer and artist, an editor, and the author of over 80 books, including The Day They Stole the Mona Lisa (1981.) Reit also claimed that he was the creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost, although animator Joe Oriolo said the same thing.

White worked for Archie Comics approximately from 1954 to 1965. His work was in the standard Archie look, but often with drama rather than comedy, especially on his memorable covers and his Pureheart the Powerful stories. Cosmo the Merry Martian (pub-dated September 1958) was by far his most notable comics series and it was definitely ahead of its time. After Archie, he worked for former-fellow-Archie artist Samm Schwartz on Tower Comics’ Tippy Teen. Bob’s occasional writing was rewarded with the Bill Finger Award in 2021.

Cleverly, Bob’s Martians designs were reminiscent of Al Capp’s popular Shmoos from his syndicated comic strip, Li’l Abner. And as a gimmick to remind Cosmo‘s readers to continue to read the series, there was an intentional cliffhanger ending for each issue.

In the first issue, Cosmo and his nervous buddy Orbi  accidentally crash land on the Earth’s moon instead of the planet itself. There they meet our moon’s inhabitants, Moonlings, who are all named “Oog,” and are invisible to Earth’s scientists due to their “comet dust.” At the end of the story, the Moonlings make Cosmo and Orbi invisible too, so that they can all go to Earth to view the planet’s most fascinating and complex activity — a baseball game!

Cosmo the Merry Martian #1, September 1958. Cover art by Bob White.

Back on the moon in the second issue, Cosmo and Orbi are told that the Dark Side of the Moon is inhabited by a creature called the Gillywump. They discover that the  Gillywump is a harmless creature who has a terrible cold. Their friends Professor Thimk and Astra blast off in a rocket to rescue Cosmo and Orbi, while the Moonlings visit Earth to find a cure for the Gillywump’s cold.

Cosmo the Merry Martian #2, November 1958. Cover art by White.

After rescuing Cosmo and Orbi from the Earth’s moon, Professor Thimk, Astra, and their dog JoJo travel to Venus, unaware that their rocket has stowaways: Moonlings and the Gillywump. After a Venusian monster kidnaps Orbi, Cosmo’s group looks for him. Orbi learns that a short circuit in his helmet causes the Venusian creatures to fear him. This issue ends with the monsters taking the crew to meet the Queen of Venus.

Cosmo the Merry Martian #3, April 1959. Cover art by Bob White

In Issue #4, Cosmo and his team is introduced to the Queen of Venus, a sexy humanoid female who desperately needs a king, specifically Cosmo! He attempts to escape but is quickly caught. Professor Thimk and Orbi detonate a stardust bomb to rescue Cosmo, but their rocket’s steering mechanism jams and re-sets them on a course to Saturn.

Cosmo the Merry Martian #4, June 1959. Cover by Bob White.

Cosmo and his crew land on Saturn in Issue #5, where they learn that the planet is populated by vegetable people. Orbi eats magic gumdrops that cause him to shrink, but with another one, he swells so huge that he’s in danger of falling off the planet. The gang rescues Orbi and return him to his normal size, but the rocket ship gets wrecked in the process. The Saturnians offer to lend the Martians some flying saucers so they can return to Mars.

Cosmo the Merry Martian #5, August 1959. Cover art by White.

In the final issue, Cosmo and his friends, back on Mars, realize that mad Martian scientist Dr. Beatnik has assembled a space army to invade Earth – in order to prevent the planet from influencing Martians with our pop culture! Cosmo and Professor Thimk lead an official Martian expedition to stop Dr. Beatnik, whose army jams Cosmo’s ships with taffy, then creates a brick wall in space to stop Cosmo’s team from pursuing them. Fortunately, Professor Thimk uses his own technology to force Dr. Beatnik’s army to surrender. Finally, Cosmo and his crew set off to a peaceful visit to Earth… but since there was never a seventh issue, we’ll never know if they got here.

Cosmo the Merry Martian #6, October 1959. Cover art by White.

In 2019 Archie Comics brought back a new iteration of Cosmo with a five-issue series – written by Ian Flynn and drawn by Tracy Yardley — loosely based on the original.

Cosmo the Mighty Martian #1, February 2018. Cover art by Tracy Yardley.

There haven’t been any more Cosmo solo comics since, but the merry — now mighty — Martian has popped up in Riverdale to meet Archie and the gang.

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Want more ODDBALL COMICS? Come back next week!

And get this: Scott’s involved in a new, unauthorized documentary about San Diego Comic-Con! Click here for the scoop.

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MORE

— ODDBALL COMICS: Archie’s TALES CALCULATED TO DRIVE YOU BATS. Click here.

— ODDBALL COMICS: Dell’s KONA, MONARCH OF MONSTER ISLE. Click here.

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For over half a century, SCOTT SHAW! has been a pro cartoonist/writer/designer of comic books, animation, advertising and toys. He is also a historian of all forms of cartooning. Scott has worked on many underground comix and mainstream comic books, including Simpsons Comics (Bongo); Weird Tales of the Ramones (Rhino); and his co-creation with Roy Thomas, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew! (DC). Scott also worked on numerous animated series, including producing/directing John Candy’s Camp Candy (NBC/DIC/Saban) and Martin Short’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. As senior art director for the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, Scott worked on dozens of commercials for Post Pebbles cereals with the Flintstones. He also designed a line of Hanna-Barbera action figures for McFarlane Toys. Scott was one of the comics fans who organized the first San Diego Comic-Con.

Need funny cartoons for any and all media? Scott does commissions! Email him at shawcartoons@gmail.com.